the Foot of the Duke a Wheel with a Crescent where is written as follows Hic est Sepultus Illustris Dominus Laurentius Dux de Villack Filius olim Serenissimi Domini Nicolai Regis Bosniae cum Consorte sua Catharina Anno 1500. On the fifteenth we got to Sophia the Capital City of Bulgaria where the Beglerbeg or Vice-roy of Greece most ordinarily resides by reason whereof 't is most of all inhabited by Turks The Town hath no Walls yet a thousand Horsemen met us on the way and when we enter'd into the place the Towns-men stood in Ranks in their Armes distinguish'd by their Trades in the Streets as we passed along but they had no great Guns for Towns unwalled have none During our stay here while a Courier was dispatched to Vienna the Bishop of the place changing his Habit waited on his Excellency and shew'd us the Church which was without the Town which is said to have been built above fourteen hundred years After two dayes repose we departed and quitting the Plain of Sophia discover'd Mount Rodope where Antiquity will have it that Orpheus play'd so sweetly on his Harp On the top of this Mountain seven Springs issue forth which those of the Countrey do call to this day the seven Fountains of Orpheus they imagining that the Tears which he shed for Eurydice his Wife gave beginning to those Sources This said Mountain and Mount Haemus which are joyned together separate Bulgaria from Romania called anciently Thrace and one of the six Provinces which in the Romans time was compriz'd under the common name of Dacia The other five are Moldavia Transylvania Raslia Walachia and Servia These Daci or Davi for so they are called gave 〈…〉 that Proverb Daâ—us sum non Aedipus The People of Bulgaria have had many Revolutions and almost beyond the Example of any other Countrey The Triballi were the first who worsted King Philip of Macedon and made him surrender the Mares he had plunder'd out of Scythia for a breed for his Thessalian Horses Secondly the Maesi Thirdly the Daci Fourthly the Romans The Goths were the fifth The Slavonians the sixth The Bulgarians the seventh The Grecians the eighth and the Turks the ninth Yet still it retaineth the name of Bulgaria from the Volgarians who came from the River Volga and by the change of V into B are called Bulgarians whose Metropolis call'd formerly Tibiscum is known now as I intimated before by the name of Sophia from a Church which Justinian the Emperour did here dedicate to Sancta Sophia As for Thrace in general before the Greeks possessed and planted it the Nation was as barbarous as any in the World They lamented the Births of their Children and sang at their Deaths yet were alwayes a fighting People and never fully subdu'd till the Romans undertook them On the eighteenth we came to Kupra-Basha the next day to Ictiman and the twentieth to Kisterfent by a very stony way Sakurambeg was next in an open and fertile Countrey whence passing the day following through Dartarbastek we arriv'd at Philippopolis This City call'd formerly Peneropolis and afterwards Philippopolis by Philip of Macedon that repair'd it is seated near a Plain of a very great extent and wash'd by the celebrated River of Hebrus now called Marissa into which the Taponiza and Caludris do empty themselves The said Hebrus is famous for the very frequent mentions the Poets make of it particularly for Orpheus who discontented in that manner for the loss of Eurydice his Wife against the whole Sex introduced the practice of Masculine Venery for which the Ciconian Matrons tore him in pieces and threw his Limbs into the River Among other things at Philippopolis they shew'd us a little Church on a hill which was dedicated to Saint Paul and 't is very memorable that but three Leagues from hence many thousands of People are spread up and down in the Villages and Towns which are called Paulini This place hath an old Tower and in it a Clock which seem'd the stranger to us since in this vast and barbarous Countrey we saw none before Not far from the City on an eminent Mountain is a very great Convent of Monks of the Grecian Religion in whose Church call'd Saint George our Mahometan Commissary caus'd the Body of Baron Kornpfeil to be buried which the Lord Hay and the Secretary of the Embassy attended to the Grave but the rest of the dead were interr'd near the Banks of the River The Wine of Philippopolis is as cheap as 't is excellent for 't is in great abundance thereabouts and preserved in Vessels of an extraordinary greatness which as I admir'd so I wonder'd at the low and little Doors of their Houses till they told me that they had them so on purpose to hinder the Turks from bringing in their Horses and turning their Dwellings into Stables And I likewise observed when we knock'd at any Door to taste and buy Wines the People within were still very shy to admit us till they first had explor'd what Company we were in so fearful they are of the Turks from whom they are subject to many affronts especially when in Wine From Philippopolis we went to Papasli whose Moschee and Caravansaria the Inn in Turky