was almost like unto the Sea so that at Night pretty late we arrived at Juppe a pleasant and well built Town belonging to the Turks and it is also divided into two Parts whereof one lieth in the middle of the River on a high Ground at the Top whereof is a Fortress so the Town is pretty well defended The other which is rather bigger lieth on the lest in Mesopotamia wherein are many fine Orchards belonging to the Houses full of high Date-Trees c. wherefore the Merchants spent half a Day there to buy Dates Almonds and Figs to carry with them into the Inns the same they did at Idt another great Town of the Turks on the Right-hand of the Euphrates situate on a high Ground where we arrived on the 20th of October at Night in very good Time and gave them instead thereof Soap-balls Knives and Paper c. After which goods they have often enquired of us and we have given them sometimes some Sheets of white Paper which they received with great Joy and returned us many thanks for them After our Merchants had sufficiently stored themselves with these Goods and our Master had pay'd the Duty for his two Ships he put off about Noon on the 21st of October and went away About the Evening we saw at this Side of the River a Mill and also the next Day another whereby were several old Walls Doors and Arches c. Whereby I conjecture that formerly there stood a Town These two Mills as I was informed were two Powder-Mills that make Gun-powder for the Turkish Emperour and send it to him in Caravans together with other Merchandizes through the Dominions of the King of Arabia wherefore he must as well as other Merchants pay Duty for that Liberty and Toll or Custom The Gun-powder is not made from Salt-Peter as ours is but out of another Juice which they take from a Tree that is reckon'd to be a kind of Willow known to the Persians by the Name of Fer and to the Arabians by Garb as I have mentioned above Besides this they take the small Twigs of these Trees together with the Leaves and burn them to Powder which they put into Water to separate the Salt from it and so make Gun-powder thereof yet this is nothing near so strong as ours Pliny chiefly testifieth this in his 31st Book and 10th Chapter where he saith that in former Days they have made Niter of Oak-Trees which certainly he hath taken these to be for they are pretty like Oaks but that it hath been given over long before now Which is very probable chiefly because the Consumption thereof was not so great before they found out Guns as it is now since they have been found out Further on the Water-side on the high Banks I saw an innumerable many Coloquints grow and hang down which at a distance I could not well know until they called them by their ancient Arabick Name Handbel whereby they still to this Day are known to the Inhabitants After we had navigated a great way several Days one after another through even Grounds and in a good Road we arrived at length on the 24th Day of October at Night near to Felugo or Elugo a little Village called so and with it the whole Province CHAP. VII Of Old Babylon the Metropolis of Chaldee and its Situation and how it is still to this Day after its terrible Desolation to be seen with the Tower or Turret and the old ruined Walls lying in the Dust THE Village Elugo lyeth on the place where formerly Old Babylon the Metropolis of Chaldee did stand the Harbour lyeth a quarter of a League off whereinto those use to go that intend to travel by Land to the Famous trading City of Bagdet which is situated further to the East on the River Tigris at a Day and a half 's distance At this Harbour is the place where the Old Town of Babylon did stand but at this time there is not a House to be seen whereinto we could go with our Goods and stay till our departure We were also forced to unload our Merchandises into an open Place as if we had been in the midst of the Desarts and to pay Toll under the open Sky which belongeth to the Turks This Country is so dry and barren that it cannot be tilled and so bare that I should have doubted very much whether this Potent and Powerful City which once was the most Stately and Famous one of the World situated in the pleasant and fruitful Country of Sinar did stand there if I should not have known it by its Situation and several ancient and Delicate Antiquities that still are standing hereabout in great Desolation First by the Old Bridge which was laid over the Euphrates which also is called Sud by the Prophet Baruch in his first Chapter whereof there are some Pieces and Arches still remaining and to be seen at this very Day a little above where we landed These Arches are built of burnt Brick and so strong that it is admirable and that so much the more because all along the River as we came from Bi r where the River is a great deal smaller we saw never a Bridge wherefore I say it is admirable which way they could build a Bridge here where the River is at least half a League broad and very deep besides Near the Bridge are several heaps of Babylonian Pitch to pitch Ships withal which is in some places grown so hard that you may walk over it but in others that which hath been lately brought thither is so soft that you may see every step you make in it Something farther just before the Village Elugo is the Hill whereon the Castle did stand in a Plain whereon you may still see some Ruines of the Fortification which is quite demolished and uninhabited behind it pretty near to it did stand the Tower of Babylon which the Children of Noah who first inhabited these Countries after the Deluge began to build up unto Heaven this we see still and it is half a League in Diameter but it is so mightily ruined and low and so full of Vermin that have bored holes through it that one may not come near it within half a Mile but only in two Months in the Winter when they come not out of their holes Among these Insects there are chiefly some in the Persian Language called Eglo by the Inhabitants that are very poysonous they are as others told me bigger than our Lizards and have three Heads and on their Back several Spots of several Colours which have not only taken Possession of the Tower but also of the Castle which is not very high and the Spring-well that is just underneath it so that they cannot live upon the Hill nor dare not drink of the Water which is wholesome for the Lambs This is Romance From this Tower at two Leagues distance Eastward lieth the strong Town Traxt which was formerly called Apamia mentioned
they spread a round piece of Leather and lay about it Tapestry and sometimes Cushions whereupon they sit cross-leg'd Before they begin to eat they say Grace first then they eat and drink hastily and every one taketh what he has a mind to and do not talk much The Rich have fine Cotton-Linnen about their Necks hanging downwards or else hanging at their Silk-girdles which they use instead of Napkins Their Wives or Women do not eat with them but keep themselves in their peculiar Apartments After they have done they rise altogether with a Jerk swinging themselves about which our Countrymen cannot easily imitate till after they have been there a long while for the Limbs are numbed in sitting cross-legg'd so that one hath a great deal to do to bring them to themselves again At last they take up the Leathern Table with Bread and all which therefore serveth them also instead of a Table-Cloth and Bread-basket they draw it together with a String like a Purse and hang it up in the next corner CHAP. IX A Short and Plain Relation of Plants which I gathered during my stay at Halepo in and round about it not without great danger and trouble which I glued upon Paper very carefully BEing I undertook this long Journey chiefly on purpose to see my self those fine Outlandish Plants whereof Authors so often make mention growing in their native Soil and so gain a more clear and perfect Knowledge of them I was very glad to have an opportunity to stay longer than I intended that I might the oftner go out with my Friends and Comrades into the Fields among the Turks and Moors not without great pain and danger of being knock'd on the Head to fetch in more and greater variety of Plants Wherein my Comrade Hans Ulrich Krafft who came into these parts along with me very often hath faithfully and honestly assisted me But having heretofore made mention of the Garden-Herbs and Fruits I will only in this place write of them which grow abroad without the Gardens and that with all possible shortness and begin with the Poplar-Tree as the commonest of all which the Inhabitants still call by the ancient Arabian Name Haur they grow very high in these Countries and abundance of them grow about the Rivolet near Halepo which make very shady Walks underneath in the heat of Summer There is also a peculiar sort of Willow-Trees called Safcaf c. these are not all alike in bigness and heighth and in their Stems and Twigs they are not very unlike unto Birch-Trees which are long thin weak and of a pale-yellow colour they have soft Ash-colour'd Leaves or rather like unto the Leaves of the Poplar-Tree and on their Twigs here and there are Shoots of a span long like unto those of the Cypriotish wild Fig-trees which put forth in the Spring tender and woolly Flowers like unto the Blossoms of the Poplar-Tree only they are of a more drying quality of a pale colour and a fragrant smell The Inhabitants pull of these because they bear no Fruits great quantities and distil a very precious and sweet Water out of them very comfortable and corroborating to the Heart The Arabians call these Trees Zacneb and Zacnabum Rhases in 353 d and Avicenna in his 749 th Chapt. And after the same manner maketh Serapio mention of them in his 261 st Chapt. by the common Name of Zucumbeth and Theophrastus in his Fourth Book and Eleventh Chapter where he treats of Elae-agnus which this is very like unto and may be taken for the same although they differ in bigness which often and easily happens according to