also occasioned by the Currents of the Gulf of Venice which drove us insensibly upon the shore We were very glad that we were so fortunately mistaken for we were got above an hundred and fifty miles more forward in our course than we thought ourselves to be and free from the fear of Corsairs who dare not come so near to Cerigo where there are for the most part some Venetian Galeasses ready to fall upon them However it is very dangerous to commit such mistakes for if it had been in the night-time our Ship had run the risk of splitting upon the shore whilst we thought ourselves a great way off at Sea. CHAP. XI Of Cape Matapan and the Isle of Cerigo CApe Matapan is a Promontory of the Morea formerly called Tanarus Cape Matapan and it is said that Arion carried by a Dolphin put a shore at this Promontory The Countrey is inhabited by the Mainots a People who live in the Mountains without Law or Government and are subject to those who have most Power in the Countrey sometimes the Venetians and sometimes the Turks all their Profession being to Rob Travellers These People have their Name from the Coast which is called Maina About Nine a clock in the morning the Wind began to slacken so that we were becalmed near the Cape St. Angi and could not double it all day long till about three a clock in the morning November the Eighth that with a gale from the North-east we doubled it Afterward finding that the same Wind which was contrary to us still continued and that we fell a stern more than we went a head we resolved to put into the Bay of St. Nicholas in the Isle of Cerigo where we came to an anchor There we stayed all that day and half the following but without seeing the Countrey This Island as all the rest of the Archipelago being full of Game we went a shore to shoot Cerigo was anciently called Porphyris The Isle of Cerigo Porphyris Cythera because of the great quantity of Porphyrian Marble that was got there It was also called Cythera from whence comes perhaps the word Scotera which is found in the Isolario del Bordony This was the first Island that Venus inhabited after she was born of the Froth of the Sea as the Fables say and therefore there was a Temple built to her in this place near the Sea-side the Ruines whereof as they say are still to be seen Cerigo is the first Island of the Archipelago or Aegean-Sea it is threescore miles in compass and but five miles from the main Land of the Morea having a Town called by the Name of the Island The Venetians are the Masters of it and keep a good Garison there it being a Pass of great Importance CHAP. XII Of the Isle of Zia Zia TVesday November the Ninth the weather promising fair after we had payed the Consul a Piastre or peice of Eight for Anchorage we weighed about noon but being abroad we found that the wind was not good as we had imagined it was for it shifted to and agen from East to North and was so easie that we made no way Wednesday the Tenth of November we were becalmed till the evening when to our great joy we had a Gale from South-west but in the night-time it chang'd about to West with which we still kept on our course It lasted till Thursday morning the Eleventh of November when about eight a clock we were becalmed until the evening that the wind turned easterly then north easterly and at length in the night-time it turned about to the north which tossed us a little so that fearing worse weather we resolved to come to an anchor at Zia being very near to it Friday morning the Twelfth we made a sail which coming nearer we knew to be the Reer-Admiral of Venice that was a Flemish bottom When he had put out the Colours of St. Mark we shewed ours and then he saluted us with two Guns We having returned the salute by firing five Petrera's he gave us a shot without a Bullet to let us know he had a mind to speak with us and so went to stay for us at the Port of Zia whither we followed him we there found another Dutch Ship of the Venetian Fleet both which were going with succours for Candie It is a hundred and threescore miles from Cerigo to Zia which has a Harbour secure from all Winds the entry into it being at the West North-west side Saturday the Thirteenth of November we went to the Town which is about five miles from the Port with a design to buy fresh provisions there we armed our selves for fear of some ambush which is a common thing in that Country and we were told that a few days before a Turkish Galliot came in the night-time to the Harbour and having seen ships in it went and skulked behind a Rock the Turks in the mean time having landed put themselves in ambush and surprised those of the other Vessels who were come on shore to walk and fish amongst whom was a Captain of a ship being unarmed as the rest were and carryed them all off in view of the ships which could give them no aid Having then prepared our selves against the worst we took a way that we thought to be the shortest to the Town but which was indeed the worst way and furthest about We were forced to clamber up and down three or four Hills that were so high and rugged being nothing but Rocks full of Rushes that our hands were as well employed as our feet At length after a great deal of trouble we came to the place but when we thought of nothing but of making merry there a little we saw three ships out at Sea which having advanced to the mouth of the Port and finding that there were Vessels in it stood away as if they intended to put into Port at Spina Longa an Island towards Negropont This put our Captain into a great perplexity who not knowing what to think of them told us that if any mischance happened to his Vessel he would be present there himself That made us presently return back again by the good way which the Inhabitants shew'd us and because we saw no more of these Ships we concluded they must belong to Malta and that they would not put into the Port because they had seen Venetian Ships there which made them believe there could be no great store of fresh Provisions left for them Monday the Fifteenth the Consul having given us a visit on Board our Ship took us with them to the Town and entertained us in his house at Dinner It is a great Town containing at least seven hundred houses but they told us there was not above four hundred of them inhabited and that the other three hundred had been abandoned since the War of Candia These houses are only built of stones of the Rock and Earth and are ranked like the Benches
