thought it would be received and that Albicormas would forgive us the lye we told him through the care we had for your safety in a time when we much doubted of our own I did ingenuously confess the whole matter to Sermodas who immediately went to Albicormas and told him what I had confessed to him Thereupon we were ordered to continue in Sporundè till the return of another Messenger who was presently dispatched to Sevarminas to acquaint him with the whole matter He returned six days after his departure and brought new Orders from Sevarindè to Albicormas who in obedience to them sent us with all this Fleet to fetch you and carry us all to the great City where we must appear before the Soveraign Power that resides there and where Sermodas tells me we shall yet be better used than we were at Sporundè Here Maurice made an end of his Speech which filled us all both with joy and admiration and seemed not to hold any considerable time though it had been long and might have proved tedious upon another subject But the things he related were so full of wonder and novelty that we could have given him a quiet and patient hearing if his discourse had taken up a whole days time We consulted a while what we had best to do and resolved at last to submit to Sermodas in all things to go whither he would carry us and wholly to depend upon Gods Providence and these peoples Humanity While Maurice was relating all these adventures to us Some of his men who burned with a desire to be talking of the same to their Friends in the Camp got ashore and began to discourse with our people who gathering together in a ring about them were all amazed at their relations and were acquainted with the news almost as soon as we so we needed not repeat any thing to them to let them know how our Affairs stood They were all willing to go to these fine places the Fellows had mentioned and described to them and wished themselves there already One thing only vexed us all and this was it We were still in some hopes that our first Pinnace might have got to Batavia which if it had we did not doubt but the General would send Ships to our relief as soon as he should be informed with our misfortune Now if those Ships should come and not find us they would conclude we were lost and we should see our selves deprived of all hopes of ever hearing from our Friends and of returning to our Native Country But Maurice told us That there was no reason to fear in either of these cases considering that we were fallen into the hands of a Civilized Nation who had Ships and sent some of them from time to time beyond the Seas And that it was probable we might get leave to go to the Indies if we did not like this new Country After we had ended these Consultations we went to my Hut where we found Sermodas just got up from the Quilt where he had a while taken his rest He smiled at us when we came in and asked us how we liked the Description Maurice had made us of the People and City of Sporundè We answered We could not but like and admire both of them and wish our selves there if it was his pleasure to carry us thither I came for that purpose said he and I am very glad to find you so well disposed to go you will find our Cities far better places to live in than this Camp although through your industry you have made it already a very fine Habitation We had several discourses upon that and other subjects after which we asked him Whether he would not be pleased to eat and drink of such Victuals as we were able to give him I will saith he eat of your Victuals upon condition you will accept of such as we have brought along with us Then he desired Maurice to send for some of his men and bid them bring some of the Ships Provision which together with ours made up a very good Feast When the Dinner was ended Sermodas told us That since we were willing to go with him we should use all diligence to put our selves in readiness and order the transportation of our Men and Goods as we should think fittest That he thought it convenient the chiefest of us and all our women should go aboard the same day and he would leave some of his men ashore who together with such of ours as we should appoint should take care to ship up all our things and then come after us to Sporundè Thereupon I told him we had another company on the other side of the Bay and if it was his pleasure we should send Maurice with a Vessel or two to fetch them You may do so answered he and I will order one of our Ships to go along with Maurice and carry them from their Station directly to the City without coming back again to this Camp Do you get such of your Officers as you like best to keep you company and come along with me aboard my Ship where you will find passing good accommodations I took only De Nuits and Turci my Secretary with me and appointed Devese and the other Captain to command in my absence and see every thing transported with good order and diligence Sermodas left Benoscar with Devese to be his Assistant and Conductor and so we sailed toward Sporundè where we landed the third day after our departure from Sidenberge We were received in almost the same manner as Maurice had been with this only difference that De Nuits and I had a great deal more respect and better attendance than he had had Albicormas was very kind to us and particularly to me We had several long conversations concerning the present state of Europe wherein I was far better able to give him satisfaction than any one of our Company I found he was a man of very excellent parts learned in all solid Sciences and very well acquainted with the Greek and Latine Tongues We spake Latine in all our conversations for although he understood some of our Vulgar Languages yet he could speak none so readily and so eloquently as Latine He told me many things concerning the Customs and Government of their Nation which I will faithfully set out when I come to describe the City Laws and Manners of the Sevarambi The day after our coming to this Town all our People and Luggage arrived there and nothing was left in the Camp but what they thought was not worth taking They were all used as Maurices men and had new and clean Cloaths given them every man and woman But there arose some difficulty concerning our Women for as you may remember it was ordered in the Camp that one woman should serve five of our common men and none but our Principal Officers were allowed to have one woman wholly every Officer to himself Sermodas and his Companions
