Feet is lost and it is impossible to find the way Which is the loss of many People and Beasts every Year Nor does this Snow ever melt the Mountain being continually cover'd with it It separates Georgia from Armenia and I was no sooner over it but I found a Country quite of another Form and Fashion For whereas on the other side there was nothing to be seen but very high Mountains and some few small Plains between 'em and a Woody Country very well Peopl'd here on this side we saw spacious Plains with little Hillocks cover'd alike with Snow bare of all sort of VVood but what was planted about the Villages VVe lodg'd at Kara Pheshish a great Borough seated at the Foot of the Mountain which we cross'd over and upon the Banks of the River Zengui VVhich River waters one part of Armenia the Greater In making the Geographical Description of the Country as I pass'd along I never mind any Author whether Ancient or Modern finding 'em all so opposite one to another and altogether dark and confus'd VVhich was the same thing that Strabo said of the Authors that preceded him and whoever will take the pains to compare those that have follow'd him either with the Ancients or among themselves will be of the same Opinion As for example in Caldea or Assyria which at present they extend almost to the Mediterranean Sea though Herodotus Pliny Strabo Ptolomy and the other most Celebrated Ancient Geographers enclose it between the Desert of Arabia and Mesopotamia I have also observ'd one thing in the Government of Persia which has made me since believe that although Authors have set different Bounds and Limits to the Countries yet that they might have all written very true and justly and as Things stood in their Times when the Governments were enlarg'd or confin'd within narrower Bounds as the Supreme Governor pleases or as necessity requires for then the Province that gives the Name to the Government has not the same Limits nor observes the same Situation as before And therefore I will mark out the Extent and Situation of the Country where I pass'd as I found 'em and if I must follow the Ancient Authors it shall be only those of the Persian Geography Some there are among 'em who divide Armenia into Three parts The first which they call properly by that Name the second which they call Turcomannia and the third to which they give the Name of Georgia But the greater Number divide it only into two parts the Upper and the Lower The Lower which is sometimes call'd the Lesser sometimes the Western but generally the Lesser is under the Dominion of the Turks The Upper which they sometimes call the Eastern sometimes the Great but usually the Greater is a Province of Persia To the small or Lesser Armenia they assign for Bounds the Great Armenia to the East Syria to the South the Black-Sea to the West Cappadocia to the North and they place the Great Armenia between Mesopotamia Georgia Media and Armenia the Less Which Situation agrees in part with that of the Ancient Geographers who enclose Armenia the Less between Cappadocia and Euphrates and Armenia the Greater between Euphrates and Tygris But it no way corresponds with that of some Authors as is to be seen who put Syria the Shoars of the Mediterranean Sea and the Banks of the Caspian in Armenia of which they make Edessa to be the Capital City Neither do Authors differ less about the Denomination of this Country while some derive the Name of Armenia from Armenius a Rhodian or Thessalian Others with far more Reason from Aram which might have some Relation to the Hebrew word Ram which signifies High or Elevated either because the Country lyes High and for that several of the Eastern Mountains make a part of it or else because it fell as his share to Aram the Grand-Child of Noah who therefore call'd it by his own Name And therefore Hayton who was King of the Country derives this Name of Armenia from Aram-Noah But how uncertain soever this Etymology may be I had rather give credit to it then to another Story which he reports of Armenia that is to say that it was the Province where Salmanassar planted the Greatest part of the Jews which he took Prisoners in the Conquest of Palestine The Holy Scripture where ere it has occasion to mention it calls Armenia Ararat Certainly it is one of the most lovely and most Fertile Countries of Asia It is water'd by Seaven large Rivers which is the reason in my opinion that obliges the most part of the Interpreters of the Old Testament to place the Terrestrial Paradise in this Province However it were Armenia is renown'd for several other Famous Accidents and Events There is not any other Country wherein were fought so many Bloody Battels nor with greater Numbers on both sides It has had particular Kings of its own at several times though they could not preserve their Dominion while as Histories assure us all the most Eminent Captains that ever invaded Asia subdu'd it under their Subjection in their several turns It was the Theatre of the last Wars between the Turks and Persians while the Turks fought to have had it all entire though at length they were content to share it with the Persians yet not so but that they have had the greatest part The 6th I continu'd my Journey half dead as I was with Cold and a Dysentery But the hopes I was in to meet at Erivan with all necessary Accommodations for my Cure made me hasten thither notwithstanding all the Pains that I felt So that we Travell'd Four Leagues and arriv'd at Bichni a considerable Village seated at the Foot of a Mountain upon the River Zengui We lodg'd at a fair Armenian Monastery built between the Village and the Mountain This Monastery is an Ancient Foundation between Eight and Nine Hunderd Years standing The Cloister is built after the Fashion of the Country encompass'd with High and Thick Walls of Free Stone Near to the Monastery are to be seen the Ruines of Towers Castles and Ramparts in so great a Number that it renders very probable what the People of the Country report that Bichni has been one of the strong Places of Armenia I lodg'd in the Convent where the Monks receiv'd me with great Civility and put me into the fairest Apartiment they had only I could by no means prevaile with 'em to let me have a Fowl to make a little Broth because it was their time of Lent So that my Guide was forc'd to use his Authority even to the holding up his Cane to procure me a few Eggs. Toward the Evening I had a desire to Drink some Coffee which my Guide brought me boyl'd with a little Sugar and of that I Drank Four small Glasses as hot as I could which done I lay'd me down well cover'd before a good Fire To which feeble Remedy it pleas'd GOD to give so great a
in March 1672. The Ambassador departed from Constantinople the 29th of March carrying along with him the Abbot of Nointel his Brother a Gentleman a Confessor a Steward a Secretary three Interpreters two Janisaries and of meaner Officers a competent Retinue Besides all these he had also in his Train M. d'Hervieu who brought the Letter from M. de Lyonne to the Vizier one of the Directors of the Levant Company whose Business it was to Treat about the Conditions of the Red-Sea-Trade Two Spanish Fryers Commissaries of the Holy Land who were to sollicite the Restitution of the Sacred Places from whence they had been expell'd by the Greeks by Authority from the Port about Thirty Years before a Merchant of Marseilles who had Business at the Part together with Four French and Italian Gentlemen who as I my self made that Journey meerly out of Curiosity The Caimacan also sent a Chiaus to attend the Ambassador to provide him Convenient Lodging and to preserve that Respect to his Person and his Retinue which the Turks are subject to violate upon the slightest Occasions if not overaw'd by the dread of Punishment We were Six Days upon the Road it being reck'nd Fifty Leagues between Constantinople and Adrianople A Road no way to be found fault with as being very broad and level over Plains and a lovely Champain Country besides that we pass'd through a great many very neat Villages accommodated with fair and handsom Inns. We lodg'd half a League from Adrianople in a most pleasant Situation upon the River Hebrus call'd Bosna-Koy that is the Village of the Bosneans Ten days after our Arrival Panaioti the Vizier's Interpreter of whom we have already spok'n came to visit the Ambassador in his Masters Name and to know the King's Resolutions touching the renewing of the Alliance After which Preamble to M. de Nointel he told him That it was the Vizier's Opinion that it was not convenient for him and the Ambassador to have any Personal Interviews and Discourse together till all Affairs were concluded and fully agreed for fear lest any Exceptions or Differences should happ'n between 'em which though but upon slight and impertinent Punctilio's might break or put a stop to the Negotiation and hinder its good success To which Panaioti added as it were in Confirmation of the Vizier's Judgment That Affairs in Turkey were never well manag'd unless it were by a Third Person in regard the Vizier and the Ambassador being equally concern'd to preserve the Honour and Interests