Churches and of the ancient Buildings of the Armenians by which you may conjecture that it never was very beautiful The Fortress stands upon a high ground with a double Wall square Towers close one to another and a pitiful Moat The Basha resides there but in a very ill House all the Buildings about the Fortress being in a bad condition In the same Enclosure there is a little rising Ground upon which they have rais'd a small Fort wherein the Janisary-Aga lives and where the Basha has no Power When the Grand Signor has a mind to the Head of this Basha or any other considerable person in the Province he sends a Capigi with order to the Janisary to send for the Person to the little Fort where the Execution is presently done One Example hereof I saw in my last Travels into Persia For the Basha of Erzerom not having sent Twelve thousand Men so soon as the Grand Signor requir'd them for his Wars in Candy the same Capigi that brought the Sentence of his Death had the same Order for the Execution of the Basha of Kars and meeting this Capigi upon the Road in a Village upon his return for Constantinople he would needs shew me whether I would or no the Heads of the two Basha's which he was carrying to the Grand Signor in a Bag. Between the first and second Gate of the Fortress are to be seen four and twenty Pieces of Cannon most excellent Guns but lying one upon another without Carriages They lye at Erzerom to be ready upon all occasions when the Grand Signor makes War against the Persians There are in Erzerom several great Inns this City like Tocat being one of the greatest Thoroughfares in Turkie The Country about it bears Wine but not very good and in regard the People are strictly forbid to drink Wine the Merchants are forc'd to buy it very privately for fear it should come to the knowledge of the Cadi Though it be very cold at Erzerom Barley grows there in fourty days and Wheat in sixty which is very remarkable The Customs paid there for the carrying out of the Gold and Silver and upon all other Commodities is very severe Silk that comes out of Persia pays four and twenty Crowns for a Camel's Load which is eight hundred Pounds For in the mountainous Countries a Camel's Load is no more but in the plain and even Countries they make 'em carry above ten hundred weight A Load of Indian Calicutts pays a hundred Crowns but the Loads of Linnen are much heavier than those of Silk As for other Commodities they pay Six per Cent. according to their value From this Stage the Caravan sets forward to a Fortress call'd Hassan Kala where you must pay half a Piaster for every Camel's or Horses Load going from Erzerom to Erivan but returning you pay but half as much Leaving this Fortress you must go and lodge at a Bridge near to a Village which is call'd Choban-Cupri Over this Bridge which is the fairest in the whole Journey you cross two Rivers which there meet one is the Kars and the other is a Stream that falls from a Mountain call'd Binguiel both which disburthen themselves into the Aras The Caravan usually stays a day or two at this Bridge because the Caravan divides it self at this place some continuing on the High-road others taking the Road of Kars as well to avoid fording the Aras several times as the paying a great Duty upon the great Road where they exact four Piasters upon every Camel's Load and two upon every Horse-Load whereas at Kars you are dismiss'd for half so much I went Kars Road twice but it is longer and more troublesom than the other As soon as you leave the Bridge for the first four days you travel over woody Mountains and very desert Countries where you meet but with one Village but coming near Kars the Country is more pleasant and well manur'd bearing all sorts of Grain Kars is in 78 Deg. 40 Min. of Longitude and 42 Deg. 40 Min. of Latitude in a very good Soil The City is very large but thinly peopl'd though Provision be very plentiful and very cheap But the Grand Signor always choosing that place to rendezvouz his Army whenever he intended to recruit it and to lodge his People there which he sent to build Villages the King of Persia has ruin'd all the Country as he did at Sulfa and in many other Frontier places for nine or ten days journey together From Kars to Erivan the Caravan makes it nine days journey and lyes where it can find most convenience there being no certain Stages The first days journey ends at a Monastery and a Village the one no less deserted than the other The next day you come to the Ruines of a great City call'd Anikagaë in the Armenian Language the City of Ani which was the name of an Armenian King that was the Founder of it By the Wall on the East-side runs a rapid Stream that falls from the Mountains of Mingrelia and empties it self into the River of Kars This City was very strongly situated being plac'd in a Mersh where are to be seen the Remains of two Causeys that only led to the Town There are the Ruines of several Monasteries among the rest two that are entire suppos'd to be Royal Foundations From thence to Erivan for two days journey you meet with only two Villages near the last of which you ride by the side of a Hill whither when the Caravan passes by the People bring Horses from several Parts to be sold. The Great Road from the Bridge where the Caravan parts lyes thus Two Leagues from the Bridge on the right hand toward the South lyes a great Mountain which the People of the Country call Mingol In this Mountain there are abundance of Springs and from one side of it falls Euphrates from the other side the River of Kars which empties it self into the Aras fourteen or fifteen Leagues on this side Erivan The Aras which the Ancients call'd Araxes falls from other Mountains Eastward of Mingol which after many windings through the Upper Armenia where it receives many other Rivers that swell its Streams it discharges it self into the Caspian Sea two days journey from Shamaki upon the Frontiers of the ancient Medes The whole Country is inter-cut by the Rivers Aras and Kars and several other Streams that fall into them inhabited by very few but what are Christians those few Mahumetans that live among them being so superstitious that they will not drink the Water of any of those Rivers nor wash in them believing them impure and defil'd by the use which the Christians make of them They have their particular Wells and Cisterns by themselves which they will not suffer a Christian to come near Comasour is the first Village where you lodge after you leave the Bridge of Choban-Kupri going to Erivan Halicarcara is the next Stage to Comasour this is a great Town also
of Christ was pierc'd the Figure whereof I caus'd to be drawn upon the Place The Armenians have this Lance in great Veneration saying that it was brought thither by St. Matthew Five Leagues from Erivan towards the South-East begins the Mountain Ararat which will be always famous for being the resting-place of Noah's Ark. Half a League from that Mountain where the Plain begins to grow level stands a Church upon a little Hillock close by which are several Pits like Wells They report that it was into one of these Wells that Cerda an Armenian King caus'd St. Gregory to be thrown because he would not Worship his false Gods Between this Church and Erivan are to be seen the Ruines of the Ancient Artaxate the Seat of the Kings of Armenia which demonstrate that it has been a great City besides there appear the Ruines of a fair Palace Erivan lyes in 64 Degrees 20 Minutes of Longitude 41 Degrees 15 Minutes of Latitude in a most plentiful Country of all things necessary for Humane Life but especially abounding in good Wine It is one of the best Provinces of all Persia and yields the King a very large Revenue as well by reason of the goodness of the Soil as for being the great Thoroughfare of the Caravans The yearly Revenue of the Governour only otherwise call'd the Kan of Erivan amounts to above 20000 Tomans which make 840000 Livres This City lying upon the Frontiers of both Empires has been taken and retaken by the Turks and Persians several times By which means the old City being ruin'd they have built a new one 800 Paces on this side upon a Rock at the foot whereof upon the West-side runs a rapid Stream it is call'd by the Name of Sangui-Cija and in many places it is deep and full of Rocks You cross it over a fair Bridge of three Arches in which are built little Chambers where the Kan retires in the heat of the day It is full of Fish especially Trouts which nevertheless are dear enough This River comes from a Lake called Gigaguni about 25 Leagues from Erivan toward the North and falls into the Aras that runs not above three Leagues off to the South Though this City be fortified to the West by the River yet it is never the stronger by reason of the Hills on the other side which command it and in regard it is built upon a Rock the Moats of the Fort are not above three or four Foot deep In some places the City is secur'd with a double Wall with several Towers but the Walls being only of Earth as are most of the Houses the Rain does more mischief than the Cannon would do That part of Erivan to the North-West is a kind of Suburb but far better inhabited than the City for there live all the Merchants and Artificers together with the Christian Armenians who have four Churches there with a Monastery And of late years they have built also a very fair Inn in the same Quarter In the City there only lives the Kan with the Military Officers and Souldiers the Kan's Lodgings lying upon the River The Governour is a Person of great Power and has always sufficient Forces about him to guard the Frontiers The Summer being very hot at Erivan he lyes in Tents upon the Mountains during the Heat When a Caravan arrives he is forc'd to give the King advice thereof and if any Ambassador come thither he is bound to maintain him at his own Expence and to cause him to be conducted to the Territories of the next Governour who is oblig'd to do the same So that Ambassadors are not bound to be at any Expences in the Territories of the King of Persia. Four Leagues from the City are high Mountains where the Natives that inhabit the hot and Sun-burnt Countries toward Chaldea come twenty thousand together to seek out good Pasturage for their Cattel and about the end of Autumn return again into their own Country I cannot compare this Mountainous Tract whether for its Valleys and Rivers or for the nature of the Soil to any Part that I have seen better than to that portion of Switzerland which is call'd the Country of Vaux and there is a Tradition among the Natives That certain People that inhabited between the Alpes and Mount Jura and which compos'd a Squadron of Alexander's Army having serv'd him in his Conquests seated themselves in this part of Armenia which they found so like their own Country From Tocat to Tauris the Inhabitants are for the most part Christians Which large Tract of Ground being that which the Ancients call'd the Province of Armenia 't is no wonder to meet with fifty Armenians for one Mahometan There are many ancient Armenian Families in Erivan which is their native Country but they are ill us'd by the Governours who being far distant from the Court do what they please This City not being far remote from the Province from whence the Silks come is the place where all the Buyers and Sellers resort But neither in Erivan nor in any other part of Persia are the Merchants put to open their Bales at the Custom-Houses as in Turkie They only pay certain Duties toward securing the Highways which Duties they call Raderies and those that gather them Raders The Kans or Governours of Provinces in Persia are civil to Strangers especially to those that they like or that shew them any thing of Curiosity The first time that I went into Persia I took a young Watch-maker with me and coming to Erivan I carried him to the Kan who was then Governour It was at a time when Watches were very rare in Persia and the Kan understanding what Trade the Young Man was of told us he was the first Watch-maker that ever had been in Persia Thereupon he brought the Young Man a Watch to mend and that he might have the pleasure of seeing him work he lodg'd us in a Chamber next his own and made us drink with him every day for he was a true Toper and compell'd us to drink with him from four in the Afternoon 'till near Midnight in a place which he had made on purpose in his Garden to take off his Glasses This was he that having deliver'd Erivan to Sultan Amurat went along with him to Constantinople and became his Favourite for teaching him to Drink Amurat left a Garrison of 22000 Men in the City but Sha-Sefi the Persian King begirt it presently with a strong Army and planting himself securely under one of the Hills that command the City he batter'd it incessantly with eight Pieces of Cannon the fourth day he made a Breach and though he had the repute of a Coward he was the first at the Assault and took the City and because they would not yield at his Summons he put all the Garrison to the Sword For which Amurat was quit with Sha-Sefi afterwards though not in so noble a way for entring a Victor into Bagdat he put all the Persians