into the Temple in a triumphing manner and being come to the Altar laid down their Garlands upon it consecrating them to the Deity to the Sun their King and to their Country which is represented by the Statue I spake of before After this Consecration they went out dancing at the sound of the merry Tunes the Instruments played till they came to their homes This Festival lasted three whole days with a general joy and merriment throughout the whole Town Now our time was come to leave the City of Sporundè and to march to Sevarindè Sermodas gave us warning of it the day before we went and carried me Van de Nuits and Maurice to Albicormas to take our leave of him We went together to his house which we found to be a noble and stately Palace though much inferiour to the City Palace both in bigness and state He received us very kindly and told us that the day following we must take our Journey to Sevarindè to wait upon Sevarminas Then he asked us how we liked Sporundè and the Ceremonies we had seen in the celebration of the Osparénibon We answered We liked every thing even to admiration You have seen nothing yet and you are going to a place as far above this as the Sun is above the Moon I will not too much prepossess your minds with the glory of it knowing experience will teach you more than I can tell you Sermodas is to be your Guide he will be very tender of you and I admonish you to take his Counsel in every thing and to carry your selves so prudently that the great Sevarminas may love and cherish you as heartily as I have done Then he kissed us in the forehead and bid us farewell The next morning early we were carried to the Waterside on the West part of the City where we found several great Barges ready to receive us Sermodas brought me and three or four of my men into an indifferent big one but rarely carved gilt and painted Our other men and women were distributed into other Vessels and in that manner we rowed up the River which running through a very flat and Champain Country flowed down very slowly We saw along the Banks of it several great buildings like those we had seen below the City We had many Rowers who relieved one another from time to time so we went up with great speed and never stopped till we came to an indifferent great City called Sporumè about thirty miles above Sporundè We were expected there at that day and so we found great numbers of people upon the Key who came out to see us land A little before our Barge came to the City a Vessel full of several Officers cloathed like those of Sporundè came to meet us and some of them leaping into our Barge expressed a great deal of respect to Sermodas and much civility to us We went ashore with them where stayed for us the Governour of the place called Psarkimbas Sermodas and he embraced one another and had some discourse together after which he kindly saluted us and bid us welcom into the Country in the Latine Tongue Then addressing himself to me embracing me and kissing me in the Forehead he said he would be glad to have a little private discourse with me sometime of the next day I answered I was at his command after which we followed him into the City which we found to be built much after the manner of Sporundè and about half as big as it standing in a fine and fruitful soyl the best manured and tilled we had ever seen before We were received and used in this place as at Sporundè without any great difference and stayed there all the day following not observing any thing remarkable in it but the exemplary punishment which in the afternoon was inflicted upon fourteen Malefactors in this manner They were taken out of Prison fast tied together with Ropes and divided into three parts In the first were six men who as we were told had been condemned to ten years punishment some for Murther and others for committing Adultery In the second were five young women whereof two were condemned to suffer punishment during seven years to satisfie the Law and afterwards so long as their Husbands pleased and this was for having lain with other men The three others were condemned to suffer three years punishment for having been debauched before their Osparenibon was come or the time of their marrying which is at the eighteenth year of their age In the third were the three young men who debauched these maids and they were to suffer the like punishment and at last marry them They were carried from the Prison to the Palace Gate where stood a great multitude of people to see the execution These poor Prisoners were stript of all their cloaths from their shoulders to the middle of their bodies and we saw their naked skins very plainly I remember that one of the women who had committed Adultery was a very proper and lusty woman not above one or two and twenty years of age She had a very beautiful face black eyes brown hair and a delicate clear skin But her breasts which we saw quite naked were the loveliest I ever beheld This was the first time she was brought to her punishment so that her shame was extraordinary Tears trickled down her cheeks in great