as well for Beasts as Men for Men and their Horses are under the same Roof was built by the Progenitour of the present Grand Visier The next day we came to Kiral and the third to a great Plain where because we wanted Water we went out of the way till we came to a Fountain Here malignant Feavers bloody Fluxes and other dire Diseases began to reign again which some of the Retinue had caught and contracted by visiting infectious Cottages as also by eating much Fruit and drinking Wine cooled excessively in Snow which the Turks had procured but one only dyed Here likewise while the Priest was at Mass three Bulgarians brought two Bears and a Cub which were taught to dance and wrestle at the sound of a Cymball which while some unadvisedly minded more than their Prayers the Basha that observ'd it was displeas'd in that manner that he commanded them to be beaten away On the seven and twentieth we arriv'd at Ormandli where we saw a Moschee a Caravansaria and a handsom Stone-bridge The next place was Mustapha-Basha-Cupri where there is a Royal Hau or Caravansaria which I thought to describe in my return from Constantinople for in our passage thither we say without the Towns in the open Fields in Tents or in Waggons But this Structure being Regal and the best I have seen I think it now best to acquaint the Reader with it who may easily fancy a spatious Oval Court and opposite to the Gate that leads in a high and stately Porch on both sides of which a Building as vast as magnificently cover'd with Lead is presented to the eye 'T is supported by four and twenty Pillars of Marble which are of that bigness they cannot be fathom'd and resembles
get each being of one Trade or other They live morally well and do no wrong to any and while they live in common they are not to marry but if they take a Wife they retire and live apart however they continue still religious and meet in their Cloysters on Fridayes and Tuesdayes the dayes of their Devotion and Ceremonies They receive and lodge Travellers and what they have to eat give them freely part of it and usually have a Fountain at the door with a Wooden-dish fastened to a Chain with which they give Water to Passengers and indeed the Turks generally are hospitable to Strangers There are other Religious men among the Turks which are known by the name of Santons but are Vagabonds and poor and addicted to all sorts of Vices and particularly to Sodomy yet many of the Turks are so sensless and blind to hold them for Saints Over against Buda where a Dutch man a Painter of our Company who was sick of a Feaver leapt into the Danube and was drowned is the ruinous City of Pest where there is a little Convent of Franciscans and several poor Christians who often are subject to many affronts and insolencies of the Turks especially when in Wine which albeit prohibited by their Law yet many make bold with especially the younger sort of people who indulge themselves the more since they are of Opinion that their punishment after death is the same and not greater if they drink but a little or much so as once having tasted of Wine they use to drink on having less restraint afterwards upon them And 't is said an old Turk in Constantinople when he had a Cup of Wine in his hand and was about to drink it first cry'd out alowd and askt why he did so reply'd that he admonished his Soul to retire into some corner of his Body or vanish for a time that it might not be polluted with the Wine he was drinking From Buda we descended to Adam and Tschankurtaran whither Solyman the Magnificent when he raised his Siege from Vienna made all the haste he could not thinking himself out of danger till he got to that place which he called The refreshing of his Soul Thence we came to Basoka and passing by Pentole and Fodwar arrived at Tolna The next place was Waia then Mohachz from whence we saw the Castle of Zetzchuy the ancient Seat of the illustrious Family of the Palfi This Town was very fatal to Hungary by the loss of King Lodowick in order to whose death various things are reported The Plain where the Battel was fought is about half a League from the place and as large as free from Wood and Incumbrances of that sort but the River Carassus glides gently between whose Water moves so slowly it hardly seems to stir Hither the King fled whom the darkness of the night and the fear of his Enemies pursuing gave not time to explore and sound the miry passage into which his Horse rushing and falling stifled him with the weight of his Armour Many of the Nobility together with six Bishops and ten thousand Horse and twelve thousand Foot are said to have perisht in that Battel in memory of which slaughter Solyman who was present at the fight caus'd a Fabrick of Wood to be erected which remains to this day and now only serves as a retreat to the Beasts from the heat of the Sun The tenth we went to Wilack and the next day to Erdeod where the Annuntiation of our blessed Lady continues in painting The twelfth we came to Valkovar where in the River Valpus which abounds with good Fish a dead Body came