no Water but what is drawn out of three deep Wells for which reason the place is call'd Euche-derin-giu The eighteenth we travel'd not above five hours through desert Countries and took up our Stage in a kind of a Bog near a pitiful Village The nineteenth after we had travel'd eight hours through spacious desert Plains we pass'd through a large Village the Inhabitants whereof were gone with their Cattel into the Mountains for the cool Air during the Summer time according to custom There is an indifferent handsom Mosquee of Free-stone and indeed the Village the Name whereof the People told me was Tshaciclou has been much bigger than now it is as may appear by the Ruines In two hours after we came to lodge beyond it in a Meadow near a Rivulet The twentieth we cross'd over desert Plains but which seem'd to have been formerly well manur'd and after ten hours travel we stop'd in a Bottom near a bad Water The twenty-first for ten hours the Country was all barren and desert and we came to lodge at the end of a long Plain near two Wells the Water whereof was good for nothing The twenty-second we travel'd through the fore-mention'd Plain and met with little Valleys where there was very good Pasturage The Caravan stop'd near to a pitiful Village and a nasty Well The twenty-third we travel'd not above five hours because it was the time of the Turks Beiram or Easter which our Caravan consisting of Turks would needs solemnize That day we travel'd through an indifferent good Country and well till'd where we discover'd several fair Villages and we lodg'd upon a rising Ground from whence we had a very fair and far distant Prospect The twenty-fourth we travel'd six hours and came to lodge in a Meadow where the Water was bad Near to that place we discover'd a Plain that extends it self eight or ten Leagues in length though it be not above one or two in bredth it seem'd like a Lake and indeed it is only a salt Water congeal'd and thickn'd into Salt which you can hardly dissolve but in fair Water This Lake furnishes almost all Natolia with Salt where you may buy a Wagon-load drawn by two Bufalo's for 45 Sous It is call'd Deuslag or The Place for Salt and the Basha of Coushahar about two days journey from it gets by it 24000 Crowns a Year Sultan Amurath caus'd a Dike to be cut quite thorough it when his Army march'd to the Siege of Bagdat which he took from the Persian The twenty-fifth we travel'd nine or ten hours and met not with one Village the Country being all desert We lodg'd upon a rising Ground near a good Fountain call'd Cara-dache-cesmé or The Fountain of the Black Stone The twenty-sixth we pass'd through a great Village call'd Tshekenagar in a pleasant situation but very ill built and after we had travel'd eight hours we came to lodge in a delightful Meadow near another Village call'd Romcouché The twenty-seventh we travel'd nine hours through Countries full of Licorice and having pass'd a great Town call'd Beserguenlou we lodg'd in a Meadow The twenty-eighth we cross'd a great River call'd Jechil-irma over a long well built stone Bridge At the end of the Bridge call'd Kessré-kupri stands a great Village wherein the greatest part of the Houses are built under Ground like Foxes Holes We put on farther and after seven hours travel we lodg'd below another great Village call'd Mouchiour where there are abundance of Greeks which they constrain ever and anon to turn Turks The Country being inhabited by Christians and fit for the Plantation of Vines there is Wine good store and very good but it has the scent of the Wines of Anjou The Village is well situated but ill built most of the Houses being under Ground in so much that one of the Company riding carelesly had like to have faln into a House The twenty-ninth we rode for seven hours through a pleasant Country where we saw several Villages near to one of which the Caravan lodg'd in a Meadow close by a Fountain The thirtieth we rode through a flat Country well manur'd and stop'd near a River wherein there was but very little Water it is call'd Cara-sou or The Black River For two or three days together at every two Leagues distance we observ'd little Hillocks of Earth artificially rear'd which they told us were rais'd during the the Wars of the Greeks to build Forts upon for Watch-Towers The thirty-first we travel'd a very uneven Country but abounding in Wheat and after we had travel'd nine hours we lodg'd in a Meadow near a River which we cross'd next Morning before day over a stone Bridge The thirty-second after we had travel'd eight hours we lodg'd by a River where we saw a great number of Turcomans They are a People that live in Tents like the Arabians and they were then leaving that Country to go to another having their luggage in Wagons drawn by Bufalo's The thirty-second we met again with Mountains and Woods which we had not seen in 18 days before which had constrain'd us to carry Wood upon our Camels to dress our Provision We were very sparing of it and sometimes made use of dry'd Cows dung or Camels dung when we came near the Waters where they were wont to drink We travel'd eight hours that day and lodg'd in a Meadow where the Grass was very high yet where there had been Houses formerly standing The thirty-fourth we forded a deep and rapid River call'd Jangou from the Name of the Town next to it A little above the place where we forded it we saw a ruin'd Bridge which had been built over it The thirty-fifth we travel'd eight hours through a fair Valley well manur'd and upon the left hand we left a Castle rais'd upon a Rock The Caravan lay that night upon a rising Ground near a Village The thirty-sixth we travel'd through the same Valley for eight or nine hours longer in this Valley were several pleasant Villages but we lay by a small River The thirty-seventh we travel'd six hours among the Mountains where there are some very narrow Passages but store of Water and we lay in a Vale abounding in Pasturage The thirty-eighth we rode for four or five hours over a rugged Mountain in craggy way at the foot whereof we met with a Village call'd Taquibac from whence it is but five Leagues to Tocat And these are all the Roads from Paris to Ispahan through the Northern Territories of Turkie CHAP. VIII How the Author was robb'd near Tocat and of a certain sort of rare and fine Wool which he first brought into France TAquibac is the place where the Persian Caravan uses to meet when it departs from Tocat to Smyrna and this is the only place in all the Road where a Traveller ought to stand upon his guard by reason of Thieves who haunt these Quarters and are great Masters in their Trade Once as I came out of Persia they
Merchants that were to go along with the Caravan The way which we took was not the usual Road to Persia but it was a way wherein there were less Duties to be paid and besides it was a short cut the Caravan making but fifty-eight days Journey between Aleppo and Ispahan From the very banks of the River to the place where we Lodg'd that Evening we saw nothing but continu'd Ruines which makes me believe it was the place where the ancient Nineveh stood We stay'd two days near the Mosquée where according to the tradition of the Turks Jonas was bury'd and made choice of a Curd or Assyrian for our Caravan-Basbi though the people are generally Thieves and must be carefully look'd after But it was a piece of Policy because we were to cross the ancient Assyria now call'd Curdistan the Language of which Country is a particular Speech In the two first days Journey we cross'd two small Rivers that fall from the Mountains and empty themselves into Tigris Our first Journey was through a plain Country all along by the side of a little River and the second Evening we lodg'd by the side of a great River that falls from the Mountains toward the North and running to the South discharges it self into Tigris It is call'd Bohrus being a very rapid Stream full of Fish but more especially excellent Trouts The Caravan was two days passing that River by reason there were no Boats For the people are forc'd to tye long Perches four or five together one upon another which the Natives call a Kilet They make it four-square and put underneath it about a hundred Goat-Skins full of wind to the end the Kilet may not touch the water Besides the Merchant must be careful to spread good store of thick Felts over the Kilet of which he must be provided to keep off the Water least the Bales that sink the Kilet should take wet At the four corners are four Perches that serve for Oars though they avail but little against the force of the Tide so that you must be forc'd to hale the Kilet four or five hundred Paces a' this side up the River and then row down the Stream to the place where you intend to Land the Goods When the Goods are Landed the men are forc'd again to draw the Kilet by main strength out of the water to take away the Goat-Skins which are then to be lad'n upon the Mules appointed to carry them As for the Horses Mules and Asses as well those that carri'd the Goods as those upon which the Men ride so soon as the Herds-men thereabout see a Caravan coming they stock to the River-side Those people that wear nothing but a course piece of Linnen or a Goat-skin to cover their nakedness take off their Cloaths and wind them about their Heads like a Turbant Then every one tyes a Goat-skin blow'd up under his Stomach and then two or three of the most expert mounting the same number of the best Horses which are bridl'd put themselves first into the Water while others follow them swimming and drive the Horses before them holding the Beast by the Tayl with one Hand and switching him with the other If they find any Horse or Ass that is too weak they tye a Goat-skin under his Belly to help him Considering which difficulties it cannot take up less time than I have mention'd to get over a Caravan of five or six hundred Horses The Caravan being thus got over for two or three days has but a very bad Road. The first days journey the Horses were continually in the Water up to the mid-leg and the second and part of the third we travel'd through a very desert Country where we met with very little food for our Horses and only a few Brakes to boyl our Rice Having got over this bad way we came to a River call'd the great Zarbe over which we pass'd upon a Stone-Bridge of nine Arches They report that this Bridge was built by Alexander the Great in his March against Darius A quarter of a League to the South-East two Rivers meet which empty themselves into Tigris Leaving the Bridge we came to a Town call'd Sherazoul built upon a rising Ground upon three Redoubts There resides a Basha who must be brib'd with a small Present to let the Caravan pass we lay by the Banks of a River and staid there two days From thence we travel'd one days journey over dry Mountains not finding any Water But the next day we came into a pleasant Plain stor'd with Fruit-trees This was the Plain of Arbele where Alexander defeated Darius containing about fifteen Leagues in all It is water'd with several Rivulets and in the middle of the Mountain rises a little Hill about half a League in circuit It is all over cover'd with the fairest Oaks that ever were seen and on the top are the Ruines of a Castle that seems to have been a sumptuous Structure The Country-people say that Darius staid there while his Captains gave Battel to Alexander Three Leagues from thence near a great Mountain toward the North are to be seen the Ruines of another Castle and several Houses where they add that Darius secur'd some of his Wives when he lost the Battel This Castle is seated in a most lovely Prospect At the foot of the Mountain rises a Spring which a quarter of a League off swells into a River that bears good big Boats It runs winding about the Mountains to the Southward so that two days journey from the Hill you cross it near a Town call'd Sherazoul over a fair Stone-Bridge of nine Arches whereof the Great Sha-Abas caus'd three to be brok'n down after he had tak'n Bagdat This City of Sherazoul is built after another manner than any other of the Cities in those parts being all cut out of a steep Rock for a quarter of a League together so that you must go up to the Houses by Stairs of fifteen or twenty steps sometimes more sometimes less according to the situation of the place The people have no other Doors to their Houses than only a thin round Stone like a Mill-stone which they will roll away when they go in or out the sides of the Wall being so cut as to receive the Stone like a Case being level with the Rock The tops of their Houses are like Niches in the Mountain where the Inhabitants have contriv'd Caves to keep their Cattel in So that we judg'd it to be built for a place of safety to secure the Inhabitants from the Incursions of the Arabians and Bedouins of Mesopotamia We came to Sherazoul upon Easter-Eve and staid there three days to refresh our selves after a Lent which we had kept very sparingly Here I found certain Springs that rose up in large Bubbles which after I had mix'd with two Glasses of Wine and drank up I found to have a Purgative quality having a kind of Mineral tast These Springs boyl up near the side of