of two great Empires neither of the two would be the first that should forego the smallest Tittle of their Pretensions but that a Treaty carry'd on by their Interpreters could not easily produce those unlucky Accidents either in the One or the Other In short therefore the Vizier desir'd that favour of him that he might not give him Audience but only to deliver into his Hands the new Articles of Peace and Agreement M. de Nointel could have wish'd with all his Heart it might have been otherwise but there was a Necessity of condescending to the Vizier's Pleasure which was to Treat by the Intercourse of Interpreters Thereupon Panaioti took the Letter which M. de Lyonne had written to the Vizier and the Memorial of the Conditions upon which his Majesty was resolv'd to renew the Alliance and no otherwise as the Ambassador alledg'd and so took his Leave after he had made a Thousand Vows and Protestations to the Ambassador of the Services he would do in that Negotiation Particularly he told him That he took it for so great an Honour to have the Management of this New League between the Grand Signior and the Emperor of France that there was no way or means which he would leave unstudy'd that he might bring it to a Conclusion to the Satisfaction of his most Christian Majesty But Time discover'd that his Protestations were altogether deceitful and fallacious and that Panaioti had not the same Inclinations for the Interests of France as for those of the Grand Vizier First then the Vizier read over the Ambassador's Memorial and then gave it to be examin'd in the Divan It was not so long by half as that which he had presented the time before as not containing above Eleven Heads Nevertheless he found it to be very Extravagant So that when the most Considerable Articles were read he would still cry The Port will never grant ' em Upon others he would pass Sentence saying This may be granted and we shall endeavour to pass over such an Obstacle and to remove such and such Difficulties So that he absolutely refus'd one part of the Demands and gave his Opinion of the rest but very doubtfully Which was a piece of Policy in the Grand Vizier to discover by the Ambassador's Answers whether it were true that his Instructions were not to recede in the least from his Memoires And it fell out according to his desire for by that means he found that the Ambassador had private Orders At the end of April the two Fryers Commissaries for the Holy Land were very much troubl'd at a Report that ran among our selves That they needed not to tarry as they did in expectation of being restor'd to the Sacred Places from which the Greeks had expell'd 'em for that the Vizier having declar'd That he would agree to the Abatement of the Customs and the Red-Sea-Trade on Condition the Ambassador would not insist upon the Holy-Land he had answer'd That that was a Point to be reserv'd till the last Which because it is an Affair of much Curiosity I shall here set down the principal Passages relating to it withal in some measure to divert the Reader weary'd perhaps with a long Story of the French Negotiations at the Ottoman Port for the Renewing of an Alliance The Kingdom of Jerusalem was Conquer'd by the Christians in the Year 1099. and lost in the Year 1177. At what time a certain King of Syria whose Name was Nezer-Salah-el-din-Joseph reconquer'd it and expell'd all the Western Christians especially the Knights leaving only behind the Oriental Christians Syrians Armenians Georgians and Greeks In a short time after one of the Kings of Naples of the House of Anjou purchas'd of the King of Syria the Sacred Places of Palestine However the Bargain was kept secret the King of Syria being afraid lest the Mahumetan Princes his Neighbours should reproach him for what he had done and quarrel with him about the Sale Thereupon the Franciscan Monks were sent to take possession of the Sacred Places according to the Compact who continu'd there and were confirm'd by the Soldans of Egypt and the Turkish Emperors who afterwards Conquer'd Palestine All this while the Fryers had the Keys and Possession of whatever Christian Devotion had Consecrated at Jerusalem Bethlehem Nazareth and in all other Sacred Places of the Holy Land Moreover the Eastern Christians who were very numerous had also their Chappels in several of those Holy Places as well in the Church
that we were sent to the Theatins of Mingrelia As for my Lacquey I had dismiss'd him before I went to Tefflis This Rascal had plaid me a Thousand Roguish Tricks and had once endeavour'd to have ruin'd me and I have already related how he serv'd me at Gonia The Capuchins advis'd me to have him sent to Prison till my return and then to prosecute him But the deep sense I had of GOD's Favour towards me enclin'd me to pardon him altogether I fear'd to provoke the Wrath of Heaven should I at a time that Heaven was so merciful to me have presum'd to seek the Extremities of Justice and Rigour And therefore I paid the wicked Rascal for all the time that he had serv'd me and let him go after I had fully discover'd all the Rogueries and Mischievous Qualities that I knew of him and had given him good Advice to mend his Manners But my Kindness wrought nothing upon him the Fellow was mad that I had dismiss'd him and gave me those Testimonies of his Discontent that were enough to forewarn me of some fatal Consequence of his Revenge So that I could have found i' my Heart to have laid him in Irons and had I said the least word the Capuchins would have done it in the Twinkling of an Eye as being in great Credit at Tefflis But I forbore prevented by that Fate which Governs all Things I was wholly inclin'd to pity for I expected and desir'd it too much my self not to shew it to another and it was no more then what seem'd acceptable to GOD. And we shall see hereafter how he shew'd himself pleas'd with what I had done by delivering me from a Dangerous Snare which the Traytor had laid for me I return'd to Gory the 21st The 22d we parted thence and lay six Leagues from Gory at a Village upon the Road to Akalzikè which I had Rid in my first Travels in those parts The 23d we departed by break of Day and presently left the Road of Akalzikè upon the Left-hand At Noon we arriv'd at a small Village call'd Aly lying nine Leagues from Gory and seated among the Mountains Two Leagues beyond that we pass'd a Streight which is fenc'd with a great Gate of Carpenters Work and separates Georgia from the Kingdom of Imiretta from whence we rode one League farther and stopp'd at a little Village The 24th we travell'd seven Leagues in the Mountains which were full of Snow that fell in great Flakes the Mountains themselves which are a part of Mount Caucasus being cover'd with very high Trees There we thought we should have lost our selves for the Snow being very deep cover'd all the Paths and Tracks that we could not see our way but at length we came to a Village call'd Colbaure where we lay This Village consists of about Two Hunderd Houses all in a direct line and so far distant one from another that it is above three Miles from the first to the last The 25th we travell'd not above nine Miles the bad Weather the Snow Cold and Obscurity of the Air in those high Mountains hindring us from going any farther however at last we lodg'd at a Village containing about thirty Houses The 26th the Air clear'd up it had done Snowing nor was it so bitter Cold so that we travell'd Eighteen Miles among the Mountains cover'd with thick Woods Yet the Road was indifferent in regard the Ascents and Descents were not very steep And we lay at a small Village by the side of a great River The 27th we Ferry'd over the River and travell'd Three Leagues in a Country like that which we had pass'd the Days before And descending the Mountain we came into a large and fair plain extending as far as we could see and lodg'd at a Village call'd Sesano This Valley is almost a League broad from one end to the other and it is very fertile and very pleasant as being water'd with several Streams extending it self as far as Mingrelia and being the most pleasant part of all Imiretta The Mountains with which it is surrounded are cover'd with Wood and Villages for the greatest part of the Mountains are till'd and full of Vineyards In this Valley we found the Air to be as warm as if it had been Spring and very little Snow Sesano lay near to a Castle belonging to an Ancient Lady who was Aunt to the King of Imiretta who lay sick at the time that we arriv'd there Who hearing that there was a Capuchin come to the Village sent for him to discourse with him For in that Country they look upon all the Missionaries to be Physicians Nor was the Fryer unwilling to visit her hoping to procure some assistance from her in our design But two Hours after he had left me I was surpriz'd to be overtaken by another Capuchin with a Horse and a Guide The cause of whose following me so close was to give me Intelligence that the Lacquey which I had dismiss'd was come from Tefflis to Gory where he had discover'd all that he knew of my business swearing to ruin me and that he was gone no body knew which way Which