swimming down the Stream The next place was Illock where we saw the Sepulchre of a Son of the King of Bosnia together with the ruines of a Monastery Hence we past by Petrovaradine to Salankemen a City and Castle very pleasantly seated and proud with old Buildings Here where the Tibiseus is joyn'd to the Danube we staid till the Couriers who often went betwixt the said place and Belgrade had adjusted all the Ceremonies for the Ambassadours reception Signore Giovanni Battista Casanova the Emperours new Resident for Turky came hither after dinner from Belgrade to wait on his Excellency and discourse about all things in order to his entrance and stay in that Town whither the Ambassadour was welcom'd by the roaring of the Cannon the Volleys of the Souldiers and Showts of the People who flockt in that manner to see us come ashore that the Town was quite unfurnish'd of Inhabitants Two thousand or more were in Armes at our landing for not Belgrade alone but other little Towns though with less ostentation came out to receive us but not all fit for service for some were decrepit and others too young whose Fathers the year before had been drown'd in the fatal River of Raab in Hungary These wearing the Caps of Janizaries supply'd their Fathers places and with their Armes across and Countenances dejected stood among the other Souldiers And though in appearance they might seem born for no other end than to eat up the Fruits of the Earth yet from their tender age they have a martial Spirit instill'd into them from which the Nerves and Sinews of the Ottoman Empire derive their force and vigour The Camycan or Governour of the Town the Capigi-Basha and the Hassan-Aga of the Bed-chamber to the Sultan whom the Prime Visier had order'd to attend the Ambassadour congratulating his arrival conducted him to his Tents which were pitcht on the side of a Hill not far from the River where his Excellency rather chose to remain than to lodge in the City whose prospect from Salankemen is most pleasant and delightful as is the scituation the place being washt by two great and famous Rivers the Sava and the Danube where the former soon looseth its name Our passage from Vienna to Belgrade was with very much ease accommodation and delight for we went down the Stream and when we came to Land as in the afternoons we continually did the Turks to shew how welcome we were made us Arbours and Bowers to secure us from the Sun After Supper we walk'd usually on the Shore and sometimes stray'd a little invited and transported with the verdure of the place and the many pleasant Objects we met with The Boats lying one by one took up much space of ground and look'd like some Navy at Anchor while the Passengers going to and from them appear'd a little Army and 't was pretty to hear them inquire of one another for their Vessels which when they had lost they were forc'd to use a figure to find for the Boats were distinguished by numbers 'T was likewise not unpleasant to walk among the Turks and the Greeks and see them dress their Meat in the Fields and sleep about the Fires they had made which commonly were great there being much Wood and do restraint on any that cut it Belgrade which is seated at the confluence of
and called the Baron of Binnendorff Fourthly Count Sterhaimb Fifthly Marquis Durazzo a Genouese Sixthly The Honourable Edward Howard of Norfolk Seventhly Marquis Pecori a Florentine Eighthly The Baron of Finvekercken Ninthly Marquis Chasteauvieux a Frenchman Tenthly Francis Hay Baron of Delgate Nephew to the Ambassadour Eleventhly The Baron of Rech Nephew to the Bishop of Munster Twelfthly Baron Coronini of Friuli Thirteenthly Baron Fin of the same Countrey Fourteenthly Baron Kornfeil of Austria Besides there were several Gentlemen of several Countreys as Signore Vincenzo Marchiao of Luca Signore Casner of Austria Signore Oversche of Holland c. Lastly came four Coaches with six Horses a piece and his Excellencies Litter One of the Coaches was nobly guilt and furnisht which his Excellency presented with the Horses to the Grand Signior at Adrianople The Cavalcade being over we continued in Vienna till the five and twentieth of May during which time my Lord was feasted as formerly for on the twelfth he dined with Count Sincsindorff Presidente della Camera and the fifteenth with Count d' Iterstein The seventeenth my Lord went to Lauxenbourg and dining with Prince Lobkoviz waited after dinner on the Emperour and saw him Hawk at the Heron and kill four that day The nineteenth his Lordship din'd with the Marquis of Baden and on the two and twentieth he went in the Company of the Marquisses Durazzo and Pecori and his Brother to see the hot Baths some four Leagues distant from Vienna whither Persons of Quality as Earls and Countesses very frequently resort who go all together into the same Bath but with this distinction that the men keep on one side and the women on the other The men go with Drawers and their Shirts wearing black leather Caps with Buttons on the top for the easier saluting of the Ladies and Gentlemen when