Dehly is to the South and Lahors is a hundred Leagues from Dehly for they reckon Two hundred Cosses from the one Town to the other and the Cosses or half Leagues are long in that Countrey The Situation of Lahors Multan lyes to the West of Lahors and is distant from it threescore and odd Leagues and to the East of it there are high Mountains in many places Inhabited by Rajas of whom some are tributary to the Great Mogul and others not because having strong places to retreat into they cannot be forced though the Merchants suffer much by their Robberies and when they travel in that Countrey they are obliged to have a guard of Soldiers to defend the Caravanes from these Robbers Lahors Town Ravy River Pangeab Lahors lies in thirty one degrees fifty minutes Latitude near the River Ravy which falls into the Indus as the others do The Moguls have given that Province the name of Pangeab which signifies the five Rivers because five run in the Territory of it These Rivers have received so many particular names from the Moderns that have spoken of them that at present it is hard to distinguish them one from another nay and most part of these names are confounded Acelines Cophis Hydarphes Zaradras Hispalis Rivers Behat Canab Find Ravy Van. Rivers though Pliny distinguished them by the names of Acelines Cophis Hydarphes Zaradras and Hispalis Some Moderns call them Behat Canab Find Ravy Van and others give them other Appellations which are not the names of the Countrey or at least which are not given them but in some places of it they run through However all these Rivers have their Sources in the Mountains of the North and make up the Iudus that for a long way goes by the name of Sinde into which they fall and that 's the reason why this River is sometime called Indy and somtimes Sindy The chief Town is not now upon the Ravy as it was for a long time because that River having a very flat Channel has fallen off from it above a quarter of a League This hath been a very pretty Town when the Kings kept their Courts in it and did not prefer Dehly and Agra before it It is large and hath been adorned as the others are with Mosques publick Baths Quervanserais Squares Tanquies Palaces and Gardens The Castle remains still for it is strongly built heretofore it had three Gates on the side of the Town and nine towards the Countrey and the Kings Palace within it hath not as yet lost all its beauty Pictures at Lahors A Crucifix at Lahors The Picture of the B. Virgin. There are a great many Pictures upon the Walls which represent the Actions of the Great Moguls their Fore-fathers that are pompously Painted there and on one Gate there is a Crucifix and the Picture of the Virgin on another but I believe these two pieces of Devotion were only put there by the Hypocrisie of King Gehanguir who pretended a kindness for the Christian Religion to flatter the Portuguese Many of the chief Houses of the Town run into decay daily and it is pity to see in some Streets which are above a League in length Palaces all ruinous Nevertheless the Town is not old for before King Humayon it was at best but a Bourg That King made a City of it built a Castle and kept his Court there and it encreased so in a short time that with the Suburbs it made three Leagues in length As there are a great many Gentiles in this Town Pagods at Lahors so are there many Pagods also some of them are well adorned and all raised seven or eight steps from the ground Lahors is one of the largest and most abundant Provinces of the Indies The product of Lahors the Rivers that are in it render it extreamly fertile it yields all that is necessary for life Rice as well as Corn and Fruits are plentiful there there is pretty good Wine in it also and the best Sugars of all Indostan There are in the Towns Manufactures Manufactures in Lahors not only of all sorts of painted Cloaths but also of every thing else that is wrought in the Indies and indeed according to the account of my Indian The yearly Revenue of Lahors it brings in to the Great Mogul above thirty seven Millions a year which is a great Argument of its fruitfulness I have already said that the great walk of Trees which begins at Agra reaches as far as Lahors though these two Towns be distant from one another an hundred and fifty Leagues that lovely Alley is very pleasant Achy Tree because the Achy Trees wherewith it is planted have long and thick Branches which extend on all sides and cover the whole way there are also a great many Pagods upon the Road from Lahors to Dehly and especially towards the Town of Tanassar Tanassar a Town where Idolatry may be said to be freely professed There is a Convent of Gentiles there who are called Vartias A Convent of Vartias that have their General Provincial and other Superiours they say that it is above Two thousand years since they were founded They vow Obedience The Vows of the Vartias Chastity and Poverty they strictly observe their Vows and when any one trespasses against them he is rigorously punished They have Brothers appointed to beg for all the Convent they eat but once a day and change their House every three Months they have no fixt time for their Noviciat some perform it in two years some in three The Noviciat of the Vartias and there are others who spend four years therein if the Superiour think fit The main point of their institution is not to do to others what they would not have others do to them The conduct of the Vartias that precept they observe even towards Beasts for they never kill any and much more towards Men seeing if any body beat them they do not resist and if they be reviled they make no answer They obey the least Signal of their Superiour without murmuring and it is forbidden to them to look a Woman or Maid in the face they wear nothing on their Bodies but a Cloath to cover their Privy Parts and they bring it up to their heads to make a kind of a Coif like that of a Woman they can possess no Money are prohibited to reserve any thing for to morrow to eat and how hungry soever they may be The Vartias live on Alms. they patiently wait till their Purveyors bring them the Alms which are daily given them at the Houses of the Gentiles of their Tribe they take but little that they may not be troublesome to any body and therefore they receive no more at every place but a handful of Rice or some other eatable matter and if more be offered them they 'll refuse it they take nothing but what is boyled and drest for they kindle no