under the Jurisdiction of a Bey Having past the Tigris all the Country between that and Tauris is almost equally divided between Hills and Plains the Hills are cover'd with Oaks that bear Galls and some Acoms withal The Plains are planted with Tobacco which is transported into Turkie for which they have a very great Trade One would think the Country were poor seeing nothing but Galls and Tobacco but there is no Country in the World where there is more Gold or Silver laid out and where they are more nice in taking Money that is in the least defective either in weight or goodness of Metal For Galls being a general Commodity for Dying and no where to be found so good as there bring a vast Trade to the Country wherein there are no Villages yet it is over-spread with Houses a Musquet-shot one from another and every Inhabitant has his quarter of his Vineyard by himself where they dry their Grapes for they make no Wine From Geziré to Amadié days 2 Amadié is a good City to which the Natives of a great part of Assyria bring their Tobacco and Gall-nuts It is seated upon a high Mountain to the top whereof you cannot get in less than an hour Toward the middle of the Rock three or four large Springs fall down from the Cliffs where the Inhabitants are forc'd to water their Cattel and fill their Borachio's every morning there being no Water in the City It is of an indifferent bigness and in the middle is a large Piazza where all sorts of Merchants keep their Shops It is under the Command of a Bey that is able to raise eight or ten thousand Horse and more Foot than any other of the Beys by reason his Country is so populous From Amadié to Giousmark days 4 From Giousmark to Alback days 3 From Alback to Salmastre days 3 Salmastre is a pleasant City upon the Frontiers of the Assyrians and Medes and the first on that side in the Territories of the Persian King The Caravan never lyes there because it would be above a League out of the way but when the Caravan is lodg'd two or three of the principal Merchants with the Caravan-Bashi according to custom go to wait upon the Kan The Kan is so glad that the Caravan takes that Road that he presents the Caravan-Bashi and those that go with him with the Garment of Honour or the Calaat the Bonnet and Girdle which is the greatest Honour that the King or his Governour can do to Strangers From Salamastre to Tauris days 4 In all thirty-two days journey this way from Aleppo to Tauris But though this be the shortest cut and where they pay least Customs yet the Merchants dare hardly venture for fear of being ill us'd by the Beys Teren whose Capital City the Persians call Cherijar is a Province between Mazandran and the ancient Region of the Persians known at this day by the name of Hierac to the South-East of Ispahan 'T is one of the most temperate Countries that has nothing in it of the contagious Air of Guilan where the King goes for the purity of the Air and for his sport of Hunting besides that it produceth excellent Fruits in many places The Capital City whereof which some call by the name of the Province is of a moderate compass but there is nothing worthy observation in it only a League from it are to be seen the Ruines of a great City which had been two Leagues in Circuit There were abundance of Towers all of burnt Brick and Pieces of the Wall standing There were also several Letters in the Stones which were cemented into the Walls but neither Turks Persians nor Arabians could understand them The City is round seated upon a high Hill at the top whereof stood the Ruines of a Castle which the Natives say was the Residence of the Kings of Persia. CHAP. V. The Road from Aleppo to Ispahan through the small Desert and through Kengavar I Will describe this Road as if I were to return from Ispahan to Aleppo This Road lies through Kengavar Bagdat and Anna where you enter into the Desert which I call The little Desert because you get over it in far less time than the great Desert that extends Southwards to Arabia the Happy and where you may often find Water all the whole Journey being not far distant from the River Euphrates A man that is well mounted may ride this way from Ispahan to Aleppo in three and thirty days as I have done and perhaps in less if the Arabian whom you take for your guide at Bagdat knows the shortest cut through the Wilderness The Horse Caravans travelling from Ispahan to Kengavar are fourteen or fifteen days upon the Road but being well mounted ten or twelve in a Company you may Ride it in five or six days The Country through which you travel is very fertile in Corn and Rice it produces also excellent Fruits and good Wine especially about Kengavar which is a large Town and well peopl'd From Kengavar to Bagdat I was ten days upon the Road. The Country is not so fertile but very stony in some parts And it consists in Plains and small Hills there being not a Mountain in all the Road. Now for a man that travels quick the Road lies thus From Ispahan to Consar From Consar to Comba From Comba to Oranguié From Oranguié to Nahoüand From Nahoüand to Kengavar Fron Kengavar to Sahana From Sahana to Polisha or the Bridge-Royal being a great Stone Bridge From Polisha to Maidacht From Maidacht to Erounabad From Erounabad to Conaguy From Conaguy to Caslisciren From Caslisciren to Iengui-Conaguy From Iengui-Conaguy to Casered From Casered to Charaban From Charaban to Bourous From Bourous to Bagdat There are some who instead of passing through Kengavar take Amadan one of the most considerable Cities of Persia in their way and so from thence to Toucheré but the way is longer and according to the Road which I have set down you are to leave Amadan to the North upon the right hand Between Sahana and Polisha you leave the only high Mountain in all the Road to the North. It is as steep and as straight as a Wall and as high as you can see you may observe the Figures of men clad like Priests with Surplices and Censors in their hands and yet neither can the Natives tell you nor any person imagin the meaning of those Sculptures At the foot of the Rock runs a River over which there is a Bridge of Stone About a days journey beyond the Mountain you meet with a little City whose situation the Streams that water it the good Fruits that grow there and particularly the excellent Wine which it affords render a most pleasant Mansion The Persians believe that Alexander when he return'd from Babylon dy'd in this place what-ever others have writt'n that he dy'd at Babylon All the rest of the Country from this City to Bagdat is a Country of Dates
were generally more than in any other Port. But the Captains who rejected his Proposition of fighting against the Venetians believing that he would put some force upon them suddenly hois'd Sail and got away it being at a time when he could not keep them in having no Castle then built to command them The Grand Visier nettl'd at the refusal of the Captains as an affront done to his Master and to see that the Ships could come in and go out without any let or molestation bethought himself to the end he might keep them for the future under subjection of building a Fort upon the Gulf in such a part where the Vessels must necessarily touch where now there lye great Cannons level with the Water which no Vessel can escape Ever since the Convoys will not come to Smyrna as they were wont to do but lye out at Sea out of the reach of the Fort. Near to the Sea are yet to be seen some Remains of a Church two sides whereof seem to have been distinguish'd into Chappels by little Walls which are yet standing But the Natives doubt whether they be the Ruines of a Church dedicated to St. Polycarp or of an ancient Temple of Janus Smyrna has been oftentimes ruin'd either by the Wars or by the Earthquakes which often happen there One time that I staid there there happen'd one which did not last long but was very terrible About sixty Paces from the Sea are to be discern'd the Ruines of great Walls two Foot under Water and at the end of the City that looks toward the Winter-West near to the Sea appear the Ruines of a Mole and certain ancient Magazins The English Merchants have dig'd among the Ruines of Smyrna and have found great store of fair Statues which they transported into their own Country There are still found some or other every day but when the Turks find any they disfigure them presently It may be conjectur'd that there was one of a prodigious bigness by a great Toe broken off of some one and for which I paid sufficiently out of the desire I had to buy it I sent it to Paris to a Person of Quality who look'd upon it as a great Curiosity This Toe was of a hard white Stone and well shap'd and by the proportion whereof the Figure could not be judg'd to be less than the Colossus of Rhodes Upon that side of the City where the Mole was stands an old Castle of no defence at the foot whereof the Sea makes a small Creek where sometimes the Gallies of the Grand Signor lye The City is well peopl'd containing no less than fourscore and ten thousand Souls There are reckon'd no less than 60000 Turks 15000 Greeks 8000 Armenians and about six or seven thousand Jews As for the European Christians that Trade there their number is very small Every one of these Nations has the exercise of their Religion free to themselves The Turks have in Smyrna fifteen Mosquees the Jews seven Synagogues the Armenians but one Church the Greeks two and the Latins three There are also French Jesuits and Italian Observantins or a sort of Grey Franciscans The Turks the Greeks the Armenians and Jews live upon the Hill but all the lower part toward the Sea is inhabited only by the European Christians English French Hollanders and Italians The Greeks have also in the same Quarter an old Church and some few small Houses where Sea-men make merry All these different People of Europe are generally known in Smyrna by the Name of Franks Every Nation has its Consul and the French Consul has two Vice-Consuls under him the one at Scalanova the other at Chio. Scalanova or the New Port is two Leagues beyond Ephesus and being a good Haven the Vessels were wont to unlade there but the Turks would not permit it any longer For that Place being the Dowry of the Grand Signor's Mother the Vice-Consul agreed with the Governour of Scalanova who permitted the Transportation of Goods to Smyrna which is not above three little days journey with the Caravan A thing that spoil'd the Trade of the City and injur'd the Officers of the Custom-House Whereupon they Petition'd the Grand Signor that no more Goods might be unladed at Scalanova so that now no more Vessels go thither unless it be to take in fresh Victuals Chio is one of the greatest Ilands in the Archipelago of which in another