they come into the Bath They have several Laws and the forfeitures go to the Poor and commonly the Women are very great sticklers for exacting and leavying of the same But since I must soon leave Vienna for the five and twentieth instant is the day of our departure I think it not amiss to give you a little description of the place Vienna the Metropolis of Inferiour Austria is seated near a branch of the Danube the famousest River of Europe The Geographical latitude is forty eight degrees and twenty minutes and the longitude forty The figure of the City is not perfectly round but inclining much to it The circuit about five thousand Geometrical paces which with an easie walk may be compast in an hour and a half 'T is strong and well fortified and if as well provided of men and all things appertaining to a Siege will hardly be taken The Houses are goodly and large and commonly have great Cellars for stowage of their Wines which are in that abundance in this City that vulgarly they say and perhaps without vanity there is more Wine than Water at Vienna though the City hath many fair Fountains and Wells The said Wine is carried into Bohemia Silesia Superiour Austria and Bavaria Saltzburg and several other places By the help of their Stoves they have fresh and green Sallats in the Winter so as in a very strange season of the year when the Countrey is cover'd with Snow they have Lettices and Herbs in very great plenty in the Markets There are four great Piazzo's in the City which are beautified and adorned with Marble Fountains and Statues In one call'd by excellency The Piazzo two Fairs are yearly kept to which in great throngs from all parts of Germany the Merchants resort There are many Princes Pallaces many Religious Houses of both Sexes together with many Churches though far more conspicuous for their neatness than vastness of fabrick The Cathedral is dedicated to Saint Stephen whose Steeple is about four hundred sixty and five foot high all consisting of hewn Stone and carv'd into various figures of Men Birds and Beasts which are fastned together with Irons The Suburbs are bigger than the City not for the number of the Inhabitants which are scarce twenty thousand and the City hath fourscore thousand Souls but the largeness of the territory And though there are many wooden Houses where the poorer sort dwell yet the Monasteries and Churches may well be compared to those in the City Besides there are many fair Buildings of Princes and the richer sort of Citizens with very fine Gardens where you can desire nothing that is either for pleasure or profit But amongst all the Gardens the Empresses call'd Favorith exceeds far the rest for that in other Gardens is scattered and disperst is here found united and collected In one of the Suburbs seated in an Island of the Danube the Jews do inhabit who with Boards and a piece of a Wall are divided from the Christians that live in the said Suburbs The said Island is joyned to the City with a wooden Bridge which commonly every year is broken and thrown down by the Ice and there is a Park in it abounding with tall Trees and Herds of Deer and Bores which wander up and down in a tame and fearless manner and there is too a Walk four thousand paces long with Trees on both sides which reacheth to a place called Gruen-lusthouse Some two or three miles from the City a Structure call'd Naugebeu was erected by Rodolphus the Second which as you approach it appears not like a Garden but rather a City of Towers which together with the Walks supported by Arches is covered with Copper-plates and was built in imitation and memory of Solyman the Magnificent's Tent which he picht in that place when he came with the design of besieging Vienna Besides many things that deserve to be seen there 's a Well of a strange work out of which they draw Water with three hundred sixty and five Buckets as likewise fair Fountains with Alabaster Statues together with Lyons and Tygers kept there in a place for that purpose About the same distance from Vienna is Schoenbrun encompast with a Wall where there is a shady Wood on a pleasant ascent and a fine Plain below The House is beautified with Pictures and the Garden very curious whither the Empress retires when she goes into the Country I omit the rest as Lauxenburg Mariabrun Ebersdorffe and other sweet places as remoter from the City The Inhabitants generally speaking are courteous and affable and as well bred as any in Germany by reason of the Court and the concourse of French and Italians whose behaviour and fashion they happily emulate And many besides their own Tongue and the Latine which they speak very fluently speak Italian and French The University of Vienna renown'd through all Germany is not the least Ornament of the City it having great splendour and power For besides many Priviledges indulged by the Emperours and several Arch-Dukes it hath power of life and death not only over them that actually study but a great part of the City and
