to sprout we had by the way several Villages and so we had better opportunity to buy Provision The Three and Twentieth at Night we came to one where we could buy near one hundred Eggs for Two pence The next Day we got up early again and saw before us the high Mountain Tauri all covered with Snow which extendeth its self a great way from North and West to the Eastward at a great Distance We went on apace and advanced to Tauk early in good time and before their Sabbath began again This Town is not very strong and lieth on a Plain We went into a Camp without it and rested there all the Sabbath After Sun-set when it began to grow dark they desired of me to light a Candle I remembred then immediately that they could not do it themselves being forbid by Law as you may find in the 35th Chapter of Exodus where you may see that they must kindle no Fire in any of their Habitations wherefore they furnish themselves the Day before with all sorts of Provisions and Necessaries that they may not need to do any Labour on the Sabbath and yet may not want When these Jews say their Prayers they use the same Ceremonies as the Christians and Heathens in the Eastern Parts do For first they lift up their Hands then they bow down forwards with their whole Body and at last they kneel down and kiss the Ground These Jews bragg'd continually of their Patriarchs and made mention of the Laws but of the Ten Commandments they knew nothing wherefore I took an Occasion to repeat them before them in the Portugal Language which is very much spoke in the Indies as well as I could and they did admire when they heard them how I came to know them But when I began to speak of Christ and his Office they bursted out into such Blasphemies that I was glad to say no more but hold my Tongue Not far off from Tauk we saw a very strong Castle near unto a Wood that is guarded by a Turkish Garrison This is situated in the Province of the Curters which beginneth there and lieth between Media and Mesopotamia all along the River Tigris and reacheth to Armenia These Curters which are almost all Nestorians speak a peculiar Language which was unknown to my Fellow Travellers wherefore they could not speak to them in the Persian nor Turkish Language which is spoke all along from Bagdet through Assyria in the Confines of two potent Monarchs to that place We were therefore forced to desire others that understood both Languages to be our Interpreters through the Country of the Curters But whether this Language did run upon that of their Neighbours the Medians or no I could not certainly learn but yet I was informed that the Parthians Medes and Persians as peculiar Nations had their peculiar Languages as Histories tell us and we may also perfectly see in the Acts of the Apostles the 2d Chapter and the 8th Verse where it is thus written And how hear we every Man in our own Tongue wherein we were born Parthians and Medes and Elamites and the Dwellers in Mesopotamia c. all which People almost are Subject unto the Sophi the mighty King of Persia The before mentioned Curters were formerly called Carduchi and afterwards also Cardueni as chiefly Xenophon testifieth have had their peculiar Policy and Government But after many Changes and Wars they are at length subdued and brought under the Dominion of the Turkish Emperour to whom they are still subject to this Day and he hath every where his Garrisons in opposition to the Sophi But what is further to be said of them chiefly concerning their Religion shall be hereafter mentioned when I shall give you an account among other Christians of those that live in the Temple of Mount Calvaria in Jerusalem After the Sabbath of the Jews my Companions was over we went on again and came the 26th of December to Carcuck a glorious fine City lying in a Plain in a very fertile Country at four Miles distance is another that lieth on an ascent whither we also travelled my Companions having Business in both of them and so we spent two Days in them before we were ready to go on again The 29th we travelled through large and dry Heaths and came at Night to some Tents which were made of Hair or Hair-cloth wrought out of Goats and Asses Hair and fixed in such an Order that they made Streets and Allies like unto a Market-Town In one of these we went to lodge with these poor People that are white Moors and like unto the Gypsuns in their shape and figure and to stay there all night long But whether these People are subject to the Turkish Emperour or to the King of Persia or any other I could not find out by their Cloths because they all wear the same hereabout nor could I discern any thing by their Language To us came a little after some more Travellers so that we had hardly room to lie down in These People were very diligent and busy to get us some Meat and Drink for the Husband went soon out of Doors to gather dry Boughs and Stalks of Herbs which I could not at that time discern what they were and brought them to us to boil or dress some Meat with them The Woman was not idle neither but brought us Milk and Eggs to eat so that we wanted for nothing she made also some Dough for Cakes which were about a Finger thick and about the bigness of a Trencher as is usual to do in the Wildernesses and sometimes in Towns also she laid them on hot Stones and kept them a turning and at length she flung the Ashes and Embers over them and so baked them thoroughly They were very good to eat and very savory This way of baking Cakes is not new but hath been very usual among the ancients so we find in Scripture mention made of Bread baked among the Ashes the Romans called it Panes Subcineritios and so we read in Genesis the 18th Chapter of Cakes made upon the Hearth which Sarah made in haste when the three Men came to see Abraham The 30th we went from thence and about Noon we came to a Town called Presta which is chiefly towards the River whereon it lieth very well fortified but what the Inhabitants call that River I do not remember but according to its Situation it must be that which Ptolomy calleth Gorgus which runs below into the Tiger In this place they make Floats which although they are not very big nor have much Wood in them yet they have abundance of Bucks and Goats Skins blown up hung or fixt underneath the bottom without doubt by reason that they may load the more upon them and also because the River is rapid that they may have the less fear or danger On these Floats they carry several sorts of Merchandices but chiefly Fruit viz. Figs Almonds Cibebs Nuts Corn Wine Soap
where in former Years the Potent Caliphi did reside I did hear no more of it in all my Journey until at my return when my Comrade Hans Vlrich Krafft of Vlm then Prisoner in Tripoli did relate it to me so as it was reported to him by Credible Hands who told me that the Trusci are very numerous that they were divided into several Regiments of several colours and that those that live in the middle of the high Mountains were the most numerous of them all that they live in a Country that is very well secured and surrounded so that they need not nor will not be subject either to the Turks or any other Potentate They are Warlike People for the generality good Gunners that make their own Guns and any other sorts of Arms c. they have plenty of Corn Oyl Wine good Meat and good Fruit so that they need not any Assistance of Strangers They chiefly deal in Silk whereof they wind from Silkworms about 100 Rotulas in a Year which is about 450 Hundred weights to send from thence into other Countries These have their white Colours and their Confederates that live on the outward Hill toward the Sea at Baruti near Tripoli have red ones and have also their Colonel which they call Ermin Mackfur which also those that belong unto the white Colours acknowledge to be theirs as well as their own which was lately murdered This because he could not entrench himself as well as the other Trusci on the Hill agreed with the Great Sultan and made Peace upon this account that if he would let him live peaceably and quietly he would help him to Protect the Country and pay unto him yearly the accustomed Tribute but if the Grand Signior would not be pleased with this proferr he would join the rest and assist them The Emperour accepted of this and did not only make this Ermin Mackfur Lord of all Baruti and Seide called Sidon but did also procure him a great and plentifull Yearly Revenue out of these Countries thinking thus to oblige him to help him with his Trusci to subdue the others not doubting but that he might easily overcome these when once the others on the Mountains were killed But they would not get up the Hill but did proferr to the Turks that if their Men and the Moors would go up they would be ready in the Valley about Baruti to cut off all that should fall into their hands This Answer they gave to the Sultan only for Fashion's sake for no Truscus killeth the other When the Sultan saw that they would not bite one another and that he was not like to obtain any great matter from the Colonel he did notwithstanding send up the Bashaw of Damascus with Six other Bashaws and Seventeen Sangiacks about Two Hundred Thousand strong both Foot and Horse well Armed to subdue the before-mentioned Trusci which were about Sixty Thousand strong to burn demolish and destroy their Towns Villages Houses and Plantations After they were come up to the Ascent Two Days Journey from Damascus they found the Roads so steep that no body could pass them on Horseback for there was nothing to be seen but rough and sharp-pointed Rocks So they agreed to dismount and to go up to them on Foot and so they took presently Six or Seven Villages whereof there is said to be Twenty Seven in all but they found nothing in them but some Women and Children and very few Men the rest were got upon the Hills where they had intrenched themselves which were all cut in pieces and the Villages burnt The Turks and Moors thought themselves obliged according to their Emperours Command to go on further so they endeavoured and got up higher but could not do any more harm to the Trusci being hindered by the bad ways But on the contrary the Trusci met them sometimes and poured their Shot upon them from all Sides before they were aware of it so that they were but in an ill Condition Then when the Turks would pursue these Men they were too quick for them as being born and bred in these Mountains so they did only laugh at them and bid them kiss their Breeches So the Turks partly for want of Provision partly being tired by the steep Roads were sometimes forced not without great damage and loss of their Men to retire again to take better Measures Sometimes also the Trusci would stand between the Rocks covered and when they found any of their Enemies appear chiefly those that endeavoured to climb up the Rocks they would all of a sudden shoot among them as among a Flock of Pigeons so that many of them did precipitate themselves and broke their Necks They would also sometimes decoy the Turks into a good Road and after Eight or Ten Thousand of them were passed they would with Six Thousand Trusci fall in the Rear of them to drive them up higher where others soon did appear that came down upon them so they surrounded them sometimes and received them so warmly that but very few of them came back again to tell what was become of the rest After this War had continued for about two Months the Bashaw at last was forced to make a shameful Retreat with the Remainder of his Forces and that so much the sooner because the Winter began to approach so that it was impossible to endure the Frost and Snow which occasioned many to die and the chiefest of them came home sick The Trusci pretend to be Christians and the Posterity of those that some Years ago by Might and Strength recovered the Holy Land so that still to this Day they have a great Affection for Christians which those that travel among them to buy Silks can testifie whom they treat and entertain very civilly with good Meat and good Wine yet refuse to take any Money for it And say That what God hath given them they are bound to distribute among us Christians But they hate Mahometans and Jews and keep very good Intelligence with the Christians of this Country Yet they themselves are neither Christians Turks Moors nor Jews For they do not go to Mass nor any other publick Worship of God They cry out sometimes to Heaven that God would be pleased to protect them They also believe according to the Opinion of Pythagoras that the Souls of the deceased according to their Merits transmigrate from one Body into another That the Soul of a pious Man goeth into a new-born Child and that of an ill Man into the Body of a Dog or other wild Beast chiefly if he hath lived very ill As they believe so they live also Among them they marry to their nearest Relations the Brother to his Sister the Son to his Mother the Father to the Daughter and they lie all together at Night but they will not marry into a strange Family The Father or the Mother says Seeing that God hath given me this Child as a Seed unto me why should I throw