abundance and these instead of taking off from her natural beauty did on the contrary so much add to it that I never admired any thing like this beautiful Criminal Admirarion produced love and pity joyning with those two Passions did so move the hearts of all the Spectators that there was hardly any ingenious Person who was not moved to an extreme compassion But their pity was turned to a kind of generous indignation when they considered that within a few moments all these divine Charms were to be soiled and prophaned by the cruel stripes of a barbarous Executioner Yet this was an act of justice ordained by the Laws against a Crime which among those people is look'd upon as one of the greatest so there was no means to save this lovely Person from the rigour of the Law and the Officer had already lifted up his scourge and was going to strike when of a sudden her Husband running through the croud cried with a loud voice Hold hold hold All the Spectators and the Officers themselves hearing this voice were much surprized and turned their eyes on the side from which they heard the voice come suspending the execution till they knew what this mans meaning was He came to them almost out of breath as having with much ado passed through the crowd and addressing his Speech to the chief Officer said pointing at his Wife Sir I am that miserable womans Husband and therefore much concerned in this Execution Before she receive her punishment I desire to speak something to her in your presence after which you will know more
means to get as far as the body of his murdered Darling which he brought ashore and seeing no sign of life he killed himself and fell upon her body In remembrance of this Tragedy the Town hath dedicated these two Images the one to Ziricus and the other to Malimna with a great many lesser Images of young Men and Maidens that are all weeping for the misfortune of these two constant Lovers This story Zidi Parabas told me whiles the Dinner was bringing in to the great Hall of Ivory where the King Sevarminas was to dine with all his Court When we were sate down we had all things needful presented before us with a Concert of Musick mingled with rare Voices of some Virgins of the City After this a Philosopher brought in a Silver Chain a great white Rat about the bigness of a good Rabbet which leaped upon the Table near Sevarminas and looked wishfully upon him when he was eating but when the Rat saw that the King said nothing the Rat reached forth its paw or foot and took some of the meat The King was not a little surprised with the Rats boldness How now said he did your Master teach you this The Philosopher by the Talismanical Art could make it speak what he listed for he could govern the tongue of the little creature in that manner that what was in his mind the beast would speak By your leave my Lord quoth the Rat to the King I am hungry The Rats speech surprised the King and all the company left their meat to hear the discourse between the King and the Rat for the Philosopher told his Majesty That it would give him any answer that he would desire They not knowing from whence it proceeded no more than we they stood to see what the Rat would say the Rat was neither ashamed nor afraid of the company but went from one dish to another to taste which was the best it met with an Ostrich-Pye on which it fell aboard without any manners the King bid it be gone I 'le fill my belly first answered the Rat now I am here King I command thee to be gone Rat I love this company too well to run away in haste King Make haste Rat We must do nothing rashly King Thou wilt eat all Rat There is enough in the Land for you and me too King Who tutored thee Rat My Master Several other discourses past between Sevarminas and this artificial creature which was made to speak not by its own understanding but by that of the Philosopher only by the Talismanical Art he could make use of the organ and tongue of the Rat to speak what was according to his mind This was a curious passage and gave the whole company great delight The Philosopher told Sevarminas That he could make any beast that was tame to speak in that manner and say any thing We found this to be too true for afterwards another Learned man had taught a Camel another an Ass another a Dromedary another a tame Lion to say any thing with as much reason as if they had been rational creatures whereas it was but the organ of their tongue that was made use of by the strong power of a Talisman to turn which way and articulate whatsoever the Author of the Talisman pleased We stayed not long in the place but as soon as we had all dined and refreshed our selves we mounted upon our Dromedaries and went on in our Journey The Louse Camel and the Flea turned into a Dromedary going with us in our company we passed by a curious Town that stood upon an Hill which had a plentiful stream of water rising from the top and falling from a steep place upon a Diamant Rock and then incompassed the Hill round with a deep Chanel over which there was a curious Bridge of precious Stones with Silver Globes on the top and the sides of the Walls with a most beautiful Arch the most regularly built that I ever knew The Towns name is Tiftani commanded by a Prince the most considerable of all the Subjects of Sevarminas he came out to meet us with a beautiful Guard of young Gallants all cloathed in Cloth of Silver The Princess also came to the entring in of the Town with a beautiful Attendance of Ladies in their rich Attire covered over with Pearls and the richest and most precious Stones They made a low obeisance to King Sevarminas and offered him the Keys of their City which he returned to the Prince Muraski that was the name of the Prince who was young about the age of thirty years We passed