surpriz'd me very much For I mistrusted some such thing I desir'd the Capuchin therefore to tarry with me gave him a Thousand Thanks and highly applauded the great Zeal and Affection of the Society toward me which they had testifi'd by such an evident and Generous Demonstration and indeed they could not have given me more apparent tok'ns of their kindness The 20th we travell'd Five Leagues in the Plain already mention'd which is very full of Villages and Woods and the soyl so extreamly fat that our Horses had much a do to poach along After we had travell'd Six Miles we left the Fortress of Scander upon the right Hand The People of the Country call it Scanda and affirm that Alexander the Great built it For the Eastern People call that Victorious Prince by the Name of Scander They tell ye farther that he built Seventeen Places more which he call'd by the same Name And perhaps this might be one of the Seventeen and the same which is mention'd by Q. Curtius in his Seventh Book Which I am inclin'd to believe by its Situation for it is seated at the foot of a Mountain It is now of no force consisting only of two square Towers without any Wall with some Lodgings round about nor does it's Antiquity seem to exceed about 300 Years About a League from Scander we pass'd through Chicaris a Village consisting of about Fifty Houses It goes for a City in Imiretta though it have neither Walls nor any thing more remarkable then any other Villages we put in and lay at a place a League from thence The 29th and 30th we stay'd there For our Guides would go no farther The news of the Wars of which all the Travellers upon the Road gave us Intelligence melted their Hearts i' their Bellies They cry'd out we should carry 'em to certain Death
Translated In the Name of GOD Soveraignly-Merciful And indeed the Arabian word Rahmen which signifies Merciful is an Incommunicable Attribute of GOD and which they never make use of but in speaking of the Divine Clemency All the Mahometans believe that this Invocation conceals great Mysteries and encloses an infinite number of Vertues For they have it always in their Mouths rising sitting taking a Book or an Instrument in their Hands or a Pen. In a word they believe they shall not prosper in any thing which they undertake if they do not begin with this Invocation They assure themselves that Adam and Eve spoke it before they went about any Business It is set at the beginning of every Chapter in the Alcoran And it is evident that it is in Imitation of the usual Sayings of the Jews and Christians the one always beginning thus Our Aid be in the Name of GOD who Created Heaven and Earth and the other with these words In the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost I shall speak in another place of the Seal which is fix'd to this Patent and of what is grav'd within The Figure under it is call'd Nishan that is the Signal and also the Flourish beneath the Subscription It is here drawn with a Ruler but in the Original it is made of the Tails of Letters The Secretary who is us'd to write this Subscription draws those Tails so streight and so equal that you would take 'em for Lines drawn by Rule and Compass The whole Subscription is in Colour'd Letters except the word which signifies Lord of the World and those which I have Translated Absolutely Commands which are in Letters of Gold The words Zels Ziouzoumis are ancient Turkish still in use in the Lesser Tartary They signifie properly My Words or I speak And Tamberlain being the first that made use of those words in his Patents the Kings of Persia have still retain'd the Custom The twelve Names which are in the middle of the Flourish beneath the Subscription are the Names of the twelve Pontiffs real and lawful Successors of Mahomet according to the Persian Belief 5. The Governours in Persia are distinguish'd into Great and Petty Media and Georgia for Example are great Governments Caramania and Gedrosia petty Governments Therefore they call Beglerbeg which signifies Lord of Lords the Governour of a Great Government and the Viceroy of a Petty Government they call a Kan 6. Deston Tahem-ten-ten and Feribours are the Names of the ancient Persian Heroes or if you please of the Old Giants which deriv'd their Being from the ancient Fables These are the Alcides's and the Theseus's of the Persians and as the Grecian Alcides had several Names so likewise has the Persian but the most common Name which they have alway in their Mouths is that of Rustem 7. Ardevon is the Name of an Ancient Giant or Hero who as the Persians say conquer'd all Asia and setl'd the Seat of his Empire in Persia Their Histories have not preserv'd the Memory of any of his Atchievements but their Romances feign an infinite Number which are altogether fabulous 8. In the Original it is Who unloose all sorts of Knots 9. There is no People in the World more sottishly devoted to Judicial Astrology then the Persians Of which being to speak in another place I shall say no more here but that the Persians rank all Penmen Books and Writings under Mercury whom they call Attared and hold all People born under that Planet to be endu'd with a refin'd penetrating clear-sighted and fubtil Wit 10. Caagon is the Name of an Ancient King of China Nor is there any one over the whole East whose Memory is more Venerable It seems by what they report that he was more particularly Illustrious in his Country for his Government in Peace and Administration of Justice then for his Feats of Arms. Therefore the Eastern Monarchs assume his Name to themselves as the Roman Emperors call'd themselves Caesars Moreover it has the same signification in Persia as August in English so that when the Persians would express any thing that is Great and Royal they say Caagoniè Thus I have explain'd the truth of this little Figure and I believe we shall be as little troubl'd to understand the whole Language of this Patent though Metaphor and Hyperbole are therein most furiously injur'd 11. The Term which I have Translated Flowre of Merchants signifies Exquisite Choice Elected or most Excellent The Persians use it commonly as an Epithet for all sorts and Conditions of Men Great Lords Foreign Ministers Merchants and bring it down even to Tradesmen 12. It is in the Persian Nor by Importunate Flatteries nor by Hanghty Demands 13. The word which I have Translated To Incourage signifies properly To Water 14. These words In Dignity and Virtue are not in the Patent only I have put 'em in the place of those that are which signifies the Seal of great Quality resembling the Sun 15. These words are to be referr'd to the words Absolutely Commands which are under the Flourish beneath the Subscription They are call'd here The Decree of the Lord of the World Tamberlain was the first that made use of these lofty Expressions Now the Grand Signior and the Indian Monarch make use of 'em as well as the King of Persia while every one maintains that it belongs to him only and assumes it as his most Glorious Title In the Persian Language it is Saheb-Cerani It may be also interpreted Master of the Age but the other Translation is more clear and intelligible and discovers more plainly the sottish pride that is contein'd in it 16. We shall speak more particularly in another place of the Marks by which the Persians distinguish Times and Seasons Here therefore I shall say no more then for the understanding of the Date that the Month Shavel is the tenth and that the Arabians have given Epithets to all the Months as for Example to the First the Epithet of Sacred to the Seventh that of Praise-worthy to the Ninth that of Blessed and to this here mention'd the Stile of Honourable The word Hegyra which is Translated Flight proceeds from a Verb which signifies to fly as also to retire So that the Hegyra of the Mahometans is the same thing with the Exodus of the Hebrews And without doubt Omar had that same Exodus in his Mind when he setl'd the Mahometan Epact from the time of Mahomet's departure from Mecca which was the place in Arabia where Idols and Idolatry were most in Esteem 17. In the Original it is Hamhager that is Flying together 18. As the Arabians as we have said gave Epithets to the Months the Persians also have given Epithets to the Principal Cities of their Empire Ispahan and Casbin are call'd The Seat of Monarchy Canhadar A Secure Retreat Asherif was call'd The Ennobl'd because Abas the Great built a Spacious and Sumptuous Palace and usually kept his Court there when he was in the
