he that can slay most is of most Fame among them And if there be two men at strife and after be made friends then must they drink either others blood or else the accord is of no value From this Isle men go to another Isle that is call'd Tarkonet where all men are as Beasts for they are unreasonable and they dwell in Caves for they have not wit to make Houses these men eat Adders and speak not but make such noise as Beasts do one to another and they make no force of riches but of a Stone that is of forty colours and is called Trakonet and in that Isle they know not the vertue thereof but they covet it for the fairness CHAP. LXI Of the Isle named Macumeran Where the People have heads like Hounds FRom this Isle men go to another that is called Macumeran which is a great Isle and a fair and the men and women of that Country have Heads like Hounds they are reasonable and worship an Ox for their God they go all naked but a little cloth before their Privy Members they are good men to fight and they bear a great Target with which they cover all their body and a Spear in their hand And if they take any man in battel they send him to their King which is a great Lord and devout in his Faith for he hath about his neck on a Chain three hundred great Pearls and as the Papists say their Pater noster and other prayers so their King saith every day three hundred prayers to his God before he either eat or drink and he beareth also about his neck a Ruby Orient fine and good that is near a foot and five fingers long For when they chuse their King they give to him that Ruby to bear in his hand and then they lead him riding about the city and then ever after they are subject to him and therefore he beareth that Ruby alway about his neck for if he bear not the Ruby they would no longer hold him for their King The great Caane of Cathay hath much coveted this Ruby but he might never have it neither by war nor by other means And this King is a full true and vertuous man for men may go safely and surely through his land and bear all that they will for there is no man so hardy to let them And from thence men go to an Isle that is called Silo this Isle is more than an hundred mile about and therein be many Serpents which are great with yellow strikes and they have four feet with short legs and great claws some be five fadome of length and some of eight and some of ten and some more some less and they be called Crocodiles and there be also many wild Beasts and Elephants Also in this Isle and in many Isles thereabout are many wild Geese with two heads and there are also in that country white Lyons and many other strange beasts but if I should tell all it would be too long CHAP. LXII Of a great Island called Dodyn there are many men of evil condition THere is there another Isle called Dodyn and it is a great Isle In the same Isle are many and divers sorts of men who have evil manners for the Father eateth the Son and the Son the Father the Husband his Wife and the Wife her Husband And if it so be that the Father be sick or the Mother or any Friend the Son goes soon to the Priest of the Law and prayeth him that he will ask of the Idol if his Father shall die of that sickness or not And then the Priest and the Son kneel down before the Idol devoutly and ask him and he answereth to them and if he say that he shall live then they keep him well and if he say that he shall die then cometh the Priest with the Son or with the Wife or any that is a friend unto him that is sick and they lay their hands over his mouth to stop his breath and so they slay him and then they smite all the body into pieces and pray all his friends for to come and eat of him that is dead and they make a great Feast thereof and have many Ministrils there and eat him with great melody And so when they have eaten all the flesh then they take the bones and bury them all singing with great mirth and all those of his friends that where not there at the eating of him have great shame and reproof so that they shall nevermore be taken as friends CHAP. LXIII Of the Kingdom of Mancie which is a large Kingdom TO go from this Isle toward the East after many days journy a man shall come to a kingdom called Mancy and this is in great Inde and it is the most delectable and plentiful land in all the world In this land dwell Christians and Sarasins for it is a great land and therein are fair women and therefore some men call that land Albany for the white Folk and there is a city that is called Latorim and it is bigger than Paris and therein are two thousand great Cities and many other Towns In this land no man goeth a begging for there is no poor man and there men have Beards as it were Cats In this Isle are Birds twice greater than they be here and there is all manner of Viduals good cheap In this country are white Hens and they bear no Featters but Wool as sheep do in our land and woman of that country that are Wedded bear Crowns upon their heads that they may be known by it In this country they take a beast that is called a Loyre and they keep it to go into Waters and Rivers and straight way he bringeth forth of the Water great Fishes and thus they take Fish as much as them needeth From this city men go many days journey to another city called Cassay which is one of the fairest in the World for that city is near fifty mile about and there is in that city above xii principal gates without From thence within three miles is another great city and within this city are more than ten thousand Bridges and upon each Bridge is a strong Tower where the keepers dwell to keep it against the great Caane for it boundeth on his land and on each side of the city runneth a great River and there dwell Christians and other for it is a good and plenteous country and there groweth very good Wines In this city the King of Mancie was wont to dwell and there dwell yet Religious men And men go upon the River till they come to an Abbey of Monks a little from the city and in that Abbey is a great Garden and therein is sundry sorts of Trees of divers Fruits In that Garden are divers kinds of Beasts as Baboones Apes Marmozets and other and when the Covent have eaten a Monk taketh the remainder and beareth it into the Garden ringeth once with a
earth nor in water they thought that the body of Christ would have stunk therefore they made the piece that went from the Earth upwards of Cypress so that the smell of his Body should grieve no man that came by and that overtwart was made of Palm in signification of Victory and the Table wherein the Title was was made of Olive for it betokened peace as the Story of Noe witnesseth when the Dove brought the Branch of Olive it betokened peace made between God and Man And ye shall understand that the men that dwell beyond the Sea say that the piece of the Cross that was of Cypress was of the Tree that Adam eat the apple of for so they find written They say also that their Scripture saith that when Adam was sick he willed his Son Seth that he should go to Paradice and pray the Angel that kept Paradice that he would send him Oyl of the Tree of Mercy for to annoint him that he might have health and Seth went but the Angel would not let him come at the Gate but said unto him that he might not have of the Oyl of mercy but he gave him thrée kernels of the same Trée that his Father eat the Apple of and bad him as soon as his Father was dead that he should put those kernels under his tongue and bury him and he did so and of these three kernels sprang a tree and the Angel said when the trée bare fruit then should Adam be made whole And when Seth came again and found his Father dead he did with the kernels as the Angel commanded him of which came three trees whereof a Cross was made that bare good Fruit that is our Saviour Iesus Christ through whom Adam and all that came of him shall be delivered from everlasting death if it be not their own default This holy Cross had the Iews hid under the Earth in the Rock of the Mount Calvary and it lay there two hundred years and more as they say unto the time that St. Elene found it which St. Elene was the Daughter of Coel king of England and then was called Brittain and after married to Constantius first Consul and after Emperour of Rome who had by her issue Constantine the Great born in England and afterward Emperour of Rome which Constantine turned the name of Bizantium into Constantinople he reedified that City and made it the Monarchal Seat of all Europe and Asia minor Also the Cross was in length eight cubits and the piece that went overthwart was three cubits and ā half CHAP. II. Of the Islands of Greece At Constantinople is the Emperors Palace which is fair and richly built and therein is a place for Iusting made about with Stages that every man may well see without hindring of one another Vnder these Stages are vaulted Stables for the Emperors Horses and all the Pillars are of Marble Within the Church of St. Sophie an Emperor would have laid the body of his Father when he was dead and as they made the Grave they found a Body in the Earth and upon the Body lay a great Plate of fine Gold and thereupon was written in Hebrew Greek and Latin Letters these words Jesus Christus nascetur de Virgine Maria ego credo in eum that is Iesus Christ shall be born of the Virgin Mary and I believe in him And the date was that it lay in the Earth two hundred years before our Lord Iesus Christ was born and yet is that Plate in the Treasury of the Church and it is thought that Hermogenes the wise man writ it And although the men of that Country be Christians yet nevertheless they vary from our Faith for they say that the holy Ghost procéedeth not from the Son but from the Father only neither are they obedient to the Church of Rome nor to the Pope but they say that their Patriarchs have as much power there as the Pope hath at Rome And therefore Pope John the xxii sent Letters to them how that Christians should be all one and that they should be obedient to the Pope and among divers answers they sent him this for one Potentiam tuam summam circa subjectos tuos firmiter credimus Superbitatem tuam sustinere non possumus Avaritiam tuam satiare non intendimus Dominus tecum sit quia Dominus nobiscum est Vale. That is We believe well that thy power is great over thy Subjects We may not suffer thy pride We are not purposed to fulfill thy covetousness Our Lord be with thée for our Lord is with us Farewell Other answer might he not have of them And also they make their Sacrament of the Altar of tharf Bread because our Lord made it of tharf Bread when he made his Maundy and on Shrove-thursday make they their Bread in token of the Maundy and they dry it in the Sun and keep it all the year and give it to sick men And they make but one Vnction when they Christen children and they anoint no sick men also they say there is no purgatory and that souls shall have neither joy nor pain untill the day of Doom And they say that Fornication is no deadly sin but a kindly thing and that men and women should wed but once and whoso weddeth more than once their Children are Bastards and gotten in sin and their Priests also are Wedded and they say that Vsury or Simony is no deadly sin and they sell Benefices of the Church and so do men of other places but it is great pity for now Simony reigneth in the holy Church God amend it when his will is and they say that Lay-men should not sing Mass but on the Saturday and on the Sunday and they fast on the Saturday no time in the year unless it be Christmass or Easter-even And they suffer no man that is on this side the Greek sea to sing at their Altars and if it fall out that one do then they wash their Altar without tarrying with holy water and they say that there should be but one Mass said at one Altar in a day And they say that our Lord did never eat meat but he made a shew of eating And also they say that we sin deadly in shaving off our Beards for the Beard is a token of a man and a gift of our Lord and they say that we sin in eating Beasts that were forbidden in the old Law as Swine Hares and other Beasts And this they say that we sin in eating of Flesh on the day before Ashwednesday and in eating of Flesh on the Wednesday and when we eat Cheese or Eggs on the Friday and they curse all those that eat no flesh on the Saturday Also the Emperour of Constantinople maketh the Patriarchs Archbishops and Bishops and he giveth all the Dignities of Churches and depriveth them that are unworthy Although it be so that these touch not any way nevertheless they shall serve to shew a part of the Customs
the way of Nazareth to the Mount or Hill Tabor Chap. 36. Of the Sea of Galile Chap. 37. Of the Table whereon Christ eat after his Resurrection Cha. 38. Of strange manners and divers Chap. 39. For to turn again on the side of Galile Chap. 40. How a man may go the shortest Way to Hierusalem Chap. 41. Of other wayes for to go by Land unto Hierusalem Chap. 42. Yet of another way by Land toward the Land of Promise Chap. 43. Of the Faith of the Sarasins and of the Book of their Law named Alkaron Chap. 44. Yet it teacheth more of Mahomet Chap. 45. Of the Birth of Mahomet Chap. 46. Of divers Isles and manner of People and of marvellous Beasts Chap. 47. Of the Haven of Gene for to go by Sea into divers Countries Chap. 48. Of the Country of Job of the Kingdom of Chalde Chap. 49. Of the Kingdom of Amazonie where dwell none but Women Chap. 50. Of the Land of Ethiope Chap. 51. Of Inde the more and less of Diamonds and of their great vertues Chap. 52. Of divers Isles and Kingdoms which are in the land of Inde of people that are of yellow and green colour and of many strange things Chap. 53. Of the Kingdom of Mabaron Chap. 54. Of a great Country called Lamory where the people go all naked Chap. 55. Of the Country and Isle named Jaza which is a mighty Land Chap. 56. Of the Kingdom of Pathen or Salmas which is a goodly Chap. 57. Of the Kingdom of Talonach the King whereof hath many Wives Chap. 58. Of the Island called Raso where men are hanged so soon as they are sick Chap. 59. Of the Land of Melks wherein dwelleth evil people Chap. 60. Of the Island named Macumeran whereas the people have heads like Hounds Chap. 61. Of a great Island called Dodin where are many men of evil conditions Chap. 62. Of the Kingdom named Mancy the which is one of the best Kingdoms of the World Chap. 63. Of the Land of Pigmes the people whereof are but three spans long Chap. 64. Of the City Menk where a great Navy is kept Chap. 65. Of the Land named Cathay and of the great riches thereof Chap. 66. Of the great City named Cadon wherein is the great Caanes Palace Chap. 67. Wherefore the Emperour of Cathay is called the great Caane Chap. 68. How the great Caane was hid under a Tree and so escaped his enemies by a Bird. Chap. 69. Of the great Caanes Letters and writing about the Seal Chap. 70. Of the governance of the Country of the great Caane Chap. 71. Of the great Riches of the Emperour and of his Pedigree Chap. 72. Of the Ordinance of the Lords of the Emperour when he rideth from one Country to another to War Chap. 73. How the Empire of the great Caane is divided into twelve Provinces and how that they do cast Incense in the fire where the great Caane passeth through the Cities and Towns in worship of the Emperour Chap. 74. How the great Caane is the mightiest Lord of all the World Chap. 75. Yet of other manners of his Country Chap. 76. How the Emperour is brought into his grave when he is dead Chap. 77. When the Emperor is dead how they chuse and make another Chap. 78. What Countries and Kingdomes