be hindered in their Devotion but soon go to Church again The second is performed on the Organs of the five Senses and the Head to cleanse them from all spots and blemishes which are contracted by ill thought and frivolous and unseemly discourses wherefore there are several Cisterns here and there but chiefly in their Churches and Chapels where they wash themselves first that being clean they may be worthy to come to Church to Prayers for if they should omit it they believe that their Prayers would not be acceptable to God and so he would not hear them So they begin first with washing of their Hands then they lift up the Water with the hollow of their Hands and so let it run down to their Elbow then they wash their Mouth Nose Eyes Ears Head Neck and at last their Feet and speak some peculiar words with it When they have no Water which often happeneth in large Desarts of Arabia they are allowed by their Laws instead thereof to rub these Members over with Sand. But that they may not be hindered by their Cloaths from coming to these Members they wear such ones that have wide Sleeves no gatherings about their Neck nor have any Strings about their Drawers The third sort is also esteemed to be very necessary and is made use of as often as they empty their Body by Stool or Urine or Belching and so they wash themselves cowring down before the Cisterns publickly without shame both before and behind in the sight of every Body According to what hath been said we see that they mind only the outward cleansing of their Body and so they look also upon the outward Circumcision rather than to think how they ought according to Gods Commands to cleanse themselves from their inward Leprosie by the Bath of Regeneration and to Circumcise their Hearts by an inward Spiritual Circumcision whereof they know nothing When their Clergy-men have cried out the Hours from the Steeples to the Batzars or Exchanges c. and the Turks have washed and cleansed themselves they go into their Chapels which are in the middle of their great Camps or Carvatschars where I could see it best because I durst not go into their Mosques After they have left their Shoes at the Gate they do not turn nor look back for one another to speak but go straight forwards until they come to their places where they stand still and look upon their Priest that is before them and mind him when he beginneth the Prayers that they may say it after him and imitate his Ceremonies or means whereof he maketh use as the lifting up his Hands stroking over his Forehead bending his whole Body forwards falling down upon his Knees kissing the Earth and at length when the Leila hillalla beginneth turning their Heads from one side to the other whereby they give a hint That they are in Peace and good Will with God and their Neighbors While they are in their Holy Places you shall hear none of them Sneeze Cough Hawk or Spit for they are of Opinion that if they should do so God would not hear their Prayers so effectually because they should not be perfectly clean They have no set Form of their Prayers and Pray generally for good Fortune and other Worldly welfare for Victory for their Emperor that God may send great Divisions amongst us Christians that so they may have a better opportunity to fall upon us and to beat us They suffer no Images in their Temples or Chapels and are only for Adoring the true and only God Creator of Heaven and Earth and so instead of them they have Pictures of sine Plants or Flowers viz. Of Roses c. and Writings of their Prophet Mahomet and so you find on their Gold and Silver Coins no Pictures or Images of their Emperors as upon ours but only the Names of them or of the Towns where they are Stamped in Arabian Letters which are common to both Nations together with the date of the Year which they begin from the time when Mahomet fled into the Desarts which for that reason they call the Year of Hegira where he got a great number of Adherents and was made by them a King this was done in the Year of Christ 622. After they have ended their Prayers they begin to talk to one another and so every one of them goeth home to VVork again and they are allowed on their feast-Feast-days which they keep on Friday as we do on Sunday and the Jews on Saturday to open their Shops again after Prayers and to go to VVork because they say that Idleness may the easier draw them into Sins So one may easily know by their Shops according as they are opened or shut up on these three days whether they belong to Christians Turks or Jews besides none of these forceth one to observe the others Holy-days and so they live peaceably and quietly together Before the Turks Holy-day beginneth they lighten on Thursday Night before as soon as it beginneth to be dark upon their high Steeples many Lamps whereof they hang without on the Galleries round about three rows one above the other so that as you look upon them in the Night they look like unto a threefold Garland they let them burn so long until they go out of themselves one after the other The same Lamps they also light every Night during their Lent which beginneth in their Month Romadan so called by the Arabians and doth last all that Month long Their Year consisteth of Twelve Months which they Accompt by the Moon-lights so that their Months do not agree with ours for theirs have not one with the other above 29 or 30 days and consequently their Years want between 10 or 11 days of ours so that their Lent falleth at an uncertain time sometimes in the Spring and sometimes in the Summer c. so in my time it began in December and ended in January During all this time they are very Devout and strive to be at the Prayers and Duties for if any body should Dye in Lent time that had used not to frequent them they would look upon him as a lost and damned Man and doubt whether they should Bury him or no. During their Lent they Eat nothing before Night when the Stars appear then every one goeth home to Eat or else in the great Batzars to a Cooks Shop to buy Victuals where all Night long is so great a throng of poor People that have nothing to Eat at home that they lift one another almost up there you see one Eating another Drinking another Crying out others Quarrelling which causeth such a Crowd and Noise as is enough to make one Deaf and Giddy When Lent is at an end then they begin their Easter-Feast which they call Vlubaira which they keep with great Solemnity for three days salute one another very kindly and wish one the other all health and happiness as we do on New-years-Day They also seek all sorts of
like Lacqueys by their Master They have also besides their Court as well as the Emperour himself peculiar Lodgings for their Concubines which they either have pick'd up here and there out of Towns and Countries or else taken in time of War by Sea and Land from Christians and other Nations wherefore they keep many Eunuchs to attend them constantly They take great delight in Hunting and go often several Days Journeys after it If they take Wild Boars they give them because they are by their Laws forbid to eat them to the Christians which maketh the Turks often to mock them in the Streets crying out and calling them Chansir quibir that is great Boars or Hog-eaters Although the Bashaws are great Persons that Command over Cities and Countries yet they are rckoned to be like others but Slaves to their Master that have nothing of their own that they can bequeath to their Heirs or Posterity after their decease as our Princes can because the Emperour after their decease taketh Possession of all their visible Estates and allows only to their Children an Annuity Nay if their Sultan Commands them to go from one place to an Inferiour one or to leave their Dignity quite and clean they must obey immediately if they will not run themselves into greater Inconveniencies or Dangers This is the Reason that such Persons although Rich seldom build great Buildings so that you see none in all the Country except it be a Chappel or a Champ which they build to be remembred by They rather keep their Riches in Gold and Silver which can be hid and so secretly given to their Posterity They bestow but very little upon Jacks for they are too Covetous neither have they many Work-men that are able to set them These Bashaws being altogether for their own Advantage that strive to get Wealth their Subjects must needs suffer very much under them but chiefly Strangers that live there to Traffick as Italians Frenchmen c. whereby between them and the Bashaws that mind their own and not the Publick Good arise often great Differences and they must have suffered great damage if their Soveraigns to prevent these things and that their Subjects may deal securely had not taken care to send them discreet and prudent Men which are called Consuls endued with great Priviledges from the Grand Signior to hear their Complaints and to protect them against any Assaulters It happened in my time while I staid there that great Differences arose between the Consul of Venice and the new Bashaw who was sent thither instead of the deceased one in the Year 75. the 6 th day of March who came in to take Possession with a great number of Horse and Foot At his Arrival the Consul of Venice went accompanied with a great number of Merchants in great State to meet him to bid him Welcom and presented him with Fourteen Cloaths Richly wrought of Silk desiring him to take his Country-men into his Protection that they might Trade and deal safely under him The Bashaw looking upon the Cloaths behaved himself very unkindly and looking upon them to be very inconsiderable he not only refused them but answered the Consul very scornfully So it often happens that these great Persons come to differ and pursue their Differences so far that at last it must be brought before the Emperour and his Court. If they find that the Bashaw is in the wrong he is immediately punished not regarding his great Authority