Neighbourhood for the Doctors in the Town the Stationers Engravers Book-binders Apothecaries Chirurgâ—ons and those too who attain indirectly to Learning are subject to the Academical Tribunal where the Causes of Pupils and Widdows and some appertaining to Matrimony are heard and determined The Territory of Vienna is plain yet rising in some places into easie Hills planted with Vines It produceth Wheat enough for the Inhabitants as also Rie Barley Millet-seed and Pease Chestnuts too and Almonds Peaches Quinces and many sorts of Apples and Pears and excellent Saffron but neither Figs Olives or Lemmons unless extraordinary industry and diligence be used And every thing growing there smells somewhat of Brimstone for the Soil is sulphureous The Air is sharp in the Winter in so much as not only the Waters which are standing and immoveable but the Danube it self is frequently frozen and serves as it were for a Bridge to the Coaches and Carts The vigour of that Season they expel with their Stoves in which they have the Spring together with the Summer and Autumn at their pleasure The Summer is temperate and yet hot enough to ripen their Fruits They have frequent Winds which if they cease long in the Summer the Plague ensues often so as they have a Proverb If Austria be not windy it is subject to Contagion The Plague when it comes there is commonly in Autumn and seldom spreads much as it doth in other places in regard of the exquisite diligence they use to prevent it and the coldness of the Winter approaching which quickly suppresseth the force of that Poyson The things of curiosity that deserve to be seen in the City are the Emperours Treasure the Arch-Dukes Gallery the Church and Steeple of Saint Stephen the Treasure of the Church and the Sepulchre of Otho as likewise the Arsenals the Colledge and profest House of the Jesuits the Church and Convent of the Benedictines the Bishops Palace the Church and Convent of the Dominicans with that of the Franciscans where they shew a Hole of Strangers through which as they affirm the Devil once carried away a sacrilegious Person and it never could be clos'd up again In the Suburbs Favorith is worthy to be seen as likewise the Garden of the Bishop the House and Garden of the Earl of Traun with those of the Prince of Aversperg and others Nor is the Church and Monastery of the Carmelites nor that of the Augustines with the Hermitage of the Capucines the little Spanish Monastery and the Convent of the Servi to be unregarded In fine Vienna is little within the Walls but as beautiful as strong and abounds not with only what Austria and Hungary affords but that too which Italy can contribute The Markets are most plentifully supply'd and there 's great store of Flesh and fresh-water Fish especially Crawfish which are in that abundance as 't is almost incredible And 't is too as strange to one that doth not know it how infamous a killer of Dogs is reputed at Vienna which being the Office of the Hangman or his Deputies who on Wednesdayes and Fridayes go seeking for Dogs and kill all that are not priviledged with Collars makes the Party so hated and contemn'd that none will keep him company BUt to think of our journey into Turky on the five and twentieth instant my Lord din'd with the Prince of Lichtenstein in the company of his Excellency Count Lesley who that day departed from Vienna about three of the Clock all the Persons of Quality that accompanied him in that Embassy following him to the Water-side in Coaches with six Horses apiece but the throngs of Spectators were so great for never the like Embassy was seen in Vienna they could scarce get to the Barques which though large and six and thirty in number were but sufficient for his Excellency and his Company which amounted to two hundred twenty and two His Excellencies Barque was bigger and much handsomer than the rest and having eight Trumpetters and a Kettle-drum aboard it which sounded all the way and beautified with variety of Streamers drew all the eyes thither In this manner and in order for one Barque followed another according to the quality of the Persons within it we arrived at Vischen some four leagues from Vienna on the right hand of the Danube whither the Prince of Dietrichstein and the Earl of Trauttmansdorff waited on the Ambassadour and here we all lodged in the Boats as we did all along to Belgrade his Excellency and the Cavaliers with him having Beds in the Barques and all accommodation very sutable to their quality We departed the next morning about seven of the Clock and passing by Petronel Taben and Haimburg arrived at Presburgh about noon whither his Excellency was welcom'd by the Canon from the Castle and received and complemented at the Water-side by the Palatine or Viceroy Vesselleni who accompanyed by Count Palsi and other Hungarian Lords had eight Coaches in readiness for his Excellency and the Persons of Quality with him whom he carried to his Pleasure-house in a Garden without the Town and feasted most magnificently Presburg the Metropolis now of Hungary is an old and neat Town and pleasantly seated In the Suburbs on a high Mountain is a very strong