lie next the Land of Cathay and the fronts thereof Chap. 79. Of other wayes coming from Cathay toward the Greek Sea and of the Emperor of Persia. Chap. 80. Of the Land of Armony which is a good Land and of the Land of Middy Chap. 81. Of the Kingdom of Georgy and Abcan and many marvels Chap. 82. Of the Land of Turky and divers other Countries and of the Land of Mesopotamia Chap. 83. Of divers Countries Kingdoms Isles and other Marvels beyond the Land of Cathay Chap. 84. Of the Land of Bactry and of many Griffons and other Beasts Chap. 85. Of the way for to go to Prester Johns Land which is the Emperor of Inde Chap. 86. Of the Faith and Beliefe of Prester John but he hath not all the full Beliefe as we have Chap. 87. Of another Island which is called Synople wherein dwelleth good people Chap. 88. Of two other Isles the one is called Pitan wherein be little men that can eat no meat and in the other Isle the men are full of Feathers Chap. 89. Of a rich man in Prester Johns land named Catalonapes and of his Garden Chap. 90. Of a Marvellous Valley that is beside the River Pison Chap. 91. Of an Island wherein dwell people as great as Gyants of nine and twenty or thirty foot of length and of other things Chap. 92. Of Women which make great sorrow when as their Children be born and great joy when they die Chap. 93. Of an Island where men wed their own daughters and kinswomen Chap. 94. Of another Island wherein dwell good people true Chap 95. How King Alexander sent his men thither for to win the Land Chap. 96. How the Emperour Prester John when he goeth to Battel hath three Crosses of find Gold born before him Chap. 97. Of the most resident place of Prester John which is in a City called Suse Chap. 98. Of the Wilderness wherein groweth Trees of the Sun and the Moon Chap. 99. Of the great Island and Kingdom called Taprobane Chap. 100. Of two other Isles on is called Oriel and the other Argete wherein are many Gold Mines Chap. 101. Of the dark Country and Hills and Rocks of Stone nigh to Paradise Chap. 102. A little of Paradise Terrestre Chap. 103. How Prester Johns land lyeth foot against foot to England Chap. 104. Of the Kingdom of Ryboth Chap. 105. Of a rich man that is neither King Prince Duke nor Earl Chap. 106. How all the Islands Isles and Kingdoms before rehearsed have some of the Articles of our Faith Chap. 107. How Sir John Mandevile leaveth many marvels unwritten and the cause wherefore Chap. 108. What time Sir John Mandevile departed out of England Chap. 109. FINIS
shalt have much harm and he went and opened the Tomb and there flew out a Monster right hideous for to see the which Monster flew about the city and country and soon after the city and country sunk down From Rhodes to Cypress is five hundred miles and more but men may go to Cypress and not come to Rhodes Cypress is a good Isle and a great and there are many good cities There is an Archbishop at Nicholie and four other Bishops in the Land And at Famagost is one of the best Havens on the sea that is in the World and there dwell both Christians and Sarazins and men of all Nations In Cypress is the Hill of the holy cross and there is the cross of the good Thief Dismas as I said before and some think there is hall of the Cross of our Lord but it is not so and they do wrong that make men believe so In Cypress lyeth Saint Simeon for whom the men of the Country make great solemnity And in the castle of Amours lyeth the body of Saint Hillarion and they carefully keep it and near Famagost was Saint Bernard born CHAP. VI. Of the manner of hunting in Cypress IN Cypress men hunt with Pampeons that be like to Leopards and they hunt wild Beasts right well and they are somewhat bigger than Lyons and they take wild Beasts more quickly than Hounds In Cypress the custom is that Lords and other men eat upon the Earth for they make Ditches within the earth all about the Hall deep to the knée and they Pave them and when they will eat they go thereinto and sit there This they do to be more fresh for that Land is hotter than it is here But at great feasts and for Strangers they set Forms and Boards as they do in this country yet they had rather sit on the Earth From Cypress men may go by land or by sea to Hierusalem and in a day and a night he that hath a good wind may come to the haven of Tyre that now is called Sur for it is at the entrance of Sury There was sometimes a fair city of Christians but the Sarasins have destroyed the most part thereof and they kéep the haven very carefully for dread that they have of Christians Men might go right to that haven and not come to Cypress but they are glad to go to Cypress to rest them on the Land or else to buy things needful for their Voyage Vpon the sea-side are many Rubies found and there is the Well that holy Writ speaketh of fons hortorum puteus aquarum viventium that is the Well of Gardens and Ditch of waters living In this city of Tyre the woman said to our Lord Beatus venter qui te portavit ubera quae sugisti that is Blessed be the body that bare thée and the paps which gave thée suck And there our Lord forgave the woman of Canaan her sins and there also in that place was the Stone on which our Lord sat and preached and on the same Stone was founded the Church of St. Saviour Vpon the sea is the city of Saphen Sarop or Sidon and there was the dwelling of Jonas the Prophet and there by Elias the Prophet raised the Widows Son Five miles from Saphon is the city of Sidon of which city Dido that was Aeneas wife after the destruction of Troy was Quéen she founded the city of Carthage in Africk which now is called Didonâ—art And in the city of Tyre reigned Achilles the Father of Dido and a mile from Sidon is Beruth and from Beruth to Sardena is thrée days journey and from Sardena is five miles to Damasse CHAP. VII Of the Haven called Jaffe WHoso will go longer en the sea and come near to Hierusalem he must go from Cypress by sea to the Port called Iaffe for that is the next Haven to Hierusalem for from that Haven is but one days journey and a half to Hierusalem and that Haven is called Iaffe and the Town Affe after one of Noes Sons that was called Japhath who founded it but now it is called Iopa And ye shall understand that it is the oldest Town of the World for it was made before Noahs Floud and there be the bones of a Gyants side that be forty foot long CHAP. VIII Of the Haven of Tyre AND who arriveth at the first Haven of Tyre or of Sury beforesaid may go by Land if he will to Ierusalem and then he goeth to the city of Acon in one day that was called Tholomada and was before time inhabited by Christians It stands in the sea and is from Venice by sea two thousand and fourscore miles of Lumbardy and from Calabre or Cicil is to Acon one thousand three hundred miles of Lumbardy CHAP. IX Of the Hill Carme AND the Isle of Creet is right in the thid-way and beside the city of Acon toward the sea some eight hundred furlongs on the right hand towards the South is the Hill Carme where Elias the Prophet dwelt and there was the Order of Carmes first founded This Hill is neither great nor high and at the foot thereof hath formerly béen a Christian city called Caiaphas for Caiphas founded it but it is now wholly wasted At the West side of the Hill is a Town that men call Saffre and it is built upon another Hill There Saint James and Saint John were born in memory of whom is a fair Church built And from Tholomada now called Acon to a great Hill that men call Ekelt de Tyrees is an hundred furlongs and besides the City of Acon runneth a little River that men call Belion and there near is the Fosse of Minor all round that is an hundred cubits or shastments broad and it is all full of Gravel clear shining whereof men make clear white Glass and men come from far countries by ship and by land with carts to take of the gravel and if there be never so much taken thereof one day on the morrow it is as full again as ever it was which is as great marvel and there is always a wind in the Iosse that stirs up the gravel And if a man put therein in any metal as soon as it is therein it wareth glass the glass that is made of this gravel if it be put into gravel turneth again into gravel as it was before Some say it is a gulf of the sea of gravel CHAP. X. How sampson slew the King and his Enemies ALso from Acon before-said men go thrée days journey to the city of Philistin that now is called Gaza which is a rich city fair and full of folk and it is a little from the sea and from that city brought the strong Sampson the gates of the city to an high Hill and was taken in the said City and there he slew the King in his seat and many thousand more with him for he made an house to fall on them From thence men go to the City of Cesarien and