according to the default either in Money or else if it be a great Crime he must lose his Life for it which is the oftner done because they depend very much upon Traffick which bringeth the Emperour in yearly a very great Revenue Yet notwithstanding they are punished so severely sometimes the Pride and Ambition of the Bashaws is so great that to uphold their Greatness they will not cease to strive by any means after Riches and great Wealth which their Subjects not to speak of Strangers find daily whom they squeeze and press chiefly if they find them Rich to that degree that they cannot come to any thing nor thrive under them Moreover they draw after the decease of their Rich Subjects for the most part the greatest share of what they leave into their own Purses so that such Persons do not take Pains nor bestow any great Cost to build their Houses or to till their Grounds as we do in our Country They have commonly in Market-Towns and Villages low Houses or Halls whereof many are so covered with Hills that you cannot see them before you are quite at them When you come into them you find neither Chairs nor Stools nor Tables only a couple of pieces of Tapestry spread whereon they sit after their fashion and instead of Feather-Beds whereof they make no use at all they have Mats and Quilts which they fold together in the Day and hang them up in a corner at Night they spread them out again to sleep on them They have no occasion for Sheets to cover themselves as we do nor for any Towels neither for instead of them they use long pieces of Rags which they hang about their naked Necks or hang them at their Girdles We see sometimes in their Houses above all in the Country several strange-shaped Earthen Vessels which cover whole sides of the Wall in their Rooms which their Relations use to Present them with at their Wedding which to please them they use to put up and to keep there rather for their Remembrance than to make any other use of them In their Kitchen they have very few Utensils perhaps a few Pipkins Pans and Trenchers for they boyl all their Victuals in one Pot together that their Maids may not have many to cleanse or to put up Concerning their Cloaths they bestow not very much upon them although they be well to pass for they love Money so well that they will rather spend a whole day in contending for a Penny than pay it willingly Wherefore a Man that will Travel through these Countries must have his Purse well stored and keep it very close that no body may know its worth but chiefly he must have a care of the Jews which are not to be trusted if you will escape great danger They will not only do nothing for you without Reward but if they suspect you to have any Money they will endeavour to get it from you Wherefore those that take a Pilgrimage into the Holy Land and go in pitiful Cloaths are not much troubled by them The Courtiers of the Bashaws and amongst the rest chiefly the Eunuchs and Dwarfs c. whereof they have several go in their Taffety and Sattin Cloaths which are long and very well trimmed wherewith their Master furnisheth them being Gifts from others which he distributeth among them The Souldiers Spahees Janisaries c. commonly have blew woollen Cloaths from the Court and they live of their Pay that is 4 5 6 7 or 8 Medins which
noble Root called Rhubarb And moreover they sell several sorts of precious Stones viz. Garnats Rubies Balasios Saphirs Diamonds and the best sincerest Musk in little Gods These precious Stones are hid by the Merchants in the great Caravans that come from India and they bring them secretly because they dare not pay Custom for them that the Bashaws Sangiachs and others may not rob them of them on the High-ways for they use to do so if they find any I will cease to discourse any longer of these and other Drugs and several Merchandises which the Merchants convey thither from forreign Places daily and from thence to other places again because it is none of my Business to deal in them With the Spices are sometimes by the Merchants brought from the Indies delicate Canes which are very long solid or full within flexible and bright without of a yellowish Colour they are almost every-where alike thick only a little tapering but few Joynts far distant from one another and are hardly seen in them There are two sorts of them great and small ones the great and stronger ones are used by old and lame People instead of Crutches to walk with but the lesser which are very like the former are made into Arrows and Darts for which they are very fit the Turks wind them about with Silk of many sorts of Colours which they are very proud of when they make their entries You find also in the Shops another sort of Canes to be Sold which are small and hollow within and smooth without a brownish red Colour wherewith Turks Moors and the Eastern People write for to write with Goose-Quills is not in use with them wherefore these may be esteemed to be the true Syringas or Fistularis of Dioscor Besides these there is another bigger sort of Canes almost of the same Colour but full of Joynts the Pilgrims that go to see their Mahomet bring these with them from Mecha and the People of that Country carry them along with them on Horseback instead of short Pikes chiefly the Arabians for they are long strong and light and yet solid or full within with these they come running on upon their Enemies or else they lifting it up above the middle in one of their Hands fling it at them with such force that they penetrate deeper with their sharp Iron wherewith they are tipt before and behind then their Arrows Theophrastus maketh peculiar mention of them in his fourth Book and the 11 th Chapter and Pliny in his Sixteenth Book and the 36 th Chapter We see very few of these in our Country for the Christians are forbidden under great Penalties to carry any of them the same it is with any other Arms that they make use of in their Wars out of the Country if any doth and is found out he exposes himself to infinite Troubles and Dangers as did happen to one in my time which after a Scimiter was found about him was very highly accused and fined Seventy Ducats to be paid in two days time and if he had not paid it they would certainly have circumcised him and made him a Turk Besides these above-mentioned Champs there are a great many more without and within the City where also all sorts of Merchandises are Sold viz. Quibir the Great Sougier the Little Gidith the New Atich Old c. And besides all these they have a great Exchange called Batzar by the Inhabitants which is in the middle of the Town and is bigger then Friberg in Bavaria in it there is many Alleys and each of them divided for several Wares and handy-craft Trades first the Grocers and Mercers then those that sell Tapestry and other soft Woollen Cloaths and also Turkish Machyer Camlet Taffety and other Silks and Cottons delicately wrought There are also good Cardavon delicate Furrs of Martins and chiefly Wild Cats whereof abundance runs about in these Countries There are also Jewellers that sell all manner of Jewels precious Stones Pearls c. All sorts of Handy-craft Tradesmen as Shoe-makers Taylors Sadlers Needle and Pin-makers Painters Goldsmiths Brasiers Locksmiths c. that have their Shops in the Batzars where they work but their work is chiefly that of the Goldsmiths Painters and Locksmiths is so silly that it is by no means to be compared with ours There are also Turners Fletchers that make Arrows and Darts and Bow-makers that have besides their Shops small Butts that any body that goes by may exercise himself or try his Bow before he buyeth it These Bows are sometimes plain Work and some inlaid with Ivory Buflers Horns c. which maketh them of a differing Price The Archers wear a Ring upon their right Thumbs as our Merchants wear their Seals wherewith they draw the String on when they are going to shoot these are made of Wood Horn or Silver and some are set with Precious Stones Besides these you find in great Batzars some Barbar-Surgeons which when they have no body to trim use to go about the Streets with their Instruments and a Flask of Lather to look out for Work if they find any that will be trimed they do not come back to their Shops but go to Work in the Streets or in the next Champ if any be near and there begin to Lather him and shave all the Hair of his Head save only one long Lock which he leaves to hang down his Back There are also places where they sell Slaves of both Sexes old and young which are sold dearer or cheaper according to their Strength or Handsomeness c. But in all these Countries I saw neither Wheel-wright nor Cart-wright because neither Waggons nor Carts are in use with them Neither could I find for all it is so great a City a Gunsmith that understood how to mend the least fault in a Gun-lock because there is a great Trade daily driven in these Batzars you shall find there at all times of the day a great number of People of several Nations walking up and down which makes a Crowd as if you were in a Fair. Amongst them you will often see drunken Turks which use to push People that do not give them the way immediately chiefly if they be Christians but the Christians are not afraid of them for all that but prepare themselves when they perceive some of them to approach among the People and stand upon their Guard to be even with them and when the Turks come and push them they make them rebound again to one side or to one of the Shop-boards Sometimes also the Turks will lean themselves backwards against the Shops and when they see a Christian go by they let him fall over their Legs and so laugh at them but then the Christians again when they perceive this they kick up the other Leg of the Turk whereon he rests and so make him fall down himself For it is usual with the Turks to try the Christians what Metal they are made of whether they have