it Old to distinguish it from Julfa that is built over against Ispahan Nor is it without reason so call'd as being totally ruin'd and demolished There is nothing farther to be known of it except the Grandeur which it once enjoy'd It was seated upon the descent of a Mountain by the side of a River that ran close by it The Avenues to it which are naturally very difficult of Access were defended by several Forts It contain'd four thousand Houses as the Armenians report but if we judge by its Ruines it never could contain half the number At present there are nothing but Holes and Caverns made in the Mountains fitter for Beasts then Men. I do not believe there is in the world a more barren or hideous Place then that of Old Julfa where there is neither Tree nor Grass to be seen True it is that in the Neighbourhood there are some Places more happy and fertile yet on the other side it is as true that never was any City seated in a Situation more dry and stony But the Figure of it somewhat recompens'd the Situation resembling a long Amphitheater At present there are not above thirty Families in it which are all Armenians Abas the Great was the Prince that ruin'd Julfa and all that Art had contributed to its Fortification Which he did for the same reason that he ruin'd Nacchivan and other Places of Armenia to hinder the Turkish Armies from Provisions For he being a prudent and Politick Captain finding his Forces inferior to those of his Enemies and studious how to prevent their return every year into Persia their winning and preserving their Conquests resolv'd to make a Desart of all the Country between Erzerum Tauris upon the line of Erivan and Nacchivan which was the road which the Turks usually observ'd and where they fortifi'd themselves because they found provisions sufficient for the support of their Armies To that purpose therefore he transplanted all the Inhabitants and Cattel ruin'd all the Houses and Buildings fird all the Country burnt up all the Turf and the Trees poyson'd the very Springs as the History relates and they who have read the Story well know that it had an effect answerable to his wishes But to return to our lists Araxes is that famous River that separates Armenia from Media It takes its Rise from the Mountain where they affirm that Noah's Ark rested and perhaps it may derive its name from that Mountain From thence it empties its self into the Caspian Sea This River is very Large and very Rapid In it's Course it is augmented by several lesser streams that have no name as also by several Torrents Bridges have been built over it several times above Julfa but though they made 'em never so strong and massie as appears by the Arches which are yet intire they were not able to withstand the force of the River It becomes so furious when swell'd by the Thaws of the Snow that falls down melted from the neighbouring Mountains that no Damms or other Fortifications can withstand it And in truth the very Noise of the Waters and the Rapidness of it's Course astonish both the Ears and Eyes of all that come near it We ferri'd over it in a large Boat made to carry twenty Horse and thirty Persons at a time But I would not suffer any to go along with me at the same time but my own People and my own Baggage It had four men to manage it They row'd up about three hundred paces along the shoar a this side then let the Barque drive us back with the stream and so by the help of a long and strong Rudder guided the Boat to the other side The current carry'd it with an unspeakable Impetuosity so that we ran five hundred Paces in an instant And thus it is that the Ferrymen cross the River Araxes They allow themselves two hours to go and come by reason of the time they must spend in pulling up against the stream But in the Winter when the Waters are low you may pass it upon the Camels Backs the Ford being half a mile from Julfa in a part where the Channel being very broad the current is much more gentle We have said that Araxes separates Armenia from Media This Country that formerly rul'd all Asia with Imperial Dominion at present makes but one part of a Province of Persia which the Persians call Azerbeyan or Asupaican However it is one of the largest in the Persian Empire It borders to the East upon the Caspian Sea and Hyrcania to the South upon the Province of the Parthians To the West upon the River Araxes and the upper Armenia to the North upon Dagestan which is that Mountainous Country that consines upon the Cosaque Muscovites and makes a part of Mount Taurus It encloses all the Eastern Media call'd by the ancient Authors Azarca and the Western or lesser Media which they likewise call Atropatia or Atropatene Assyria is a part of the upper Armenia The Persians assirm that this Place was call'd Azer-beyan that is the Country of Fire by reason of the famous Temple of Fire which was there erected where was kept their Fire which the Fire-worshippers held to be a God and because the chief Pontiff of that Religion resided there The Guebres who are all that are left of the Fire-worshippers shew this place about two days journey distant from Shamaki They assure us for a certain truth that the sacred Fire is still there that it resembles a Mineral and subterraneall Fire and that they who repair thither out of Devotion see it in the form of a Flame Nay they add one particular more which is a sort of pleasant story that if you make a hole in the ground and set a pot over it that same fire will cause it to seeth and boyles all that is in the Pot. To return to the Name of Azer-beyan the Etymologie is true for Az is the Article of the Genitive Er or Ur in old Persian as in most part of the Ancient Oriental Idioms signifies Fire and Beyan signifies a Place or Country I am not ignorant that some people read and pronounce it Asur-paican and affirm that this geat Province wasso call'd because it contains Assyria which in the opinion of all Authors deriv'd its Name from Assur which is the same thing in my Opinion for I am apt to think that the Name of Assur comes from Az Ur that is of Fire Moses speaking of Nimrod that Idolatrous Prince who introduced the Worship of Fire and invaded Chaldea the share and Patrimony of Sem tells us that the Sons of that Patriarch retir'd thither and that Ashur was one Now 't is very probable that this Ashur was so call'd from his retiring thither or from the worship of Fire or from Chaldea which was then call'd the Country of Fire as appears C. 11. of Genesis and in all the ancient Authors who unanimously agree that Chaldea was call'd the Country
much Rain and that the Soil is fruitful of it self whatever ancient Authors have wrote to the contrary the Parthian Air is dry to the extremest degree insomuch that for six Months together you shall neither see any Rain or any Clouds but the Soil is sandy and Nature produces nothing without good Husbandry and Pains The Country of the Parthians which was so long the Seat of the Empire of Asia is the largest and principal Province of the Persian Monarchy It is all the proper demeans of the King nor has it any Governor as the most part of the rest of the Provinces The Persians bound it to the East by the Province of Corasson or Coromitrena to the South by that of Fars which is properly Persia to the West by Azerbeyan or Media to the North by Guilan and Maganderaan which compose the Province of Hyrcania This Province extends it self at least two hundred Leagues in length and an hundred and fifty Leagues in breadth The Air is very dry and and the most healthy for the most part of any in the world It is more mountainous then level The Mountains are also very bare and to speak in general terms produce nothing but Thistles and Briers but the Plains are very fertile and pleasant where there is any Water otherwise the Soyl is very barren This large Province contains above forty Cities which is very much in Persia as not being an Empire peopl'd proportionably to its Extent The Orientals call the Country of Parthia Arac-agem that is to say Persian Arack They call it likewise Balad-el-Gebel or the Country of the Mountains for the reason 's already recited My Opinion is that the Scythians from whom as ancient Authors hold the Parthians deriv'd their Original were the lesser Tartars that inhabit to the North of Persia now call'd Yuzbecs and formerly Bactrians and that that same Arsaces who founded the Empire of the Parthians was a Native of the same Country with Tamerlan Halacou and those other Tartar Princes that made such great and famous Conquests in the Ages last past The 3d. we travell'd four Leagues keeping on to the South as when we first set out of Tauris the Road was very good only we had Mountains very near us upon the right and left hand We lay at Sirsham which is a large Inn adjoyning to three or four small Villages but seated in a sandy and dry Soyl and there the Officers that gather the Duties upon Goods transported out of the Kingdom keep their Post The 4th we travell'd seven Leagues through bushy Plains and Sands and we were forc'd to make several windings and turnings by reason of several Mole-Hills and little Sand-Hills in our way Nevertheless both on one the side and t'other at a distance we could see a Champian Country very delightful and fertile and Villages here and there which yielded a very delightful Prospect the River Zenjan wat'ring those Villages We lay at a large Caravanseray call'd Nichè built between five spacious Villages The 5th we travell'd six Leagues through a Road more pleasant and less crooked and observing the same Course as the day before and lodg'd at Zerigan a little City that contains not above two thousand Houses It is seated in a very narrow Plain between two Mountains that enclose it not above half a League one from the other The Soyl of Zerigan is fertile