Castle where the Regal Crown is kept and below in the bottom on both sides the Danube most large and happy Pastures are presented to the eye The Kingdom of Hungary to speak a little of it now we are on the Place was formerly extended from the Pontick Sea to Austria and from Poland to the Adriatick Gulph containing within it ten very large Kingdoms which as Feudators depended on that Crown so as the King of Hungary was then an Arch-King But from the year of our Lord one thousand three hundred and ninety six to this our present Age it hath been much and often afflicted with intestine Contentions and Discords so as the better part is subject to the Turks it only retaining a very small figure of the ancient Liberty Dignity and Greatness it had and having scarce now as many strong Cities as it formerly had Kingdoms On the East it hath Transylvania on the West Austria and Styria on the North the Carpathian Mountains Poland and Moravia and on the South the River Drave and Croatia The Meadows are so luxuriant that the Grass in many places almost equals the stature of a man and they have such store of Cattel that they send very many into Italy Germany and other remote Countreys and only on the way to Vienna 't is reported that fourscore thousand Oxen were driven one year into Germany It abounds with Fowl and wild Beasts which the Peasants have liberty to kill for Fish they have store which the Rivers of Hungary are full of especially the Besch of which it is commonly said two parts of it are Water and the third Fish The Soil is most fruitful for what in other Countreys is produced with labour and charge flows here with
two huge Barns joyn'd together as aforesaid Within on each hand besides the main Wall where the light comes in at several little Slits is a Wall two Cubits high and as broad and about some ten foot distance from each other several Chimneys are erected for the service of Passengers as well to dress their Meat as to warm them in the Winter The said Wall serves for Bedsteads for Tables Stools and other Conveniencies which the common Inns in Christendom afford There are no Partitions but all things clear and obvious to others when you eat or lye down and the same Roof is for Camels and Horses as I said said before which are ty'd to Rings fastened to Posts 'T is easily to be imagined what sleep and repose the weary Traveller may expect and what smells and what noises he must be subject to At the Gate Hay and Barley for I saw no Oats in Turky and Wood too are commonly sold but the provision for the Horses is ordinarily the best for besides ill Bread and Wine which is usually good if the Travellers meet with any Flesh or Fish they must dress it themselves if they have no Servants with them These are the Inns in Turky and the place takes the name from Caravana which is a Company that travel together for 't is not safe in Turky to travel alone This place is likewise famous for an excellent Bridge of white Stones which resembles that of Ratisbone or Prague as well for the breadth as the length Hither Cavalier Simon A Rheningen who had been the Emperours Resident seventeen years in Constantinople came to wait on the Ambassadour who receiv'd him with all kindness and respect by whom when his Excellency had gladly been inform'd the Grand Signior was at Adrianople preparation was made for our departure but before we went hence Hassan-Basha our Commissaries Son a Youth of good meen and of a comely Countenance came to wait on his Father who sent him after dinner to kiss his Excellencies Hands who treated him courteously and gave him a Watch of good value In the morning betimes we marched away and the same day arriv'd in a Campagnia within two hours of Adrianople where the Ambassadour continued two dayes in his Tents which were pitch'd near the Banks of the River Hebrus aforesaid On the first of August the glorious and anniversary day of the Battel of Saint Gotard where the pride of the Ottoman Scepter was depressed in some measure by the slaughter of above twelve thousand Men of the Flower of the Army the Ambassadour in a very solemn manner past through the Turkish Camp the Army to the number of thirty thousand lying then near the City in Tents towards Adrianople in the following order The Quarter-master with two of the Turkish Attendants preceded and vvas followed by the Gentleman of the Horse to the Ambassadour vvith his Excellencies led Horses The Pages vvere next and after them eight Trumpetters with their Trumpets of Silver but they vvere not to sound them and the Kettle-drum was as silent Signore Lelio de Luca the Ambassadours Steward with the Squadron of his Excellencies Servants and those of the Cavaliers his Comrades followed next to whom two hundred Chiauses were added and among them many Sons of the better sort of Turks Several Persons of Honour of several Nations went next as Baron Fin Baron Coronini the Baron de Rech the Lord Hay Marquis Chasteauvieux the Baron of Funffkerken the Marquis Pecori Marquis Durazzo the Duke of Holstein incognito and the Honourable Edward