in his shop without his Dagger by his side even when they are at work They are of a subtile and malicious Wit. CHAP. IV. From Messina to Malta WE parted from before Messina Thursday the Twenty fourth of June From Messina to Malta with a contrary Wind so that do what we could with our Oars we were obliged to come to an Anchor again near the Port of Messina three hours after we had weighed from it however we weighed an hour after though the Weather was still the same and the Sea a little rough Friday towards the Evening we came to an Anchor before Agousta but we went not a Shoar Agousta I was told for my comfort that it was no more but a very ordinary Street as indeed it seemed to me to be The Countrey about it produces excellent Wine which has a strong flavour of Violets we weighed Anchor from before that Town next morning being Saturday the Eleventh of June and coasted along before Syracuse called at present by corruption Saragoussa Syracuse Saragoussa the Countrey of Archimedes which was formerly the Metropolis of Sicily The Countrey about Saragoussa produces excellent Muscadine Wine we stopt not before that Town but continued our course with the diversion of Dolphins and Tunnys which leaping out of the water in great numbers followed the Gallies Sunday the Twelfth of June about Six a clock in the Morning we had an East North East Wind which drove us so fast that about Eleven a clock the same Morning we made the Isle of Malta and about Four in the Afternoon entered into the Port of the Town All the Guns were fired from the several Castles of Malta in honour of the Pope who was newly Elected and to salute his Galleys which returned the Salute by several discharges of all their Canons CHAP. V. Of the Isle of Malta THE Isle of Malta lies in the African Sea betwixt Sicily and Tripoly The Situation of the Isle of Malta of Barbary it is Threescore Miles distant from Sicily and an Hundred from Africa in the Latitude of eight and thirty degrees and the Longitude of four and thirty it reaches from East to West twenty miles in length and is about twelve over so that it is threescore miles in compass The ancient Name of this Island was Melita from the Greek word Meli which signifies Honey because it affords good Honey at present it is named Malta from the word Melita though those of Barbary draw the Etymology of it from a Story of theirs They say That heretofore the Moors of Tripoly being divided into two Factions under two Scheiks or Captains and being in continual Wars one with the other those of the weakest side resolved to forsake the Country and go live some where else and that for that end they sent men out to Sea to find some proper place for their Habitation These Men finding the Isle of Malta judged it to be very convenient for them and upon their return their Scheik having asked them if they had found any place they answered in their Language Lakeinadgeire eledia fiel ma ou tah which is to say We have found an Isle where there is Water and Plains and of that ma ou tah they say that by corruption it is called Malta Battus King of Malta There was an ancient King of this Isle called Battus a Rich and Powerful Prince who was a great Friend to Dido Queen of Carthage It was afterwards subjected to the Carthaginians and having been in process of time saccaged and ruined by a Roman Army under the Command of M. Artilius Roger a Norman Prince took Malta from the Saracens Charles the Fifth gives Malta to the Knights of Jerusalem with the Isle of Gozo was since annexed with Sicily to that Empire till being upon its fall it was possessed by the Saracens from whom Roger a Norman Prince Count of Scicily took it in the Year 1090. Since that time it hath always been in the hands of Christians and in the Year 1530 Charles the Fifth gave it and the Isle of Gozo to the Knights of Jerusalem who were wandring up and down for the space of eight years after they had lost Rhodes and have been ever after called Knights of Malta This Island is low being only a white soft Rock very proper for Building and making of Lime but does not long resist the Sea Winds especially the South East Wind that eats it away There is but very little Earth upon the Rock and that stony too so that one would think it could bear nothing at all nevertheless it produces very good Fruit but chiefly Figs which are as good as in Provence and such excellent Melons for the most part white that it is hard to find a bad one amongst them they are at no pains in raising of them they only throw the Seed into the Ground like Corn and take no care to preserve them The Grapes that grow there are excellent to eat but not to make Wine of they have a thick skin and are fleshy like Plumbs within They plant Cotton which thrives very well but sow very little Corn for Sicily furnishes the Maltese with as much as they need The temper of the Air of Malta The Air there is so hot that there is no walking abroad in the Sun and the nights are insupportable in the Summer time not only because of the great heats but also of the Musketoes that are so troublesome there that they put the face in a gore of blood especially of new Comers whom they easily distinguish so that when a Man rises in the morning he looks like one just come out of the Small-pox There is no Winter in this Island nor no need of warming one's self by the fire on the contrary they always drink their Wine with Ice The Air is very thin and wholsom for Old Men who can hardly die but Head-aches are dangerous there and sore Eyes Green Spectacles because of the whiteness of the Earth which makes many Commanders and Kaights to wear green Spectacles though I cannot tell but that the Glass by contracting the beams of the Sun may burn their Eyes There is no venomous Creature upon that Island and none can live there which is a Miracle the Inhabitants ascribe to St. Paul St. Paul much reverenced in Malta to whom they are much devoted and believe that it is an effect of the Benediction which that Saint gave after his Shipwreck when he was attacked by the Viper mentioned in the xxviii of the Acts of the Apostles from which having received no hurt they were so amazed The Earth of St. Pauls Grott that they Believed in God. They give the Earth of the Grott where he was for a Remedy against the stinging of Serpents and other poysons nay against all putrid and malignant Fevers also with better success than the Terra Sigillata as many have found by experience having thereby recovered their