place but the Vice-Consul that lives there has no more business there than the other at Scalanova for the Vessels that touch there neither unlade nor export any Goods from thence The Quarter of the Franks is only a long Street one side whereof lyes upon the Sea and as well for the Prospect as for the convenience of Unlading Goods the Houses upon the Sea are much dearer than those that lye upon the Hill The Soil about Smyrna is fertil and abounds in all things necessary for humane support but particularly in good Oyl and good Wine There are Salt-Pits also half a League from the City toward the North. The Sea affords great store of good Fish Fowl is very cheap and in a word Smyrna is a place of great plenty There is a lovely Walk all along the Sea to the Salt-Pits where generally abundance of People walk in the Summer-time to take the fresh Air and there being more liberty at Smyrna than in any other part of Turkie there is no necessity of taking a Janisary along when a man goes abroad If a man loves Fowling it is but taking a Boat which lands him two or three Leagues from the City toward the Mountains where there is so much Game that he can never return empty For the value of three Sous you may buy a red Partridge at Smyrna and all other Fowl is proportionably cheap But if Smyrna have these great advantages it has also its inconveniences the Heats are very excessive in Summer and indeed they would be insupportable were it not for the Breezes that come off the Sea these Breezes rise about ten in the Morning and continue till the Evening but if they fail t is very bad for the Inhabitants Besides there hardly passes a Year but the City is infested with the Plague which however is not so violent as in Christendom The Turks neither fear it nor flie it believing altogether in Predestination Yet I believe if the Inhabitants of Smyrna would take care to drain away the standing Puddles that gather in the Winter about the City they would not be so frequently molested with the Plague as they are It is most rife in May June and July but the malignant Fevers that succeed it in September and October are more to be fear'd more People dying of them than of the Pestilence In all my Travels I never was in Smyrna at these unfortunate Seasons There is no Basha in that City it being govern'd only by a Cady who is not so severe to the Christians as in other places For should he
threats or by rewards The eleventh after a Journey of ten hours we came to Ourfa where the Caravan usually stays eight or ten days for here it is that they live that hire the Horses and the Mules who have always some business in this place We lay at an Inn three or four hundred paces distant from the City toward the North. When the Inn is full the rest retire into the Grotto's which are near at hand and are very good quarters Here the Toll-gatherer presently comes and counts the Bales without op'ning them They that carry any Sacks must pay for half a Load if not he op'ns the Sack to see if there be any Merchandise therein for then the Merchant must pay the whole duty Ourfa is the Capital City of Mesopotamia built as they say in the same place where Abraham liv'd and where stood the ancient Edessa where the people of the Country report that King Abagarus generally kept his Court. There are still to be seen the ruines of a Castle from whence they add that the same King sent to CHRIST for his Picture and offer'd him his Kingdom and his people to defend him against the Jews whom he understood to be his Enemies The Chronicles of the Armenians report that Abagarus was their Country-man and that in his Reign they began to be Christians and to be Baptiz'd by the hands of an Apostle whom CHRIST sent to that Prince after his Resurrection * Neither is this Castle yet so far ruin'd but that there is still to be seen a spacious Hall and three or four handsom Rooms with some relicks of Mosaick work I was curious to see what ever was remarkable in this City And first they led me to a large Fountain which resembles a Fish-pond the Spring whereof is under the Foundations of the principal Mosquèe which was built in the honour of Abraham The Christians of the Country say that it was in that place where he pray'd before he went about to Sacrifice his Son Isaac and that two Springs of Water arose from the two places where he rested his knees which now feed the large Fountain I have made mention of It is pav'd with Free-stone and so full of fish that if you throw them in a little Bread they will follow you from place to place as you walk by the side of the Pond There is no medling with them for the Turks have a great veneration for those Fish which they call Abraham's Fish Besides that the place about the Fountain where the water wid'ns it self to water all the City is cover'd with very fair Carpets for about twenty paces in bredth This Fountain at length falls into a little River that runs by the Walls As for the Grotto where the two Springs rise there is no going into it before you have pull'd off your Shooes and it is a great favour for a Christian to see it such a favour as cost me six Piasters I also saw the Church under the portal whereof they say St. Alexis liv'd seventeen years a private life It stands in the middle of a Church-yard in the highest part of the Town in the possession of the Armenians But their principal Church is about a quarter of an hours walking from the City built by St. Ephren who is there buried The Monastery stands yet entire enclos'd with fair Walls In the Church I saw a large Bible in Armenian Characters The Sepulchre of St. Ephren is in a Cave at the foot of the Mountain to which there also belongs a Chappel where they keep three or four Lamps continually burning There are other Grotto's up and down the Mountain where are to be seen very ancient Sepulchers of the Christians The City of Ourfa is seated in a good soil very well manur'd which extends it self out of sight toward the East There are several pleasant Gardens near the walls water'd by little Channels brought thither by Art The soil produces good Wine so that a man may live as well at Ourfa as in any part of Turkie While I stay'd there I kill'd abundance of Feldfares in those Gardens and indeed there is great store of wild Fowl all the Country over The Walls of the City are of Freestone with Battlements and Towers but within the houses are small ill built and ruinous And there are several void spaces in the City which makes Ourfa to look rather like a Desert than a Metropolis The City is Govern'd by a Basha who has under him a hundred and fifty Janizaries and six hundred Spahi's standing more in need of Cavalry than Infantry by reason of the Incursions of the Arabians especially in Harvest time In short Ourfa is the place were they dress such great quantities of Cordovan Skins by reason of the waters particular to the Country which give them that peculiar beauty The Yellow Skins are drest at Ourfa the Blew at Tocat and the red Rat Diarbequir The twentieth of March we set out of Ourfa and after a Journey of six hours we lay at a pittiful Village where the Inn was fal'n all to decay There is a Fountain of excellent water by it which is all the convenience of the place for there is no Provision to be had The twenty-first we travel'd nine hours and came to lye near several Caverns which are very deep at the entry whereof there are little Rooms which are suppos'd to be the places where the People of the Country liv'd that fed their Cattel thereabouts There is also Rain-Water to be had in some of the Concavities of the Rock Half this days journey you must pass over Rocks where it is almost impossible and very dangerous to keep your Horses back The twenty-second having travel'd eleven hours we lodg'd near a Cavern having forded a River that runs at the foot of it There are two great Grotto's on each side where Travellers take up their Quarters and whither the Natives of the Country bring Provisions both for Horse and Man The Toll-gatherers coming from a Fort about three Leagues distant from these Caverns here exact two Piasters and a half for every Horse and Mules Load and search your Sacks to see if there be no Merchantable Goods therein About half the way of this days journey you meet with a City quite deserted by the Inhabitants and about an hours march after that with Tombs of Stone in the middle whereof stands a Cross with Armenian Characters The twenty-third we travel'd elev'n hours and lay at Dadacardin This appears to have been a great Town but is all ruin'd nor is there any thing remaining but a long Stone-Bridge very well built under which runs a River that is very broad when it overflows The People of the Country have no other Habitations than the Hollows of Rocks yet they bring to the Travellers Hens Butter Cheese and other Provisions which they sell very cheap The twenty-fourth we travel'd nine hours and lay at a place call'd Cara built upon a Hill The Caravan lay
where the people live in little Hutts made of the Branches of Palm-trees From Bagdat to Anna you ride in four days through a desert Country though it lye between two Rivers Anna is a City of an indifferent bigness that belongs to an Arabian Emir For about half a League round about the Town the Lands are very well manur'd being full of Gardens and Country-houses The City for its situation resembles Paris for it is built upon both sides of the River Euphrates and in the midst of the River is an Island where stands a fair Mosquee From Anna to Mached-raba is five days riding and from Mached-raba to Taïba five days more Mached-raba is a kind of a Fortress upon the point of a Hill at the Foot whereof springs a Fountain like a large Vase which is very rare in the Deserts The place is encompass'd with high Walls defended by certain Towers and in which are little Hutts where the Inhabitants keep their Cattel of which there is great store but more Mares and Horses than Cows Taïba is also a fortifi'd place in a level Country or a high Bank of Earth and Brick bak'd in the Sun Near to the Gate a Fountain springs out of the Earth and makes a kind of a Pond This Road is most frequented by those that travel through the Desert from Aleppo or Damas to Babylon or from Damas to Diarbequir by reason of this Fountain From Taïba to Aleppo is but three days journey but these three days are the most dangerous of all the Road for Robbers in regard that all the Country is inhabited only by the Bedouïns or Arabian Shepherds who make it their business only to plunder and steal Now to take the same Road from Aleppo to Ispahan it lyes thus From Aleppo to Taïba days 3 From Taïba to Mached-raba days 5 From Mached-raba to Anna days 5 From Anna to Bagdat days 4 From Bagdat to Bourous days 1 From Bourous to Charaban days 1 From Charaban to Casered days 1 From Casered to Conaguy days 1 From Conaguy to Cassiscerin days 1 From Cassiscerin to another Conaguy days 1 From Conaguy to Erounabad days 1 From Erounabad to Maidacht days 1 From Maidacht to Sahana days 1 From Sahana to Kengavar days 1 From Kengavar to Nahoüand days 1 From Nahoüand to Oranguie days 1 From Oranguie to Comba days 1 From Comba to Consar days 1 From Consar to Ispahan days 1 So that whether you travel from Aleppo to Ispahan or from Ispahan to Aleppo you may easily ride it in thirty days From whence I make this Observation That a man making it but two days more from Alexandretta and finding a Ship ready there to set Sail for Marseilles with a fair Wind he may travel from Ispahan to Paris in two months Another time having an occasion to go from Aleppo to Kengavar and so to Bagdat and from thence so through the Desert at Bagdat I met with a Spaniard that was travelling the same way with whom I luckily met to bear half the Charges of the Guide which as soon as we had hir'd for sixty Crowns we set forward from Bagdat the Spaniard and I and our Arabian who was afoot walk'd about Pistol Shot before our Horses From thence to Anna we met with nothing remarkable but only that we saw a Lyon and a Lyoness in the Act of Generation Whereupon our Guide believing we had been afraid told us that he had met them oft'n but that he never found them do any harm The Spaniard according to the humour of his Nation was very reserv'd and contenting himself with an Onion or some such small matter at meals never made much of his guide whereas I was mightily