the soyl and place where they grow Hereabout are other small Trees which I rather take to be thorny Shrubs they are very like in leaves unto the others and are called by the Moors Scisesun They love to grow in moist places and in Hedges from the Root shoot several Stems cloathed with a smooth brown-colour'd Bark they bear at top pretty long and strong Twigs which here and there are beset with a few Prickles whereon grow small Flowers white without and yellow within whereof three and three sprout out between the Leaves I did not see any of their Fruit but yet I do believe that they are like unto the Olives of the Bohemian Olive-Tree to which this Plant is very like which is very naturally delineated in the Herbal of the learned Matthiolus These Trees cast forth such an odour in the Spring that any body that goes by must needs be sensible of it presently Wherefore the Turks and Moors cut many of their Branches and stick them up in their Shops On the Banks of the above-mentioned Rivolet chiefly about the Stone-Bridge as you travel to Tripoly grow many Agnus Castus's of the lesser sort and on the other side in the Fields many Pistachia Nut-trees Within and without the City grow also many sorts of Trees viz. that which Avicen calleth Azedarack but Rhases Astergio white Mulberry-Trees Date-Trees and Cypresses by the Natives called Sacub which hereabout grow very big and high Turpentine-Trees c. About the Fences and Hedges you will find wild Pomgranate-Trees with fine double Flowers wild Almond-Trees the Fruit whereof the Moors carry about in great plenty to sell to the Poor and near it in old decay'd Brick-walls and Stony places you shall see Caper-bushes Among the rest there groweth a very strange Bush by the Inhabitants called Morgsani which is very green and thick hath a long Woody Coat whereout sprout several Stalks with round Leaves like unto Caper-leaves only with this difference that four of them stand together all opposite to one another like unto our Beans between them there appear small Flowers red within and white without whereout grow long Pods like unto these of the Sesamum This Plant hath a very unpleasant scent wherefore the Inhabitants use it frequently to destroy Worms But what the Ancients formerly called it I know not but really am of this opinion it must be according to the description the Ardifrigi of Avicen and Aadician of Rhasis he that pleaseth may read more thereof in the quoted places In these places is also found the thorny Acacia by the Inhabitants called Shack and by the Arabians Schamuth which are very small and low chiefly these that stand in the Fields which give as much trouble to the Plowmen as the Ferns and Rest-harrow do here the Twigs are of an Ashen-colour crooked full of Prickles like unto those of a Rose-bush and have very small-feather'd Leaves like unto Tragacantha which are almost divided like unto our female Fern the Flowers of them I have not seen but the Cods that grow out of them are without brownish in their shape thicker and rounder than our Beans spongy within and containing two or three reddish Seeds I have besides these seen in Shops Pods of a Chestnut-brown colour sold under the name of Cardem which have two or three little distinct Cells or Baggs in each whereof is
respect are very like unto the Polycnemon of Dioscorides but whether it be the same or no I leave the learned to decide Besides those before as we came down the River I saw a great many large Tamarisk Trees and abundance of a certain kind of Agnus Castus almost like unto the other only a great deal less and it had no more but three strong claver Leaves but above all the Galega called Goats-Rue in our Language which in these Parts groweth very high and in so great plenty that on the River side I could see nothing but this for several Miles together CHAP. IV. Of the Inhabitants of the Mountains and the great Wilderness we came through to Deer Of their ancient Origination and miserable and laborious Livelihood UPon this good and severe Command of the Bashaw Son of Mahomet Bashaw we were acquitted of our long Arrest and went away about Noon on the 27th of September we went again from thence through such great Desarts that for some Days we saw nothing worth relating but here and there little Huts made of some erected Boughs and covered with some Bushes wherein the Moors with their Families live to secure themselves from the great Heat Rain and Dews that are in these Parts most violent so that I admired how these miserable People could maintain themselves and so many Children in these dry and sandy Places where nothing was to be had Wherefore these poor People are very naked and so hungry that many of them if they saw us afar off would fling themselves into the great River and swim to us to fetch a piece of Bread And when we flung at them whole handfulls they would snap at it just like hungry Fish or Ducks and eat it Others did gather it and put it into the Crown which they make neatly of their Sheets on the top of their Heads and so swim away with it After these sandy Desarts had continued a great while we came at length out of them between high rough and bare Hills which were so barren that there was to be seen neither Plough-Lands nor Meadows neither House nor Stick neither High-way nor Foot-path wherefore those People that live there have no Houses but Caves and Tents as they have in the great Desarts where because of the great Heat and Driness the Soil is so barren that they cannot subsist in a place for any considerable time nor have Villages or certain Habitations Wherefore they wander up and down fall upon the Caravans and plunder them and make what shift they can to get a livelihood These Mountains as I am informed reach to the River Jordan the Dead and the Red-Seas c. wherein are situated Mount Sinai Horeb c. and the Town Petra which by the Prophet Isaiah is called Petra of the Desarts The Arabians that live in these Desarts and round about them are extraordinary Marks-men for Bows and Arrows and to fling Darts which are made of Canes They are a very numerous People and go out in great Parties every where almost they are a very ancient Nation and come from the Sons of Ishmael but chiefly from his Eldest Son Nebajoth and were anciently called the War-like Nabathees and their Country the Land or Province of the Nabathees which Josephus testifieth in Book I. Chap. 21. where he says that the Twelve Sons of Ishmael which he had by an Egyptian Wife his Mother Agar from whom they were called Agarens as you may see in the first of the Chronicles and the sixth Verse being also of the same Country were possessed of all the Country between the Euphrates and the Red-Seas and called it the Province of the Nabathees The Midianites that bought Joseph of his Brethren and carried him into Egypt may also be reckoned among these This same Country is also chiefly by Pliny because thereabout are no other Habitations but Tents wherein the Inhabitants live called Scenitis From this we may conclude that the Prophet Isaiah in his 60th Chapter and David in his 120th Psalm did speak of them when chiefly the latter maketh mention of the Tents of Kedar whereby he understands a Country that is inhabited by such a Nation as liveth in Tents and is derived from Kedar the Son of Ishmael whom his Father Abraham as a strange Child born by his Maid Agar did thrust out together with his Mother into the Desarts his words are these Wo is me that I sojourn in Mesheck that I dwell in the Tents of Kedar In our times these and other Nations are called the Saracens which have very much encreased under Mahomet which by his Mother was an Ishmaelite and did spread very much and so they were in David's time a very strong Nation wherefore he prayeth very earnestly in his 83 Psalm that God would punish and slay and disperse them as Enemies of his Holy Church But that I may come to our former Intention again here the Arabians asked us very often again where their King was at that time so that our Master had business enough to answer them whereby you may observe what great Respect and Love they have for their King But that they might not altogether look upon us as Outlandish Men nor presently discern us to be Strangers we did sometimes when there was occasion for it change our Turbants and let one end thereof according to their Fashion hang down which they do to make themselves a Shade against the Heat that is very cruel in these Countries But yet if any body be he who he will doth enquire after their King and wants to come before him to present him with a Suit of Cloaths c. or to desire a Pass from him or if one should go about to hire one of them to shew him the way to a certain place or through their Country which he may do for a very small price he would soon find one or other that would be ready to do it but among the Turks there is no such Obedience for if you should desire any thing of them to do in the Name of their Sultan they are not willing to do it except it would redound to their great Profit Wherefore a Turkish Guide to conduct you would cost you a great deal more than one of them Besides they also remember their Master daily and hardly speak of any thing but of him his great riches c. but with such Pride and Greatness chiefly when they speak of his powerfulness and enlarging of his Kingdom as if some share of these were belonging to them and that they must be respected for it In this Navigation through the great Desarts we two did not spend much because the Towns were at so great a distance from one another that we could not reach them to provide our selves daily with Necessaries as we do in our Country on the Danube and Rhine or Lodgings We were necessitated to be contented with some slight Food or other and make a shift with Curds Cheese Fruits