Courage or no wherefore they oftentimes before they are aware of them assault the Christians with rough Words and if they find them to be affraid they laugh at them to boot but if they resist them they give over immediately as soon as they find them in earnest just like some Dogs that sooner bark then bite and esteem him afterwards the more for it and call them brave People that are fit for the War You find also in this Crowd several that are in Orders called Sacquatz which commonly are Pilgrims that have been at Mecha that go about with Skins full of Water and for Charity give to any nay even to the Christians that desire it because the Mahumetans are forbid to drink Wine in their Alcoran Wherefore you see many in their peculiar Habits moved thereunto by Devotion that go all day long among the People to exercise a Work of Love and Charity to those that are thirsty They have in one hand a fine gilded Cup whereinto they power the Water out of their Skins wherein they have commonly laid Chalcedonicks Jaspirs c. Sometimes also delicate tasted Fruit to keep the Water fresh and to recreate the People When they give you to Drink out of it they reach you also a Looking-glass with this Admonition That you shall look your self in it and remember that you are Mortal and must die For this Service they desire nothing of you but if you give them any thing they take it and thank you and spout into your Face and Beard to shew their thankfulness some fragrant Water which they have in Glasses in a great Pouch tip'd with many Brass Clasps The Turks and Arabians also esteem it to be a great Charity and Love if they let their Marble Troughs or great Pots that stand everywhere about their Doors be filled up with fresh Water every day that Travellers or any that are dry may quench their Thirst as they pass by in it hang little Kettles to drink out of If one goes to it others that see him go also and drink rather for Companies sake then to quench their Thirst So you find often a whole Multitude about a Pot. If you have a mind to eat something or to drink other Liquors there is commonly an open Shop near it where you sit down upon the Ground or Carpets and drink together Among the rest they have a very good Drink by them called Chaube Coffee that is almost as black as Ink and very good in illness chiefly that of the Stomach of this they drink in the Morning early in open places before every body without any fear or regard out of China Cups as hot as they can they put it often to their Lips but drink but little at a time and let it go round as they sit In this same Water they take a Fruit called Bunru which in its Bigness Shape and Colour is almost like unto a Bay-berry with two thin Shells surrounded which as they informed me are brought from the Indies but as these in themselves are and have within them two yellowish Grains in two distinct Cells and besides being they agree in their Virtue Figure Looks and Name with the Buncho of Avicen and Bancha of Rasis ad Almans exactly therefore I take them to be the same until I am better informed by the Learned This Liquor is very common among them wherefore there are a great many of them that sell it and others that sell the Berries everywhere in their Batzars They esteem it as highly as we do in our Country Wormwood Wine or that that is prepared with several Herbs and Drugs yet they love Wine better if their Law would allow them to drink it as we have seen in the Reign of the Emperour Selymo when he gave them leave to drink it that they met together daily in Drinking-houses and drunk to one another not only two or three Glasses of strong Wine not mixed with Water but four or five of such as came from Venice to them so quickly one after another with such eagerness as I have often seen it that they would not allow themselves to eat a Morcel or two between it and so as you may easily guess they become to be sordid presently and so Hoggish that they excel all other Nations in it But after Selymus was dead and his Son Amurath succeeded him in his right he immediately forbad them to drink Wine in the very beginning of his Reign and looked after it with such severity that any body that did but smell of Wine was Imprisoned immediately put out of his place and a great Fine put upon him according to his capacity or for want of it punished severely with many Blows under his Soals During this Prohibition it happened that when the Bashaw of Halepo had a mind to go abroad and met in the Court-yard one of his men that was Drunk and perceived it by his staggering he drew his Scimeter and cut off his Head and so left him dead upon the place But yet notwithstanding all this Severity and be it never so peremptorily forbid they do not only not mind such Prohibition chiefly the Renegadoes being very much used to it but long and linger the sooner after it with that eagerness that in the Summer time they use to carry in privately just like the Ants great quantities of Wine and lay up good Stores that they may meet at Night and drink together until they have their Bellies full and so rest after it all Night that they might not smell of Wine the next Day In that time when they were prohibited to drink Wine we Christians fared very well and bought our Wine very cheap until afterwards they had leave to drink it again Their Wines are generally red very good and pleasant they keep it in Skins they are brought to Halepo from several places but chiefly from a famous Town called Nisis which lieth two days Journey distant from it upon the Borders of Armenia The use of Skins is still very great with them as it was in former Ages as we may see by the similitude of Christ when in St. Matthew Chap. 9. Vers 17. he says No man put new wine into c. Seeing that the Christians have leave to drink Wine therefore they sell and buy most of it they also plant it and have whole Villages in their Possessions with abundance of Vineyards But the Turks not being allowed to drink Wine by their Laws do not keep or cultivate many Vineyards and if they do they press the Grapes after several ways for some they make into Cibebs chiefly these People that live in and about Damascus where indeed the best groweth others boyl the Juice of the Grapes up to the consistence of Honey which they call Pachmatz chiefly these that live at Andeb a Town between Bi r and Nisib They have two sorts of this rob one very thick and the other somewhat thinner the former is the best wherefore they put
and Villages and we could speak better with the People for they understood the Armenian Turkish or Arabian Languages which are generally used in these Countries So our Travels went on with great speed so that we reached on the 21st late the Town of Hochan where the Jews rested and kept their Sabbath Here we received the News that Solyman the Turkish Emperour was Deceased The 23d we got up early again and went the next way to Orpha another Town to which we had Five Days Journey From thence the nearer we came to the Mount Tauri which separateth Armenia from Mesopotamia towards the South the worse grew the Roads which we found very sufficiently the next Day for when we came further into the Mountains the ways were so full of Stones that we were hindered very much Going thus on after it had snowed a little which I have never seen but twice in these Countries it happened that one of the Jew's Horses which was empty was frightened at something and flung it self over and over The Jew hearing this noise looked back and seeing me stand by it he grew angry with me as if I had done it and began to handle his Bow and Arrows to shoot at me when I found him in earnest and remembred how I lost my Wine in the Ship when we went down the River I did not delay but went to hinder him took him by his Leg and flung him off his Horse before he could take his aim at me so we fell a boxing one another so long until at length I tripped up his Heels When the other two saw that we spoiled thus the Figure of the Snow and that I was too hard for him and had given him several hard blows they came immediately to separate us and to make Peace again between us I seeing that they did not come to wrong me and also considering that we were to Travel together still further took their Counsel and was friends with him again and so we went on in our way At Night we came to another Village again in a narrow Valley lying at the bottom of a great ascent near which we found a great Stable wherein we went this was quite cut into the Hill and so was that wherein we lodged the Night before so that you could see nothing of it but only the entrance for they are commonly so in these hilly Countries under Ground that the Caravans may safely rest there and defend themselves from Cold in the Winter This Stable being 25 Paces long and 20 broad and all through equally high was cut out of a Rock About midnight when we were in our first Sleep one of the Grand Signior's Chiaus or Chamber-Messengers knocked at the door of the Stable who was come back from Bagdet in Six Days to this place to look about for some fresh Horses because he had tired his own and could not have others by the way as in our Country where Posts are ordered So he went in took away from one Mockeri or Carrier three Pack-Horses and two more from the Jew that I had had Contention with before for these Messengers of the Chamber have great Privileges and in case of necessity where-ever they see Horses in City or Country they may take them leaving theirs in the room thereof They value one no more than another except Merchants and Strangers which they excuse before others to encourage Trade those that they come to must deliver up their Horses without any reluctancy except they have a mind to be soundly bang'd as one of our Friends was that did not open the Gates immediately or else to fare worse When this Chiaus believed he had got very good Horses he soon found his mistake for the Jew's Horses had galled Backs wherefore he let him have them again for a small recompence which was a Child's Coat made of delicate Indian Stuff When our Journey was thus stopt chiefly because of the Mockeri or Carrier until he could procure himself other Horses in the room thereof at least for that Day we rose the earlier the next Day and traversed several rough Mountains and went through narrow Vallies that Day until at Night we came to a Village inhabited by Armenians These are good-hearted Christians which have great Compassion on their Fellow-Christians and love to entertain and to be kind to Strangers which I have very often experienced but chiefly in this Village where one of the Armenians took me and the Jews into his House and would fain have kept us also the next Day Being at leisure I would fain have conferred and discoursed with him concerning our Christian Faith and so was he willing but being that we could not understand one another and the Jews were in this case by no means proper Interpreters we were forced to have patience by silence and to look at one another About that time they kept Lent which I could perceive by their small sort of Diet for they did eat nothing but leguminous Food and Bread and Water After he had set before us some boiled Eggs at Night and I being hungry fell on them not imagining that they kept such strictness and difference in their Diet he admired that I did not refuse to eat the Eggs and asked me by one of the Jews whether I did not know that it was not allowed to Chistians to eat Eggs and the like Victuals in Lent at this I would fain have answered him that it became Christians to keep Lent rather with Soberness and Abstinency than with Distinctions and Differences of Foods But I not understanding the Language only answered him briefly that our Lent was not yet begun nor would until three Weeks hence begin which did content him presently The 28th we went on our Journey again and came right among the high Mountains which were very rough and full of Bushes we got out of them before Night and lodged our selves in the next Village which lieth on an ascent in the Plain where we also stayed the next Day being the Sabbath By the way when the Jews were in fear of having their Horses taken away as was done some Days before they often gave them to me to lead them as if they were mine hoping to carry them off the easier so that although they were my Guides yet I was their Safeguard After we had past the great and rough Mountains and were come into a very fruitful Valley which extendeth it self for a small Day 's Journey to Orpha there appeared presently on each side several Villages and afterwards the Costly City against us with the Castle situated on the Hill very pleasantly Into this we got on the 30th at Night very early and went to lodge in the large and very well built Camp and stayed there for four Days This Town is very pleasant pretty big and with Fortifications well provided It was formerly together with the whole Country belonging to the Kings of Persia but now it is as well as the greatest part