through the streets through the Acclamations and Applauses of all the Common people that are the happiest in the World in all respects for they pay but little or no Tribute and have all things in such abundance glory and plenty that there is no want nor complaints in all the Land the poorest Sevarite hath enough and the richest can have no more than they use for all the rest is superfluous The next Town was Tiptanicar where upon an high Tower stood a Talisman of Gold for what intent I could never learn We went through Muramni Borascot Malavisi and several other good walled Towns in our way We lodged that night in one of the Kings Palaces situate in a little Lake about ten miles in compass in an Island that stands in the middle Several Boats and Vessels waited for us to convey us and our Dromedaries over to the Island This place is one of the most pleasant abodes of the World Here we stop'd above a fortnight which we spent sometimes in fishing sometimes in hunting walking about and admiring the wonderful things that appeared every where Sometimes the Kings Philosophers together with the Musicians would make us such good sport that we were never weary we could have spent the days and the nights in seeing such sports and pass-times Sevarminas all this while sent for me often with De Nuits and Maurice to discourse with us and inform himself concerning the Affairs Commodities and Conveniencies of our Country in which particulars I always gave him such answers as would increase his desire to entertain a Trade and Correspondency with our Nation and the other People of Europe When we had lived here in this Castle and pleasant Island called the Isle of Foxes and in the Sevarites Language Cristako we set forward for another place called the Mount Timpani where the Kings of the Sevarites have another House of Pleasure it is about an hundred Leagues distant towards the Southwest from Cristako We passed through many Woods Vallies and an open Country in our way to it and had the sight of several rare Towns Seravi Puteoli Nanti Quarok Runtour and several others no less rich and beautiful than the former I cannot forget to mention a rare Invention which I saw at Seravi There is a large River about two miles distant from the Town which stands upon a Hill without any water
Smuriamnas hath done mischief I restore thee not only to thy Fathers Estate but likewise to his Authority and Command Take heed that thou followest not thy Fathers Example let not thy Glory puff thee up with pride nor thy Power cause thee to act contrary to Reason and Law remember that there is a punishment for evil doers as there are rewards for the just behave thy self with that discretion and moderation that thou mayst have the commendation rather than the condemnation of thy Country-men that thou mayst deserve well from me and them This Clemency and Justice made Sevarminas to be praised in all parts amongst the Sevarites for thereby all persons were obliged and thereby secured from such like violences and the noble Family of Smuriamnas continued in its Splendour and Glory only a rotten Member was taken out of the way for the Publick good After this piece of Justice we remained there about a month which Sevarminas spent in regulating all those things-that were amiss in the Government of Smuriamnas through his ill Management of Affairs Afterwards he left there the new Governor Suricolis to do Justice in his absence commanding him to be impartial in all his publick Actions and to abstain from the Vices unto which his Father was inclinable which cast him into the dangerous precipice of destruction We departed from thence with the blessings and good wishes of all the Inhabitants and in three days we returned to Sevarinde where our coming was expected with much impatience for in the Kings absence that City could not be governed well by any other person Some disorders therefore had happened which the Viceroy could not pacifie without the Kings Authority and Presence The whole City met us at two miles from the place and in a most beautiful order marched along with us into Sevarinde I continued in the City about half a year which I spent in inquiring after the Conveniencies of the Country the Sea-Ports the Commodities and Riches that it brings forth that I might give that information to my Country-men which might benefit them in future Ages after my return to my own Country for we were in expectation of a Ship from Batavia whither we had again sent some of our men with a Vessel which we had recovered amongst the Sporvi to desire the Governor of Batavia to send a Ship that might convey away our Goods and persons But whiles I stayed there a young Lady of Sevarinde who had lost her Husband by death fell in love with Maurice and often treated us very nobly in her house Manrice was no Sevarite and could not refrain from some amorous embrances which the Lady gladly accepted of for it was not lawful by the Law of the Sevarites to match with any other generation But to cover their actions the Lady had made use of the skill of the Philosophers to keep down the Tumors in her skin and body and to paint Maurices face and hands which hindered their secret correspondency from being known abroad I must needs confess that Maurices happiness caused me to look abroad and see whether I could meet with the same Fortune For that purpose I walked about the City often early and late to see what I should by chance meet with About a month before our departure from Sevarinde a young Gentlewoman who had Father and Mother and never knew a man invited me into a Garden where she was alone in the Spanish Tongue I was glad of this opportunity we walked therefore several turns together talking of divers matters at last she opened her mind to me in this manner Sir