Religion shall be hereafter mentioned in the Chapter of the Abissines Further I was informed at my return that after the Decease of Gamach the King of Persia that had three Sons and one Daughter who was soon married to one of the chiefest of the Council at Court whereof the Eldest called Alschi was beheaded because he did endeavour to take away his Father's Crown the other two are still in being the youngest of them Balthasar liveth in Parsid a peculiar Province and Town in Persia which lieth on the Borders of the Indies and the middlemost called Ismael was lately after his Father's Decease elected King almost at the same time when the now reigning Turkish Emperour Amurathes came to the Crown This is still young and of a tall and slim Body but very manly and full of Courage and well skill'd in all Warlike Exercises so that he dare before any of his Courtiers ride wild and unbroken Horses by them called Aecaik which are not easily mastered They are brought to him a great way off out of the Eastern Parts they are as I am informed of an Ashen colour only some have white Legs in these and other Exercises he hath shown his Manliness from his Infancy But when he did encrease in Age and in Strength the Anger and Displeasure he bore against the Turks did increase also and to that Degree that he resolved during his Father's Life to be reveng'd of them for the wrong they had done to his Ancestors Wherefore a little while agone he brought together a great many Men in the frontier Places to surprize the Town of Bagdet unawares being one of the Chiefest that formerly had belonged to his Ancestors together with the whole Country wherein the new Kings of Persia when they first come to the Government are used to be crowned When he was thus prepared for the Onset and nothing was wanting some Traytors ran away from his Troops and acquainted the Bashaw of Bagdet with his Design so the Bashaw was forced to arm himself with all Speed as well as he could that he might be able to oppose him in his Designs But when the King's Son would have put his Intention into Execution the Bashaw fell upon him unawares with such a Number and Strength that he could not only attempt nothing but was beaten and he himself taken Prisoner Besides this the Grand Turk would have had him to be beheaded if his Father had not with great earnestness taken his part and given him for his Ransom the Town Orbs in Mesopotamia After this the old King had enough to do to keep his Son in safe Custody that he might not begin new Alarms and Wars against the Turks Before I began my Voyage in March in the Year 74 certain News came to Aleppo that 25000 Turks were killed on the Confines of Persia and Arabia but in what Place this Battel was fought and which way it was done I could not learn for if they suffer any Damage they always keep it very close and secret nor any ways hear Wherefore the Turks at that time were a great deal harder towards the Christians so that many suffered for their Misfortunes Sake But if they had obtained the Victory as well as not they would not have been so silent but would have spread it abroad and have related it to others that did not ask them with high and big Words So great an Opinion have the Turks of themselves that they really believe there is no other Nation that can conquer the World so as they although they are not to be compared with the Persians neither for Strength Manliness nor Shape so therefore they could effect but very little against others if it were not for their great Number wherewith they over-power them And to speak only of the Inhabitants of this Town there are so many sick and lame People in it that you would admire to see so many lame and limping ones in the Streets yet the King of Persia cannot hold out the War at length nor keep a War at a great Distance for his Revenue is not so great as to make sufficient Provision for his Officers and Souldiers c. to pay them as well in time of Peace as of War For his Subjects are freed from all Taxes and Impositions according to their ancient Privileges and Customs They never arm themselves for a Defence but when they are called together by their King to defend and protect their Country House or Land Wife and Children against the Assault of an Enemy When I was thus enquiring from one or other and endeavouring to inform my self and learn whether it were more commodious for us two to go by Water to Ormutz or by Land through Persia into the Indies and we thought of nothing else but to begin our Voyage daily to go further I was call'd on a sudden by a Letter to come away for Aleppo immediately which troubled me very much and that the more when I considered that I was passed the Wilderness and come into the fruitful Eastern Countries which would have been very well worth seeing So after I had considered a while I agreed with my Comerade that he should go on with the Voyage in hand and that I because besides the Letter I had others no smaller Hinderances would go back again So I fitted him out for his Voyage with all Necessaries so that two Days after he went with other Merchants into the Ship for Balsara Not long after I had of him a very mournful Message or Account that the Ship wherein he went from Balsara to Ormutz was perished in a great Storm near the Island Baccharis in the Persian Sea where they find good store of Oriental Pearls and that he and several other Merchants and rich Merchants Sons from Aleppo were drowned At the same time I might have returned back again with a great Caravan to Aleppo but because they took the straightest way through great and sandy Desarts which lasted for Fifty Days Journeys or thereabout where we had but two places to pay Custom in where we could buy Provision as Water and other Necessaries I resolved within my self to go by more Fruitful Places and Famous Towns although I went about where I might see and learn something more so I did stay in the great Camp longer until I met with some Companions In the mean time while I stayed there I made my self acquainted with an eminent Merchant that lived in Aleppo and had been several times in the Indies who told me that the Jesuits had begun to set up a very severe Inquisition in the Indies chiefly in God where they observed diligently those that did not take of their Hats to the Images which were set up in several Streets of the Town that they might put them into Prison which he did very much dislike believing it to be very great Idolatry After he had said this he began to talk further to me concerning Religion and chiefly of the Articles
A COLLECTION Of Curious TRAVELS VOYAGES In Two Tomes The First containing Dr. Leonhart Rauwolff's Itinerary into the Eastern Countries as Syria Palestine or the Holy Land Armenia Mesopotamia Assyria Chaldea c. Translated from the High Dutch by NICHOLAS STAPHORST The Second taking in many parts of Greece Asia minor Egypt Arabia Felix and Petraea Ethiopia the Red-Sea c. from the Observations of Mons Belon Mr. Vernon Dr. Spon Dr. Smith Dr. Huntingdon Mr. Greaves Alpinus Veslingius Thevenot's Collections and others To which are added Three Catalogues of such Trees Shrubs and Herbs as grow in the Levant BY JOHN RAY Fell. of the Royal Society LONDON Printed for S. Smith and B. Walford Printers to the Royal Society as the Princes Arms in St. Paul's Church-yard 1693. To the Honourable S r ROBERT SOVTHWELL PRESIDENT TO THE COUNCIL AND FELLOWS OF THE Royal Society These TOMES OF Curious Travels and Voyages ARE Most Humbly Dedicated AS A Monument of GRATITUDE THE BOOKSELLERS TO THE READER THese Two Tomes of Travels and Voyages containing great Variety both as to the several Countries the Observations and Authors of them we think it proper to give the World a short account of them The first is Rauwolf a Person very famous for his Skill in Natural Products and in the Practise of Physick whose Itinerary into the Eastern Countries being written in High Dutch was grown very rare valued as a Manuscript and much desired by some learned Gentlemen who are justly esteem'd to have a delicate Taste and fine Judgment in the choice of Books and Subjects therefore being informed that the High Dutch Copy of these Travels was only to be found in the Arundelian Library at Gresham College we freely undertook the Charge of having it translated and printed in our Language which is here performed with great care and diligence The Plants collected by the worthy Author Dr. Leonhart Rauwolff in his Itinerary were curiously preserv'd by the late Isaac Vossius in four large Volumes and justly esteem'd by that great man as the most noble Rarity and Ornament of his Bibliotheque which when it came to be sold to the Vniversity of Leyden was particularly valued by the Great Heer van Beverning for these Volumes of dry'd Plants collected by our Author in his Travels of the Eastern Countries and tho' some perhaps may give a slight Character of him for a Mistake or two about Prestâ—r John and the Unicorn yet if they consider that he only relates what he accidentally heard of them from others they ought to take that part only as a Story told him upon the Road as he himself indeed delivers it But this may very truly be said of Rauwolff that whatever he writes upon his own Observation or Knowledge is most faithful and sincere therefore it was not without Reason that Carolus Clusius and the two Bauhines all very good Judges depended so much upon him and made such frequent and honourable mention of this Itinerary But because some might think that the aforementioned Journey of Dr. Leonhart Rauwolff was consinâ—d to too narrow a compass of Ground and to some Countries not much frequented as Armeâ—ia Mesopotamia Assyria Babylonia Judea c. we therefore consulted a Friend how to render the Piece more useful to the Publick who advised us to extend it to many other places of the Levant where Rauwolff never travell'd as Greece Egypt and other adjacent Countries bordering near the Sphere of Rauwolff's Itinerary This being thought most serviceable to the Republick of Learning we immediately concluded to supply and enlarge Rauwolff with a Second Tome out of some