it away upon a Stranger or else I have a Garden and God giveth me Flowers in it is it not reasonable that I should enjoy them rather than a Stranger c. they make use of a great many of these and the like Expressions They also keep a Yearly Feast with their Wives which then they change one with the other as they please Else they are not given to stealing killing or any such like Crimes because they want for nothing but if any be taken that hath thus transgressed he is executed immediately So they live in Peace together and care not for any other Monarch The End of the Second Part. THE THIRD PART OF Dr. Leonhart Rauwolff 's TRAVELS INTO THE Eastern Countries Wherein is chiefly Treated of the Land of Promise the City of Jerusalem and also of several Opinions Beliefs and Errors of the Turks and Christians CHAP. I. A Short Description of his Departure from Tripoli a Town of Phenicia in Syria and how he went from thence to Joppa AFter my Return to Tripoli when I found my self near to the Confines of Canaan the Land of Promise promised and given to the Israelites by the Lord of Zebaoth and considered that our long before promised Messias Lord and Saviour of the Gentiles was there according to the Prophecies of the Prophets born in Bethlehem of the Virgin Mary and by the Jews suffered the shameful Death of Crucifixion at Jerusalem on the Mount of Calvaria and afterwards was laid in the New Tomb of Joseph of Arimathea that was cut out of a Rock c. I found in me a great desire to see these and other the like holy Places Not that I thought still to find there Christ our Lord as the two young Men Peter and John and the three Maries did but to exercise my outward Senses in the Contemplation thereof that I might the more fervently consider with my inward ones his bitter Passion Death Resurrection and Ascension and to appropriate to my self and to apprehend the better and to make my own by Faith and firm Confidence Christ our Lord himself together with his Heavenly Gifts and Treasures as he has manifested himself in the Holy Scriptures wherefore I was fully resolved to look out for Fellow-Travellers to accompany me in this Journey before I returned home again I staid not long in quest of Company but quickly met with four Pilgrims that came out of the Low Countries that had the same intention there also came to us a Grecian Monk of the Order of the Carmelites whom I knew before when he lived with his Master that I cured of a very dangerous Distemper and desired to go in company with us So we agreed together and bespoke a small Turkish Vessel with eight Oars by them called Caramusala whereof there were many in the Harbour that wait constantly for Travellers Goods and Provision to be carried into the Neighbouring Towns and Provinces vix to Antiochia Caramania anciently called Cilicia Cyprus Baruthi Caramania or quite into Egypt We bought some Bisquets Cibets Eggs Cheese Pompions which the Arabians call Baticcas Margeropfel Oranges good Wine c. which we had occasion of for our Journey of which as much as would last us eight days for the Ship-Masters do not willingly land chiefly with Pilgrims because of the great Customs the Roguish Turks demand unjustly from us Christians every where until we arrive at our designed Stations After we had thus fitted our selves and got a good Wind we went aboard the Ship on the Seventh of September in the Year 1575 and put off and came before Night to the Point Capugio to the Village Aniffe anciently called Neuphrus which was in former Ages very well Fortified as still appeareth by some Remainders to this Day This Village is pretty big but every where open that one might easily take it with a handful of Men it is situated on the Foot of Mount Libanus which is very high there and reacheth unto the Sea It is chiefly inhabited by Maronites as are also many more Villages of this Mountain chiefly those that lie in Valleys towards Aleppo where I have inned many times when I went through it and was very kindly received they keep very good Wine by them which the Turks know very well and come there very often for it altho they are forbidden by the Laws of their Mahumetan Alcoran to satisfie their Desire These Maronites are Christians and speak the Arabian Language and have their Patriarchs which are first chosen by the People and then confirmed by the Pope After we had went on from thence very well all Night long all along the steep mountainous Shore and had made the utmost Point of the Promontory of Baruthi we saw in the morning a far off that famous Town lying behind it where formerly great Commerce has been drove well fortified with strong Towers towards the Sea and surrounded with fruitful Orchards and Vineyards In this and also in more adjacent Towns and Villages live a very War-like People called Trusci very nimble and expert in shooting with Guns and Bows and call themselves the posterity of the ancient French Men which took and possessed many years agon under Godfrid and Baldwin Jerusalem and all the Land of Promise They are still a Free People to this Day and not subject unto the Great Sultan as others are wherefore he hath many times attempted to bring them under his Yoak And in order thereunto he did send in the Year 1574 last past a great Army consisting of Two hundred thousand Horse and Foot to subdue them but what harm he did them I have already mentioned in the precedent part of this Journal They are very willing to accommodate and serve Outlandish Christians as Germans French Men and Italians whereof they make no Difference and to take them up into their Habitations and to shew them all Civility and Kindness nay and what is more to assist them according to their utmost Power against the Common Enemy of Christendom as we have formerly found indeed before Cyprus was taken by the Turks for after they were informed that some Italian Gallies were to arrive to make an Incursion into the adjacent Towns and Places chiefly to plunder Tripoli they raised Seven thousand Men very well armed to help them and to come to their Assistance some of which did then appear and shew themselves on the Frontiers but finding that their Gallies did not arrive they also returned home again and left their Design unaccomplished The Trusci have a Head called Ermin Macksur that is a judicious Man and a very experienced Soldier whom they acknowledge to be their Supreme Governour and are obedient to him he liveth in a Castle on the bottom of the Mountain not far from the Town we went by he taketh great pains chiefly now after the Turkish War and maketh great Provision to keep the Country in Peace and Security He also keepeth good Correspondence with the Neighbouring People chiefly the
a Voice spake to him from Heaven saying If thou chusest the Fatt with Wine thou and thy People shall perish if thou chusest the Fatt with Milk thou shalt also perish but if thou chusest the Fatt of Water thou and thy People shall be saved eternally These and many more insipid Lies of their Mahomet which are very ridiculous and silly Fables are believed to be as true as the Gospel by the Turks Moors and Arabians c. They also certainly believe chiefly these that live at Jerusalem as the Pilgrims know that on the last day their Mahomet is to come and seat himself on the Rock of the Temple of Mâ—ria and Christ on the other side of the Valley of Josaphat on the Mount of Olives over against him Then when all the People of the Earth shall appear before the Lord of Judicature he shall ask Mahomet who the rest are meaning the Christians that have been under the Yoak of the Turkish Emperor then shall Mahomet answer and say They are these that have served me faithfully whereupon Christ shall let them pass into Paradise and eternal Felicity which they believe to consist in gratifying Fleshly Lusts and Desires in Eating and Drinking Fine Cloaths costly Jewels Gold Silver Pearls pleasant Spring-Gardens beautiful and cleanly Women Therefore the Temple is so highly esteemed by the Turks and others of the same Faith and believed to be so holy that they go into it on their bare Feet with great Devotion and come twice a year thither in Pilgrimage in great Caravans from all places moved thereunto by the great Zeal they have towards their Mahomet but chiefly these Pilgrims that have been at Madina-Talnabi and Mecha that is Three Days Journey farther who return by the way of Jerusalem which is now by them caled Chutz to say also their Prayers there and are of opinion that if they should do otherwise than to come thither their Peregrination would not be acceptable to God Amongst these are a good many Renegado Christians that go with them to Mecha to get by their Devotion into greater preferment and Wealth wherefore they are esteemed by them as holy and creditable ones altho they are full of Knavery and Roguery as these that come from Mahomets own Blood they keep them very honorably and pray for them as their Victors and endue them with great great and peculiar Privileges so that their single Witness is as valueable as three four six ten of others according as they have been oftener in these places And that every body may know them they put upon their Turbans on their Heads their Mahomet's green Colours as those of their Priests do which esteem themselves to be his Relations which are only permitted as the Persians wear their red Colour to wear such Turbants Wherefore the Turks believe it to be a sin to cover those Members which Nature hath made secret with that Colour which their Prophet did bear on his Head When the before-mentioned Renegado Christians are come to this degree they are bought by every Body for Money to bear witness before the Cady or any other Turkish Magistrate and that even in Causes whereof they have not the least knowledge So it happens daily that those that give larger Bribes to the Magistrate and do exceed their Adversaries in number of Witnesses make their lost and foul cause good and of this they make no Conscience because their Alcoran teacheth them that God doth not impute to them perjury but only if they do not invoke him so that it is full Satisfaction if they feed ten poor ones for this Transgression or if they cloath them or if they redeem one prisoner but if they are not substantial enough to do this they fast for it three times This is of a very ill consequence because they are not afraid to be Perjured and to cheat others And although these and other the like Sins are very common amongst the Turks Viz. Robbing and to break their Faith c. which are directly against God yet for all that these because they have lost all remembrance of Confession Penitence or mending of their Lives exceed them in this by far Besides all this they do not let the Christians know who or what they are but rather study to their utmost Power to abuse and hurt them as often as they find an opportunity nay they would not spare their very Lives if they dare do it for fear of the Turkish Magistrates In this they are very like unto the Abyssins which in former Ages were subject unto the Soldans of Aegypt and did live on the south side of Mount Libanus which as Defenders and Protectors of their own Religion were set out before other Saracens to Murder and Kill clandestinly all those that did oppose their Mahometan Laws and Religion But after the Turkish Emperor did beat the Soldan and took his Dominions from him the Fury of these Assassinators was also soon quelled For the Great Turk doth not allow in any of his Provinces of Murthers as the Saracens did but punisheth them severely and keepeth very strict Laws that no Body may hurt the other which you may Conclude by this that if one doth but fetch Blood from the other in the least he is not only mulcted in one or two Ducats but sometimes in Forty Fifty Nay sometimes in a Hundred according to the Hainousness of the Crime and the Ability of the Offender and so he keepeth his Subjects in Peace and Quietness Besides these Pilgrims that go to Mecha there are many others in their great Caravans that rather like unto Pedlers endeavour to get thither with small Charges by the help of their Carvatscharas or Inns and Hospitals to make good Profit there by Buying and Selling then out of Devotion to wait on their Mahomet and amongst them there are also sometimes Christians but at their Arrival they must not Visit the Holy Places much less touch them Wherefore they buy before hand all sorts of Merchandises chiefly at Cayro from whence to Jerusalem it's ten days Journey to sell or swap them at Mecha and other places Which custom we need not think to be strange among the Turks seeing that a great many are found among the Roman Pilgrims that pretend to be good Christians that go Pilgrimages to Rome St. Jacob Jerusalem c. not only to get his Holinesses Absolution and Indulgences but rather to make goodâ— profit of Goods they buy for that purpose Or which is more they pass over their Estates during their Absence into the Hands of others to reap the Benefit thereof with this Condition that if they return home from these places where they Vowed to go they shall have them restored again with great profit Now as among all these Pilgrims chiefly these that have been oftnest at Mecha are by the Turks in greatest esteem and that Green Colour which only belongeth to the Priests to wear is the sooner allowed them whereby they may be known as