Howard of Norfolk Then the Banner of the Embassy very richly embroyder'd was carried by Count Sterhaimb which though rouled up the arrogancy of that Monarchy permitting no Potentates Colours to be display'd before the Sultan yet on one side our Lady trampling on the Head of the Dragon and on the other the Imperial Eagle were sufficiently discover'd On Count Sterhaimbs right hand my Lord rode and the Earl of Herberstein on his left The Emperours Resident was next with a Train of his Servants then the Ambassadours Guard and his Excellency himself whose venerable Beard joyn'd to his tall Stature together with his very rich Habit and Cap where he wore a rare Feather of Herons beset with noble Diamonds allur'd the Spectators and drew their Eyes upon him On the right hand of his Excellency rode the Chiaus-Basha the Marshal of the Court and the Aga of the Spahyes on the left Signore Panniotti a Grecian and Interpreter to both the Emperours came behind with the Secretary of the Embassy John Frederick Metzger Doctor of the Civil Law and Signore Wachina the Ambassadours private Interpreter On both sides his Excellency a hundred Janizaries attended to keep off the People Two hundred Spahys with their Coats of Mail Quivers and Lances follow'd in the Rear and behind them the Ambassadours Litter with four Coaches with six Horses apiece And lastly a hundred and ninety Waggons with the Baggage In this manner we passed to the City of Adrianople through the midst of the Ottoman Camp by the Grand Visiers Tent and near the Serraglio while the Grandees of the Court stood admiring and gazing on the pomp of this Embassy which rather represented the Glory and Triumph of the Emperour of the West then a Salutation and an Address to the Monarch of the East And afterwards we heard that the Sultan himself who together with his Mother his Wife and two Brothers sate behind a thin Curtain and with joy and admiration was a Spectator like others and observ'd all things curiously said That in all kinds he had never seen the like It was noon e're we came to our Quarters which were in the Suburbs on the other side of the Town and how gladly we got thither the Reader may imagine since the Heats were so excessive we could hardly endure them The next day the Grand Visier sent his Excellency a Present of several sorts of Fruits to the number of thirty Baskets to the bringers of which the Ambassadour commanded thirty Crowns to be given Some other few dayes were spent in receiving and giving reciprocal Complements The City of Adrianople call'd anciently Oreste is partly seated on the top and partly on the descent of a Hill on that side where the Rivers Tunza and Harda loose their names in the Marissa 'T is the best and most considerable Town between Strigonium and Constantinople the Buildings whereof are as good as any other in Turky and the Air more sweet and temperate than any in Romania On the sixth his Excellency was conducted by the Chiaus-Basha to the Grand Visiers Tent where after the Ceremonies perform'd on each side the Ambassadour delivered him the Emperours Letters which had this Address Strenuo magnifico viro Achmet Bassa Serenissimi Turcarum Imperatoris supremo Vezirio sincere nobis dilecto His Excellency likewise presented him from the Emperour with Gifts of a very great value and the Grand Visier gave him a Caftan lin'd
full of Meat the first being ever of tender roasted Mutton or the like cut all in joynts and bits which often on great Dayes and Feasts is smoaked with Perfumes e're it comes to the Table The boyl'd Meats are also so tender as with ease they may be pulled in pieces since Knives are never used at Meals Many Soops of Milks and Spoon-meats are served in afterwards which with long Wooden-spoons or Ovalladles rather they reach Brown Bread is cut before-hand and in long Slices thrown on the Table both to eat and serve for Trenchers on which they gave and put away their Bones as they pleased or flung them on the Table as the Turks us'd to do and fresh Bread was as frequently given as demanded though the Turks eat commonly their Trenchers Sherbetts are also given as oft as called for and not as some write only once at the end of the Dinner which being now over 't is fit I should rise and be gone On the seven and twentieth of August very early in the morning we departed from Adrianople and passing the River Hebrus over a great and long Bridge march'd by the Turkish Camp the Trumpets all sounding and the Kettle-drum beating by his Excellencies command About noon we arrived a Hapsa and the next day a Baba a pretty little Town The next place was Borgas and afterwards Caristeran near which in a Campagnia by a fine little Stream we took up our Quarters On the last of the Month we came to Chiurlu and the first of September to Simenly a very poor Village The next day betimes we got to Selivrea call'd formerly Selymbria or the City of Selys for Eria in the old Thracian Language doth signifie a City other Cities of Thrace having the like termination as Olymbria and Mesembria The Town is very pleasant being