of the most renowned Travellers of those parts of the World such as Bellonius Alpinus Veslingius Mr. Greaves Mr. Vernon and many others of great Fame and Reputation for their excellent Observations in the Levant as Dr. Smith Dr. Huntingdon Dr. Spon Sir G. Wheeler c. To these we have added something of Arabia Felix and Ethiopia which curious persons may be desirous to read being taken from Original and Authentick Voyages Lastly We prevail'd with Mr. Ray to draw up three Catalogues at the end containing the Trees Shrubs and Herbs growing in the Levant part of the World together with their various synonimous Names which do much illustrate and beautifie the whole But before we take Leave a Point of Honour of Candor and Ingenuity ought not to be forgotten which is a decent acknowledgment of the Writings from whence the several parts of the Second Tome were extracted for the benefit of the Reader these were Clusius's Edition of Monsieur Belon's Itinerary by Plantine at Antwerp The Egyptian Observations of Alpinus printed at Padua and Venice The Pyramidographia of Mr. Greaves The Collections of Voyages and Travels by Ramusio Hakluyt Purchas and Thevenot The Philosophical Transactions published by Mr. Oldenburg at London and afterwards by Dr. Plot at Oxford To which we may add some of the most learned Missionaries of the Church of Rome into foreign Countries such we mean only as applied themselves to Topographical and Philosophical Observations as Father Alvarez Father Lobo Father Tellez and Father Vansleb who setting aside the business of their Calling and Mission are not only worthy of entring the List of Gentlemen Travellers and Virtuoso's but of appearing in a Protestant Kingdom From all these we fetcht Materials for the forming and raising our Second Volume which we cannot but hope will prove beneficial and grateful to the Publick seeing we had no other design in it than purely that of pleasing and instructing as well as of enlarging the Empire of Knowledge Dr. Leonhart Rauwolff TO His Honoured Cousins and Friends HANS WIDTHOLTZ CHRISTOPH CHRISTEL AND NICHOLAS BEMER Honoured and Dear Cousins THE Ancient Philosophers were wont not unfitly to compare the study and pursuit of Ingenious Arts and Sciences to the practise of Merchandizing for as Merchants fear no Dangers neither spare any Pains or Cost in travelling to foreign Countries by Sea and Land that they may procure and bring thence to furnish their Store-houses such Goods and Commodities as they chiefly deal in So those who make the attainment of Skill in the forementioned Liberal Arts their principal End and the study thereof their Delight are not deterred from prosecuting this Design by any distances of Places by Winter or Summer fearing neither Rain nor Snow nor the traversing of horrid Desarts or the wild and roaring Seas nor wasting or weakening their Patrimonies if at last they can but arrive at those places where they may gain the acquaintance and familiarity of eminently-learned Masters able to instruct them in those Arts and Sciences to the Knowledge and Comprehension whereof they aspire or where they may inform themselves of the Constitutions and Customs of famous Nations and of other things subservient to their Intentions We have an Instance of this in the Wise Philosopher and famous Law-giver Solon who as Plutarch in the Description of his Life remarketh travelled through
been the most potent Monarchs of the World not only to observe their Lives Manners and Customs but chiefly to gain a clear and distinct knowledge of those delicate Herbs described by Theophrastus Dioscorides Avicennas Serapio c. by viewing them in their proper and native Places partly that I might more exactly describe them especially the most strange and rare partly also to provoke the Apothecaries to endeavour to procure those that are necessary for them to have in their Shops I strove always to put this my desire into execution but was forced to defer until in the Year of our Lord 1573. I found an opportunity by my honoured Brother-in-Law Mr. Melchior Manlick Senior which was very convenient He received me presently having before a design to increase the number of them that were employed in his Trade and fitted me out for my Voyage that I might go with the first Company that should Travel for Marseilles and then from thence further in one of their Ships to Tripoli situated in that part of Syria which is called Phoenicia After that my honoured Friend Mr. Frederick Rentzen of that same City was come to me we set out the 18 th of May Anno 1573. from Augspurg towards Lindaw designing to go through Piedmont to Milan and Nissa and so further the same day we came to Mindelheim a very pleasant Town with a princely Castle situated upon the Mindel then belonging to the Baron of Frundsberg The 19 th at Noon we came to Memmingen a very pleasant City of the Empire and at Night to Leutkirch The 20 th we rode thorough Wangen another Imperial City situated in Algaw where they drove a very good Trade with fine Ticking and Linnen Cloth about Noon we arrived at Lindaw an Imperial City situated in the Boden sea where there is a very great Depository or Staple of all sorts of Commodities or Merchandises some have called this the German Venice because it is in like manner situated in Water and hath also a great Trade After Dinner we crossed the Lake towards Fuzach a Village not far from Bregentz towards the Rhine The 21 st about breakfast-time we came to Veldkirch a very pleasant Town situated upon the Yll belonging now to the House of Austria but formerly to the Counts of Montfort By the way I saw several fine Plants viz. Saxifraga Aurea Caryophyllata Alpina a fine sort of Bellis-major Crista galli with white Flowers and Auricula Ursi with brown Flowers c. At Night we came to Mayenfeld belonging to the Grawpunters upon the Rhine which runs by the Town and there runs into it a River called Camingen which slides down between high Rocks where the Famous warm Bath from an adjacent Abby called Pfeffers riseth which may be numbered amongst the Wonderful Waters in regard of its Admirable Operation in strengthening lame and contracted Members and hath this Property beyond other Baths that it loseth its self from October till May and then it cometh on again powerfully The 22 d. we came at Night to Chur a very Ancient City where also is a deposition of Goods that are brought thither from Germany by Pack-horses over the Mountains A Seat of that Bishop lyeth half an hours going from the Rhine wherefore this Bishoprick is accounted the Chief of all the Bishopricks of the Rhine or the Pfaffen gaste called by others because it is situated near the first beginning of the Rhine according to the Ancient Proverb Costentz the biggest Basil the pleasantest Strasburg the noblest Spires the devoutest Worms the poorest Mentz the worthiest Trier the ancientest and Collen the richest The 23 d. we rode to Tusis an Ancient Village belonging to the Grawpunters the Name whereof shews its Original for the Rhetians are descended from the Tuscans who under the Conduct of one Rhaetus of old took Possession of those Countries not far off upon a high Mountain is still situated a ruined Castle called Realt or which is righter Rhoetia alta derived also from the Rhetians The 24 th at Noon we came by the Splewerhill into a Village called Splugi not far from the beginning head or source of the Rhine Thence we passed over the Hill and came at Night to a little Village called Gampolschin situate in a Valley of the same Name where we rested Monday the 25 th at Noon we came to Claeven or Clavenna a very Ancient Town belonging to the Bunts which had Anciently a strong Castle which was demolished by the Grawpunters themselves Anno 1524 after it was cunningly taken from them by Castel de Maess and John Jacob de Medicis in which bustle the Town was also ruined for the Gates and Walls were beaten down that no Enemy might after that lodge himself there again From Claeven we went to Riva upon the Lago di Como where the Water Addua runs into the Lake and yet notwithstanding adds no Water to it nor taketh any from it but only runs strait through it and so doth the Rhine through the Lake called the Boden-Sea From thence we travelled to Gera upon the same Lake where we lay all Night on the Bank I saw some purple-coloured Lillies a sort of Lilium Saracenicum with small Leaves and in the old Walls the Cymbalaria The 26 th about Noon we came to Como a very glorious and pleasant City from whence the Lake hath its Name to this day From thence we rode the same Night to Milan the Metropolis of that Dukedom What strange passages have been committed in this Town before it was possessed by the Emperour Charles the Fifth after the Decease of the last Duke Francis Sfortia is related sufficiently in History The 27 th we rode through Binasco a pleasant Village where the very learned and famous Andreas Alciatus Doctor in Law and Professor of several Universities in France and Italy hath built a very Glorious Palace And in the Evening passing by the great Park in which in the Year 1525. was fought that bloody Battel between Francis King of France and the Emperour Charles the Fifth's Officers in which the King himself was made Prisoner and many of his Men kill'd the same Night arrived at Pavia an Ancient Glorious City situated on the River Tesin where the Kings of the Longobards did formerly keep their Courts and afterwards Charles the Great the first German Emperour did institute an University which hath brought up many Eminent and Learned Men since The 28 th departing from Pavia we passed the River Padus or Eridanus which is believed to be the biggest River in Italy to Vogera a pleasant Village situated on the River Stafora there we began to take Post and had Eighteen Stages to Nissa By Noon we arrived at Dertona a pretty Town yet not very full of People by reason of the many Wars and intestine Quarrels in which it was engaged belonging to the Duke of Milan In this Country I found whole Acres sown with Woad and there