may no more travel or work not because it is forbidden but they keep them for tilling their Land In this city of Bethlehem was King David born he was King of the Land of the Iews and reigned in Herusalem and had forty Wives and thrée hundred Concubines And at Bethlehem towards the South side is a Church of Saint Markoret that was Abbot there for whom they had much sorrow when he died and it was shewed there how he made lamentation when he died and it is a pitious thing to behold From Bethlehem to Hierusalem is two miles and in the way to Hierusalem half a mile from Bethlehem is the Church where the Angel told the Shepheards of the Birth of Christ. In that way is the Tomb of Rachel that was Mother to Joseph the Patriarch who died as soon as Benjamin was born and there she was buried and Jacob her Husband set twelve great stones upon her In this way to Hierusalem are many Christian Churches by the which men go CHAP. XIX Of the City Jerusalem FOR to speak of Hierusalem ye shall understand that it standeth fair among Hills and there is neither River nor Well but water cometh by Conduit from Ebron Also ye shall understand that at first it was called Jebus and since it was called Salem unto the time of David who called it Hierusalem and so it is called yet And about Hierusalem is the Kingdom of Sury and thereby is the land of Palestine and Askalon but Hierusalem is in the land of Iuda and it is called Judah for Judas Machabeus was King of that Land and it bordereth also upon the Kingdom of Arabia on the South side on the West side on the great sea on the North side on the Kingdom of Sury and the sea of Cypress About Hierusalem are these Cities Ebron at eight miles Jericho at six miles Barsabe at eight miles Askalon eighteen miles Jaff at twenty and fine miles Ramatha at four miles This Land of Hierusalem hath been in the hands of divers Nations as Jews Canaanites Assyrians Persians Macedonians Greeks Romans Christians Sarasins Barbarians Turks and many others For Christ will not suffer lend sinners long to possess it be they Christians or others And now hath that Land béen holden by Infidels an hundred years and more but God grant they may not hold it long CHAP. XX. Yet of this holy City Jerusalem AND ye shall understand that when men first come to Jerusalem they go first on Pilgrimage to the Church where the holy Grave is the which was out of the City on the North side but it is now closed in with the wall of the Town And there is a fair Church round all flat above and well covered with Lead and on the West side is a fair and strong tower for Bells and in the midst of the Church is a Tabernacle made like a little House in manner of a half Compass very richly trimmed with Gold Azure and other colours In the right side is the Sepulchre of our Lord Christ and the Tabernacle is eight foot long five foot wide and eleven foot high And it is not long since the Sepulchre was all open so that any man might then touch it but because the folks that came thither spoiled and brake the stones all in pieces therefore hath the Soldan made a Wall about the Sepulchre that no man may touch it In the left side is a window wherein are many Lamps lighted and there hangeth a Lamp burning before the Sepulchre which they say on Good Friday goeth out by it self and lighteth again by it self at the hour that our Lord rose from death to life And within that Church upon the right side of Mount Calvary where our Lord was Crucified the Cross was set in a Morteis in the Rock that is white of colour and mingled with a little red and upon that Rock dropped the blood of the wounds of our Lord when he was nailed on the Cross and that is called Golgatha and men go up to that Golgatha upon steps and in that Morteis was Adams Head found after Noahs Flood in token that the sin of Adam should be redéemed in the same place and upon that Rock Abraham offered sacrifice to our Lord and there is an Altar and before that Altar lyeth Godfrey of Bouloign Baldwin and others that were Christians and Kings of Jerusalem Likewise where our Lord was crucified it is written Hic Deus Rex noster ante saecula operatus est salutem in medio terrae that is This God our King before Worlds hath wrought health in the midst of the Church Vpon this Rock also where the Cross was fixed is written within the Rock Quod vides est fundamenta totius mundi hujus fidei that is That theu séest is the ground of all the World and of this Faith Ye shall understand also that when our Lord died he was two and thirty years old and thrée Months yet the prophesie of David saith that he should live forty years when he saith thus Quadraginta annis proximis sui generationi huic that is Forty years was I neighbour to this Generation and thus it should seem that Prophesie is not true but it is For in old time men counted but ten Moneths to a year of which March was the first and Dâ—â—â—mber the last but Gaius Caesar that was Emperour of Rome added to these two Months more January and February and ordained the year of twelve Months that is thrée hundred sixty five days without Leap-year the proper course of the Sun and therefore after the accounting of ten Moneths to the Year he died in the fortieth year and after our years of twelve Moneths it is thirty two years and thrée Months Also within Mount Calvary at the right side there is an Altar where the Pillar lyeth that our Lord was bound to when he was scourged and thereby are thrée other Pillars that always drop water and some say that those Pillars wéep for our Lords Death And near this Altar in a place forty steps déep was found the very Cross by the knowledge of St. Elene under a Rock where the Iews had hid it And they found thrée Crosses one of our Lord and two of the Théeves These Crosses St. Elene tryed upon a dead Body that did rise as soon as the very Cross of our Lord was laid upon him and thereby is the Vale of the place where the four Nailes of our Lord were hid for he had two in his hands and two in his féet and with one of those Nailes the Emperour of Constantinople did make a Bridle for his Horse to bear him in Fattel by the vertue whereof he overcame his Enemies and won all the Land of Asia Turkey Damasse the more and the less Sury Hierusalem Arabia Persia and Mesopotamia the Kingdoms of Asape Egypt the high and 〈◊〉 with many other Kingdoms even almost all unto Indie the less that then were Christened and there were at that