of an Amphitheater being all built one at the back of the roof of another upon the side of the hill and in that manner making ten or twelve ranks so that there are no other streets but the roofs of houses which are flat and joyn to one another insomuch that at one view one may see all the houses of the Town There is a Castle there of a great height which though now it be ruinous was nevertheless so strong that as I was told some years ago Threescore Turks held it out a whole month with two Musquets only against the Venetian Army under the Command of General Thomas Morosini and yielded not till they came to want water This Island which in ancient times was called Ceos and Cea Ceos Cea and is said to have been heretofore part of the Isle of Negropont is shaped like a Horse-shoe and is fifty mile in circumferece the soil of it is pretty good producing Corn Wine Grass and a great many other good things its harbour is full of Fish which we often made tryal of with our Nets The Inhabitants pay yearly in Caradge or Tribute three thousand four hundred Piastres to the Turks and two thousand six hundred to the Venetians besides the extortions and robberies they meet with so that the Inhabitants being thereby ruined and oppressed many of them are forced to forsake their houses and country The Women are Apparelled in a fashion that seems to be rude and clownish but which becomes tall women very well They have coats that reach down to their knees and of them six or seven one over another which make them look very bigg their smock appearing half a foot lower they wear white cloth stockins and on their head a kind of veil that also covers their Breasts which they turn as they please After all the Inhabitants of this Island are good people and deserve to be pitied because of the miseries they suffer both from Christians and Turks CHAP. XIII Of the Isle of Andra and of our Ships running a ground TVesday the Sixtenth of November the wind being a little abated we put out about eight of the clock at night hoping to find the wind fair at Sea but Wednesday morning the seventeenth of November it blew so strong a North Wind that we were obliged to bear away to Isle of Andra Isle of Andra. where we came to an Anchor at two in the afternoon We found five Venetian ships there who so soon as they understood from us that there was some suspition of a Plague in Malta they discharged us from having any communication with them or those of the Island Though this prohibition hindred me from getting any knowledge of this Isle by my own means yet I shall here relate what I learnt of it from those who have been upon it as also from a manuscript Relation that hath come into my hands since The Isle of Andra in ancient time Andros is threescore miles from Zia it is fourscore miles in circuit and is reckoned the most fertile Island of all the Archipelago as indeed it is so in all things especially in Silk wherein the Inhabitants who are about six thousand souls Trade at Chio and other Places with Backs that are made in Andra and make forty thousand Piastres profit of it a year It hath a Town near the Sea which contains not above two hundred Houses the Port of it is pretty good and the South Wind blows a thwart it there is an uninhabited Castle still to be seen upon a little Rock in the Sea hard by it There are besides sixty Villages scattered here and there in several places of the Island of which the most considerable are Arni and Amolacos Arni Amolacos that are inhabited by the Arnantes or Albanians to the number of twelve hundred souls all of the Greek Church and differing in Language and Customs a rude sort of People any without discipline Near to these Villages there is a Monastry of an hundred Monks called Tagia built in form of a Fort with a Church very well adorned though small and served by these Monks who live in extreme ignorance They entertain Travellers all the while they stay there and when they depart they give them Provisions to carry them home to their own Countrey for they have great Revenues There are besides six other little Monasteries with a few Religious in them There is a great number of Greek Churches in the Island which are all under the government and discipline of a Greek Bishop The Latins have also a Bishop there who on Corpus Christi-day carries the Holy Sacrament in Procession all over the Town at which there is a great concourse of People both Greeks and Latins and when the Bishop passes along the streets all the people prostrate themselves spread Carpets Flowers Herbs and other odoriferous things and lye so thick upon the ground that the Bishop cannot pass without treading upon them The Cathedral of the Bishop of the Latin Church is dedicated to the Apostle St. Andrew it is pretty neat but hath no great Revenue There are six Churches besides in the Town of which there is one dedicated to St. Bernard and held by the Capucines who ease the Bishop very much by their Preaching hearing Confessions and by their School to which all the Greek Children come nay some are sent thither from Athens to learn. The Turks have the disposal of the Temporal Affairs and there are several Families of them upon the Island who are very uneasie Neighbours to the Greeks and Latins There is a very pleasant Valley in this Island called by the Inhabitants Menites with plenty of fresh Springs and Fruit-trees in it besides about forty Mills that grind Corn for the People of the Town and circumjacent Villages which is very commodious The Water which drives these Mills comes from