in his favour in regard there was never a day pass'd wherein he did not receive of me some good business or other We were not above a Musquet Shot from Anna when we met with a comely old man who came up to me and taking my Horse by the Bridle Friend said he come and wash thy feet and eat Bread at my House Thou art a Stranger and since I have met thee upon the Road never refuse me the favour which I desire of thee The Invitation of the old man was so like the custom of the people in ancient times of which we read so many Examples in Scripture that we could not choose but go along with him to his House where he Feasted us in the best manner he could giving us over and above Barly for our Horses and for us he kill'd a Lamb and some Hens He was an Inhabitant of Anna and liv'd by the River which we were oblig'd to cross to wait upon the Governour for our Passports for which we paid two Piasters apiece We staid at a House near the Gate of the City to buy Provisions for our selves and our Horses where the woman of the House having a lovely sprightly Child of nine years of age I was so taken with her humour that I gave her two Handkerchiefs of Painted Calicut which the Child shewing her Mother all we could do could not make her take any Money for the Provisions we had agreed for Five hundred paces from the Gate of the City we met a young man of a good Family for he was attended by two Servants and rode upon an Ass the hinder part of which was Painted red He accosted me in particular and after some Compliments that pass'd Is it possible said he that I should meet a Stranger and have nothing to present him withall He would fain have carry'd us to a House in the Country whether he was going but seeing we were resolv'd to keep our way he would needs give me his Pipe notwithstanding all the excuses I could make and though I told him that I never took any Tobacco so that I was constrain'd to accept of it About three Leagues from Anna we were going to eat among the Ruines of certain Houses and had thought to have lain there 'till midnight when we perciv'd two Arabians sent by the Emir to tell us that he had some Letters which he would put into our own hands to the Basha of Aleppo to which purpose he had order to bring us back There was no refusing so that at our coming into the City the next day we saw the Emir going to the Mosquée mounted upon a stately Horse and attended by a great number of people afoot with every one a great Poniard stuck in their Girdles As soon as we saw him we alighted and standing up by the Houses we saluted him as he pass'd by Seeing our Guide and threatning to rip up his Belly Ye Dog said he I will give ye your reward and teach ye to carry Strangers away before I see them Carry them said he to the Governours House 'till I return from the Mosquée Returning from the Mosquée and being seated in a spacious Hall he sent for us and our Guide whom he threatn'd again for carrying us out of the Town without giving him
in Trade Sha-Abas who was a man of a great Genius and a person of great undertaking considering that Persia was a barren Country where there was little Trade and by consequence little Money resolv'd to send his Subjects into Europe with raw Silks so to understand whence the best profit would arise to bring Money into his Country To which purpose he resolv'd to make himself Master of all the Silk in his own Country by purchasing it himself at a reasonable rate tax'd by himself and to reap the gains by his Factors and withal thought it necessary to seek an Alliance with the great Kings of Europe to engage them on his side against the Turk He first sent to the King of France Henry the Fourth But he dying before the Ambassador arriv'd answer was made the Ambassador That if the King of Persia had any thing to say to the King of France Lewis the Thirteenth he must send a new Ambassador which was never done Three or four years after he sent an Ambassador to the King of Spain accompany'd with a Persian Merchant of Ispahan putting into their hands a considerable quantity of Bales of Silk He also sent along with them a Portuguez Austin-Friar to be their Guide and Interpreter The Persian Merchant would have sold the Silks as was the King's order and have bought a Present more becoming But the Ambassador over-rul'd by the Friar resolv'd to present the King of Spain with the Bales of Silk The Merchant not able to oppose the Ambassador returns home forthwith to give an account to the King who approv'd his management The Ambassador proceeds and coming to the Spanish Court presents his Bales of Silk to the King who ask'd the Ambassador whether his Master took him for a Woman that he had sent him so many Bales of Silk to spin and immediately sent away the Present to his Queen presenting the Ambassador but very meanly who thereupon seeing the Errour he had committed made hast home but upon his return the Persian King having notice of the ill success of his Negotiation caus'd his Belly to be ript op'n in the publick Market-place About fifteen years after he trusted a considerable quantity of Silk with a Merchant's Son of Ispahan and sent him to Venice who when he came there took a stately Lodging and spent his Money at a strange rate especially among the Courtisans to maintain which expence he continually sold great quantities of Silk The Venetians seeing a private man live so splendidly among them and not believing so great a quantity of Goods could belong to one single Merchant but rather imagining him to be a Factor for some Company who suffer'd for his folly wrote to all the Ports of the Levant and having intelligence who he was the Senate thought fit to seize his Person and his Goods before he had consum'd all at the same time giving a civil account to the King of Persia what they had done To which the Persian King return'd a most obliging Answer of Thanks sending withal an intelligent Persian Merchant to take an account of what was left to whom the Venetians were very punctual As for the Prodigal Persian who thought it not his wisest way to return into Persia what became of him is not material to this Story The Platform of the famous Fortress of Candahar which is the Best Place in all Asia And indeed the Armenians are so much the more fit for Trading because they are a people very sparing and very sober though whether it be their virtue of their avarice I know not For when they are going a long Journey they only make provision of Bisket smoak'd Bufalo's flesh Onions bak'd Butter Flowr Wine and dry'd Fruits They never buy fresh Victuals but when they meet with Lambs or Kids very cheap in the Mountainous Countries nor is there one of them that does not carry his Angle to fish withal when they come to any Ponds or Rivers All these Provisions cost them little the Carriage And when they come to any Town where they are to stay they club five or six together and lye in an empty Chamber which they furnish themselves every one carrying his Mattress his Coverlet and his Kitchin-Instruments which is a great piece of Thrift When they travel into Christendom they carry along with them Saffron Pepper Nutinegs and other Spices which they exchange in the Country-Towns for Bread Wine Butter Cheese Milk-Meats and other Provisions which they buy of the poor Women When they return out of Christendom they bring along with them all sorts of Mercery-ware and Pedlery-ware of Noremberg and Venice as little Looking-glasses trifles of Tin enamel'd false Pearls and other things of that nature which pays for the Victuals they call for among the Country-people In the beginning of their Trade there return'd very few Caravans into Persia without two hundred thousand Crowns in Silver beside English and Dutch Clothes fine Tissues Looking-glasses Venice-Pearls Cochenel and Watches which they thought most proper for the Sale of Persia and India At length those Armenians became so exquisite in Trade that several of them have left Estates of two some twenty thousand Tomans But the richest among them was Cotgia or Monsieur Petrus who left forty thousand Tomans in coyn'd Money besides his Horses Furniture and Lands in the Country his Jewels and Plate all which are never reckon'd a Merchant's Estate but only the ready Cash with which he trades Cotgia Petrus was very much esteem'd for his Charity and the great Church which he built which is a kind of Covent with a Bishop and Monks Nor is the fair Market-place all environ'd with Shops a little beholding to his Generosity The Armenians of Zulpha have this advantage over all the Christians of the East that they enjoy Lands and Priviledges the King not permitting the least injustice to be done them nor that any Mahometan should live at Zulpha They have also the priviledge to be as well clad as the Persians and to make use as they do of Bridles of Gold and Silver Their Wives also are very richly habited in strip'd Sattins purfl'd with Gold and other rich Europaean Silks The King names whom he pleases among the Armenians to be their Chief whom they call Kelonter who judges all their differences and taxes them to make up the Sum which they are to pay to the King every year The Language of the Armenians is either vulgar or learned the learned is only us'd by the Ecclesiasticks in reference to their Religion They write like us from the left to the right having found out peculiar Characters about four years since They have three Languages very natural to them which however are very differente the Armenian which is their ancient Country-speech which they have preserv'd from Father to Son the Persian which is the Language of the Country where they live and the Turkish of which they make very much use in course of Trade As for their Women they
much the rather because they do not run so much hazard as at the Custom-houses of Europe For in the Indian Custom-houses if a man be caught in the fraud he is quitted by paying double ten in the hundred instead of five The King comparing the venture of the Merchant to a game at Hazard where he plays quit or double The King had granted to the English Captains that they should not be search'd when they came a-shore But one day one of the English Captains going to Tata one of the greatest Cities in India a little above the Mouth of the River Indou as he was going to pass the River he was stopp'd by the Officers of the Custom-house who search'd and rifl'd him what-ever he could alledg to the contrary They found Gold about him of which he had already carried off several quantities at several times that he had gone from his Ship to the City but they quitted him upon paying the usual Custom The English-man vex'd at such an affront resolv'd to revenge himself which he did after a very pleasant manner He caus'd a sucking-pig to be roasted and putting it together with the dripping and sawce in a China-platter covered with a linnen-cloath he gave it a Slave to bring along after him to the City imagining what would fall out As it pass'd before the Custom-house while the Governors or the Cha-bander and the Mint-Master were sitting in the Divan they fail'd not to stop him and as the Slave went forward with the Plate cover'd they told his Master that he must come into the Custom-house and that they must see what he carried The more the English-man cry'd that the Slave carried nothing that paid any duties the less he was believ'd so that after a long debate he took the Plate from his Slave and carried it himself into the Divan the Governour and the Cha-bander gravely ask'd him why he would not be obedient to the Laws Upon which the English-man replying in a great heat that he carried nothing which paid any duty threw the Pigg among them with such a fury that the Sawce and Pigg flew all upon their Garments Now in regard that Swines-flesh is an abomination to the Mahometans who believe every thing defil'd that touches it they were forc'd to change their Clothes take down the Tapestry of the Divan to pull down the Divan it self and build another not daring to say any thing to the English-man for the Cha-bander and Mint-master are very observant to the Company by whom they reap a great deal of profit As for what concerns the Heads of the Companies as well English as Dutch and their Associates they have so great a respect for them that they never search them at all when they come a-shore though they will not stick to