whereof he maketh mention in his Index where he interpreteth the Arabian words For a kind of this may also be taken because it affords a delicate purple colour that Alga that is found in the Seas near Candia and is described by Theophrastus in his Fourth Book and Seventh Chapter Lastly Among the rest I did also enquire after the Amomum and thought because they were near unto the Confines of Armenia that therefore they might easily have it by the Caravans which come daily from those parts yet I was forced to run a great while after it till at length I got a little Stalk thereof in one Shop They call it by the name of Hamama But of the other so called by Dioscor which is like unto it and therefore may easily be taken for the right one they had a great deal These two small Shrubs although they are very like to one another yet for all that they may be distinguish'd by their Stalks and different colours Wherefore Dioscorid bids us if we will not be imposed upon to pick out the bigger and smoother with its noble Seed and to leave the small This Stalk which I found about the length of a Finger is almost of the colour of the Bark of the Cinnamon-tree and also in its acrimony and good odour although it was old still very strong At the top had been several woody Stalks close to one another whereon I believe had been the Flowers and Seeds But the Twigs of the other sort which are crack'd and bended are of a brown colour which at the top divide themselves into other less ones like a Tree whereon grow several Stalks with little Heads like unto the Masaron or Marum Syriacum from Crete wherein is no great strength nor odour Thus much I thought convenient to mention of strange Plants chiefly of these the ancients make mention of and so I conclude the first part of my TRAVELS Here endeth the First Part. THE SECOND PART OF THE TRAVELS OF Dr. Leonhart Rauwolff INTO The Eastern Countries Wherein is treated of his Journey from Halepo through the famous Town of Babylonia to Badgee what he saw by the way and what did befal him in going and coming by Water and by Land With a brief account of the high Mount of Libanus of the strange Plants and Inhabitants thereof THE SECOND PART OF THE TRAVELS OF Dr. Leonhart Rauwolff INTO THE Eastern Countries Wherein is treated of his Journey from Halepo through the Famous Town of Babylonia to Bagdet what he saw by the way and what did befal him in going and coming by Water and by Land VVith a brief Account of the high Mount of Libanus of the strange Plants and Inhabitants thereof CHAP. I. How I departed from Halepo to the Famous City of Bi r and how I sailed from thence on the Euphrates to old Babylon AFter I had stay'd a good while in Halepo and had seen and understood the Trade and Merchandices of the Inhabitants together with that of all the other Nations viz. Grecians Armenians Georgians Arabians Persians and Indians which come and go daily with their Caravans and very well observed and understood their Manners and Customs and had also Collected a fine parcel of foreign and undescribed Plants I resolved to go farther Eastward into Mesopotamia Assyria and Babylonia c. as the ancientest and most fruitful Countries that ever were where the ancientest People and the most Potent Monarchs did inhabit But these Countries lying far off and the Way that leadeth thither passing through vast Desarts and Wildernesses and therefore the Voyage being so much the more difficult and dangerous to attempt and accomplish I first look'd out for a trusty Companion to take as my Assistant and met presently with an experienced Dutchman that had lived a great while in Halepo who granted my request being as desirous to go this Voyage as my self to go along with me We agreed presently and began to consider which was our best Way to take But that we being Strangers might not be taken to be Vagabonds or Spies they being very suspicious from whence they might presently take occasion as the Turks use to do to lay great Avarias or unjust Taxes upon us which the Christians that deal to these Parts have often to their great Loss and Damage experienced we did consider and found that the Trading here was very great so that they did not only deal from hence into Armenia Egypt and Constantinople for from thence come the Caravans through Natolia in about a Months time but also very much into Persia and India Wherefore we thought best to profess our selves Merchants that so we might Travel the more safely with other Merchants in order thereto to buy some Merchandices that would Sell in those Places and to carry them along with us That we might put this in execution my formerly mentioned Friend Hans Vlrich Raft from Vlm took great Pains to furnish me at my Desire and Request with several fit Commodities for those Places upon account of my Patron Mr. Melchior Manlich which I got pack'd up immediately to go with them to the Famous City Bagdet situated upon the Tigris where is a great Staple and Deposition of Merchandices that are to go farther for Persia and India But seeing that seldom any Merchants go from Halepo further into these Countries so that our Habits are very rarely seen there we cloathed our selves as is usual in the common Turkish Habit that every body might not presently look upon us as Strangers first we had long blue Cabans which are button'd before quite down and cut out about the Neck not unlike to those of the Armenians and white Drawers made of Cotton that hung down to our Ankles and were drawn in and tied about our Bodies and also Shirts after the same Fashion and without Collars We also fitted our selves with white Turbants with a blue Brim such as Christians usually wear and put on yellow Shooes which were painted before guarded with Nails and with Horse Shooes behind Besides this we put on a kind of a Frock made of a certain course Stuff called Meska in their Language which is common among the Moors They are generally made of Goats and Asses Hair pretty narrow without Sleeves and short reaching only to our Knees But these Stuffs being not all alike the finest thereof chiefly that which is striped white and black is taken for Cloaths and the courser for Tents and Portmantles wherein they carry their Provision through the Desarts and also keep their Camels and Mules meat hanging it about their Necks This puts me in mind of the plain cloathing which the ancient Inhabitants of these Countries chiefly the Israelites when they mourned for their deceased Relations or when they repented of their committed Iniquities and turned from them and prayed God to forgive them their accumulated Transgressions used to put on as we read in the 37th Chapter of Genesis where Jacob lamented the Death of his Son Joseph
read the Authors of Physick that have writ in another Language as the Jews can But seeing that the Jews are very much addicted to Covetousness they endeavour rather to promote their own Interest than that of their Patients so that the Turks are but slightly provided with Physicians and therefore rather die like Flies than take advise of their Physicians chiefly of the Jews which are not contented with a small Reward to this add also that the Turks never put any Confidence in the Jews and esteem their Counsel but little and besides they believe that God hath already pre-ordained every one his Death so that he that is born to be drowned cannot be hanged And besides all this the Jews do not stick close to them in time of necessity but fly presently and first of all in time of Sickness which certainly happens once in Seven Years if not in Five or sooner just like Hirelings as they have sufficiently experienced in the last Plague in the Year 72 with the loss of several Persons of Worth and Quality chiefly among the rest a Turkish Pay-Master by them called Daftedar and another Eminent Turk and their own Sons which both of them although this proferr'd to lay 3000 Duckets and the other 10000 into the Hands of a third Person yet were neglected and lest by their Physicians and died It is very much in use among them that if any body doth find himself not well another puts his Arms cross before him and so graspeth him about his Back and lifteth him up and sets him down again and shaketh him several times just as they use to do Sacks with Corn to make them lie the closer and to hold the more As the Physicians are so are also the Apothecaries where you find nothing of any great Compositions nor purging Electuaries as Elect. Diacatholicon Diaphoenicon c. although they have the best Ingredients thereof for we have them all sent from them except they be sent to them from Marseilles or Venice c. If you have occasion for any Herbs Roots or Seeds c. you must go your self not without great trouble and losing of time and find them either in the Fields or else at the Grocers and other Shop-keepers Among the rest of the things they had I soon knew the Rob Ribes by its ancient Name and pleasant sourish Taste whereof they make a great quantity in this place and send it further into other Countries but chiefly to the Turkish Emperour wherefore in the Easter Week they had already gathered several Sacks full of the Stalks of the true Ribes of the Arabians which are hairy almost two Foot long and of the thickness of an Inch of a greenish colour and underneath as also Serapio mentioneth reddish from the Mount Libanus and brought it to the Cadi to make Rob of it for him I saw them lie in his Court-yard and several of them were given me to taste and to take away with me What Herbs I found at my return else because there are but a few of them therefore I have put them among the rest here-above in a peculiar Chapter I saw there several strange Birds and among others some of a delicate green and blue colour which were about the bigness of our Nut-crackers by them called Sucuruck and by others Alsecrach I also found their Alhabari which are not unlike