and pleasant and the Air wholsome and cool in the Summer The City without is surrounded with Gardens that yield both Pleasure and Profit but within the Town there is nothing remarkable but the great Ruins SULTANIE The 6th Our road lay through a Country the most lovely delightful that every Eye beheld through a fair Plain where the road was level and very straight Several pleasant Streams glide through it that render the Soyl very fertil The whole Plain is so strow'd with Villages that they are hardly to be number'd with so many Groves and Gardens that for me the most pleasant Land-skips and charming Prospects in the World We alighted after a journey of five Leagues at a Caravanserai call'd Queurk-boulag over against and within a good Canons shot of Sultanie This City is seated at the foot of a Mountain as you may see by the Draught which I have made of it It seems a far off very neat and well built and inflames a Man with a Curosity to see it but when you approach near it it ceases to be the same thing and appears less beautiful then when ye are within it Yet there are some publick Buildings very remarkable as well for the Structure as the Architecture together with about three thousand Habitations The people of the Country affirm that this City took up formerly half a League of Ground more to the West then it does and that the ruin'd Churches Mosques and Towers which are to be seen at that distance on that side stood in the heart of the City Which probably may be true seeing that Histories assure us that it was once the Metropolis and biggest City of the Kingdom nor are there many Cities in the world where there are vaster Ruins to be seen Provision also is there very plentiful and very cheap The Air is likewise very wholesome but subject to change For in all the Seasons it changes almost every hour The Evenings Nights and Mornings being cold but all the day long very hot from one Extreme to another Sultany lies in 36. deg 18. min. of Latitude and 48. deg 5. min. of Longitude and is govern'd by a Sultan Some Histories of Persia relate that this City is one of the most ancient in all the Country of the Parthians but that it is not known who was the Founder Others on the other side affirm that the foundations of it were laid when the Sun was in Leo by the order and in the Reign of Ergon-Can the Son of Abkei-Can and Grand-child of Halacou-Can and that because it could not be finish'd in his days his Son Jangou-Sultan compleated the work and call'd it Sultania or the Royal City For Sultan properly signifies a King from whence comes Seltenet the usual Persian word for a Kingdom or Monarchy And the Monarchs of Asia who reign'd since the seventh Age assum'd to themselves the Titles of Souldans from whence came the Title of Soldan given to the last King 's of Egypt and that of the Emperors of Turkey who call themselves Sultans Nevertheless I have heard some learned Men say that this City was never call'd Sultanié or Royal till the time that the last Kings of Persia who also assum'd the title of Sultans came to keep their Courts in this Place On the other side if this City were built out of the Ruins of Tigranocerta as several Modern European Authors maintain it may be said that the name which now it bears was form'd out of that Ancient Name For Certa in old Prsian signifies a City so that Tigranoterta signifies no more then the City of Tigranes who
was King of Armenia as is well known to every ordinary Reader However I cannot tell how it is possible for us to take Sultanié for Tigranocerta since Tacitus tells us that Tigranocerta was but thirty seven Miles from Nisibis a City which every one knows to be seated in Mesopotamia upon the River Tigris 25 Leagues from Nineve And therefore I must say as I said before the Geography of the Ancients is the most confused thing in the world the Writers were misinform'd and it is impossible to bring 'em to agree together I should not assert this so confidently did I not see that other Modern Relators commit also very great Errors in what they publish either upon the observations or report of others so that there is not not any one from whom I might not produce examples sufficient to confirm this Truth This City has been several times laid in heaps First Cotza Reshid King of Persia whom other Historians call Giausan for that it had rebell'd and tak'n up Arms against him After that by Tamerlan and after him by several other both Turkish and Tartarian Princes The Predecessors of Ishmael Sophi kept their Court there for some time and it is said that some Ages before the last Kings of Armenia resided there at which time it contain'd above four hundred Churches And it is very true that there are a great number in it which are ruin'd but not one that is entire nor doe there inhabit in it any Christians The 7th we travell'd six Leagues in a Country more lovely then that already describ'd where we came to a Village at the end of every thousand paces and we could see at a distance an infinite number of others surrounded with Groves of Willows and Poplers and environ'd which delightful Meadows We lay at Hibié a very fair and fair and large Village and seated near to a Town that is wall'd and well peopl'd which is call'd San-cala which word being abbreviated signifies the Castle of Hasan The 8th Our Horses were so tir'd that we could get no farther then Ebher which is no more then two leagues from Hibié though we travell'd all the way over most of those delightful and pleasant Plains already mention'd directing our Course still to the South Now that which makes those places so delightful is the great Number of Rivulets with which they are water'd and the good Husbandry of the Inhabitants For as I have already said the soyl of the Parthians is dry and barren of it self nevertheless wherever it can be water'd it produces whatever the Manurer pleases to have it fair and good in its Kind Ebher is but a small City counting only the buildings for it contains not above two thousand five hundred Houses but to those Houses belong so many Gardens and those so large that it is good riding for a Horse-man to cross it in half an hour A small River that bears the name of the City runs through the middle of it from one end to the other It is said to be the same City which the Ancients call'd Barontha The situation of it is jolly and delightful the Air very wholsom and the Soyl produces plenty of Fruit and other Provisions The buildings are tolerably handsom and the Inns the Taverns and other publick Structures very well considering the Place It contains three spacious Mosquees and in the middle of the City are to be seen the Ruins of a Castle built of Earth It lies distant from the Equator 36 deg 45. min. and from the fortunate Islands 48. deg 30. min. Which Longitude and all others that I observe are tak'n from the new Persian Tables It is govern'd by a Darogué or Mayor and the Mirtshecar-bashi or Chief Huntsman has his Assignations of Money charg'd upon the Revenue of this City Which assignation is call'd Tahvil Of the signification of which word we shall speak more at large in another Place The Persian Geographers assert that Ebher was built by Kei-Cosrou the Son of Sia-bouch that Darab-Keihoni or Darius began to build the Castle that Skender-roumy that is Alexander the Great finish'd it and that the City has been ruin'd and sack'd as often as the rest which are near it However she has so well recover'd her self that at present there is but little appearance of those former havocks The same Geographers observe that it is one of the most Ancient Cities of that Province and perhaps it may be either Vologoo-certa or Messabetha or Artacana of which there is so frequent mention made in the Ancient Stories of Persia At Ebher they begin to speak Persian both in the Cities and Country whereas all the way before the Vulgar Language is Turkish not altogether as they speak it in Turkey but with some little difference From Ebher to the Indies they speak Persian more or less neat as the people are more or less at a distance from Shiras where the purity of the Persian Language is spoken So that at Ebher and in the parts thereabouts 't is but a rude and clownish sort of Dialect which the people make use of The 9th we travell'd nine Leagues over Plains delightful ev'n unto Admiration and indeed more lovely Vales are no where to be seen After we had rode three Leagues we pass'd through a large Town almost as big as Ebher call'd Parsac and a little farther we left Casbin upon the left hand five Leagues distant from us of which I made the following description in the year 1674. during a residence of four Months that I stay'd at Court Casbin is a great City seated in a delightful Plain three Leagues from Mount Alou-vent which is one of the highest and most famous Mountains in all Persia and a Branch of Mount Taurus that crosses the Northern Parts of Parthia as has bin already said and separates it from Hyrcania The length of this City is from North to South In former times it was surrounded with Walls of which the Ruins are still to be seen but at present it lies open on every side It is 6 miles in circumference containing twelve thousand Houses and a hundred thousand Inhabitants among which there are forty families of Christians and a hunder'd of Jews all very poor One of the fairest places that is to be seen in this City is the Hippodrome which they call Maydan-sha or the Royal Piazza 700 paces in length and 250 in breadth and made after the Model of Ispahan To the Royal Palace belong seven Gates of which the chief is call'd Ali-capi or the High-Gate on which there is an Inscription in Letters of Gold to this effect May this Gate always be open to good Fortune by that confession which we make that there is no God but God The Gardens belonging to the Palace are very beautiful kept in good order and planted Checquer-wise King Tahmas built this Palace at first a small thing according to a draught given him by a Turkish Architect Abas the Great quite alter'd and enlarg'd