conceal their Gold like particular Merchants and to carry it about them The Trade of Tata formerly very great begins now to decay because the Mouth of the Rivers grows more dangerous and full of shallows every day more than other the Sand-hills having almost choak'd it up The English finding they had learn'd the trick of rifling their Clothes studi'd out other little ways and contrivances to conceal their Gold And the fashion of wearing Perriwigs being newly come out of Europe they hid their Jacobus's Rose-Nobles and Ducats in the net of their Perriwigs every time they came a-shore There was a Merchant that had a mind to convey some boxes of Coral into Suratt without the knowledg of the Customers He swam then into the Town some days before the Ship was unladed when it might be done securely before the Customers had any suspition of any thing But the Merchant repented him afterwards the Commodity being spol'd For the water of Suratt River being always thick and muddy there clung to the Coral which had lain a long time in the water a slime like a white crust or skin which was difficult to be got off so that after the Coral was polish'd he lost by it above twelve per Cent. I come now to the Money which goes for currant through the whole extent of the Great Mogul's Dominions and to all the sorts of Gold and Silver which is carri'd thither in Ingots to make profit thereof In the first place you must observe that it is very profitable to buy Gold and Silver which has been wrought to melt it into Ingots and to refine it to the highest purity For being refin'd you pay not for the portage of the Alloy which was mix'd with it before And carrying the Gold and Silver in wedges you pay neither to the Prince nor to the Mint what they exact for Coinage If you carry coin'd Gold the best pieces are Jacobus's Rose-Nobles Albertus's and other ancient Pieces as well of Portugal as of other Countreys and all sorts of Gold that have been coin'd in former Ages For by all those old Pieces the Merchant is sure to gain You may also reckon for good Gold and which is proper to be carri'd thither all the Ducats of Germany as well those coin'd by the several Princes as by the Imperial Towns together with the Ducats of Poland Hungary Swedeland and Danemark and indeed all sorts of Ducats are taken to be of the same goodness The Venetian Ducats of Gold formerly pass'd for the best and were worth four or five of our Sous more than any others but about a dozen years ago they seem to have been alter'd not going now for any more than the rest There are also Ducats which the Grand Seignior coins at Cairo and those of Sally and Morocco But these three sorts are not so good as the others and are not worth so much as they by four Sous of our Money Over all the Empire of the Great Mogul all the Gold and Silver is weigh'd with weights which they call Tolla which weigh nine Deneers and eight grains of our weights When they have any quantity of Gold and Silver to sell the Indians use yellow Copper-weights with the King's mark to avoid cousenage And with these weights they weigh all the Gold and Silver at once provided it amount not to above a hunder'd Tolla's For the Changers have no other weights but from one Tolla to a hunder'd and a hunder'd Tolla's come to 38 Ounces 21 Deneers and 8 Grains As for the Gold and Silver which is not coin'd if there be much they essay it and having put it to the touch they bid to the utmost value to out-vye one another In regard there are some Merchants that have above forty or fifty thousand Ducats at a time the Indians weigh them with a weight which is just the weight of a hunder'd Ducats which is also mark'd with the Kings Mark and if the hundred Ducats weigh less than the weights they put in so many little stones till the Scales are even and after all is weigh'd they make good to the Changer the weight of those little stones But before they weigh these Gold-Coins whether they
comes they set up a Candle or a lighted Lamp for a Signal Then it is also that they open all the Shops where they sell Tari which is a certain drink made of the juice of a Tree and is as sweet as our new Wines They fetch it some five or six leagues off upon Horses that carry two earthen-Bottles of each side and trot at a great rate of which there come every day to the City above five or six-hunder'd The King has a considerable Revenue by the Impost which he lays upon this Tari And for that reason he permits so many common Women in regard it is for their sake that so much Tari is consum'd those that sell it for that cause keeping their Shops by those Houses These sort of Women are so nimble and active that when the present King went to see Maslipatan nine of them undertook to represent the figure of an Elephant four making the four feet four the body and one the trunk upon which the King sitting in a kind of Throne made his entry into the City All the Men and Women of Golconda are well proportion'd and of comely statures and fair enough in their councenances only the Countrey-people are a little more swart The present King of Golconda bears the Name of Abdoul-Coutou-Sha and I will tell the Reader in a few words from whence he drew his Original In the Reign of Axbar King of India the Father of Jehan-Guir the Territories of the Great Moguls did not extend farther Southward then Narbider to that the River which runs by it and which coming from the South empties it self into Ganges separated their Dominions from the Territories of the Raja of Narsingue that stretch'd as far as Cape-Comorin the other Raja's being only his Subjects and depending upon him This Raja and his Successors have been always at Wars with them that succeeded to Tamerlane or Temur-leng in India and their Power was so great that the last Raja who was at War with Akbar brought into the Field four Armies under as many Generals The most considerable of his Armies lay in those Provinces which at this day are call'd the Kingdom of Golconda the second was quarter'd in the Provinces of Visapour the third in the Province of Dultabat and the fourth in the Territories of Brampour The Raja of Narsingue dying without Children the four Generals divided among themselves the Countreys which they possess'd with their Army and took upon them the title of Kings the one of Golconda the other of Visapour the other of Brampour and the fourth of Dultabat Though the Raja were an Idolater nevertheless his four Generals were Mahumetans and he of Golconda was of the Sect of Haly descended from an Ancient Family of the Turcomans which inhabit the Country of Hamadan in Persia. This General as I have said was more considerable than any of the rest and some few days after the death of the Raja they won a famous Victory from the Mogul so that he could not hinder them from assuming their several Sovereignties But after that Jehan-Guir the Son of Akbar conquer'd again the Kingdom of Brampour Cha-jehan the Son of Jehan-Guir recover'd the Kingdom of Dultabat and Aureng-zeb the Son of Cha-jehan recover'd some part of the Kingdom of Visapour As for the King of Golconda neither Cha-jehan nor Aureng-zeb disturb'd him but let him rest in peace upon condition that he should pay to the Mogul an annual tribute of 200000 Pagods At present the greatest Raja on this side Ganges is the Raja of Velou whose Territories extend to Cape-Comorin and who succeeded to some part of the Territories of the Raja of Narsingue But in regard there is no Trade in his Countrey and by consequence no concourse of strangers there is little notice taken of him The present King of Golconda has no Sons but three Daughters who are all married The Eldest Espous'd one of the Kinsmen of the Grand Chek of Mecca Nor must we forget some passages that fell out before this Marriage The Chek coming to Golconda in the habit of a Faquir for some Months lodg'd without the Gate of the Palace disdaining to give any answer to several Courtiers that demanded what his business was At length the thing being made known to the King he sent his chief Physitian who spoke good Arabick to know of the Chek what he had to request and the reason of his coming The Physitian and some other Lords of the Court that discours'd him also finding him to be a person of great Wit and Learning brought him to the King who was very well satisfi'd with his aspect and his presence But at length the Chek declaring to him that he came to Espouse the Princess that proposal very much surpriz'd the Prince and was look'd upon by the greatest part of the Court as made by a person not well in his wits At first the King only laugh'd at him But when he found him obstinately persevering in his demand in-so-much that he threaten'd the Countrey with some strange Calamity if the Princess were not given to him in Marriage he was committed to Prison where he lay a long time At length the King thinking it more to the purpose to send him back into his own Countrey caus'd him to be ship'd away at Mastipatan in a Vessel that carri'd Goods and Pilgrims to Mocca whence they travell by land to Mecca About two years after the same Chek return'd again to Golconda and order'd his affairs so well that he Espous'd the Princess and won an high reputation in the Kingdom which he governs at this day and is very Potent He it was that kept the King from surrendring the Fortress of Golconda whither he was retir'd when Aureng-zeb and his Son took Bagnabar as I shall tell you by and by threatning to kill him if he would not resolve to hold it out and not deliver the keys to the enemy This bold action wss the reason which made the King love him ever afterwards and that he takes his counsel in all weigty affairs not as he is the King's Son-in-Law but as he is a great Minister of State and the chiefest person next the King in all the Court He it was that has put a stop to the finishing the great Pagod in Bagnagar having threaten'd the whole Kingdom with some great Calamity if they went forward with the work This Prince is a passionate Lover of all those that profess the Mathematicks and understands them as well For which reason though he be a Mahumetan he is a great Favourer of all the Christians who are vers'd in that Science as he has particularly testifi'd to Father Ephrahim a Capuchin passing through Golconda for Pegu whither he was sent by his Superiors He did all he could to oblige him to stay in the Country and offer'd to build him a House and a Church at his own expences telling him he should neither want employment nor Hearers in regard there were several