time many good men and holy Hermits of whom the Book of the Fathers Lives make mention but now they are inhabited by Painims and Sarasins yet when it pleaseth God as these Lands were lost through the sin of Christians so through the help of God by Christians they shall be won again In the middest of this Church is a Tomb in the which Joseph of Aramathea laid the Body of our Lord when he had taken him off the Cross and upon the same place did he wash the féet of our Lord and that place men say is the middest of the world CHAP. XXXI Of the Church of the holy Sepulchre WIthin that Church by the Sepulchre on the North side is the place where our Lord was Imprisoned and there is a part of the Chain with the which he was bound and there he appeared first to Mary Magdalen when he was risen from death and she thought he had béen a Gardiner In the Church of the Sepulchre was wont to be the Canons of Saint Bâ—nnet and they had a Priory and the Patriarch was their Soveraign and without the doors of the Church on the right side as men go up eightéen steps our Lord said to his Mother Mulier Ecce filius tuus that is Woman behold thy Son Deinde dixit Discipulo Ecce mater tua that is Then afterward he said to his Disciple Behold thy Mother And these words he said when he hanged upon the Cross. And upon these steps went our Lord when he bare the Cross upon his Shoulder and under these stayers is a Chappel where the Priests sing And near there is the stone where our Lord rested him when he was weary with bearing of the Cross. And ye shall understand that before the Church of the Sepulchre is a most strong city and the great plain that is betwéen the city and the Church on the East side without the Walls of the city is the Vale of Josaphat that cometh even to the Walls In this Vale of Josaphat without the city is the Church of St. Stephen where he was stoned to death and thereby is a gate builded that may not be opened Through this gate our Lord entred on Palm Sunday upon an Ass and the gate opened unto him when he would go to the Temple and in full hard stones there are three steps like the steps of an Ass which the people say are the steps of the Ass that our Lord did ride on Before the Church of the Sepulchre two hundred paces is a great Hospital of St. John in the which Hospital are fifty four Pillars made of Stone And to go toward the East from the Hospital is a right fair Church that men call our Lady the Great and then is there another Church by that that men call our Lady of the Latin and there it was that Mary Cleophe and Mary Magdalen rent their Hair when our Lord was put to death CHAP. XXII Of the Temple of God AND from the Church of the Sepulchre toward the East at seventeen paces is Templum Domini that is a fair House and it is all round and right high and covered with Lead and it is well Paved with white Marble but the Sarasins will suffer no Christians nor Jews to come therein for they say that such sinful men should not come into that holy place but I was suffered to go in and into other places where I would for I had letters of the Soldan with his great seal and commonly other men have but of his signet and men bear his letter with his seal before them hanging on a spear and men do great worship thereto and they kneel to it and adore it as if it were a God also those men to whom it is sent before they take it do bow thereto and they take it and lay it upon their heads and afterward they kiss it and then they read it all bowing with great worship and then they prosser them to do all that the Bringer will And in this Templum Domini were wont to be Canons Regulars and they had an Abbot to whom they were obedient In this Temple was Charlemain when the Angel brought him the Prepcio of our Lord when he was circumcised and alter King Charles brought it to Acon into our Ladies Chappel CHAP. XXIII Yet of the Temple of God AND ye shall understand that this is not the Temple that Solomon made for that Temple lasted but one thousand one hundred and two years For Titus Vespasian his Son that was Emperour of Rome laid siege against Hierusalem for to discomfit the Jews because they had put Christ to death without leave of the Emperour When he had taken the City he burnt the Temple and cast it down and took all the Iews and put to death eleven hundred thousand and the rest he imprisoned and sold thirty for a penny for he said that they bought Iesus Christ for thirty pence And since Julian Aposlata gave leave to the Iews to build the Temple of Hierusalem again but he forsook his Law And when the Iews had builded again the Temple then came the Earthquake as God would and cast down all that they had made Since that Adrian the Emperour who was of Troy made Hierusalem again and the Temple in that same manner that Solomon made it and commanded that no Iew should dwell there but Christians for although he himself was not a Christian yet he loved the Christians more than other men save men of his own faith This Emperour did also enclose and wall the Church of the holy Sepulchre within the City that before was far without the City and he would have changed the name of Hierusalem and called it Helam but that name lasted not long And ye shall understand that the Sarasins do worship in that Temple and they say that place is holy and when they go in They go barefoot and before I and my Fellows came herein we put off our Harness and came barefoot into the Temple and thought that we ought to do as much or more than they that were Infidels And this Temple is thréescore and thrée cubits in wideness and as much in length and thirty two cubits in height and covered with lead and it is within full of Pillars of Marble And in the middest of the Temple is an Altar of twenty and four steps of height This place the Jews called Sanctus Sanctorum that is Holy of Holyest and in that place cometh none but their Prelate that maketh their Sacrifice and the people sit all about in divers seats as they are in dignity and there be four Entrings into the Temple and the doors are of Cypress and within the East door our Lord said Here is Ierusalem And on the North side within the door is a Fountain and it runneth out of the which holy Writ speaketh and saith Vidiaquam egredientem de Templo I saw water coming out of the Temple And upon the other side is a Rock that men called
Israel and kept them from the peril of death therefore she had a good reward as Holy Writ saith Quicunque accipit prophetam in nomine meo mercedem Prophetae c. that is he that receiveth a Prophet in my name he shall receive the reward of a Prophet CHAP. XXX Of the holy places between Bethany and the River Jordan and other things ALso from Bethany men go to the River of Jordan through the Wilderness and it is near a daies journey betwéen Toward the East is a great Hill where our Lord fasted forty daies upon this Hill was Christ tempted of the Devil when he said to him Command that these stones be made Bread and there is an Hermitage where dwelleth certain Christians called Georgians for S. George converted them and upon that Hill dwelled Abraham a great while and as men go to Jericho sate the sick men crying Jesu fili David miserere nobis that is Iesus the Son of David have mercy upon us And two miles from Jericho is the River Jordan And ye shall understand that the Dead Sea parteth the Land of Juda and Araby and the water of that Sea is bitter and it casteth out a thing that men call Aspatam as great pieces as an Horse and Hierusalem is two hundred furlongs from the Sea and it is called the Dead Sea because it runneth not neither may any Man or Beast live therein and that hath béen proved many times for they have cast there in men that were judged to death nor no man may drink of the water and if men cast Iron therein it cometh up again but if a man cast a Feather therein it sinketh which is against kind And thereabout grow Trées that bear fruit of fair colour and séem ripe but when a man breaketh or cutteth them he findeth nought in them but coals and ashes in token that through the vengeance of God those Cities were burnt with the Fire of Hell And some men call that Lake the Lake of Asphaltid and some call it the Pool of the Devil and some call it the stinking Pool for