Revenue is employ'd to keep the Places clean and neat to repair the Decays of time in the Building and Moveables for the buying of Lights and maintaining several Churchmen and a great number of Regents and Governors of Students and poor People They distribute Victuals every day to all that come and to people that are hir'd And of all these Legacies and Revenues three Great Lords of Persia have the Superintendency every one being appointed his Chappel He that at present takes Care of the she-Saints Chappel is an illustrious Ancient Person who has been Courtshi Bashi or Collonel of the Courtches which is a great Body of the Militia consisting of thirty Thousand Men. And the same Person is also Governor of Com. This City contains also several other Edifices very beautiful and sumptuous It is a very pleasant Place but for the Heat which is very excessive In the Summer the River that passes by it is no bigger then a small Rivulet but the Winter Thaws swell it to that degree with the Water that falls from the Mountains that it not only fills its own Channel which is as broad as the Seine at Paris but overflows a great part of the City They call it generally the River of Com but the true Name of it is Joubad-gan This City lies in 85. deg 48. min. of Longitude and 34. deg 30. min. of Latitude The Air is wholsom but extremely hot as I said before for it scalds in the Summer there being no place in all Persia where the Sun scorches more violently It abounds in all manner of Victuals and Fruits particularly in Pistachios The people also are very courteous and civil The most part of Topographers will have Com to be the same place which Ptolomy calls Gauna or Guriana And his Translator asserts it to be the same with Choama tho others will have it to be Arbacte or Hecatompyle Several Histories of Persia likewise relate this City to be very Ancient and that it was built by Tahmas when the Sun entred into Gemini that it was twelve thousand Cubits in compass and as big as Babylon I must confess there is no doubt but it was very large for there are many Ruins and Footsteps of Habitations to be seen round about it but it is much to be question'd whether it were so Ancient as the Reign of Tahmas Other Persian Histories deduce its Original from the first Age of Mahumetism and affirm that in the time of Mahomet there were in that place seven large Villages and that in the 83 Year of the Hegyra Abdalla Saydon Califfe coming into that Country with an Army joyn'd those seven Villages together with new Buildings enclos'd 'em with a Wall and made 'em one City and that afterwards this City encreas'd to that degree that it became twice as large as Constantinople For Mousa the Son of that Abdalla came from Basra to Com and brought with him the Opinions of Haly which they call the Religion of Shia or Imamism which was always profess'd in that place even to Martyrdom nor would the People suffer any other and therefore Temur-leng being of a contrary Belief utterly destroy'd the City Nevertheless by degrees they repair'd one part of it again but it did not begin to reflourish until this last Age and since that Sephy was there interr'd Abas the Second his Son and Successor banish'd thither such Persons as were fallen from his Favour to the end they might pray to God for his person and give thanks to heaven for their Lives which he had spar'd ' em Soliman at present reigning had made use of it to the same purpose sending thither all those whom he thought convenient to punish with Exile and the great number of exil'd persons of Quality it was that has restor'd the City to that Splendor wherein now it stands In the Year 1634. an Inundation of Waters ruin'd a thousand Houses and it is but three Years since that an Accident of the same nature had like to have ruin'd it all together For two thousand Houses and all the Ancient Houses were laid level with the Earth The Name is pronounc'd with a double m as if we should write the word Komm It is also call'd Darel mouveheldin that is to say The Habitation of pious People The Governor bears the Title of Darogué or Mayor Kachan Kachan The 17. we travell'd five Leagues cross the Plain We found it all the way cover'd with a moving Sand dry without either Villages or Water We lodg'd in a place call'd Abshirin or Sweet Water because there is in that place a Fountain of fair Water and Cisterns in the midst of six Carevanserais The 18. our Journey reach'd to Cashan where we arriv'd after we had travell'd seven Leagues steering toward the South over the Plain already mention'd and at the end of two Leagues we found the Soyl delightful and fertile stor'd with large Villages We pass'd through several and about half the way left upon the left hand at a near distance a little City call'd Sarou seated at the foot of a Mountain The City of Cashan is seated in a large Plain near a high Mountain It is a League in length and a quarter of a League in breadth extending it self in length from East to West When you see it afar off it resembles a half Moon the Corners of which look toward both those Parts of the Heavens The Draught is no true Representation either of the Bigness or the Figure as having been taken without a true Prospect And the reason was the Indisposition of my Painter who being extremely tir'd with the former days Travel was not able to stir out of the Inn where we lay All that he could do was to get upon the Terrass and take the Draught from thence There is no River that runs by the City only several Canals convey'd under Ground with many deep Springs and Cisterns as there are at Com. It is encompass'd with a double Wall flank'd with round Towers after the Ancient Fashion to which there belong five Gates One to the East call'd the Royal Gate as being near the Royal Palace that stands without the Walls Another call'd the Gate of Fieu because it leads directly to a great Village which bears that name Another between the West and North call'd the Gate of the House of Melic as being near to a Garden of Pleasure which was planted by a Lord of that Name The two other Gates are opposite to the South-East and North-East The one call'd Com Gate and the other Ispahan Gate be cause they lead to those Cities The City and the Suburbs which are more beautiful then the City contain six thousand five hundred Houses as the People assure us forty Mosques three Colleges and about two hundred Sepulchres of the Descendants of Aly. The Principal Mosque stands right against the great Market Place having one Tower that serves for a Steeple built of Free Stone Both the Mosque and the Tower are the
Remainders of the Splendour of the first Mahumetans who invaded Persia The Houses of Cashan are built of Earth and Bricks of which there few that are remarkable But the Bazars and Baths are lovely Structures well built and well kept There are also several Inns. That which is call'd the Royal Inn without the City joyning to the Gate that looks toward the East is the fairest not only in Cashan but in all Persia It is four square every front within-side being two hundred Geometrical Paces and two Stories with an Anti-Chamber or Hollowness below that runs all-along the length of the two Fronts rais'd about the height of a man above the Court and four Inches below the level of the Chamber It is eight foot deep pav'd with white Marble almost as transparent as Pophiry The Stories on the sides contain fifteen Chambers of the same Figure the two others had but ten with a large one in the middle having five Chambers The other Apartments consisted of one Chamber fifteen foot long and ten broad high and vaulted with a Chimney in the middle and a square Portico before ten foot wide cover'd with a half Duomo with a Contrivance for a Chimney on each side which was for the Servants to lodge in The second Story was contriv'd like that below with a Baluster four foot high that let in the the Light and ran round the Structure In the Geometrical Part of the Draught you may perceive a Hexagonal in the midst of the Entrance every Front of which is a large Shop where are to be sold all manner of Belly-Timber Wood and Forrage The Entrance is under a high and magnificent Portal adorn'd with Mosaic Work like all the rest of the Buildding and upon the sides runs a