Liberty for a Sum of Money or else agree with him for a certain time and so make a Contract with him concerning their Liberty which commonly these do that intend to persevere in their Christian Religion or undertake to get something by their Handy-work that when the time is past or the Money paid the Justice may according to the Instrument before made by him at their Request declare him Free and give him a Pass to shew upon the Road that he may not be molested Other ways to get their Liberty there are but very few except their Master should happen to Dye which commonly in their last Will declare that their bought Servants after the opening of it shall have their Liberty Sometimes it happens that from others they buy false Letters which are soon found out in these Countries and so by the help of them get away Clandestinely But yet that but a few Slaves come from thence to us again the chief reason is not as many think Because the Turks press them to change their Religion for although they sometimes threaten them as they use to do or treat them somewhat more hardly than is usual in their Servitude as Christians also do very often but rather their Secure and Impenitent Life which they lead forgetting God and his holy Word to that degree that they know not how to give an Account of their Christian Faith and Religion nay what is more they know not the difference between these two Religions which are so vastly differing although they would if they did know it rather suffer Death than be seduced from the true Religion and precipitate the Soul together with the Body into Damnation When then the knowledge of the Truth is gone and Faith almost if not quite Extinguished so that there is but little hope left of their Salvation they daily forsake their Religion as fast as Worm-eaten Fruit falls from the Tree begin to think how to compensate their bodily suffering they may lay up and get Money by Robbing and Burning and so get Privileges to live according to their own Will and Pleasure like Beasts in daily Uncleanness and when they are harden'd in it they come at last to such a degree of Sottishness and Brutality that as St. Peter saith they believe the chief good of this World to consist in Voluptuousness wherein they perish at length and must expect the Wages of Unrighteousness with the rest When the Turks have Conquered one or more which they discern at first by their Fore-finger which these that have a mind to turn use to shew to them first as a Token by lifting of it up over their Heads chiefly in their Mosques they rejoyce in them mightily and are clearly of Opinion That this their Work is precious and good before God and that their Religion is confirmed and upheld by the assenting of many wherefore they soon meet together to confirm these Turn-coats with their usual Ceremonies and so to make them true Turks First they lay before them a Cross whereon they must trample three times spit upon it and repeat every time some words after them taken out of the Alcoran so the Christians that will be made Turks pronounce them after them When this is done three of them are ready with their Bows and shoot together up and give them before the Arrows fall down again Turkish Names Then if they be Men they set them up upon high Horses put them on their best Clothes and Dress them neatly and so lead them for two days together through all the Streets that every body may see them and know them to be such as do adhere to their Religion and so to be free to walk and deal among them without any hinderance If they are of an higher degree and of great Authority sometimes Ride along with them some Turkish Gentlemen of Quality in their best Dress accompanied by many Janizaries who fire here and there in the Streets for Joy but chiefly in those places where they spy Christians They have with them all sorts of Musical Instruments viz. The Drums great Drums and little Drums which they beat at that same time both above and below Hautboys and others They also carry in this their Procession long Streamers upon long Poles almost like unto them that we see in the Cross-walks in our Frieries and besides the Rabble that run before and behind make such a noise that one cannot hear the other When all this is over they Circumcise them at last on the third Day and then they reckon such an one to be a true Musulman that is A Circumcised one who hath leave to go to their Mosques without being hindered to buy their Books and Writings and to Read them which must not be sold to others that are not of their Religion upon pain of great punishment that they may not come into unclean hands or to be trod upon as Writings of no Worth Their Jewes whereof there are a great many among them and are called by them Choifut or Chifoutler excel ours in Cheating and Cozening by far and there is no doubt but they would oftentimes renounce their Religion to make profit But the Turks envy them more than we Christians they do not Trust them they reckon them not worthy to Eat with them as they do with us Christians nor Marry with them much less will they receive them as any thing related to their Religion except it be that before for some days they have frequented the Christian Churches and there are Baptized and have often Eaten Pork that unclean Meat that is also forbidden unto them When they have done thus they proceed with them after the same manner as is before said Concerning the Christians that live among the Turks as the Surians Armenians c. they have here and there in great Trading Cities their peculiar Streets which they Inhabit and they are commonly without in the Suburbs and thereabout also small and low Churches where they perform their Devotions When they begin to be decayed of Age or are burnt by Fire or destroyed in War time if they will have them built up again they must have leave first of the Turkish Magistrate and lay down a good Sum of Money which grants nothing except you grease them well The Turks to save Charges suffer no Bells nor Clocks neither in their own nor other Temples nor will they give leave to the Christians to Ring to Church with them so that all day long you neither hear a Bell Toll nor a Clock Strike Instead thereof the Turks have according to their Alcoran their Five Hours set which their Priests call out from the high Steeples and in the Exchanges with a loud Voice and with stopped Ears and cry Alla Haickbar that is God is true and then Leila hillalla Mahammet rasur alla each of them he repeats twice to call the people to their Devotions But the Christians have a Servant that at the Hours of Prayers and Sermon goeth
them all the Holy Places and keep them so long until they have seen every thing to their satisfaction and are willing to depart They are but very meanly Clothed like unto Poor Mendicants they live very privately and keep their concerns very close because of the Arabian Horse-men or Beduins that fall upon them daily and Ravage these Countries continually wherefore they are in great danger When they come you must at least give them Meat and Drink if not other Booty as I saw my own self at Bethlehem when I first arrived there that twelve Horse-men with Guns Arrows and Darts very well Armed came to the Gates of the Temple and they were forced to satisfie them before they would leave them and to give them good words besides So that they are not only sufficiently plagued by them but also by the Sangiachs and Cadis the Turkish Magistrates at Jerusalem who have continually their Eyes over them that are well to pass for Covetousness is so great with them that if they can but hear of one that hath Money they study Night and Day how if possible they can they may right or wrong make him punishable So they lately accused the Eastern Christians falsely and punished them in some hundred Ducats whereat the Bassaw of Damascus under whose Command Jerusalem is did wink in hopes to have a great snack out of it CHAP. XX. Of the Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem the Order of the Johannites HAving made mention of these I remember still an other Order that is The Johannites or Knights Templars of Jerusalem which did first begin in the Reign of Baldewin de Burgo the second of that Name and the third King of Jerusalem This Order is more Secular than Divine and therefore quite differing from all the rest for they need not to say Mass nor perform any other Devotion but when they have heard Mass and said so many Pater-Nosters and Ave-Maries they have sufficiently discharged their Office This Order was first Invented by His Holiness the Pope to that end and indued with many Priviledges that they might resist and oppose the Turks and that all Infidels and Hereticks might by them and their Adherents by force of Arms be driven and routed out of the Roman Empire And that he might promote this design of his more earnestly he took in those chiefly that were well Born and had great Revenues as Princes Counts and other Noblemen So it hath often happened formerly chiefly when Popery was in a flourishing condition that along with the Pilgrims that had a mind to see the Holy Places and to go to the Land of Promise many Persons of Quality came moved thereunto out of great Zeal together with them to see them also and to take upon them the Order of that Knighthood in the Sepulchre of our Lord Christ as the proper place for that purpose And besides that other considerations there were which moved them to it viz. The high Title and the Authority of the Place and great Priviledges whereby they hoped to be still preferred to greater Dignities Now as every one of them had laid before them to consider these Points and Articles which every one must promise and take an Oath to keep them strictly some great and potent Men found it so severe and hard as you may see by that that followeth that they were not only astonished at