a Spring in a Church called Madonna del cumulo and this Water runs in Brooks through the Valley and under Trees fallen of themselves so that they seem to have been bent so artificially and indeed a Painter cannot represent a more lovely and pleasant Valley in Landskip In the Plain at the end of this Valley the Jesuites have a Garden full of Fruit-trees of all sorts which render them a considerable Revenue yearly There they have their House and their Church called St. Veneranda This Island might be called very lovely if the Houses of it were better built and the Air good but it is very bad and so is the Water of the Town The Inhabitants of the Isle of Andra are civil and their Language is more literal than the Language of the other Greeks their Women are Chast and speak well but their Aparrel is very unbecoming The Inhabitants of the Town are not very laborious love good chear and diversions but the Peasants are more industrious they make very white wicker Baskets which are used all over the Archipelago As to their Food they eat sometimes Goats flesh
that many times Vessels are carried upon the Rocks and there perish The Antients called this Sea Pontus Euxinus a Name that hath been changed and soft'ned from that of Axinos which in Latin signifies Inhospitabilis one that uses his Guests unkindly as in Italy the the City which was since called Malventum was named Beneventum If you go a-shore on the side of Europe you 'll see a very fine Countrey full of Gardens and good Pasture Ground and in this Countrey there are several Villages inhabited by Greeks A little further up in the Countrey on the same side there are very lovely Aqueducts that carry water to Constantinople CHAP. XXII Of the Shape and Strength of the Turks Of their Apparel Way of Saluting And of their Manners I Have given but a short account of all the places of Constantinople that I have seen because many others have treated largely of them I shall now say something of the Shape Strength Cloathing Customs and Manners of the Turks according to what I could observe and learn. The Shape of the Turks The Turks are commonly well shaped having a well proportioned body and are free from many defects which are more common in other Countries of Europe for you see neither Crooked nor Criples amongst them and it is not without reason that it is said As strong as a Turk they being for the most part robust and strong Their Habit is fit to make them seem proper The Turks Habit advantagious and it covers defects far more easily than the Canons or Pantaloons of France next their skin they wear a pair of Drawers which shut alike behind and before their Shirt which hath sleeves like our Womens Smocks and is slit in the same manner comes over their Drawers they have a Doliman above their Shirt Doliman which is like a close-bodied Cassock that reaches down to the heels and hath streight sleeves ending in a little round flap that covers the back of their hands these Dolimans are made of Stuff Taffeta Sattin or other neat striped Stuffs and in Winter they have them quilted with Cotton over the Doliman they gird themselves about the small of the waste with a Sash that may serve them for a Turban when it is wreathed about the head or with a leathern Belt two or three fingers broad adorned with Gold or Silver Buckles Cangiar At their girdle they commonly wear two Daggers which they call Cangiars and are properly knives in a sheath but the handles and Sheaths are garnished with Gold or Silver and sometimes with Precious-stones or else the handles are only of the Tooth of a Fish which they esteem incomparably more than Ivory and sell a pound of it very dear They carry two Handkerchiefs at their girdle one on each side and their Tobacco-pouch hangs also at it their Purse being in their bosom as many things else are to wit their Papers and foul Handkerchiefs for they use their bosoms as we do our pockets Feredge Over the Doliman they wear a Feredge which is like our Night-gown having very wide sleeves and about as long as the arm though they hang not always so far down this serves them for a Cloak and in the Winter-time they line it with rich Furrs and such as are able Samour willingly lay out four or five hundred Piastres for a Lining of Sables which they call Samour Their Stockins are of Cloth the length of the leg the feet whereof are socks of yellow or red Leather according to their quality sewed to the Stockins Mestes they call these Socks Mestes Their Shoes are of the same colour and made almost like Slippers the heel is equal to the rest of the sole only it is shod with a piece of Iron made purposely half-round and these Shoes they call Paboutches Paboutches Their head is covered with a crimson Velvet Cap without brims gilded in the in-side and round that they wreath a white or red Turban Turban This Turban is a scarf of Linnen or Silk stuff many Ells long and the whole breadth of the stuff which they turn several times about their head and they wreath it in many fashions so that the condition or quality of the Man may be known by the way he wears the Turban and other head-attire whereof we shall speak hereafter Some fashions of them are very difficult to be made and there are people whose trade and profession is to make them up as Dressers are with us As for the Kindred of Mahomet whom they call Scherifs they wear a green Turban the word Scherif signifies Noble and none but those of that Race dare take to themselves this Title or wear green on the head there being no other way to distinguish them but by their colour These Blades who have only an imaginary Nobility are very numerous and for the most part Beggars if you except some Princes which they have still in some States of Arabia and Africa of whom we shall treat in another place These Scherifs give it out that they have this particular vertue in themselves That throw them into a fiery Furnace they 'll come out without any hurt The Women of this Race are also to be known by a piece of green stuff which they have fastened to their Veil on the fore-part of their head But to return to the Turks Apparel I look upon it to be very commodious and indeed it is the Habit most generally used in the World if you except some Northern and Western