the water thereof stinketh There sank those five Cities through the wrath of God that is Sodom Gomor Aldema Sabome Segor for the sin of Sodomy that reigned in them but Segor through the prayer of Lot was saved a great while for it stood upon a Hill and yet appeareth much thereof above the water and men may sée the walls in clear weather and in this city of Segor Lot was made drink by his Daughters and lay with them for they thought that God would have destroyed all the World as he did with Noes Floud and therefore they lay by their Father that men might born of them into the World and at the right side of the sea standeth Lots Wife in a Pillar of Salt because she looked back when the City sank down CHAP. XXXI Of Abraham and his Generation ANd ye shall understand that Lot was Harans Son Abrahams Brother and Sara Abrahams Wife was Lots Sister and Sara was ninety years old when she bare Isaac and Abraham had another Son named Ishmael that he had gotten of his Maiden Hagar and he was fourtéen years of age when Isaac was born and when Isaac was eight daies old he was circumcised and his other son Ishmael was circumcised the same day and was fourtéen years of age therefore the Sarasins that be of the Generation of Ishmael do circumcise them at fourtéen years of age and the Jews that be of the Generation of Isaac do circumcise them the eighth day of their age And into that dead sea aforesaid runneth the River Jordan and maketh there an end and this is within a mile of Saint Johns Church and a little beneath that same Church westward were the Christians wont to bathe them and a mile thence is the River Loth through which Jacob went when he came to Mesopotamia CHAP. XXXII Of the River Jordan THis River Jordan is no great nor no deep River but there is much good Fish therein and there cometh from Mount Lybany two Wells that men call Jor and Dan and of them it saketh the Name and upon the one side of that River is Mount Gelboe and there is a fair Plain And on the other side men go by Mount Lybany to the Desart of Pharaon Those Hills part the Kingdom of Sury and the Country of Phenice On that Hill grow Cedars that bear long Apples which are as much as a mans head This River Jordan divideth Galile and the land of Idumia and the land of Betron and it runneth into a Plain that men call Meldam in the Sarasins Language and in English Fair because oft-imes there be kept great Fayrs and in that Plain is the Tomb of holy Job In this River Jordan our Lord was baptized and there was the Voice of the Father heard saying Hic est filius meus dilectus in quo acquiesco ipsum audita that is This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear him And the Holy Ghost descended on him in likeness of a Dove and so was there at his Baptism all the Trinity And through the River Jordan passed the Children of Israel on dry foot and set up stones in the midst of the water in token of that Miracle And also in that River Naaman the Assyrian bathed him who was Leprous and he was made whole And a little from thence is the city of Ay the which Joshua assailed and took And about the River Jordan are many Churches where Christians dwell Also by the River Jordan is the Vale of Mambre which is a fair Vale and plenteous CHAP. XXXIII Of many other Miracles ANd ye shall further understand that as we go from the Red-sea to pass forward to the land of Promise is a very strong Castle that men call Carran or Sermoyes that is the Kings Hill This Castle did the King of France make whose name was Bawdewin who conquered all the land and put it into the hands of Christians to kéep and under that Castle is a fair Town that is called Sabaoth and thereabout dwell many Christians under Tribute Then men go to Nazareth of the which our Lord had his Name and from Nazareth unto Jerusalem is thrée daies journey Also men go through the Province of Galile through Romatha through Sophyn and over the high Hill of Effrain where dwelt Hanna that was the Prophet Samuels Mother and there was he born and after his death was buried at Mount Joy as I have said before And after men come to Sybula where the Ark of God was kept under Helie the Prophet And there made the people of Israel their Sacrifice unto the Lord and there spake our Lord first to Samuel There also ministred God the Sacrament Néer thereby at the right side is Gabaon Rama and Benjamin of the which holy Writ speaketh After that men come to Sychem that some men call Sychar and that is in the Province of the Samaritans
and sometime there was a Church but it is all wasted and it is a fair Vale and plenteous and there is a good City that men call Neople and so from thence it is a daies journey unto Hierusalem and there is the Well where our Lord spoke to the woman of Samaria and Sychem is ten miles from Hierusalem and it is called Neople that is the new Town and there is the Temple of Joseph Jacobs Son that governed Egypt from thence were his bones brought and laid in the Tomb and thither came Iews often in Pilgrimage with great Devotion and in that City was Dinah Jacobs Daughter ravished for whom her Brethren slew many men and thereby is the City of Corasin where the Samaritans make their Sacrifice CHAP. XXXIV Of the Samaritans FRom Sabasten or Samary to Hierusalem is twelve miles and among the Hills of this country is a Well that men call Fons Jacob that is Jacobs Well that changeth his colour four times in a year for sometime it is red sometime cléer sometime gréen and sometime thick and the men that dwell there are called Samaritans and they were converted by the Apostles yet their Law varieth from the Law of Christians as also from Iews and Painims They believe well in one God that shall judge all and believe the Bible after the Letter and they lay their heads in red linnen cloth that they may be known from others for Sarasins wrap their heads in White cloth the Christians that dwell there in Blew and the Iews in Yellow and in this country dwell many Iews paying Tribute as Christians do And if ye will know the Letters of the Iews they are these following and are thus called Aleph beth gimel daleth he vau zain heth teth jod caph lamed mem nun samech ain pe zade koph resh schin tau CHAP. XXXV Of Galile FRom this Country that I have spoken of men go to the Plain of Galile and leave the Hill on the one side for Galile is a Province of the land of Promise and in that Province is the City of Naim of Capernaum and Bethsaida where Saint Peter and Saint Andrew were born Some men say that Antichrist should be born at Corasim and nourished at Bethsaida but he shall reign at Corasim therefore saith holy Writ Vae tibi Corasim Vae tibi Bethsaida that is Wo be to thée Corasim wo be to thée Bethsaida But others say he shall be born in Babylon therefore said the Prophet De Babylonia Coluber exit qui totum mundum devorabit that is Out of Babylon shall come a Serpent that shall devour all the World Cana a chief City of Galile is four miles from Nazareth of which City was the woman of Canaan of whom the Gospel speaketh and there our Lord did his first Miracle when at the Marriage of the Architriâ—line he turned water into wine From thence men go to Nazareth which hath béen a great City but now there is but a little Town and that unwalled There was our Lady born and of this City our Lord took his Name At Nazareth also Joseph took our Lady to wife when she was fourtéen years of age There the Angel saluted her saying Ave gratia plena Dominus tecum that is Hail full of grace the Lord is with thée And there was sometime a great Church but now there is but a little Room to receive the offerings of Pilgrims There is the Well of Gabriel where our Lord was wont to bath him when he was little At Nazareth was our Lord nourished and Nazareth is called the flower of Gardens and it may well be so