it but refused openly to take it upon them But what is laid before them that are made Knights and also what Ceremonies are used in it I thought convenient to mention here briefly If there be one or more of them ready for it that have at the instance of the Guardian according to the Ancient Custom been at Confession and also received the Sacrament sub una Specie under one Species on Mount Calvaria they are with great Ceremonies conducted from thence into the holy Sepulchre whither are also conveyed some other things that belong thereunto viz. A fine Book a Sword richly tipped with Gold with a red Velvet Girdle a Chain weighing about a hundred Hungarian Ducats whereon hangeth a Golden Cross of this Form and Shape a pair of Spurs with red Velvet Straps which are laid down one by another upon the Altar of the Sepulchre As soon as the Gentleman cometh into it they begin immedidiately to say Mass and after that they Sing without some Latin Psalms In the mean while the Gentleman lyeth down upon his Knees in the Sepulchre before the Guardian until the Friers have done Singing Then the Guardian bids all that stand about to say Our Father and an Ave-Mary on behalf of the Gentleman that is to be Knighted When this is done he admonisheth the Gentleman before he taketh the Oath to consider upon what condition he is admitted there When this is done he bids the standers by Pray for him once more and then admonisheth the Gentleman again and telleth him also That hereafter he must be in all things subject and obedient to the Roman Church That he must fight and resist the Turks and Lutherans as Enemies and Hereticks so long as his Blood and Heart is warm Then the Guardian asketh him further whether he doth receive all these Points as they are written word by word in that Book and ordered by his Holiness the Pope and subscribed by his own Hand and whether he will Swear by the holy Sepulchre to keep them Whereupon he consents to it presently and promiseth with great eagerness and joy to keep it with all his Heart and thanketh God that he hath made him worthy of this Blessing and for having made him capable of it After this the Monks begin again a long Song and then the Guardian taketh up the three Pieces the Chain Sword and Spurs and puts them on upon him and so adorneth him as beginning Knight At last he taketh also the Book and puts it before him and telleth him once more what he is about and what he is going to Swear When he hath understood it he kneeleth down again and puts out his two Fingers which the Guardian puts upon the red Cross in the Book and readeth to him the Oath the Contents whereof are these First That upon his Conscience he do Swear there to these following Words Not with a false Heart but that he doth confess out of Zeal with great eagerness and with a clean Heart and also Swear by Gods Omnipotence the See of Rome and his Holiness the Pope that he is a good Catholick Educated in that Religion from his Infancy to that present hour and that he never will go from it so long as he liveth but will always Defend and Protect the Roman Church against the Lutheran and their Adherents with Words and Deeds so long as his Heart is warm and that he will never be in a place where any evil is taught or spoke of his Holiness the Pope Secondly That he doth Swear by Gods Omnipotence and the Pope at Rome and the Cross
strange Origanum Tragoriganum Roman Mother of Time Spicanardi and a peculiar sort of Coniza c. At the foot of the Mount they shew us first a great Church between the Rivolet Cedron and the Valley of Josaphat which was so covered with Earth that you could see nothing of it but the Entry and before it without a large place three steps deep This Church was built by Helena Mother of Constantine the Emperor and called the Sepulchre of our Lady the Mother of God to go into it you must go down 44 steps Within it toward the right there is a small Chapel where they say our Lady was Buried and therefore by the Benevolence of the Pope there is distributed and given to the Pilgrims full forgiveness of all Transgressions and Punishments for ever Some are of Opinion That this Church did formerly stand even with the Ground and that after the Devastation of Jerusalem when part of the Valley of Josaphat was filled up it was covered thus over This Church stands as Nicephorus saith in his 8th Book and the 30th Chapter on that place where the Village Gethsemane stood whereby the Garden was whither our dear Lord Christ did just before his Passion go with his Eleven Disciples after he had Eaten the Paschal Lamb with them and given Thanks according to his usual Custom over the Rivolet of Cedron to regain us that which was formerly lost by our Ancestors in the Garden There he left his Eight Disciples while he went to Pray as the Scripture telleth us when he took with him Peter James and John the two Sons of Zebedeus and began to mourn to quake and to tremble and said to them My soul is sorrowful unto death stay here watch with me and pray that you enter not into temptation and he withdrew from them about a Stones cast where he kneeled down fell three times on his face and prayed to his Heavenly Father where he wrestled with Death and Sweat a bloody Sweat so that an Angel must come down from Heaven at last to Comfort him This place is underneath a great Rock that hangeth over a great Cave just at the Entry of the Valley of Josaphat This Valley is still where it cometh down from the Mount of Olives pretty deep and is called by the holy Prophet Joel the Valley of Judgment as you may read in his 3d Chapter 14 Verse which words of Joel give us to understand that the Lord as he was when he came first upon Earth in this Valley taken Prisoner Bound and carried away to the place of his bitter Suffering Crucifixion and Dying so he shall in his second and glorious coming appear in this Valley of Judgment again to Judge all people of the whole Earth c. that then the Impious shall see whom they have pierced Zacharias speaks also of it in the above-mentioned place As you go from thence to the Mount of Olives you see below towards your left hand near unto the Bridge of the River Cedron an old square Building like unto a Steeple This altho it is believed to this day not only by Christians but also by the Turks and Moors to be the Grave of Absalom as you shall see them fling Stones into it as they go by to revenge his Undutifulness shewn to his Father King David yet notwithstanding he was not Buried there as we read in the 2d Book of Samuel the 18th Chapter Vers 17. And they took Absalom and cast him into a great pit in the wood and laid a very great heap of stones upon him Yet for all this when Absalom was alive as you may farther read in the before-mention'd Chapter he erected a Column in the Kings Dale for he said I have no Son therefore this shall be for a remembrance of my Name and called this Pillar after his Name and it is still called to this day Absaloms Place Of this Pillar writes also Josephus in the 7th Book of his Antiquities and the 10th Chapter saying And Absalom did erect a Kingly Column of Marble in the Valley Genes chap. 14. it is called the Kings Valley that is two Furlongs from Jerusalem Just by this Pillar beginneth a very steep Foot-Path which parts a little above it into two one whereof goeth Southward at the bottom of the Mount of Olives towards Bethania and Jericho c. down through the Valley that is made by this and the other part of the Hill called Mashit in the 4th of the Kings Chap. 23. but the other goeth over the height of the Mount of Olives out by Bethania to the House of Mary and Martha A little higher on this Hill did our Saviour sit over against the Temple when he foretold his Disciples that shewed him the glorious Buildings thereof That not one Stone should remain upon another that should not be thrown down And did also tell them at length the terrible and prodigious Signs that should come to pass before the Desolation of Jerusalem and the end of the World To this day we still see into the Turkish Mosque with its large Paved Court-yard over the Walls thereof so perfectly that you may distinguish almost the Persons that walk there From thence when you go up to the Hill which is very steep and rough there is a large Plain from whence our dear Lord Jesus Christ was taken up and ascended into Heaven as you may see by the words of the Holy Evangelist St. Luke in his first Chapter of the Acts Verse 9. where he saith And he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight And Verse 12. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath-days journey On this place as Nicephorus mentioneth did Queen Helena also afterward Build a stately Church which now is so decayed that there is no more to be seen of it but a New built Chapel in a large Yard surrounded with a Wall Just by it on a Hill of the Mount towards the North and Galilea there is an old decayed Building which was formerly as my Guide informed me an Inn for the Galileans where commonly did take up those that went to Jerusalem from Galilea Wherefore they are of opinion that some of them were there in the time of Christ that also were Spectators of his Glorious Ascension as it doth appear by the Words of the two Angels that spoke to them and said You men of Galilea why stand you here gazing up into Heaven c. But if you duly consider these words you will find as you read it in the Second Chapter of the Acts Verse 7. that the Apostles themselves were these Galileans where it is written Behold are not all those which speak Galileans and how hear we every man in our own tongue c. So did also the holy Angels speak to the Apostles after the same manner and called them Galileans rather to bring them as Elders of the Christian Church off their worldly thoughts
did not give over all but did what we could for our safety seeing that we could not do what we would we stood together and pulled the Sail out again yet we did not all pull together for it was so dark that we could not see one another but when it lightened and in the place of the torn one we put up another new one for generally in such Ships they are provided with two Sails and also with two Masts and Rudders After the Seamen had put on the new Sail not without great labour difficulty and danger they fell down upon their knees and began to pray to their Intercessors and Patrons which every one chuseth for himself by their Names some to Peter other to St. Paul others to the holy Virgin Mary but chiefly and before all the rest to St. Nicholas who in the like imminent Dangers Necessities and Calamities hath oftenest before all the rest shewed himself by sundry Tokens according to their Opinion ready to assist and to help so that they might be sure of his help and so comfort themselves with a certain Deliverance After they had said their Prayers they let me understand that they had seen three burning Candles on the top of the Main Mast wherefore some of them for Joy vowed solemnly to go a Pilgrimage to certain Holy Places or else to give a certain Sum to one of their Churches This Tempestuous weather held on all the Night long and also for a great part of the next Day so that the Seamen Prayed three several times I cannot justly tell whether I was more astonished at their Prayers or at the Tempestuousness of the Sea but chiefly when I understood that they sought without Christ our true Saviour and Helper in this great danger to others and such that did not only know nothing of us as we may see by the words of Esai when