our Peacocks and almost as big and could not fly much Of four-footed Beasts I saw seveveral and among them some Civet-Cats which were brought thither in Caravans from remote Parts and the Indies In the Fundique of the Consul of the Venetians I saw a very sharp sighted one like unto a Lynx exactly of the shape of a Cat so that it was not easily distinguished from it save only in its bigness for it is much higher and slimmer This is a very wild and fierce Beasts so that his Keeper himself was afraid of it It once got loose and got through the Yard below into an Apothecaries Shop wherein he had just then put a great many Glasses that were sent him from Venice whereof it broke the greatest part before it could be taken again When I was there a young Rhinoceros was carried through the Town to Constantinople It came from the most Eastern Parts and had killed above 20 Men before they could take it They also lead daily some Lions about the Town in small Chains which have small Bells before that every body may take the sooner Notice of them they are so tame that their Keepers sometimes wrastle with them in open Places neither do they easily grow wild except they should see Sheep then their Keepers have enough to do to keep them off and to appease them Without in the Fields in high and bushy Places are sometimes found Chamelions which are somewhat bigger than our green Lizards but a great deal leaner and higher upon their Legs they walk very slowly and lazily they live a great while without Meat like the Serpents and are a very ugly Creature If we put it upon a coloured red yellow or black Cloth it hath by degrees changed its natural green Colour into the same that the Cloth was of Having ended my Business I had and in the mean time received a Letter from my Comrades that were at Tripoli I parted from thence according to their desire and came on the 5th of May Anno 75 to them in Tripoli After some Days arrived also with some Goods one of their chiefest Carriers which they call Mokeri which swore to me by his Head that is he affirmed upon his Faith and Reputation that the Sub-Bashaw of Aleppo when he was departing from thence had sent his Bailiffs to my Lodgings to apprehend me and to fling me into the publick Turkish Gaol because they were very well assured that when I was on the Hills where they had seen me look for Plants I had observed the Situation of the Town and all the Country very diligently that I might when I should have an opportunity betray them to their Enemies and shew them the best way to take it But all this was contrived that they might have an opportunity to take an Avaria on me as the Merchants call it there in these Countries that is to say they would accuse me falsly to make me punishable that they might get a sum of Money out of me And the Carrier also really believed for as much as he heard of them that they would not have let me come off for less than 200 Saraffi or Duckets one whereof maketh two of their Gilders Thanks be to our Lord God who hath delivered me from their unjust Accusations and Contrivances and brought me safe to this place At my arrival at Tripoli when I expected to live securely and quietly and thought that I was passed all danger I fell notwithstanding all this into another for when my Comrades and with them also Hans Vlrich Krafft yet without any transgression were flung into the Turkish
it is of two orders of Tuscan Pillars placed one over another and the lower Pillars stand on Pedestals which is not ordinary for commonly they have nothing but their Bases to support them There is besides a Temple dedicated to Rome and Augustus a Triumphal Arch built by a Lady of the Family of the Sergii in honour of some of her Kindred which commanded in these Countries besides several Inscriptions and ancient Monuments which are in divers parts of the Town In Dalmatia I saw Zahara which is now the Metropolis of the Country It was anciently called Jadera It 's now very well fortified being encompass'd on three sides with the Sea and that part which is toward the Land extreamly advantag'd by all the contrivances of Art having a Castle and a Rampart of very lofty Bastions to guard it I found here several ancient Inscriptions by me copied which will not find room in the compass of a Letter We pass'd in sight of Zebenico and saw three Forts which belong to the Town St. Nicolo St. Gioanni and la Fortezza Vecchia but we went not ashore That which is most worth seeing in Dalmatia is Spalatro where is Dioclesian's Palace a vast and stupendious Fabrick in which he made his residence when he retreated from the Empire it is as big as the whole Town for the whole Town indeed is patch'd up out of its Ruines and is said by some to take its Name from it The Building is massive there is within it an entire Temple of Jupiter eight-square with noble Porphyry Pillars and Cornice worth any bodies admiration There is a Court before it adorned with Aegyptian Pillars of that Stone called Pâ—repeiciles and a Temple under it now dedicated to S ta Lucia and up and down the Town several fragments of Antiquity with Inscriptions and other things worth taking notice of Four miles from Spalatro is Salona which shews the ruines of a great Town About as much farther from Salona stands Clissa upon a rocky Hill an eminent Fortress of the Venetians which is here the Frontier against the Turk from whence they repulsed him in their late Wars with great Honour I was at Lesina where is nothing very remarkable but Biondi that hath written our English History was of it Trau is ancient and hath good marks of its being so Here I spoke with Doctor Stasileo who put out that Fragment of Peâ—ronius Arbiter and I saw his Manuscript I was in the Harbour of Ragusi but not in the Town because we made no stay there From hence we past the gulph of Budua and saw the Mountains of Antivari the Plain of Durazzo and Apollonia and came to Sassino a small Island from whence we could see the Town of Valona and the Mountains Aeroceraunii which are very near and are now called Mountains of Chimaera I stay'd a fortnight in Carfu and had time to view all that was considerable in the Island particularly the Gardens of Alcinous that is the place where they are supposed to have been now called Chrysida a most delicious situation The ancient Port now called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and several foundations of ancient Fabricks In Zante I was likewise a fortnight where I saw but little of Antiquity What is modern is very flourishing and the Island rich and plentiful I went from Zante to Patras a Town in Achaia of good note among the Ancients Near it is a great Mountain mention'd by Homer by the name of Petra Olâ—nia In the Town are several massive Ruines which few there know how to give any account of There are the Remains of a large Church dedicated to St. Andrea who they say was martyr'd there This is the first Town I saw on the Continent of Greece The Plain about it is very fruitful full of Springs and Rivolets finely wooded with Olive-trees Cypresses Orange and Lemon-trees The Citrons here are counted among the best of the Turkish Empire and are sent for Presents to Constantinople So are all their Fruits in very good esteem In Athens I have spent two months Next to Rome I judge it most worthy to be seen for Antiquities of any I have yet been at The Temple of Minerva is as entire as the Rotunda I was three times in it and took all the dimensions with what exactness I could but it is difficult because the Castle of Athens in which it stands is a Garrison and the Turks are jealous and brutishly barbarous if they take notice that any measures it The length of the Cella or Body of the Temple without side is 168 Feet English The breadth 71 Feet English The Portico of the Dorique Order which runs round it hath 8 Pillars in front 17 on the sides the length of the Portico is 230 feet English I have taken all the dimensions within with those of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Portico's but they are too long for a Letter The fuste or shaft of the Pillars is 19½ feet in circumference The Intercolumnium 1¼ of the diameter of the Pillars The Temple of Theseus is likewise entire but 't is much less though built after the same model The length of its Cella is but 73 feet the breadth 26. The whole length of the Portico which goes round it 123 feet 'T is a Dorique Building as is that of the Minerva Both of them are of white Marble About the Cornice on the outside of the Temple of Minerva is a basso relievo of men on horseback others in Chariots and a whole procession of people going to a Sacrifice of very curious sculpture On the Front is the History of the Birth of Minerva In the temple of Theseus on the Front within-side the Portico at the West-end is the Battel of the Centauri and at the East-end seems to be a Continuation of that History But there are several Figures of Women which seem to be Pâ—rithous's Bride and those other Ladies which were at the Wedding On the outside the Portico in the spaces between the Triglyphi are several of the Prowesses of Theseus most in Wrestling with several persons in which he excelled All his postures and locks are exprest with great art Others are Monsters which he is made encountring with as the Bull of Marathon the Bear of Calydon c. There is a Temple of Hercules a round Fabrick only of six feet diameter but neat Architecture The Pillars are of the Corinthian Order which support an Architrave and Frise wherein are done in relievo the Labours of Hercules The top is but one Stone wrought like a Shield with a Flower on the outside which riseth like a Plume of Feathers There is yet standing the Tower of Andronicus Cirrhestes which is an Octogone with the Figures of eight Winds which are large and of good workmanship and the names of the Winds remain legible in fair Greek characters where a House which is built against it on one side does not hinder as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Each Wind placed against