Provinces The Hair and Beards of the Turks The Turks shave their heads and think it strange that the Francks suffer their Hair to grow for they say that the Devil nestles in it so that they are not subject to that filth and nastiness which breed among our Hair if we be not careful to comb it well But they let their Beard and Mustachios grow except those who are brought up and have Offices in the Serraglio for none there but the Grand Signior and the Bostangi Basha suffer it to grow and they have a great esteem for a Man that hath a lovely Beard it is a great affront to one to take him by the Beard unless it be to kiss him as they often do they swear by their Beard as also by the Head of their Father of the Grand Signior and such like Oaths When they salute one another The Turkish way of saluting they uncover not the head and to do so would be an affront but only laying their hand upon the breast and bowing a little they say Sela meon aleicom which is asmuch as to say Peace be with you and he that is saluted does the like and answers Aleicom esselam ve rahhmet vllah which is to say Peace be with you and God's Mercy also and such other Benedictions In fine that way of saluting is very grave and was indeed the ancient way of Salutation as appears by Holy Scripture The left hand is
same day about Noon arrived at Smyrna CHAP. LX. Of the City of Smyrna SMyrna a noted Town of Jonia was anciently founded by Tantalus Smyrna Tantalus and since called Smyrna from the name of one of the Amazones that invaded Asia and took that Town long after that it was ruined by an Earthquake and Rebuilt by Marc Antony nearer to the Sea because of the commodiousness of the Harbour It braggs of being the native place of the Poet Homer Homers Country and the Turks at present call it Ismyr This is a large Town and well inhabited both by Turks and Christians but it is a kind of a melancholick place and not at all Strong it is commanded by a Castle of somewhat difficult access this Castle is very ruinous and but meanly guarded you have a large Cistern in it cut all out of a Rock having five Mouths and several Chanels Below the Castle as you go to Santa Veneranda which is a Church of the Greeks there is a great Amphitheatre The place where St. Polycarp suffered Martyrdom where St. Polycarp the Disciple of St. John and Bishop of Smyrna suffered Martyrdom It is very high and in the upper part thereof there are still five niches where the Seats of the Magistrates were not far from thence there are several Ruines of St. John's Cathedral Church which has been very large and full of Chappels In one of these Chappels there is a Tomb which the Greeks believe to be the Sepulchre of St. Polycarp But others with more Reason take it to be the Monument of some Turk There is also another Castle below by the Marine or Sea-side A Castle in Smyrna where are the Arms of the Church of Rome which is well Inhabited and over the Gate of it are the Arms of the Church of Rome perhaps it hath been built by the Genoese who were masters of Smyrna and of all that Coast This Castle shuts the Port which is but little and no Forreign Ships come into it but ride at Anchor abroad in the Road which is spacious and safe It is difficult to get out of Since I left Smyrna they have built a Castle at the mouth of that Road to hinder whom they please from coming in or going out because they were not secure from the Venetians after the Battel of the Dardanelles there being nothing that could hinder them from entering into the Road from whence they might with ease have battered the Town and taken it in a short time Upon the side of this Road towards the Town stands the Custome-house and then the Houses of the Consuls and Merchants Franks who have for the most part a back-door towards the Sea. In this town there is a Cady who administers Justice many Turks live there as also Christians of all Countries Greeks Armenians and Latins The Greeks have an Arch-Bishop and two Churches there in one of which called Santa Veneranda the Arch-Bishop Officiates and the other which is called St. George belongs to the Monks The Armenians have two Churches there also and the Latins have the Capucins who Officiate in their Church which is overagainst the French Consuls House The territory of Smyrna the Jesuits have also a lovely House with a Church in it The Country about Smyrna is a plain very fertile in many things especially in Olive-Trees and full of Gardens which render the Town very pleasant to live in all things are there in abundance and such excellent Wine that next to Canary I never drank better than Smyrna Wine when it is right The Franks make it in their Houses buying the Grapes by Basket-fulls in the Town Partridges there are not worth above three or four Aspres a Couple and when they cost five Aspres it is dear and yet they are very good In fine all things are good and cheap at Smyrna but it is a Town much subject to Earthquakes Smyrna much subject to Earthquakes and hath been several times ruined by them but still rebuilt because of the convenience of its Scituation no year passes without them and I was told that some Years they felt very great Earthquakes for the space of fourty Days together which began a fresh every half hour and were felt even by the Ships in the Road being tossed by the Waters which were moved by the shaking of the Ground in the bottom It would be very hot being in this Town in the Summer-time were it not for the Wind Low Wind. which they call the low Wind or North Breeze it is a certain Wind that blows from the North regularly every day and much qualifies the Air. There is a great trade of Commodities from all parts of Asia and Christendom in this Town While I was there I had a great desire to see Ephesus which was heretofore one of the seven Churches as well as Smyrna to which St. John directed his Revelations where he Died and wherein still remain to be seen the ruines of the Temple of Diana one of the seven Wonders of the World and to the Ornament and Embellishment whereof all the Kings of Asia contributed so long which was burn'd by Erostratus who thereby coveted to Immortalize his Memory There are many other things worth the seeing at Ephesus which made me willing to