seated on a Hill â—nd by the Sea-side where usually when the Wind is propitious Boats are hired â—or Constantinople From hence we remov'd to Ponte grande where we passed four stone-bridges withâ—n a little distance of each other which crossed an arm of the Sea Ponte Picciolo received us â—ext where we met with fresh occasions of joy for â—ere the long-look'd for Rodolphus the Courier from Vienna overtook us and brought welcome Letters out of Christendom Our last Station but one was within two hours journey of Constantinople where we staid two dayes in Tents while all things were prepar'd for our advance to that City in order to which the same day we removed my Lord of Winchelsea his Majesties then Ambassadour sent his Secretary and Train together with the English Merchants to complement and accompany his Excellency whose entrance into Constantinople was pompous and solemn and with all the usual Ceremonies of greatness My Lord though he had a fair Quarter assign'd him near his Excellency yet invited before to my Lord of Winchelseas House directly went thither with his Brother and Retinue and was very nobly receiv'd and entertain'd I who for a while had been sick even to death in the Journey soon found my recovery there by my noble Lord of Winchelseas favour and my Ladies greatest charity and goodness whose incomparable Vertues surpassing all expression I can only with gratitude commemorate and with silence admire Byzantium the ancient name of the City was reputed little bigger than the Serraglio is now The principal Trade for fishing especially for Tunny which in very great quantities the Bosphorus yielded yearly and o're against the point of the Serraglio which was call'd the Golden Horn from the gains of the Fishermen vast numbers were taken being driven and frighted thither from the Chalcedonian shore by a white Stone appearing in the bottom of the shallow and transparent Water Constantine the Great and first Christian Emperour enlarging and beautifying it with very fair Buildings and walling it round establish'd there his Seat and nam'd it New Rome but after his death his Successor in honour of his memory and name caus'd it to be called Constantinople It hath since been the Seat of the Emperours of the East but not without great changes of Fortune for instead of Christian Emperours 't is under the Power and Domination of a Mahometan Prince Mahomet the Second having taken it by assault and sacrific'd it to the fury of his Souldiers This great disaster to Christendom arriv'd in the year of our Lord one thousand four hundred fifty three on the nine and twentieth of May and the second day of Whitsuntide the Feast of the Holy Ghost against whom the Greeks so often had sinn'd God punishing them that day with the loss of their capital City to shew them the enormity of their sin This City by its apt and advantagious scituation may seem to be built to command all the World for 't is in the extremity of Europe and separated only from Asia by an Arm of the Sea some half a League broad The Haven is so deep and so safe that Ships of the greatest burthen may ride near the Shore with the greatest security The City is in general ill built and the Streets very narrow so as in many places neither Chariots nor Waggons can pass There is only one fair Street and that is but indifferently large which traverses the Town to the Adrianople-gate But the Moschees built by several Emperours are very noble Structures and all in imitation of Sancta Sophia which is the only Church preserved from ruine at the taking of Constantinople and which for the beauty of the Edifice the Turks were contented to profane by converting it into a Mosque This Church was built by Justinian the Emperour who for the building of it imploy'd the Revenue of Egypt which continu'd seventeen years and when he had finish'd it and saw the beauty of it he bragg'd he had surpassed King Solomon in the structure of his Temple Near it he erected a very fair Monastery where the Serraglio is now and endowed it with a Revenue of eight hundred thousand Crowns maintaining nine hundred Priests there for the service of the Temple Near Sancta Sophia the Serraglio divided from the City by a Wall and wash'd on two sides by the Sea contains three miles in circuit which the goodly Groves of Cypresses considered the Gardens and Fountains with the Plains and other Objects of delight is a place of variety of pleasure I speak very sparingly of the Serraglio because several others have said enough of it and more than is usually discover'd to Strangers In the great Piazza which the Greeks call'd the Hippodrome and the Emperours design'd for the Races of Horses we saw two antick Pyramids three brazen Serpents so wreathed and twined together that nothing is free but the Head Near the end of the Town towards the North the ruines of the ancient Palace of Constantine remain where so many Christian Emperours had formerly their residence and near the said ruines is the Church and Habitation of the Patriarch of Constantinople There are several great places in