I understand by your countenance that you are a Stranger our King Sevarminas hath a great esteem for you as well as my Father and Mother we have often talked of you and your religious behaviour since your coming into our Country we shall therefore be glad to be acquainted with you for in my Fathers name I will bid you welcome and will assure you that he will give you a kind reception for he is a Merchant and conveys Commodities from City to City amongst the Sevarites Sir modesty will not give me leave to tell you more of my mind but when we shall be better acquainted I hope With these words she broke off with a modest blush upon her Cheeks The young Woman was most beautiful and was cloathed in white Silk with a Girdle of pure Gold all beset with precious Stones about her middle She inquired whether I were not married in my own Country I assured her that I was not upon this she confessed her amorous inclinations for me but withal told me that every thing must be performed in due time and that she would not precipitate the business but wished me to ask her Fathers consent assuring me that she would willingly leave all to live and dye with a man of that sweet temper and disposition that I was of Her loving Complements I answered with Caresses and assured her that I should think my self happy in her injoyment We spent some time together to begin our acquaintance and to inform ourselves of one anothers Conditions and Estate but the night obliged me to leave her for that time and return to my Lodgings When I gave Maurice an account of all particulars he advised me not to neglect the offer but to visit her in her Fathers house for himself and his Lady he told me that he was resolved to carry her with him to Batavia where he intended to live and dye with her and though Women amongst the Sevarites are forbidden Goods and that it is not lawful to transport them to other Countries he was perswaded by the means of friends with Sevarminas to get that liberty and priviledge which was never granted to any before This discourse and his hopes made me conceive the same I went therefore often to see the young Lady who entertained me and my Companions very courteously as well as her Father and Mother After several Visits I opened the matter to the Parents in their Daughters absence they made some difficulty because of the Laws of the Country and my inclinations to return into my own Country But when I told them that we had Plantations in Batavia not far from thence and that I would live and dye with her there they began to yield to my request in case Sevarminas would dispense with the Law of the Land and suffer me to carry her away This I told them that I would endeavour to obtain from his goodness I cannot give an exact account of all our pleasant meetings of the rare things she discovered to me of the delightful Walks and other things which pass all imagination But certainly her company and sweet Conversation made me spend my time with great contentment In order to our Marriage when the Portion was agreed upon I caused Zidi Parabas and Ziribabdas my two intimate Friends to open the business to King Sevarminas that we might have his approbation
Natural Genius the manner of my Education and the Example of others inspired me in my young years with a restless desire of travelling the World that I might my self be an Eye Witness of those things I had either read or heard of But the Authority of my Parents who designed me for the Gown and my want of sufficient means were powerful Obstacles to my desires and would have confined me at home had not fortune mightier than all these ordered it contrary to their intent and according to my wishes For before I had attained the fifteenth year of my age I was sent into Italy in a Military Imployment which kept me there two whole years before I came home again into my own Country from whence soon after my Return I was obliged to march into Catalonia with a better Command than that I had before I continued there in the Army for the space of three years and would not have quitted the Service if my Fathers untimely Death had not called we home again to take possession of a small Estate he left me and to obey my Mothers absolute Commands who called me back as the only person after so great a loss that was able to dry up her tears These Considerations made me to return and after that to leave the Sword and to put on the Gown and change a Souldiers life for that of a Lawyer to which study upon this occasion I did wholly apply my self read the Institutions the Codex and the Digests or Pandects where having made a pretty good progress in four or five years time I was perswaded to take my Degrees in the University which I did accordingly with an indifferent good success Then was I received into the Soveraign Court of Judicature of my Country in the quality of an advocate as being the first step to higher dignities exercised my self in Declamations upon fictitious Causes and pleaded real and choice ones in Apparatu as they term it with some applause and credit I was well enough pleased with these kinds of exercises in which young men love to shew their Wit and Eloquence to the Publick and where they get more praise than money But when I descended to the lower practice of the Law I found it so crabbed so mean and slavish that in a short time I was quite weary of it I carefully examined the ways and means by which Lawyers attain to Riches and Dignities and found there was much of fraud and indirect proceeding in them and that unless I did comply with men of that Calling in all these vices I should never get either Wealth or Credit by my practice Now being naturally inclined to Ease and Pleasure and loving frankness and honesty I clearly perceived I was no ways fit for that