Portico where you may lie in the day time as conveniently and as pleasantly as in the Inn it self The Fountain in the middle of the Court is rais'd above five foot and the Brims of it are four foot broad for the Convenience of those that will say their Prayers after they have perform'd their Purifications THE GREAT INN IN CASHAN There is also somewhat that does not appear in the Draught that is to say the hinder part of the Carevanseray which is worthy to be observ'd in this place For it consists of very large Stables with places for Servants and Luggage built almost according to the same Symmetry as the Apartments already mention'd at least as to the Form and Bigness of store-Houses and Lodgings for the Poor and the Country people that bring their Goods to sell and the large Gardens that lie behind this lovely Palace of a Caravanseray no less famous for its Founder Abas the Great who caus'd this sumptuous Structure to be erected Near adjoyning to it stands the Palace Royal and over against it another design'd for the Lodging of Embassadors Both the one and the other with very large Gardens behind 'em were built at the Charges of that Renowned Monarch besides that there is in the middle a void Space for their Carousels and other Exercises on Horseback The Wealth and Trade of Cashan consists in the Manifactuary of all sorts of Silk Stufs and Tissues of Gold and Silver There is not made in any place of Persia more Sattin Velvet Tabby Plain Tissue and with Flowers of Silk or Silk mingled with Gold and Silver then is made in this City and the Parts round about it so that one single Borrough in this Territory contains a thousand Houses of Silk-Weavers That which is call'd Aron seeming at a distance to be a good big City as containing in it no less than two thousand Houses and six hundred Gardens It is about two Leagues from Cashan The City of Cashan stands in a good Air but violently hot insomuch that it is ready to stifle yee in the Summer Which extream Heat is occasion'd by its Situation as lying near a high Mountain oppos'd to the South The Reverberation of which so furiously heats the place in the Dog-Days that it scalds again Besides there is one greater Inconvenience more troublesome and more dangerous which is the great number of Scorpions that infest those parts at all times especially when the Sun is in Scorpio Travellers are terribly threatned by 'em And yet for my part thanks be to God I never saw any in all the time that I pass'd through the Country Neither could I hear of any great Mischief that they had done It is said that Abas the Great 's Astrologers in the Year 1623. invented a Talisman to deliver the City from those Vermin since which time there has not appear'd so many as before But there is no Credit to be given to these idle stories no more then to that same other that if Travellers stopping at Cashan are but careful at their entrance into their Inns to speak these words Scorpious I am a Stranger meddle not with me no Scorpion will come near ' em For these are meet Tales However certain it is that their sting is very dangerous And therefore it has given occasion to an Imprecation frequently in the Mouths of the Persians May the Scorpions of Cashan sting thy Golls However there is no Body but has by him several soveraign Remedies against the sting of this Creature This City lies in 35. deg 35. min. of Lat. and 86. deg of Longitude Cattel and wild Fowl are not very plentiful in those parts but it abounds in Corn and Fruits They carry from thence to Ispahan the first Melons and Water-Melons which are eaten in that City which they furnish with vast numbers as long as the season for Fruit endures Several European Authors hold Cashan to be same place which the Ancient Greek Authors call Ambrodux or else that which was call'd Ctesiphon of the Country of the Parthians The Persian Historiansaver that it owes its Restauration to Zebd-leca-ton the Wife of Haron-Reshid Califf of Bagdat They observe moreover that this Princess was a Virgin when she first began to build the City and that for that reason she laid the first Stone when the Sun enter'd Virgo She gave it the name of Casan in honour of Casan her Grand-father the Grand-child of Haly who di'd and was enterr'd in that Place of which there happened some alteration afterwards through the error of poining For it is well known to people versed in the Eastern Languages that such a mistake so easily committed changes the letter S into that which is call'd Shin Tamerlan being become Master of this City spar'd it in a Humour as they say when he had destroy'd almost all the other Cities of Persia It is call'd by another name Darel-mou-menin or the Habitation of the Faithful either because the Descendants from Aly and his first Followers made it a Sanctuary and Retreat during the Persecutions of the Califfs who would not embrace his Opinions but held a contrary belief or else because a great number of the Descendants of that Califf lie there enterr'd
Virgin Mary which continues for 15 Days They make the Sign of the Cross upon certain Occasions but they do not believe the Sign of the Cross to be any Mark of Christianity Only they make this Sign when they drink VVine and eat Pork Their Prayers are all address'd to their Idols relating only to Temporal Benefits their own Prosperity and the Ruine of their Enemies They offer Sacrifices like the Jews and Gentiles The Priest prays over the Victim and then cuts the Throat of it And when it is Boyl'd they set it upon the Table At what time all the people of the Family stand about it with Candles in their Hands except the person who makes the Offering who is Kneeling all the while He first perfumes the Victim with Incense which when the rest have likewise done they fall too and eat it altogether They also cut the Throats of Beasts and Birds over the Graves of their Relations and Friends and pour VVine and Oyl upon ' em And these Libations they observe every day No Body drinks till as he holds the Cup in his Hand he has first said a sentence of a Prayer with his Eyes lifted up to Heav'n and pouring out at the same time upon the Ground a small quantity of the VVine in the Cup. They never make Holy-Day upon Sundays or abstain from Work but upon the Festivals of Christmas and Easter However the celebration of their great Festivals consists only in Eating and Drinking to excess in their Houses Their greatest Festivals which they observe is when any Idol is to be carry'd through their Country Then they put on all the best Cloaths they have They make a great Feast and get ready a Present for the Idol which is to pass by And this I believe may suffice to shew that there is not the least shadow of Religion among the Mingrelians The Manuscript from whence I took these observations relates their several sorts of Divination practiz'd among 'em their Superstitions and Sundry Customes which are a Medley of Judaism and Paganism All which I left behind me not finding therein the least Grain of Wit or common Sence But quite the Contrary nothing but Extravagance I shall only add that all that I observ'd in the Religious Ceremonies and Belief or Faith of the Mingrelians is no other then what I have truly reported I shall only speak a word concerning their Mourning which is the Mourning of people in despair When a Woman loses her Husband or a near Relation she rends her Cloaths strips her self naked to the Waste tears her Hair and with her Nails claws off the Flesh and Skin from her Body and Face she beats her Breast she crys yells gnashes her Teeth foams at Mouth like a Woman mad or possess'd and acts her passion to that degree that it seems terrible to the sight The Men also express their Grief after a manner altogether as Barbarous They tear their Cloaths thump their Breasts and shave their Heads and their Beards This Mourning continues 40 Days with the same Fury as I have describ'd for the first Ten Days but afterwards relaxing by degrees During the first Ten Days the Relations of the deceas'd and a great Number of Men and Women come to bewail the Dead which they do in this manner The people range themselves in order about the dead Corps and in their torn Habits thump their Breasts with both Hands crying out Vah Vah and so keeping time with their Thumps and their Cries they make a dismal Noise which altogether yields a frightful Spectacle of despair not to be beheld without a kind of Horrour Of a sudden you hear nothing all 's quiet the Mourning stops and all observe a profound Silence By and by they all begin again with a loud Cry and fall into their first Transportments The last Day which is the Fortieth they Bury the Dead Then they make a Feast for all their Relations all their Friends all their Neighbours and all those that came to bewail the Party deceas'd the Women eating by themselves apart from the Men. The Bishop says Mass and then seizes as his Right upon all that the Deceas'd Person made use of in his Life his Horse his Cloaths his Weapons his Plate if he have any and all the rest of that sort So that these Mournings ruine whole Families in Mingrelia Nevertheless they are oblig'd to this Solemn