Mountains and good Castles Damoud Tegre and Barnegas Besides there are several Provinces governed by Princes who are Vassals to the King of Ethiopia In short the Kingdom of Ethiopia comprehends twenty four Tambours or Vice Roys The capital City is called Gonthar and is in the Province of Dambia Ethiopia as the Ambassador told me is as cold as Aleppo or Damascus only the Countries near the Red-Sea and the Country of Sennar are hot The King of Ethiopia has above an hundred Wives and keeps no Eunuchs to look after them because they look upon it as a Sin to geld a man so that the Women have the same liberty there as in Christendom He is a King of very easie access and the poorest have the freedom â—o come and speak to him when they please He keeps all his Children on a Mountain called Ouhhni in the Province of Oinadaga which is a Mountain two days Journey distant from Gonthar there is a place like a Cistern on the top of the Mountain into which they are let down every night and taken up again in the day-time and suffered to play and walk about When the King dyes they chuse out one of the wittiest of them and make him King without any regard to Birth-right and when he comes to have Children he sends his Brothers Prisoners to some other place and places his Children at Ouhhni The place where the Kings are buried is called Ayesus and is a kind of Grott where the Aged are laid in one side and the young in the other Heretofore there was a Church there of the same name in time of the Jesuites and in the same place there is a Library The Ambassador assured me that he had been in that Library and I fancy it is the old Library of the Ancient Ethiopians Ethiopia is a good and fertile Country producing Wheat Barley c. The greatest Desarts of it are not above three or four days Journey over and nevertheless when the King makes any progress he lodges in Tents The Houses of the great Lords are like those of Caire that is to say very mean in respect of the Houses of Europe and the rest are only of Mud. The Country affords men of all Trades except Watch-makers They have no Camels there but Mules Asses Oxen and Horses All the People of this Country eat raw Flesh except the King who has it dress'd and drinks Wine of Grapes the rest drink only Wine made of Millet or Sarasin Wheat but as strong as ours and Brandy made of the same Grain They are cloathed after the fashion of the Franks and wear Cloath Velvet and other Stuffs imported to them by the Red-Sea They have Harquebusses from the Turks and of those People there are not above three or four hundred who serve in the Wars with Harquebusses In Trading they make no use of coyned Money as the Europeans do but their Money are pieces of fifteen or twenty Pies of Cloth Gold which they give by weight and a kind of Salt which they reduce into little square pieces like pieces of Soap and these pass for Money They cut out that Salt upon the side of the Red-Sea five or six days Journey from Dangala as you go from Caire and the places where they make it are called Arho Among them is the Nation of the Gauls whom in Ethiopick they call Chava and are a Vagabond people in Ethiopia as the Arabs are in Egygt These Gauls are rich in Cattel and are alwaies at wars with the Ethiopians They have no Harquebusses nor other Fire-Arms but make use of Lances and Targets After all they speak so mâ—ny different Languages in Ethiopia that the Ambassador said to me If God hath made seventy two Languages they are all spoken in Ethiopia I asked his Excellency if he knew any thing of the Source of the Nile and this he told me concerning it The Head of Nile is a Well that springs out of the Ground in a large Plain where many Trees grow this Fountain is called Ouembromma and is in a Province called Ago It makes that a very delightful place casting up Water very high in several places And this Ambassadour of Ethiopia assured me that he had been above twelve times with the King of Ethiopia to spend several days about that Fountain which is twelve days Journey from Gonthar More Observations of Ethiopia by Father Lobo Father Alvarez Father Tellez and others extracted from their Portuguese Voyages THE Rains begin to fall in June and continue July August and part of September which make the Nile swell and overflow in those Months Father Tellez says the Mountains of Habessinia are much higher than our Alps and Pyrenean Hills these render the Country more temperate and healthful and make that torrid Climate tolerable to the European Bodies There is plenty of good Springs and Herbage In the midst of the Plains there rise up many steep Rocks of wonderful Figures and Shapes on the tops whereof are Woods Meadows Fountains Fish-ponds and other conveniencies of Life The Natives get up to them by Ropes and crane up their Cattel These are like so many Fortresses which defend the Natives against the sudden Incursions of barbarous Nations on all sides This Kingdom abounds with Metals but they neglect to work them lest Turkish or other Invasions should follow if such Baits were discover'd Their Winter is from May to September the Sun then passing and repassing perpendicular over their Heads During this Season once every day it rains Torrents and thunders most violently which are accompanied sometimes with sudden and furious Hurricanes The Jesuits residing in the Province of Zambea observ'd both the Poles the Antarctick higher with his cross Stars In this tract of Heaven there is as it were a Cloud or Blot full of little Stars as our Via Laclea The Animals of this vast Kingdom are the Hippopotamus or River-horse which makes great devastation in their Plantations Crocodiles Rhinocerots Elephants Lyons Tygers Panthers Camelopardalus Gazels Zembra's Civet-Cats great varieties of Monkeys Apes and Baboons Ostriches Cassowars Turtles Locusts in prodigious numbers The ordinary Trees are the Date Coco Tamarind Câ—ssia Oranges Musa or Plantane Cotton-Trees with many others peculiar to the Climate and Region In one year they will have three several crops of Rice Millet Tef-Seed their common Food ten times less than Mustard-Seed of Wheat and other European Grain yet the Locusts often devour all and bring on Famines They make a Drink of Honey burnt Rice Water and a Wood call'd Sardo They have no Mills but grind all their Grain with the Hand Great Caravans pass up and down the Country to and from the Sea-Ports with Merchandise In many places the Towns and Villages are extreamly thick and very populous Snow sometimes lies on the high Mountains of Ethiopia especially those called Semam and Salleat or the Jews Hills This part of Africk called Habessinia is much the highest of that Quarter of the World the great Rivers
of our Christian Faith and made me immediately when he began to be sensible that I was of the same so fine a Confession of his Christian Faith so plainly and with such Grounds of Scripture that I was astonished for I could never have believed I could have met with the Fellow of him in these Countries So he began to have a great Love for me and desired me to go along with him and to stay with him in his House until I had an Opportunity to go further or that I might make him a Companion in his Voyage into the Indies that during those Travels he would shew me all Kindnesses he could nay be as careful of me as if I were his own Son And after he understood that I was a Physician he proferred of his own accord to recommend me to the Bashaw who was then sick and his very good Friend to be his Physician But I having understood before that others that had done the same had been but very ill rewarded for their Pains and Care they had taken and chiefly by those they did Cure I would not undertake it fearing I should have the same measure and instead of a Reward have my Liberty taken away from me wherefore I thanked him for his Kindness Had it not been for this I should have accepted of it notwithstanding that they have no Apothecaries Shops that are any thing provided but I must have bought the Ingredients from one Shop-keeper or other and so collected them from several places for I could hardly find any thing by them saving some strange sort of Turpentine Nuts whereof they have abundance and they are as good as Pistachia's wherefore the Inhabitants keep them by them and eat them as we eat small Nuts in our Country I have eaten several of them and found them of a saltish taste and of a drying quality These are called by the Arabians Botn and by the Persians Terbaick I have chiefly seen two kinds of them the greater and the less and so the Arabians distinguish them into Botnquibir and Sougier The bigger is in shape pretty like unto the Pistach Nut only it is a little rounder and so shorter the lesser is with its hard shell of the bigness of a Pea and are shaped like unto an Hart or the Dora that is the Indian-Hart A great many of them grow in Agemia Persia Mesopotamia and Armenia c. and grow together in clusters like Grapes as the Pistachies do or rather the Berries of our Turpentine-Trees for which they ought to be taken chiefly because the Trees wherein they grow are in their long Leaves pretty like unto the Turpentine-Tree whereby they are easily distinguished from the Pistachia-Tree which hath roundish ones This being so I take the little one for the Bell and the great one for the Fael of Serapio Avicen and Rhases which as Authors say grow chiefly in the Indies And this the rather because Authors attribute the same Virtue and Operation to them So may according to this chiefly the great Nuts Fael be taken for the Fruit of the Indian Turpentine-Tree whereof Theophrastus in his Fourth Book and Chapter Five maketh mention all which would be too tedious to be related here at large Besides these Nuts the before-mentioned Authors chiefly Serapio in his 251st Chapter makes still mention of another sort of Fruit called by him Sel and by Avicen Scel which are not