Imployment So while I was thinking and contriving how to cast it off with some plausible reason a fatal accident took away my loving Mother and although her death made me absolute Master of my self and Estate yet it laid so much grief and sorrow on my heart that all things at home became odious to me insomuch that I made a strong resolution to leave my Native Land if not for ever at least for a long time Pursuant to this design I disposed of all my Concerns except of a small Estate in Land which I reserved for a place of retreat in case of necessity leaving it in the hands of a faithful Friend who ever since gave me a very good account of it so long as he could hear from me Having in that manner ordered my affairs and taken leave of my best friends I travelled into the chiefest Provinces of the Kingdom of France 'till I came to the famous City of Paris where I spent almost two years without going above fifty or sixty Miles from it But the former desire of seeing more Countries and an opportunity while I was there of travelling into Germany made me depart from that Populous City to go and see the several Courts of the German Princes those of the Kings of Swedeland and Denmark and at last the Low-Countries where I made an end of my European travels and rested my self till the year 1655. in which I took shipping for the East Indies The causes and motives which induced me to take this long Voyage were these First My natural curiosity of seeing Countries and the wonderful relations I had heard or read of those remote parts of the world Secondly The earnest solicitations of a Friend who had a concern in Batavia and was bound for that place And last of all The great gain and profits which I was told would accrue to me by this Voyage if it should prove successful These Arguments and Invitations easily prevailed with me so that having in a short time ordered my affairs and prepared my self for this purpose I went with my friend aboard a new Ship called the Golden Dragon bound for Batavia She was a Vessel of about six hundred Tuns and thirty two Guns and carried near four hundred People Seamen or Passengers and great Sums of Money where my Friend called Monsieur de Nuits had a great concern In order to our Voyage we weighed Anchor from the Texel on the twelfth day of April 1655. and with a fresh Easterly Wind sailed through the Channel betwixt France and England with all the speed and good success we could wish till we came to the open Seas and thence prosecuted our Voyage to the Canary Islands with variety of Winds and weather but no Storms or Tempests There we took in fresh Provisions such as the Islands afford and which we had occasion for and steering from thence towards the Isles of Capo verdo to fetch a constant Trade Wind we came in sight of them without any accident worth my relating It is true we saw several Sea Monsters flying Fishes new Constellations c. But because those things are usual that they have been described by others and have for many years lost the grace of Novelties I purposely omit them not being willing to increase the Bulk of this Book with unnecessary relations which would but tire the Readers patience and my own To proceed therefore with my intended brevity I think it will be sufficient to tell you that we made the Coasts of Brasil and got there another Trade Wind which carried us towards the Cape of Good Hope with indifferent good success We doubled the Cape without any danger and pursued our Voyage with all chearfulness and alacrity till we came to 38 degrees of South Latitude on the Second day of August of the same year 1655. Till this time and place Fortune had smiled upon us but now she began to frown for about three or four a clock in the afternoon the Sky began to change its former clearness and serenity into thick Clouds Lightnings and Thunders which were the forerunners of the vehement Winds Rain Hail and Tempest which succeeded soon after The very approach of this violent storm did much
it is thought they took him with them into the place appointed for their abode and that there he lives with them without fear of death in expectation that all his Posterity should come to him But you must take notice That such of our Generation as are banished for their misdemeanors will be admitted one day to the same happiness if they bear patiently their punishment and are sorry for their wickedness but such also must be purged in a fire which is in the Air through which their bodies as well as ours must pass to mount up to the highest station designed for us but with this difference that the fire shall open to let us go by but they must burn a while there till their bodies be freed from all corruption and filth some more some less according to their dispositions but few stay there less than twenty years some an hundred others a thousand till such time as their bodies be sublimated and fit for an higher abode Such of us as are incorrigible shall be confined to a sad Pit where they shall be up to the Elbows in Mire and Dirt and be deprived of all comforts of life Whiles he was speaking this there happened an accident which caused him to stop and put an end to this good Discourse Ziribabdas was called to receive a dead Sevarite and open the Caves in which the deceased lay in Coffins of Ivory and Gold He excused himself and told me that he had much more to say concerning the Religion of their Country but could not remain with us any longer I was glad to have this opportunity to see their manner of burying the dead At the great Gate of the Temple stood near a thousand people with the friends of the deceased When Ziribabdas came to them one who stood before the Corps and the Bearers spoke to him in this manner as was afterwards interpreted to me Most holy Priest we have