have undertaken a progress of three or four days for Ephesus is no more than fourty Miles from Smyrna But Monsieur Du puy the French Consul who shewed me in that Country all kinds of civility would needs take me off on 't because of Robbers that were upon the Roads who were a remnant of those that were routed at the Dardanelles and who gave no Quarter especially to Christians but finding at length that I was earnest upon it he took the pains of chusing two Janizaries to wait upon me of whom one who himself had been a Robber many years promised to bring me safe back again as pretending acquaintance of these Robbers I had already hired Horses and prepared to be gone next Morning but a Feaver that took me in the Evening quite broke off the Journey for being recovered seven or eight days after they made me look upon that slight Distemper as a warning and at length I yielded to the perswasions of those who had the goodness to divert me from that Journey as thinking it Dangerous CHAP. LXI Of the Town of Chio. THough I had resolved to continue my Travels through Asia yet I had heard so much of the Wonders of Chio that I could not but see it being then so near therefore I hired a Boat to carry me thither and embarked on Wednesday morning the Eleventh of October A little after we had very foul weather which made me blame my curiosity oftner than once and it behoved us to lye in the Boat near the shore not without danger of being taken by the Brigantines for there are always some in the Archipelago and when they take Franks they sell them at Rhodes to Barbary men
hundred distant from Chio on the top of this Mount there is a Church dedicated to that Saint This is so high a place that it is always covered with Mists and Snow In the middle of the Mountain there is so large and copious a Spring that it Waters all the Fields about which are fertile and abound in all sorts of Fruits Spartonda In a Wood hard by there is a Village called Spartonda where about fifty Persons only all Shepherds live but it is a delightful place affording good Water Calandre Coronia and excellent Fruits Betwixt the Village of Calandre that stands upon a Hill and Coronia consisting of about an Hundred and fifty scattering Houses there is a Bath of Sulphur by the Sea-side under extraordinary big Oaks this Bath is called Hayasma which signifies Holy or Blessed Water because the Water of it being drank Cures many Diseases but it Kills a great many People too by the violence of its Operation Three Miles from the Sea St. Helenas Town at the farther end of the Island is the Town St. Helena built upon a Rock and containing Two hundred Inhabitants it hath two Churches and a Chappel built just about the middle of the Hill where being hollow there hangs in the middle of it a point of a Rock from which Water contially drops and this Water they also call Hayasma Holy or Blessed Water This Water comes from the Mountain impregnated with Rain-Water or the vapours that rise from a deep Valley underneath where runs a Water that drives some Mills The Inhabitants of this place firmly believe that if a dead Body do not in forty days time corrupt Zorzolacas Hobgoblins it turns to a Hobgoblin which they call Zorzolacas or Nomolacas A dead body whose Ghost wandred about the Village in the Night-time And the Author of the Manuscript from whence I had this says That Travelling that way in the Month of April 1637. he found a Priest reading over a dead Body which he had caused to be raised after it had been fifty days in the Grave and was nevertheless still sound there being no sign of Corruption about it but a Worm that crawled out of the Eye The Priest told the Man who reports this that that Body or rather its Ghost went all Night about the Village knocking at the Doors and calling the People by their Names and that such as made answer died within two or three days after and that the Worm that came out of his Eye was but a Trick of the Devils to make it believed he was rotten This place is about thirty Miles from the City and they are all poor Shepherds that live there The Chappel in the aforesaid Rock is highly esteemed by all the Villages about From thence one goes to Volisso Volisso which is a great Village seated on a Hill with a Castle built by Belisarius General to the Emperour of Constantinople who going somewhere else by Sea was by a Storm forced to put on Shoar in that place in that Castle there is a Church with several Houses and Cisterns the Village contains about Three hundred Houses and about Fifteen hundred Inhabitants with several Churches The Country about it is very Pleasant Spacious and Fruitful and the Inhabitants make Five thousand Weight of Silk yearly with the Money whereof they pay their Tribute They are very vicious and it is thought they lie under a Curse of being almost always destitute of Bread. There is a place Varvariso The transformation of St. Marcella called Varvariso where there is a Church dedicated to St Marcella who as the Inhabitants of that place say was converted into Stone in a Grotto by the Sea-side whither she fled to escape from her Father who would have Defloured her and they say that on the day when the Church celebrates the Festival of that Saint Milk is seen to drop from the Breasts that are on the Rock Panagirio This with them is a solemn Feast which they call Panagirio the Priests singing praises to her all Night long Three Miles from that Village there is a Monastery dedicated to St. John and near to that Monastery is a Village called Fitta Fitta below which there is a great Valley corresponding to the Country about Volisso wherein there is a running Water that drives eight Mills which serves all the Villages about though every Peasant has a Hand-mill in his House wherewith the Women grind the Corn. From thence one goes to Sieronda Sieronda which is a very ancient spacious Tower inhabited by fifty Souls Lecilimiona all Shepherds who have a Church there a little further is the Village of Lecilimiona containing an Hundred and fifty Inhabitants with a Church There begin the Mastick-Trees About two Miles from thence there is a Village called Elata Elata whereof all the Inhabitants are addicted to the taming of Partridges Further on is the Village