in hard shells but as I saw them quite bare of the bigness of a Pistachia-Nut and of the colour of the Kernel of our Wall-nut they have a pretty bitterish taste and sensibly Sharp I did find none of them in these Parts by the Shop-keepers but had it only after that in the Monastery of the Minorites in Jerusalem of one of their Order who told me also that they did grow in these Countries Of Coloquints or white gourd Apples still known to the People by the old Name Handhal there grow so many hereabout that they send them to Aleppo and from thence into our Countries and also the delicate round Cyperus Root by the Inhabitants called Soëdt whereof one may find great quantities growing in mossy and wet Grounds I did also find by the Shop-keepers the white Seed of Machaleb which are in hard shells which are long and pointed and covered without with a tender skin like unto the Pistachia-Nut A great quantity of them are carried from thence into Syria and used to perfume Soap-Balls The Trees whereon they grow I did not see yet as I am informed they grow hereabout but chiefly on the Mountains that are by the way to Persia They are still to this Day by the Inhabitants as by Serapio called Nahandt But although there are several sorts of them yet they all boil them after they have been steep'd for some hours in Water to get off the thin shells as we do with Almonds in Milk or Wine into a Pap and put Sugar or Honey to it chiefly to the white ones to take away their bitterness I found farther a strange Gum in great pieces somewhat like unto Frankincense or Ammoniacum which the Inhabitants chew all Day long instead of Mastich and they attribute the same Virtues to it Wherefore great quantities thereof are brought thither chiefly from Persia which they call Taxa as I am informed from the Tree Tax which are very like unto Cypresses in shew and bigness only their Roots are not so long wherefore they are the easier over-turned by the Wind. According to this I remember of the Trees Thuja whereof Theophrastus maketh mention in Book V. Chap. 5. and of Thya of Pliny I also saw without the Batzers or Exchanges very high and big Caper-Trees and here and there in the Fields a peculiar sort of Red-grass like unto that of Babylon according to the description of Dioscorides and hath still retained his ancient Arabian Name Negil among the Inhabitants This hath long fibrous and yellowish Roots with many Joynts and puts out by them yearly several Buds which grow into hard Leaves which are long and pointed and at each side very sharp and cutting like unto them of the Red-grass between them come out small Stalks or Holms each whereof hath a peculiar Ear at the top coming out of its Grass-sheath which is long thin and its Seeds grow in two rows between small Leaves like unto the wild Galengal This doth not only grow hereabout but also in several other Places and Provinces where the Ground is sandy as Susiana Persia c. in great quantity and because it is by reason of its sharpness and cutting very pernicious to Beasts as to Bullocks Horses c. so that they die of it therefore they have or keep the fewer of them but instead thereof they keep Buffles which can feed upon it easier than other Beasts to eat this Grass which maketh the Buffle very cheap in these Countries for I have seen one buy three of them for eight Ducats which is in our Money about 48
Shillings that was bigger than an Hungarian Bullock Thus much I had to relate of Bagdet its Situation Trade and strange Plants so much as I could find and see at that improper time Being that I expected daily Company to go with me to Aleppo again by the way of several Towns and not straight through the sandy Wildernesses a Persian that I got acquainted withal in the mean while did inform me that the Sophi King of Persia had several Unicorns at Samarcand which he kept there and also in two Islands Alc and Tylos which lay from Samarcand nine Days Journey further towards the East near Spaam some Griffins by them called Alera which were sent him out of Africa from Prester-John They are a great deal bigger and higher have a red coloured Head a bearded Bill and a Neck over-grown with Feathers a thick Body black Wings like unto an Eagle and a long Tail like a Lion and Feet like a Dragon they are very eager for Flesh while they are yet young the King taketh them along with him and goeth often thither for Sport and Pleasures sake but as they grow up and strong he hath them chained about their Necks very strongly I did believe this the sooner because he could also tell me what Trees and Fruit grow there and chiefly those whereof Theophrastus maketh mention and out of him Pliny He also gave me an Account besides these of others that grow out of Persia in several places as of the Tree Palla which Theophrastus and Pliny mention which the Wise men did eat in the Eastern Countries and of the Musa of the Arabians whereof the former bear delicate sweet-tasted and very wholesome Fruit by them called Wac which are round reddish and as big as the Indian Melons But whether this be the noble Fruit Mangas whereof Clusius maketh mention in his History of Indian Plants which for Goodness sake is carried over Sea into Persia I leave to the learned to decide But the Musa which is as aforesaid also common in Syria beareth a great deal smaller Fruit which is smooth yellowish and bended almost like unto Citruls in shape These are also of a sweetish taste and therefore the pleasanter to eat but are very unwholesome so that Alexander the Great was forced to forbid his Souldiers to eat of them The same Persian did also inform me of the Poysonous Fruit Persea which is still known to them by the Name of Sepha which they esteem very little and also the Peaches called Het which are not so poysonous as some say as the above-mentioned for they esteem the Kernels thereof to be good wholesome Physick But yet that they are not esteemed by them the chief Reason is that they perswade themselves that Nimrod who was a great Magician or Necromancer poysoned them by his Black-Art and that since that time they could not be eaten wherefore they have not been esteemed ever since This I thought convenient to mention rather for the sake of those that have a mind to travel that if one or more of them should go into these Countries they might have occasion to make a more accurate enquiry after these things CHAP. IX Which way I came in my return from Bagdet through Assyria the Confines of Persia and the Province of the Curters to the Town Carcuch Capril c. and at length to the River Tigris to Mossel that Famous Town which was formerly called Nineve WHen hindered in my Travels for several weighty Reasons I was forced to go back again I looked up my Goods as I was advised by my good Friend the Christian whereof I made mention here before and fitted my self for my Journey I got for my Companions three Jews one whereof came down the Euphrates with me the others came from Ormutz for I could get no others to travel with me to Aleppo We set out on the 16th of December of the 74th Year for Carcuch distant Six Days Journey in the Confines of Media on the other side of the River Tigris which is still called by them in their Language Hidekel By the way we first saw some well-tilled Fields and above us on the River Tigris some Villages so that I could not but think I should meet with a Country that had plenty of Corn Must and Honey c. as it was commended by the the Arch-koob bearer of the King of Assyria and compared even with the Land of Promise but the further we went the greater grew the Wildernesses so that we were forced to lodge all Night in the Fields The next Morning there appeared a great way off more little Villages belonging to the King of Persia But we went on through the Desarts and my Fellow Travellers told me that they extend themselves to Persia and Media where we lost our way and came in the Evening into a Bog which hindered us so much that I because their Sabbath began whereon according to their Laws they must not travel was forced to stay there with them all Night long in it and also the next Day in great Showers of Rain not without great Inconveniency and Trouble During our staying there I look'd about me for some Plants but found none because they did but first begin to sprout but in the moist Places some wild Galengal with great round Roots by the Inhabitants called Soedt and by both Latines and Grecians Cyperus The 19th Day after we were not without trouble got out of the Mire our way extended its self still further through desolate Places and Desarts I thought of Julian that impious Roman Emperour and of his Army which when it went against the Persians and was very numerous over the River Tigris near to Ctesiphon he was by an Ancient Persian that was a Prisoner decoyed into these Desarts where he was beaten and routed by the Persians In this great Fight when the Emperour himself was mortally wounded he took up as Nicephorus and Eusebius say a handfull of Blood and flung into the Air yielded the Victory and said Then Galilean so he called Christ in whom he at first believed and afterwards denied and persecuted thou hast beaten and conquered me After we had lived for several Days very hardly in the Desarts and spent our time in Misery we came on the 20th by Scherb a Village over an Ascent into another more fruitful and well tilled Country situated on the Confines of Persia and for the most part inhabited by them which we could conjecture by the common Language Now though travelling through the Confines uses commonly to be very dangerous yet I thank God we met with none so that we without any Stop or Hinderance reached that Night the 21st of December to Schilb a curious Village where we rested all Night and refreshed our selves From thence we went on through large and fruitful Valleys but I found nothing for it was but just at the beginning of plowing time that was worthy to be mentioned for the Plants did but just begin