brought to you our Neighbour Suffarali a good man and a religious Sevarite who hath often expressed his Devotion in this place and his respects to your Holiness we desire that he may be admitted amongst the dead Sevarites as he hath lived amongst them with respect and honour Ziribabdas sate himself down in an Ivory Chair adorned with many precious Stones which stood in the Porch and then he called the Friends of the deceased inquiring of them whether he had committed no unworthy action in his life-time Whether he had lived peaceably with his Neighbours Whether he had not been privately guilty of drunkenness c Whether he had not at his departure bequeathed something to the Church How many children he had What were their names And such like questions to which they gave an answer and satisfied him fully Afterwards they carried in the Corps into the Temple and laid it upon a long Table of an Emerald-stone and the Priests anointed the body all over with an excellent Oyl called the Oyl of Botamine which signifies in their Language Uncorruption For such is its extraordinary virtue that it keeps a body from all manner of corruption or alteration an hundred years Now this is a Sacred Oyl which only the Priests who are learned in Chymistry make of several Ingredients for this cause it is no where to be found but in their Temples unto which they have their Laboratories annexed Now once in an hundred years they anoint over all the bodies of the deceased from the beginning of the World by this means the bodies are kept fresh and so lively and beautiful that if a dead body could stand upright at a distance no man could distinguish the dead from the living When the body was well anointed they opened a large Cave of a thousand yards broad and as many long It had as many Closets as there were houses in the City Ziribabdas at the opening of the mouth of the Cave caused some Ceremonies to be performed and then marched down a pair of stairs into this burying-place the Corps was carried after him and I and my Companions with Sermodas were admitted to behold the subterranean Rarities and to walk up and down in the Caves so full of transparent stones that the light entring in by two or three holes made on purpose caused it to be as light within as if the Sun had shined there in its Meridian In the Cave were six hundred thousand separations capacious enough to hold above an hundred thousand bodies they were all laid one upon another in very good order There were several Alleys and Walks between the separations unto which were doors of massie Gold and in several places stood great Pots full of that Oyl of Botamine which the Priests cast upon the bodies when they perceive any alteration in the bodies by their smelling By this means it happens that there is not the least noisom smell but there is every where the most blessed Perfume in every corner as if you were in a Garden of Roses or amongst blooming Beans When we had well viewed the Caves I intreated Ziribabdas to shew me the Sepulchres of their Kings for that purpose he led us out at another door when all the company was departed and shewed us all their Princes sitting in Chairs of State as if they were alive but this place was not in the Cave but round about their Temple in Closets made on purpose The Princes were all cloathed in their Royal Attire which they change once every year for that purpose the King that reigns is bound to send them Vestments according to the ancient Custom Ziribabdas shewed us all the ancient Kings sitting in their gravity and Majesty and pointed out to some who had been very remarkable in their Lives for some noted Actions by which they had obliged the Nation of the Sevarites and rendered their Names and Memories more sacred than others amongst their Posterity He shewed us King Bormarti who was so great a Lover of Justice that he banished his own Son for committing a fault and sent him to live and dye in the Islands He told of his King Robarmi who invented the Art of Painting and laid the Foundations of Sevarinde He shewed us the Body of King Darti who built the stately Palace for the Kings of the Sevarites and fetched the stones from the Diamant Rocks and the Mountains of Saphyr at a great distance from thence upon Carts driven with the Wind with Sails as Ships We saw King Marati who taught the Sevarites how to make Boats and to fish in the Rivers We saw the Bodies of King Bumorli Serabi Cussori Menari Menasti Nacri Labomor Apolori Ribolo Staraki Muraki Amlorod and many others who had been reverenced for some witty Invention or glorious Action by which they had benefited Posterity as well as their own Generation Therefore their Closets were more beautiful and richer than the rest and they had the Honour to have their Images placed in the noted Rendezvous of the City for all men to
look upon them and for all Posterity to reverence and respect them By this Honour the succeeding Kings were the more incouraged to do good and abstain from all blame they are the more animated to deserve well from their Generation and to invent something to advantage their People We walked about to see all the Rarities of this Royal Sepulchre which exceeded in glory the richest and stateliest Palaces of our European Emperours and Kings To speak of the rare Jewels of the Gold and precious Stones and of the excellent things that were never brought over nor seen in our World I should be endless for here in every place there are red yellow white and other transparent Stones of rare Vertues not known to us in Europe Orient Pearls as big as Walnuts are as ordinary as Pebble-stones in our Country The common people polish them and hang them in strings about their Windows but they seldom wear them because they have rarer and more glorious things to put about