he saith Abraham knoweth nothing of us and Israel doth not know us but that also if they had been still alive would have directed us themselves to the true and only Mediator Jesus Christ And so we read That the Virgin Mary her self did not know what was become of her Son until she found him sitting amongst the Teachers in the Temple of Jerusalem and also at the Wedding of Cana in Galilea she did direct the Servants that told her that they wanted Wine her self to her Son our Lord Christ that they might not look upon her any more when she saith to them What he bidâ— you so do Seeing then that the Saints will not receive such Honour that only belongs unto the Lord and on the contrary The Lord bids us come to him I turned from them all to Christ when our Ship was almost quite covered over with the Waves to awake the Lord as his Disciples did when he was asleep saying Lord help us or else we perish and with the Apostle St. Peter O Lord save and deliver us let us not sink down quite but draw us out from the depth of the Sea and preserve us graciously in this great danger This Tempest made our Seamen so distracted that they did hardly know whether and how far the Weather had drove us out of our way until we came quite about the Morea and saw the Island Zant formerly called Zacynthus This we left on our right and did go straight forwards to the next Island of Câ—phalonia This is about 250 Leagues distant from Candy and doth belong as well as Zant to the Venetians and had over against us a fine large and strong Port called Argostala before which it was 14 days before we arrived towards the left a Ship being under full Sail before a strong Wind and missing the Entry was Staved all in pieces Into this we got the Lord be thanked safe and remained there for some days to refresh our selves Just behind this Island is the Channel Viscardo wherein the Great Armada of the Christians did ride against the Turkish ones until at length it came to a Fight before it where the Christians obtained a Glorious Victory After we found our selves in a safer and quieter place than we were before and did hope quickly to get good Bread also instead of our old black and Worm-eaten Biskets which had been Loaden in Spain a great while agon wherewith we had made shift a good while some of us went the next morning into the next Village which was pretty large to buy some But we did miss of our aim very much for being that the Inhabitants continually and hourly feared that the Turks whose Armada was not far off would make a descent upon them therefore they conveyed all the Goods they had into the Castle that we could see lye very high beyond the great Harbour and had kept no more but what was necessary for their daily use so that no Provision at all was to be had or found And they had so little of Bread that we went about in the Village from House to House and could hardly get for Money as much Bread as would serve us for our Dinner But as for Wine they let us have what we would which was Red and very good which the Merchants knew very well wherefore they bought a considerable quantity thereof to carry to Venice and so did our Ships Master also We also found many small Grapes growing there on the Vines which as many as I saw of them are rather less and lower than ours in our Vineyards During this our tarrying our Pilot being Sick so that he was not able to direct the Ship any further according to the Compass our Master strove to get another and that the rather because the Adriatick Sea whereinto we expected to come daily is very dangerous because of its narrowness plenty of Islands and hidden Rocks to Navigate So we got a Greek and after the Weather began to be fairer we put out to Sea again But this did not continue long for when we came out a little out of the Harbor we had other Winds upon the Sea that were rather contrary to us and hindered us so very much in our Navigation that after many days we arrived only before the Fort of Corfu otherways called Corcyca which we could hardly see in that Misty and Foggy Weather not without great pains and labour This ill Weather with the contrary Winds lasted very long and encreased more and more the Wind continuing high so that we had almost been cast over into Apulia against our intention chiefly between Cataxo and Ragusa which Ptolomy called Epidaurus had we not quickly made the Island of Meleda So we spent our time in this Navigation not only in hard and contrary Winds with great pains and labour but were besides obliged to be above Deck because she was filled up with Goods all vvithin to the vveight of above Tvvelve Thousand Centners vvhere vve endured great Cold and must remain there in all the Rain and Storms After this we went into a small Channel between
upon their Poles as in the Heavens some rising and others setting some always above the Horizon and others always under in an oblique sphere and particularly what Stars would rise that night with us at such an hour the man seemed to be ravished with the curiosity of it turning this Globe also several times together with his Finger and taking a mighty pleasure in viewing the motion of it and yet this silly Animal pass'd for a Conjurer among the Turks and was look'd upon as one that could foretell the Events of Battels the fates of Empires and the end of the World They have no Genius for Sea-voyages and consequently are very raw and unexperienced in the Art of Navigation scarce venturing to sail out of sight of Land I speak of the natural Turks who trade either in the black Sea or some part of the Morea or between Constantinople and Alexandria and not of the Pyrates of Barbary who are for the most part Renegado's and learnt their Skill in Christendome which they exercise so much to the terrour and damage of it A Turkish Compass consists but of eight points the four Cardinal and four Collateral they being at a mighty loss how to sail by a side-wind when by hauling their Sails sharp they might lye their course and much more when they are in the Winds eye not knowing how to make tacks and bords but chuse rather to make haste into some neighbouring Port till the Wind blows fair An English and Turkish Vessel both bound for the Bay of Saloniki at the time of the Grand Signior's being there pass'd together out of the Hellespont but foul weather hapning the Turks got into Lemnos while our men kept at Sea and pursued their Voyage and after three weeks stay returned back to us observing in their way that the Turks remained in the same place where they left them for want of a fore-wind to put to Sea in They trouble not themselves with reading the Histories of other Nations or of ancient times much less with the study of Chronology without which History is very lame and imperfect which is the cause of those ridiculous and childish mistakes which pass current and uncontradicted among them For instance they make Job one of Solomon's Judges and Iscander Alexander the Great Captain-General of his Army They number Philip of Macedon among the Ancestors of our B. Saviour and believe that Sampson Jonas and St. George were his Contemporaries In this they are more excusable than their false Prophet Mahomet who in his Alcoran has perverted several Historical Notices in the Writings of the Old Testament and is guilty of vile and absurd Pseudo-chronisms To remedy this defect of which he was very conscious and the better to understand the state of Christendom and the particular Kingdoms and Republicks of it the late great and wise Vizier Achamet made his Interpreter Panagiotti a learned Greek at leisure hours even at the Siege of Candia as well as at other times read several ancient Histories to him and render them extempore into the Turkish Language and particularly Blaeus Atlas with which he was mightily pleased and made great use of and truly gained the reputation of a solid and judicious Statesman as well as Souldier among the Christian Ministers who in the ordinary course of their Negotiations applied themselves to him Tho' their year be according to the course of the Moon and so the Turkish months run round the civil year in a circle of thirty three years and a few odd days yet they celebrate the Neuruz which signifies in the Persian Tongue the New year the twenty first day of March on which day the Vernal Equinox was fixed by the Greeks and other Oriental Christians in the time of the Emperor Constantine who made no provision for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Procession which in process of time the inequality between the civil and astronomical year must necessarily produce at which time the Cadyes and other annual Magistrates and Farmers of the Customs take place and reckon to that day twelve month again In their civil deportment and behaviour one towards another the left hand is the more worthy and honourable place except among their Ecclesiasticks and the reason they alledge is because they write from the right hand and the Sword is worn on the left side and so is more at his disposal who walks on that hand The chief Vizier accordingly in the Divan sits at the left hand of the Mufti each maintaining their Right of Precedence according to this way of decision In their Moschs they sit without any distinction of degrees Some of the more zealous Turks cause to be engraven on their Cymeters and Bucklers a Sentence out of the sixty first Surat which is concerning Fighting or Battle-array and contains Encouragements to fight in the way and path of God as the Impostor words it for which he assures them besides assistance from Heaven to help them to get the Victory over their Enemies and that God will pardon their Sins and bring them to Paradice Thus spirited with zeal a Turk lays about him with fury when he is a fighting and seems ambitious of dying to gain the delights of Paradise at least indifferent whether he dyes or lives The Turks are as to their temper serious or rather enclining to morosity seldom laughing which is accounted an Argument of great vanity and lightness They perform the Exercises which they use in the way of diversion as Shooting and Hunting with a great deal of gravity as if they designed them more for Health than for Pleasure and this too but seldome The better and richer sort who have nothing to do sitting all day at home dolling upon a Sofa or rais'd place in their Rooms and taking Tobacco which their Slaves fill and light for them And if they retire in the Summer or Autumn for a week or fortnight to some convenient Fountain in a Wood with their Women it is chiefly to enjoy the Refreshments of the cool Air. In the times of Triumph indeed for some great Success obtained against the Christians when the Shops are open for three nights together and hung with Lights as well as the Spires of the Moschs in curious Figures they are guilty of extravagant Mirth running up and down the Streets in companies and sometimes singing and dancing after their rude way but this fit being over they soon return to their former melancholy In the Coffee-houses where they use to resort to tipple there is usually one hired by the Owners to read either an idle Book of Tales which they admire as Wit or filthy obscene Stories with which they seem wonderfully affected and pleased few of them being able to read These are the Schools which they frequent for their Information tho' in times of War when things went ill with them their Discourses would be of the ill Government and the Grand Signior himself and his chief Ministers could not escape their Censures