in the way to Hali's Sepulchre Sect take the way of Babylon upon this score that it brings them at the same time to the Sepulchre of their Prophet Hali which is but eight days Journey distant from it This is the most wretched place of all the places upon earth and affords no water but the most corrupted water which is drawn out of certain Pits and that of a Canal which Schach-Abas caus'd to be brought thither from the Euphrates but which is now quite out of repair Whoever expects to drink good water there must bring it along with him from other places from other places five or six days Journey distant from the other And yet that false Prophet imposes on those who have such a Devotion for him not only the inconveniences of coming so far off but also those of being in a fair way to perish by thirst and hardship of lodging The last time it was my fortune to pass through the Desarts I came to that detestable place upon this occasion that meeting with a Courrier who was come from Babylon with two Arabians whom he had in his Company he gave us intelligence that the Grand Seignor's Forces which had then newly taken Babylon were upon their march back in little Detachments and that there was no question to be made but they would seize on our Camels and Baggage Which advertisements oblig'd us to take our course more to the South and to get further into the Desert where we spent sixty and five days in the crossing of it to avoid meeting with those Forces As for the Princes of Arabia they have no great Journey to make because they are the next neighbours to Mahomet's Sepulchre The Mahumetans of Europe come to Aleppo and there joyn the Caravan and those of Africa pass to Grand Cairo and meet in the Desarts with the same Caravan of A Miraculous Canal of water of the length of 18 days journey Aleppo at eighteen days journey from Medina where there is a water which goes by a Canal quite to that City all the way of those eighteen days journey They have it by Tradition That that water was found by their Prophet Mahomet as he cross'd the Desert with his Army ready to dy for thirst and that going to drink of it first of any there issued a Voice to him out of the Water which said to him Prophet thou wilt find it bitter That he made the Voice this Answer Let us all drink of it for I know it is sweet and I would to God that we could always find as good That thereupon the Voice replying the second time said to him Prophet Command and I will follow thee And that as soon as he had spoken the Water made a Canal under ground and follow'd him quite to Medina From Damas Hierusalem and Cairo they account forty days Journey to Medina and it is at the two and twentieth day's journey that they find that water 'T is partly to see that miraculous Water which had been sweetned by the Prophet that there goes into those places so great a concourse of People of so many different Nations from all parts of the World in as much as there is no Mahumetan let him be at ever so great a distance and but tolerably in a condition of health and supply'd with the external accommodations of fortune who does not think himself oblig'd to go once in his life to Mecha in person or to send some other in his stead After the Pilgrims have continu'd certain daies at Medina they go to Gebel-Araffa that is to say the place where Adam found Eve his Wife five hundred years after God had created her It is a City in the Mountains at the distance of Two Dayes Journey from Medina and at one from Emena another City which is half way between both Assoon as the Pilgrims are come thither all those who are so well furnish'd buy a Weather to make a Holocaust of it and to distribute it amongst the poor they being not allow'd to keep above two pounds of it for themselves If they do not punctually observe that and that some discovery should be made thereof they are made incapable ever after while they live of shaving their Heads or paring their Nails From Gebel-Araffa they return to Medina where they keep an account of the time when the Caravan arrived there in regard that all the Pilgrims who came by Land are as I said elsewhere maintain'd with sustenance for the space of Seventeen dayes but they who come by Sea are sustain'd as long as they continue there even though they should make it the place of their abode as long as they live FINIS A SHORT DESCRIPTION Of all the KINGDOMS Which Encompass the Euxine and Caspian Seas DELIVERED By the AUTHOR after above Twenty Years Travel Together with a PREFACE CONTAINING Several Remarkable Observations concerning divers of the forementioned COUNTRIES LONDON Printed for R. L. and Moses Pytt 1677. The Publisher unto the Reader THE ensuing Narration was put into my hands Five or Six Years ago by a very Intelligent Worthy Person who long resided in the same Family with our Author and did assure me that the Discourse here published was written with his own hand and presented unto that Honourable Person who redeemed him out of Captivity The Gentleman who bestowed these Papers upon me will not be responsible for the Truth of all therein contained but I having compared his Account of several Countries with that of Olearius and other more Ancient and Modern Writers have found them very Consonant unto each other and therefore do charitably believe him no less Faithful in his Description of those Countries and People concerning whom little hath been said by any besides By reason of his long absence from his Native Country and dis-use of his Mother-Tongue his style was so rough odd and unpleasant that I was forced to make therein great Alterations both as to Method and Expression yet keeping strictly unto his sense I have also much abbreviated his Discourse many things being often repeated and he having stuffed it with divers impertinencies which would have been void of all Instruction and Delight He would never own his true Name or Pedigree for Reasons mentioned in his Paper which I thought altogether unnecessary to be rehearsed that of Astracan wherewith he concludes his NARRATIVE being fictitious and I suppose assumed because of his long Residence in a City of that name from which he made most of his Excursions And which with the Adjacent Country he hath above all others most particularly described giving us the names of several Neighbouring Places and Rivers mentioned by no other Writer I was highly pleased with the Account he gives us of Czarofsgorod which he also sometimes calls Seraichan and Seraichena the former of which is the Muscovitish the latter the Tartarian Appellation and interpreted both signifie the Habitation of the Emperour or Cham it being formerly the Metropolis of a great
Empire As also with his mention of a place on the West-side of the Volga where he sayes Astracan was formerly situated Concerning both which Cities I shall declare divers things I have Collected out of several European and Arabian Writers which either are not commonly known or little regarded But I must necessarily premise somewhat concerning the Antient Inhabitants of the Country wherein these Cities are situated The first Nation of whom I find any mention who made any fix'd habitation in these Quarters were the Chazari so named by the Latines and Greeks but by the Mahumetans Alchozar and Gorjani This Nation during the Reign of the Emperour Justine like a Torrent Overflowed all that Vast Continent which lies between China and the Boristhenes Conquered part of India All Bactria Sogdiana and made the Persians Tributary by whom they are always called Turks and their Prince Chacan a Title formerly common unto all great Turkish Emperours This Mighty Monarch having conquered the Igors or Jugurs Avares Chuni or Huns Abtelites or White Huns and all other Tribes of Turks and Tartars together with the Alani whose Dominion then extended as appears by Marcellinus from the Boristhenes far beyond the most North-East part of the Caspian Sea entred into a League with Justine and styles himself in his Letters Lord of the Seven Climates of the World His Acts may be read at large in Theophilactus Simocatta Excerptis de Legationibus and divers others of the Bizantine Historians This Nation Assisted the Emperour Heraclius in his Wars against the great Cosroes whom by their Assistance he overcame These Chazari were also possessed of all that part of Taurica Chersonesus which is plain and fit for feeding Cattle they being addicted after the manner of all other Scythian Nomades unto a Pastoral life which Peninsula from them was untill the Famous Irruption of the Tartars in the Thirteenth Century called Cassaria or Cazaria and afterwards more corruptly by the Genoeses Venetians and other Latines Gazaria I find mention of these Chazari or Chozars in divers Persian and Arabian Historians and Geographers Abulpharagius acquaints us with an Expedition they made into Persia the 183. Year of the Hegira which was after our Account in 799 from whence they returned with great Spoile and above 100000 Captives and afterwards in the 514 th Year of the Mahumetan Epocha being A. C. 1120. they made another Inroad accompanied by the Comanians whom the Arabians call Kaphjaks Frequent mention is made of them by that Deservedly Celebrated Arabian Geographer Al Edrisi who flourished in the 548 th year of the Hegira of Christ 1153. He always calls the Caspian Sea Mare Chozar And all that Country on the North and to the West of the Caspian Sea Terra Chozar He acquaints us that the Residence of the Prince of Chozar was not far above the Mouth of the Volga which the Tartars call Athel which name I suppose it derived from Attila that Renowned King of the Hunns being so called in the Relation of the Ambassadors who were sent by the Emperour Justine unto the Great Chacan of the Turks residing in the East Al Edrisi and his Epitomizer commonly known by the Name of Geographus Nubiensis intimate That these Chozars inhabited divers other Cities but that this was the Metropolis he suppresses the Name styling it only from the River the City of Athel and declares it was divided by the River the chief and greatest part being on the West-side and that the other less considerable on the East-side was inhabited only by the meaner sort of People and Merchants it being a place of great Trade that which made it more considerable was the liberty allowed unto all of the Publike Profession and Exercise of their respective Religious Perswasions Jews Christians Mahumetans and Idolaters being there equally countenanced which I suppose might occasion that Dialogue published out of an Ancient Hebrew Manuscript by L'Empereur between the Author a Jewish Rabbi and the King of Chozar This City is said to have been extended along the River three miles in length and it's breadth proportionable the Western part well fortified adorned with the Emperours Palace and several other eminent Structures Nassir Eddin who wrote at the latter end of the 13th Century calls this City in his Geographical Tables Balanjar and from him Abulfeda they place it in 46 degrees 30 minutes of Northern Latitude where within six or eight minutes our best Geographers seat Astracan And questionless this was that City which our Author and Olearius call Old Astracan These Chazari did I suppose conserve their vast Dominion without any great Interruption at least until A. C. 900. For Alferganus who lived about that Time places no other Nation in his Table of Climes between China and the Boristhenes And Eutichius who wrote about 30 or 40 years after makes mention of them as a mighty Nation and many amongst them converted unto the Christian Belief About the middle of the 10th Century these Chazari gave place unto the Cumanians or Comanians who were also a Turkish Nation known unto the Turks Persians and Arabians under the Name of Kaphjack whether they expelled the Chazari or that the former becoming the more Eminent Tribe gave Law and Name unto these latter as hath since frequently happened among the Tartars I will not here undertake to determine but this is certain that suddenly the Name of Chazari was extinct and all that Tract of Land from the Nepper unto Turkestan 1500 miles beyond the Volga was inhabited by these Cumanians who were often troublesome unto the Russes Lithuanians Hungarians and other Neighbour-Nations But this People was almost totally destroyed by the Tartars in that great Inundation which happened at the beginning of the 12th Century soon after the death of Jingiz Chan whose Son Hocota being chosen Emperour sent his Nephew Batu or Bathy the Son of Tussy Jingiz Chan his Eldest Son with 400000 Men to invade the Northem Parts of Asia The Cumani for divers years valiantly resisted and made the greatest opposition the Tartars met with in all their Conquests repuls'd them in two pitch'd Battels but then growing secure and dispersing upon the Tartars retreat they were unexpectedly surprized the whole Countrey over-run above 200000 killed their King Kuthen hardly escaping with 40000 into Hungary where he met with a kind reception had land allotted him and his Company which Region is called Campus Cumanus unto this day This Countrey was so miserably wasted by the Tartars that in the Years 1253 and 1254 when Rubriquis passed through it going unto and returning from his Ambassage to Mangu Chan there was no fixed habitation excepting a few Cottages in the Island where Astracan is now situated But Bathy having destroyed the Comanians ruinated their Cities and established his own Dominion began to think of a fix'd abode which after long observation he chose near the River Volga on the East-side and immediately beneath the River Actabon a great Arm of the Volga and