their necks and bodies as Ornaments than these things which for want of a name I omit Ziribabdas shewed me next the Gallery of their sacred Hieroglyphicks which is one of the rarest things of the World The Gallery is about half a mile long joyning to the Temple standing upon an Arch under which are beautiful Walks and Closets for the Learned Students in all Arts and Sciences to spend their time and imploy themselves in their searches into the Mysteries of Nature The Wall is of a white transparent stone as clear as Crystal and the Gallery is paved with Diamant stones square at every six foot is a great large Window of Crystal and the top is covered and arched over with Saphyr stone Emeralds Chrysolytes Rubies Jaspers Beryls and other precious Stones not known to us are without number about in the Walls This Gallery was built in the year 3406. after the Creation of the World by King Murabormati a great Philosopher and a Learned Student of Natures Mysteries In these Walls he caused the Rules of all sorts of Sciences and the Principles of all manner of Arts to be ingraven in black in the white stone of the Walls not in Characters but in Figures and dark Enigmes and Representations Here I beheld the shapes of all manner of Creatures of this and our World in all kind of postures and actions of life put here to represent the sacred Mysteries thereby signified to the understanding Reader In this Gallery were several hundred Learned Students beholding and searching into the directions that were given them by these Hieroglyphicks And in some Closets near adjoyning were several companies of men discoursing and disputing about those things which were represented upon the Wall We were introduced amongst them to look and sit with them and observe their grave postures and mien but for their Learned Lectures and excellent Discourses we understood nothing only Sermodas told us that here were all the Wits and Learned men of the Sevarites gathered together and that for their better understanding of all manner of Sciences and to perpetuate Learning and free it from forgetfulness they had in the Gallery the Rules and Axioms of all Arts with all the Definitions and other matters of any moment needful to be known in relation to any Skill or Science and that when any Student doubted of any matter in these Closets the great Doctors were met to direct and teach the ignorant and improve all Arts and Sciences and that by degrees as they improved Learning by new Discoveries they were always engraven upon the Walls after a serious and judicial Examination of the Learned Doctors and their Approbation of such invented things and Rules which Hieroglyphicks were graven with the names of their Authors for a perpetual Memory We walked three or four turns in the Gallery and saw such variety and number of new Objects and Representations that I have often wondered how any one man can have that vast memory to give an interpretation to all those things of different shapes and to comprehend all the Mysteries of such Enigmes In some places of the Gallery the Wall was covered over with Plates of Silver and the Hieroglyphicks were of Gold but generally they were in black upon a white clear stone and so hard that though as I was informed by Zidi Parabas and the Priest some of the Hieroglyphicks have been there put above a thousand years ago yet appear as fresh as if they had been graven but yesterday At the end of the Gallery are two large Cabinets of a curious workmanship and rare stone of a reddish colour most beautiful to the eye curiously cut and graven The Cabinets are full of Pictures and Images of all sorts of Creatures which serve the Learned in their Contemplations here are also a great many Skeletons of many Animals with all manner of rare things which are to be found in this wonderful Country Here I saw a great Saphire stone about the bigness of a Goose in which the Heavens and the Earth were represented very lively to the eye In an Emerald about the bigness of a mans head I found in one side all manner of Birds graven with the finger of Nature and in the other all sorts of Beasts I saw several other precious Stones one having the Image of a Man another of a Horse another of a Woman another of a Camel another of an Eagle another of a River another of a Fish another of other Creatures so curiously engraven that no Artist could mend Natures work These stones were useful not only to satisfie mens curiosity and please the sight of the Learned but also to teach them several things concerning those creatures which were thereby intimated to them We found several Learned men observing those things and viewing them with leisure For that purpose are several Seats for them to sit down and contemplate Here I saw also many Talismans an Art altogether lost in Europe and not to be recovered but from the Learning of the Sevarites for Zidi Parabas shewed me a round stone hollow within wherein I saw through many parts of it transparent a perpetual motion of Trees Woods wild Beasts and many Animals which he told me was but a Talisman made to direct such as are Learned in this Art how to make others for the same purpose Some are so skilful that with a Talisman they will kill any beast or creature at a mile distance but as the Sevarites are not for the destruction of creatures but for their preservation they never make use of this Art to do mischief but save and comfort such creatures as are decaying and to put life into those that are dead Only the venemous creatures and noisom Flies if by the procurement of any evil-spirited such are introduced into the Country then the Philosophers have an Art to make such a Talisman as will not only destroy the Flies and disarm the beast of his poysonous and ill qualities but severely punish the