called for there was nourished the Flower of Life even our Lord Iesus Christ. About half a mile from Nazareth is the bloud of our Lord for the Iews led him upon a high Rock to cast him down and slay him but Iesus escaped them and leapt to another Rock where steps be yet séen which they say are the steps of our Lord therefore some when they are in danger of Thieves or Enemies say thus Jesus autem transiens per medium illorum ibat and they say these Verses of the Psalter thrée times Irruat super eos formido pavor in magnitudine brachii Domine fiant immobiles quasi lapis donec pertranseat populus tuus Domine populus iste quem redimisti And so when this is said a man may go without any letting Ye shall understand and know that our blessed Lady bare her Child when she was fiftéen years of age and she lived with him thirty thrée years and thrée Months and after his Passion she lived two and twenty years CHAP. XXXVI The way from Nazareth to the Mount or Hill of Tabor ANd from Nazareth the Mount Tabor is thrée miles and there our Lord was transfigured before Saint Peter Saint John and Saint James And there they saw spiritually our Lord Moses and Elias the Prophet For which cause Saint Peter said bonum est nobis hic esse c. that is It is good for us to be here let us make thrée Tabernacles And our Lord Iesus Christ bade them that they should tell no man until the time that he was risen from death to life From Mount Tabor a mile distance is Mount Hermon and there was the City of Naim before the gates of this City our Lord raised the Son of the Widow that had no more Children CHAP. XXVII Of the Sea of Galile ANd from thence men go to a City that is called Tiberias that butteth on the Sea of Galile and though it be called the Sea of Galile it is no Sea nor arm of the Sea for it is but a stream of fresh water and it is more then a hundred furlongs long and fifty broad and therein are many good Fishes and by that same sea stand many good Cities therefore this Sea changeth often his name after the Cities that stand thereupon but it is all one water or sea and upon this sea our Lord walked and said to Peter when he came on the water and was near drowned O exigua fide predite quid qubitasti that is O thou of little faith why didst thou doubt CHAP. XXXVIII Of the Table whereon Christ eat after his Resurrection IN this City of Tiberias is the Table that Christ eat on with his Disciples after his Resurrection and they knew him by breaking of bread as holy Writ saith Et cognoverunt eum in fractione panis that is they knew him in breaking of bread And about the Hill of Tiberias is a city where our Lord fed five thousand people with five Barley Loaves and two Fishes In that city also did men cast in anger a firebrand or burning stick after our Lord but that same burning stick did fall on the Earth and people say out of the same stick grew presently a Tree which is waxen a big Tree and there groweth yet and the seales of the Tree be all black Ye shall understand that the Riber Jordan beginneth
under the Hill of Lybany and there beginneth the land of Promise and it lasteth unto Bersebe of length and from the North part to the South is ninescore mile and of breadth from Jericho to Jaffe it is forty mile And ye shall understand that the Land of Promise beginneth at the Kingdom of Sury and lasteth unto the Wilderness of Araby CHAP. XXXIX Of strange Manners and divers For there is a manner of sin that is grievouser to one man then it is to another and therefore it is needfull that a man know and understand the kind of sin And there be also other men that are called Surreyens and they hold half our Faith and half the Faith of the Greeks and they have long Beards as the Greeks have CHAP. XL. For to return again on this side Galile NOw seeing I have told you of many manners of men that dwell in the Countres aforesaid now will I return again to my way for he that will turn from the Land of Galile that I spake of to come on this side he must go through Damas or Damascus that is a fair City and full of good Merchandizes and it is three days journey from the Sea and five from Hierusalem they carry their Merchandizes upon Camels Mules Horses Dromedaries and other manner of Beasts This City of Damas was founded by Helizeus Abrahams servant who before Isaac was born should have been his Heir and there he named that City Damas. And in that place Cain slew his Brother Abel and beside Damas is the Mount of Syer in this City be many Physicians and that holy man Saint Paul was a Physician there to heal mens bodies before he was converted and after he was a Physician of Souls And from Damas men go to a place called our Lady of Sardmarch that is five miles from Damas and it is on a Rock and there is a fair Church and there dwell Christian Monks and Nuns in that Church between the City of Darky and the City of Raphano is a River called Sabatory which some say on the Saturday it runneth fast and all the week else it standeth still and runneth not or but a little And there is another River that on the night freezeth fast and upon the day no frost is seen And so men go by a City that men call Berugh and there those that will go to Cypress take Ship and they arrive at the Haven of Sur or of Tyre and then go on to Cypress also men may go right from the Haven of Tyre and not come at Cypress but arrive at some Haven of Greece and by these ways men come into the Countries before spoken of CHAP. XLI How a man may go the shortest way to Hierusalem NOw have I told you the furthest and longest ways by the which men go to Hierusalem as by Babylon in Egypt which is also called Kayre and Mount Sinai and many other places through the which men go to the Land of Promise Now will I tell you the shortest way to Hierusalem for many will go the long way some for want of Company and many other reasonable causes and therefore I shall tell you shortly how a man may go with little cost and short time A man that cometh from the Land of the West he goeth through France Burgony Lumbardy and to Venice or to Gene or some other Haven of those Marches and taketh there Ship and goeth to the Isle Grisse and so arriveth he in Greece or else in Port Myroch or Valon or Duras or some other Haven of those Marches and arriveth to Cypress and cometh not in the Isle of Rhodes but arriveth at Famagust that is the chief Haven of Cypress or else at Lamaton and then taking Ship again he passeth beside the Haven of Tyre and cometh not to Land and so passeth by all the Havens to the Coast till he come to Jaffe that is the next Haven to Hierusalem for it is but twenty eight miles between And from Jaffe men go to the City of Ramos and that it is but little thence and it is a fair City and beside Ramos is a fair Church of our Lady where our Lord shewed himself unto her in three shadows betokening the Trinity and there near is a Church of S. George where his Head was smitten off and then to the Castle of Emaus and then to the Mount Joy and from thence Pilgrims see Hierusalem and then to Mount Modin and then to Hierusalem At Mount Modin lyeth the Prophet Malachy and over against Ramatha is the Town of Douke whereof the Prophet Amos was CHAP. XLII Of other ways for to go by Land to Hierusalem FOrasmuch as many men cannot endure the trouble of the Sea and better it is to go by Land although it be more pain then a man shall go to one of the Havens of Lumbardy as Venice or another and ye shall pass into Greece or Port Myroch or another and ye shall go to Constantinople and shall pass the Water that is called the Breach of Saint George that is an arm of the Sea And from thence ye shall come to Pulveral and then to the Castle of Synople and so to Cappadocia which is a great Countrey wherein are many great Hills and ye shall go through Turky and to the City of