in Requenings or Debentures of the Servants of the Holland Company which they that have no mind to return into their own Country as being setled in the Indies will sell at an easie rate insomuch that for sixty or seventy you may buy a hundred Piasters the Act and Acquittance of the Seller being made and register'd by the Publick Notary Thereupon I bought of one of the publick Notaries who had Bills in his hands to the value of about eleven thousand Guelders at fourscore and two for the hundred After that I bought by means of the Advocate of the Treasury six thousand Guelders more at seventy-nine for the hundred But some few days after meeting with the same Advocate again he pass'd a Complement upon me and told me he was very much troubl'd for those that had bought Debentures in regard that the General and the Council had commanded him to recall all Debentures that had been sold for they had consider'd how sad a thing it would be for the poor men to lose so much of their Salaries I answer'd him that for my part I was willing to return mine provided I might have my Money again About six or seven hours after I was sent for by the General and his Council When I came there they ask'd me why I had not return'd the Debentures which I had bought to the Advocate who had demanded them by their order I answerd them that they were at Bantam whither I had sent them in order to my passage home in regard that the English President had offer'd me a convenience to go along with him The Council answer'd me that the Dutch Ships were as good as the English and very courteously assur'd me they would give order for a Cabin to my self in the Vice-Admiral But withall they told me I must deliver up my Debentures before I stirr'd assuring me that they would give me a Bill to be re-imburs'd my Money by the Company in Holland I thought it very hard for I knew not how to trust 'em but seeing the Merchants Commanders and all other persons clapt up and their Papers taken from them by force that had bought Debentures I thought it the best way to deliver mine and stand to their courtesie I often press'd the General and the Council for my Bill but after many delays the General ascertain'd me that my Bill should be in Holland as soon as I. Thereupon desiring the Vice-Admiral and some others to be my Wirnesses of what the General promis'd I took my leave of him very much repenting my going to Batavia CHAP. XXVI The Author embarks in a Dutch Vessel to return into Europe THE next day I went aboard the Vice-Admiral and the third day after we set sail and as soon as we were out of the Streight we discover'd the Islands of the Prince From thence being in the Altitude of the Coco Islands we beat about two days to discover them but all to no purpose thereupon we made directly for the Cape of good Hope The fourty-fifth day after our departure from Batavia our Vice-Admiral neglected to put out his Lights believing all the Fleet had been before at the Cape so that it happen'd that one of the Fleet being behind and not carrying any Lights out neither it being a dark night fell foul upon us which put every man to his prayers all people believing the Vessel had been lost and indeed had she not been a sound stanch Ship for the Provinces were so accounted she could never have endur'd so terrible a shock At length we clear'd our selves by cutting off the Yards of the Maestricht that hung in our Cordage The fifty-fifth we came within view of the Cape of good Hope but were forc'd to keep the Sea because the waves roll'd so that we were not able to come to an Anchor not that the Wind was extream high but because the South-wind had blown so long that it had forc'd the Water to that part When the Sea grew calm we came to an Anchor But of all the people that ever I saw in all my travels I never saw any so hideous nor so brutish as the Comoukes of which I have spoken in my Persian Travels and those of the Cape of good Hope whom they call Cafres or Hosentotes When they speak they make a noise with their tongues like the breaking of wind backward and though they hardly speak articulately yet they easily understand one another They cover themselves with the Skins of wild Beasts which they kill in the Woods in Winter wearing the hairy part innermost and in Summer outermost But there are none but the best sort among them who are thus clad the rest wear nothing but a nasty rag about their privy parts The men and the women are lean and short and when they bring forth a Male-child the Mothers cut out his right Stone and presently give him Water to drink and Tobacco to eat They cut out the right Testicle because say they it makes them swifter to run There are some of them that will catch a Roe-Buck running They neither know what belongs to Gold nor Silver and for Religion they have none among them So soon as we cast Anchor four women came aboard us and brought us four young Ostriches which were boil'd for some sick people that we had aboard After that they brought great store of Tortoise-Shells and Ostriches Eggs and other Eggs as big as Goose Eggs which though they had no Yolk tasted very well The Birds that lay these Eggs are a sort of Geese and so fat that they are hardly to be eaten tasting rather like Fish than Flesh. The women seeing our Cook throw away the Guts of two or three Fowl which he was dressing took them up and squeezing out the Ordure eat them as they were being hugely pleas'd with the Aqua Vitae which the Captain gave them Neither men nor women are asham'd to shew their nakedness for indeed they are but a sort of human Beasts So soon as the Ship arrives they bring their Beeves to the shore with what other Commodities they have to barter for strong Water and Tobacco Crystal or Agat Beads or any sort of old Iron work If they are not satisfi'd with what you offer them away they fly and then giving a whistle all their Cattel follow 'em nor shall you ever see 'em again Some when they saw 'em fly would shoot and kill their Cattel but after that for some years they would never bring any more 'T is a very great convenience for the Vessels that touch there to take in fresh Victuals and the Hollanders did well to build a Fort there It is now a good handsome Town inhabited by all sorts that live with the Hollanders and all sorts of Grain which are brought out of Europe or Asia and sow'd there come to better perfection there then in other parts The Country lies in thirty-five Degrees and some few Minutes over so that it cannot be said that
either the heat or scituation of the Climate makes these Cafres so black Being desirous to know the reason and why they stunk so terribly I learnt it from a Girl that was bred up in the Fort who was tak'n from her Mother as soon as she was born and was white like our women in Europe she told me that the reason why the Cafres are so black is because they rub themselves with a Greafe or Ointment compos'd of several sorts of Drugs wherewith should they not anoint themselves very often and as soon as they were born they should become Hydropsical as the Blacks of Africa and the Abyssins are or like the people of Saba that never live above forty years and are always troubl'd with one Leg twice as big as the other These Cafres as brutish as they are have yet some knowledg of Simples which they know to apply to several Diseases which the Hollanders have several times experienc'd Of nineteen sick persons that we had in our Ship fifteen were committed to the care of these Cafres being troubl'd with Ulcers in their Legs and old wounds which they had receiv'd in the wars and in less then fifteen days they were all perfectly cur'd Every one of these had two Cafres to look after him and according to the condition of the wound or Ulcer they went and fetch'd Simples which they bruis'd between two Stones and apply'd to the sore As for the other four they were so far gone with the Pox that they would not trust the Cafres with them having been given over at Batavia and so they all dy'd between the Cape and St. Helens In the year 1661 a Gentleman of Britanny being at Batavia was so bit by the Gnats in the night that his Leg exulcerated presently in such a manner as to puzzle all the art and skill of the Chirurgeons in that Town When he came to the Cape of good Hope the Captain of the Ship sending him ashore the Cafres came about him and after they had beheld him they told him if he would trust to them they would cure him The Captain thereupon committed him to their care who cur'd him and made him a sound man in less then fifteen days When a Ship comes to an Anchor in the Cape it is the fashion for him that commands the Ship to give leave to some part of the Mariners and Souldiers to go ashore to refresh themselves The sickly have first leave by turns and go to the Town where they are dyeted and lodg'd for seven or eight Sous a day and are very well us'd It is the custom of the Hollanders when they stay here to send out parties of Souldiers upon the discovery of the up-land Country and they that go farthest are best rewarded With this design a party of Souldiers under the Command of a Serjeant far advanc'd in the Country and night coming on they made a great fire as well to keep themselves from the Lions as to warm themsèlves and so lay down to sleep round about it Being asleep a Lion came and seiz'd one of the Souldiers Arms which the Serjeant perceiving immediately shot the Lion with his Carbine but when he was dead they had much ado to open the Lions mouth to get out the Souldiers Arm. Thus it appears a vulgar error to believe that Lions will not come near the fire As for the Souldier the Cafres cur'd his Arm in twelve days There are in the Fort abundance of Lions and Tigers Skins among the rest there was the Skin of a Horse which the Cafres had kill'd it was white cross'd with black streaks spotted like a Leopard without a Tail Two or three Leagues from the Hollanders Fort there was a Lion found dead with four Porcupines Quils in his body the third part whereof had pierc'd his flesh So that it was judg'd that the Porcupine had kill'd the Lion The Skin with the Quils in it is kept in the Fort. A League from the Fort is a fair Town that grows bigger and bigger every day When the Holland Company arrives there with their Ships if any Souldier or Mariner will live there they are very glad of it They have as much ground as they can mannage where they have all sorts of Herbs and Pulse and as much Rice and as many Grapes as they can desire They have also young Ostridges Beef Sea-fish and sweet water To catch the Ostridges when they please they got their Nests when they are young and driving a stake in the ground tye the Birds by one Leg to the stake and when they are old enough they come and take them out of the Nest from whence it is impossible to fly away When the Hollanders began to inhabit the Cape they took a young Girl from her Mother as soon as she was born she is white only her Nose is a little flat A French man got her with Child and would have marry'd her but the Company were so far from permitting him that they took away above a hundred Livres of the Maids wages from her to punish her for the misdemeanour which was somewhat hard There are great numbers of Lions and Tigers which the Hollanders have a pretty invention to take they fasten a Carbine to a stake driv'n into the Earth and lay meat round about the Gun which meat is fasten'd with a string to the Trigger So that when the Beast snatches the meat the string pulls the Trigger and the Gun going off hits the Lion either in the throat or the breast The Cafres feed upon a Root like our Skerrets which they roast and make bread of Sometimes they grin'd it into flower and then it tasts like a Walnut For their food they eat the same Root raw with raw Fish with the Entrails of Beasts out of which they only squeeze the ordure As for the bowels of the wild Beasts the women wear them dry'd about their Legs especially the bowels of those Beasts which their Husbands kill which they look upon as a kind of Ornament They also feed upon Tortoises when they have so far heated them at the fire as to make the Shells come off They are very expert in darting their Azagaya's and those that have none make use of pointed sticks which they will lance a great way With these they go down to the Sea-side and as soon as ever they spy a Fish near the top of the water they will not fail to strike him As for their Birds which are like our Ducks whose Eggs are without any Yolk they breed in such great quantities in the Countrey that in a Bay about eighteen Miles from the Cape you may knock them on the head with a stick The Hollanders once carried a young Cafre to the General at Batavia who bred him carefully up teaching him to understand the Dutch and Portugal Languages perfectly well At length being desirous to return into his Country the General gave him very good Cloaths and good Linnen hoping that he