Performance The Bishop says a Mass for the Dead for the great profit he receives and the Mourners come to waile the Deceas'd as sure to live Forty Days upon what he has left behind When a Bishop dies the Prince himself causes Mass to be said upon the Forti'th Day and seizes upon all his Goods that are Moveable This is all that I could learn in Colchis concerning the Nature of the Country and the Customs and Religion of the Inhabitants Their Neighbours Live and act after the same Fashion almost in every respect only they who Live nearer to Persia and Turkey are more Civil in their Manners and more Honest and Just in their Inclinations Whereas they who lie nearer the Tartars and Scythians are more Barbarous in their Customs living without any Idea or outward Form of Religion or observance of any Laws I have spoken also of the Abca's and other People that Live at the Foot of Mount Caucasus concerning whom I have related as much as I could learn But now I shall give an accompt of what I have seen and heard most remarkable concerning those other Countries that border upon Mingrelia VVhich are the Principality of Guriel and the Kingdom of Imiretta The Country of Guriel is very small it Borders to the North upon Imiretta Eastward upon a part of Mount Caucasus that belongs to the Turks To the VVest upon Mingrelia and to the South upon the Black-Sea It lies all along upon that Sea in length from the River Phasis that runs a Mile from the Castle of Gonie held by the Turks distant only Forty Miles from Phasis The Country of Guriel resembles Mingrelia in every thing as to its Nature and the Manners of the Inhabitants For they have the same Religion the same Customs and the same Inclinations to Leudness Robbery and Murder The Kingdom of Imiretta is somewhat bigger then the Country of Guriel and is the Hiberia of the Ancients It is Enclos'd and Surrounded by Mount Caucasus Colchis the Black-Sea the Principality of Guriel and Georgia being about Six and Twenty Miles in Length and Sixty Miles broad The People of Mount Caucasus that lie next to it are the Georgians and Turks and to the North the Ossi and Caracioles or Caracherks or Black-Circassians so call'd by the Turks for the reasons already mention'd These are those Caracioles or Black-Circassians which the Europeans call Huns who ransackt Italy and Gaul and whose devastations in those Countries are so frequently mention'd by the Ancient Historians and particularly by Cedrenus The Language which they speak is almost half Turkish
Imiretta is a Country full of Woods and Mountains like Mingrelia but the Vallies are more Lovely and the Plains more Delicious where you may meet much more easily with Bread Meat Pulse and Herbs of all sorts There are also in it some Iron-Mines Money goes among the People of this Country and is Coyn'd in the Kingdom and here ye also meet with several Towns But as for their Manners and Customes they are the same as in Mingrelia The King has Three good Castles one call'd Scander seated upon the side of a Valley and two in Mount Caucasus call'd Regia and Scorgia both almost inaccessible as being built in places that Nature her self has ingeniously fortifi'd the River Phasis running before ' em The Prince had also not long since another Fortress call'd Cotatis bearing the same Name as the Country round about it which perhaps may be the same place that Ptolomy calls the Region of Cotatene But the Turks are at present Masters of it The Kingdom of Imiretta has had under its Jurisdiction the Abca's the Mingrelians and the People of Guriel after they had all Four shaken off the Yoke of the Emperors of Constantinople first of all and then of the Emperors of Trebisond But then in the last Age setting up for themselves and revolting one from another they have been ever since at continual Wars one with the other They who lay next the Turks implor'd their assistance who readily took 'em into their Protection and then made 'em all Tributaries one after another The Tribute of the King of Imiretta is Fourscore Boys and Girls from Ten to Twenty Years of Age. The Prince of Guriel pays Six and Forty Children of both Sexes and the Prince of Mingrelia Sixty Thousand Ells of Linnen Cloath made in the Country The Abca's also were made Tributary but they seldom pay'd any thing and now they pay nothing The King of Imiretta and the Prince of Guriel send their Tribute to the Basha of Akalzike but a Chiaux gathers it in Mingrelia ' When I came to Akalzike the report went that the Turks would take possession of these Countries under the Government of a Basha not knowing any other way to prevent the perpetual Wars that apparently ruine and depopulate the Countries However it be now the Turks formerly forbore to take possession of it in regard that the Precepts of Mahumatism could not conveniently be there observ'd because the best nourishment in those Countries is their Wine and their Hogs Flesh which are both prohibited by the Mahometan Law besides that they have no Bread and the People live scatter'd upon and down the Country so that where-ever the Turks should build their Fortresses they would not be able to Command within their reach above Seven or Eight Houses Upon which Considerations they left those Provinces in their Ancient Condition and are satisfi'd only to keep 'em under Subjection for a Nursery of Slaves which yeilds 'em every Year no less then Seven or Eight Thousand And the same Reasons and Obstacles most apparently discourage the Turks from Incorporating into the Body of their Empire those Vast Plains of Tartary and Scythia and the wide Regions of Mount Caucasus For if the People that inhabit those parts were united into Cities and strong Places there might be a way found to reduce 'em and keep 'em in Subjection But which way is it possible to subdue a People that change their Habitations every Month and all their Life-time wander up and down the Country The present Prince of Mingrelia is the Eighth since that Country first revolted from the Dominion of Imiretta These Princes of Mingrelia all give themselves the Title of Dadian as much as to say the Head of Justice from Dad a Persian Word that signifies Justice from whence the first Race of the Kings of Persia was call'd Pich-Dadian that is to say the first Justice To denote that they were the first Men whom the People of that vast Country establish'd over 'em for the Administration of Justice among 'em and to maintain every one in the enjoyment of his own Property The King of Imiretta gives himself the Title of Meppe which signisies a King in the Georgian Language Both which Meppe and Dadian boast themselves to be descended from the King and Prophet David The Ancient Kings of Georgia also assum'd the same descent and the Kan of Georgia among the rest of his Titles calls himself the Issue of that Great King by Solomon his Son The King of Imiretta also in his Letters assumes a more Haughty and Pompous Title then the other calling himself King of Kings Now so soon as our Vessel was come to an Anchor in the Road of Isgaour as I have already said I went a Shoar with the Greek Merchant who was my Guide For I expected to have met with Houses where I might have found Provisions and some other Relief Nor were these hopes without any Ground to one that saw no less then Seven Vessels together at an Anchor in the Road but I was utterly deceiv'd for I found nothing at all The Coast of Isgaour is all cover'd with Wood. Only they have levell'd and lay'd open about a Hunderd Paces from the Sea side a certain spot of Ground about Two Hunderd and Fifty Paces long and Fifty broad which is the Grand Market of Mingrelia In this there is one Street containing on both sides of the VVay about a Hunderd small Hutts made up of the Boughs of Trees fasten'd one to another of which every Merchant takes one There he lies and keeps Shop tho with such VVares only as he thinks he shall sell in Two or Three Days But as for those which he has bought and such for which he does not see any Probability of a quick Vent he keeps 'em in the Vessel there being no kind of Security a Shoar There was nothing else to be had at this Market nor a Country-Man's House to be heard of in all the parts there about Thereupon my Guide spoke to some of those that came to the Market to bring us some Gom which is that sort of Grain by them made use of in stead of Bread some VVine and other Provisions which the Country-Men promis'd to do but fail'd in their VVords So that I was surpriz'd and very much troubl'd to meet with nothing for our own Provisions began to grow short nor to see any thing at such a Market but a Company of Slaves Chain'd together and about a Dozen of Tatter'd Fellows with Bows and Arrows i' their Hands who it seems were the Officers of the Customs and look'd more ready to Rob then relieve us But I was much more surpriz'd and perplex'd when I heard that the Turks and the Prince of Guriel were coming into Mingrelia that the People took Arms and had begun the VVar Pillaging and Ransacking their Neighbours and clearing the Country both of Cattel and Inhabitants I must confess I depended very much upon the Theatin Missionaries in