Nike the which they won from the Emperour of Constantinople and it is a fair City and well walled and there is a River that is called the Lay and then men go by the Alpes of Mormount and through the Vales of Malebrines and the Vale Ernax and so more easily to Antioch which standeth richly on the River And he that will go another way he goeth by the Roman Ceast and the Roman Sea on that Ceast is a fair Castle that is called Florage and when a man hath passed the Hills he cometh to the city of Moriach and to Artose where is a great Bridge upon the River of Ferne that men call Fassor and it is a great River bearing Ships and beside the City of Dimas is a River that cometh from the Mount of Libany which is called Alban at the passage of this River Saint Eustace lost his two Sons when he had lost his Wife and it runneth through the Plain of Chalcides and to the great Sea Then men go to the City of Fermine and so to the City of Ferne and then to Antioch and that is a fair City and well walled and it is two miles long and there is a Bridge over the River that hath at each Pillar a good Tower and it is the best City of the Kingdom of Sury From Antioch men go to the City of Locuth and so to Geble and to Tortouse and thereby is the Land of Lambre and a strong Castle that men call Mambeke And from Tortouse men go to Tripoly on the Sea and by this Sea men go to Dicres and there is two wayes to Hierusalem by the way on the left hand men come first unto Damas by
and other of their kin as them liketh and if there be 10. or 11. men in one house each one of their Wives shall be common to other and at night one have one of their Wives and another night another and if she have any child she may give it to whom she will so that no man knows it to be his In this land and many other places of Inde are many Crocodiles that is a manner of long Serpent and on nights they dwell on water and on days they dwell on land and Rocks and they eat not in winter These Serpents slay men and eat them wéeping and they have no tongue In this Country and many other men cast séed of Cotten and sow it each year and it groweth as it were small Trées and they bear Cotten In Araby is a kind of Beast that some men call Gersants that is a fair Beast and he is higher then a great Courser or Stéed but his neck is near xx Cubits long and his tale like a Hart and he may look over an high house And there are many Camelions that is a little Beast and he never eateth or drinketh and he changeth his coleur often for sometime he is of one colour and sometime of another and he may change him into all colours that he will save black and red There are many wild Swine of many colours and as great as Oxen and they are spotted as it were small Fawns and there are Lions all white and there be other Beasts as great as Stéeds that men call Lamborans and some men call them Tonts and their head is black and thrée long horns in his front as cutting as sharp swords and he chaseth and will slay Elephants And there is many other manner of Beasts of whom it were too long to write all CHAP. XCV Of an Isle where dwell good people and true THere is another Island good and great and plenteous where are good men and true and of godly life after their Faith and though they be not Christians nevertheless of kind they are full of good Vertues and they flye Vices and all sin and malice for they are not envious proud covetous leacherous nor gluttonous and they do unto another man that they would he did to them and they fullfill the ten Commandements and they take no force of riches nor of having and they swear not but they say Yea and Nay for they say he that sweareth will deceive his Neighbour and some men call this Isle The Isle of Bragamen and some call it the land of Faith and through it runneth a great River that men call Thebe and generally all men in those Isles and other thereby are truer and wiser then in other countries In this Isle are no Théeves Murderers nor Beggars And forasmuch as they are so true and so good there is no Tempest nor Thunder War Hunger nor Tribulation and thus it séemeth well that God loveth them well and he is well pleased with their déeds and they believe in God that made all things and him they worship and they live so temperately in meat and drink that they live very long and many of them die without sickness and their life faileth them with age CHAP. XCVII How King Alexander sent his men to win that land SOmetime Alexander sent men to win that land And they sent him Letters that said thus What behoveth a man to have all the World that is not content therewithal Thou shalt find nothing at all in us Why shouldest thou make War upon us For we have no Riches nor Treasure and all the Cattel of our Country are common our Meats that we eat are our Riches and instead of Gold and Silver we make our Treasure Peace and Concord and Love and we have nought but a Cloth upon our Bodies our Wives are not arrayed richly to please for we hold it a great folly for a man to trim up his Body with costly apparel to make it séem fairer then God made it We have béen evermore in peace till now that thou wilt dis-inherit us We have a King among us not for néed of the Law nor to judge any man for there are no Trespassers among us but all only to learn us to be obedient to him and so mayest thou take from us but our good peace And when King Alexander saw this Letter he thought he should do too much harm if he troubled them and sent to them that they should kéep well their good manners and have no dread of him CHAP. XCVII How the Emperour Prester John when he goeth to Battel hath three Crosses of fine Gold born before him THe Emperor Prester John when he goeth to Battel hath no Banner born before him but he hath born before him thrée Crosses of finé Gold large and great and richly set with precious Stones and for to kéep each Cross he ordaineth a thousand men of Arms in manner as men kéep a Standard in other countries and he hath men without number when he goeth to any battel against any other Prince And when he hath no battel but rideth to take the Air then hath he born before him but a Cross of a Trée not painted and without Gold or precious Stones and all plain in token that our Lord Iesus Christ suffered death on a Cross of Trée And also he hath born before him a Vessel full of Iewels and Gold and precious Stones in token of his present Nobleness and of his Might he hath born before him like wise a Platter of Gold full of earth in token that all Lordship and Nobleness shall turn to nought and all flesh shall turn to earth CHAP. XCVIII Of the most resident place of Prestor John which is in a City called Suse ANd he dwelleth commonly at the city of Suse and there is his principal Palace and it is so rich that it is strange to tell for about the principal Tower of the Palace are two pomels of Gold all round and each one of these hath two Carbuncles great and large that shine very clear in the night and the principal Gates of this Palace are of precious Stones that men call Sardine and the Borders of the Ears are Ivory the Windows of the Hall and Chambers are of Chrystal the Tables they eat on are some of Emeraulds some of Mayk some of Gold and precious Stones and the Pillars that bear the Table are of such Stones also and the Stairs on the which the Emperor goeth up to his Table where he sitteth at meat one is of Mastick another of Chrystal and another of gréen Iaspy another of Diasper another of Sardin another of Cornelin another of Senton and that he setteth his foot upon is of Chrisolites and all those Stairs are bordered with fine Gold and well set with great Pearls and other precious Stones and the sides of his Table are Emeraulds bordered with Gold and with precious Stones the Pillars in his Chamber are of fine Gold with many