of Armolia Armolia where all the Earthen Ware that is used in the Island is made it contains about Five hundred Inhabitants and several Churches and lies in a Plain full of Mastick-Trees Over against this Village there is a Castle standing upon a very high Hill and is called Apolieno built by one Nicholas Justiniani in the Year 1440. Apolieno as may be seen upon the Gate of it It is of an Oval Figure with a double Wall and contains Threescore and two Rooms with two Cisterns one of which is Threescore Foot long and Forty Foot broad This Castle is very strong to resist the Corsares and has a Church in the middle of it The Village of Mesta exceeds all the rest in Strength and good Building Mesia it is of a Triangular figure lying in a Plain and containing Three hundred Inhabitants with several Churches About two Miles from thence there is a Harbour called Ayadinamy and another named San Nichita Ayadinamy San Nichita Pirgi this last is nearer the Village of Pirgi than Mesta Pirgi is a great Village with a Tower containing Two thousand Inhabitants and thirty Churches And this being all I had to say of the Villages that are among the Hills I shall now speak of others and first of Calamoty which hath several Churches Calamoty and about Seven hundred Inhabitants but no considerable House Chiny Vessa St. George Flacia Vono Nevita no more than Chiny inhabited by Three hundred People Vessa by Two hundred St. George and Flacia Vono is a great Village with a square Castle it hath about Five hundred Inhabitants and several Churches Over against this Village there is another called Nevita which is very great and hath a very high Tower an hundred Hands broad this place contains Two thousand five hundred Inhabitants and thirty Churches with two Monasteries one of Monks and the other of Nuns Without the Village there is also a Church dedicated to St. Michael the Arch-angel which is mightily crowded with People on that
Orange-Water two Baskets full of Pomegranates two of Limons two of Water-Melons two of Mezingianes or Violet-Naveurs one of Grapes one of Grass half a dozen of Pidgeons a dozen of Pullets and three Sheep Next day his Kiaya or Lieutenant had likewise the usual Present brought to him which was but one half of the abovementioned Provisions They expected two Bashas more within a short time and these Bashas caused People to be often Bastonadoed as they went along the Streets when they were out of Humour but for all that no sooner were they Lodged but the whole Trouble was over CHAP. LXV Of the Isle of Patino HAving said enough of Chio Patino I shall here make a little digression from my Travels and relate what I have learned of some Islles of the Archipelago where I have not been as well by what has been told me as by a memoire that hath come to my hands And in the first place I shall speak of the Isle of Pathmos which though small is nevertheless Illustrious Pathmos as being the place to which St. John the Evangelist was Banished and where he wrote the Revelation This Isle called anciently Pathmos and at present Patino and Palmosa is eighteen miles in circuit Palmosa and has in it but one well Built little Town with a Castle in the middle of it called the Monastery of St. John where two hundred Greek Monks live who carefully keep in their Church a Body shut up in a case which they say is the Body of St. John what ever they think who doubt whether he be as yet Dead or not There are about three thousand Souls in this Isle who have much ado to live Three thousand Souls in Pathmos The Grott where the Apocalypse was written called Theoskeposti the Land being very dry and all Rockie In it is the Grotto where St. John wrote the Apocalypse which Grotto by the Greeks is called Theoskeposti that is to say in vulgar Greek covered by God. The Inhabitants of this place relate a pretty ridiculous story of St. John and that is that the Devil went to Tempt St. John in that Grotto which is but half a mile from the Sea and as far from the Town bidding him go and swim and that St. John made answer to the Devil do thou first throw thy self into the Sea and I 'll follow thee which the Devil did and was immediately changed into a Stone The figure of a Devil at Pathmos of the same Figure that he had when he threw himself into the Sea And that Stone is to be seen to this day being but one step from the Land. No Turk lives in this Island they are Christians that bear rule there yet they pay Tribute to the Grand Signior And the Corsars put into this Island to careen and take fresh Water CHAP. LXVI Of the Isle of Nixia THE Isle of Nixia heretofore called Naxus is sixscore miles in circuit Nixia In latter times before it was possessed by the Turks it carried the title of a Dutchy The Families of Sanudi and Somarigi Venetians in Nixia and at present it has among its Inhabitants several noble Families descended of the said Dukes who were the Sanudi Somarigi Venetians and others The Fields of this Isle are most fruitful in all things and chiefly a certain Valley called Darmilla wherein are eighteen Villages The Inhabitants of this Isle make plenty of Wine which they send to Alexandria Smyrna and Chio as likewise very good Cheese for they have many Cows Sheep and Goats Not far from the Town near the Sea are the Salt-pits and a Pond which the Town letts out to farme they Fish in it but two Months in the Year to wit August and September There are great quantities of Eels taken also in a Valley called Plichi that is full of Marshes which are always supplied with Water from greaâ— Springs that run into it There are very thick Woods also in it with Rocks and solitary Dens where there are a great many tall Stags Catching of Partridges with an Ass and there the Gentlemen go a Hunting with the Cady who governs the Island the Peasants catch Partridges with an Ass in this manner Late in the Evening the Peasant goes and joggs the Partridges to know where they Sleep then he pitches a Net where he thinks convenient and afterwards puts himself under the belly of his Ass which is trained to the sport and thus both stalking along together the Peasant with a switch drives the Partridges into the Net where they are caught and this sport is the better because Partridges are very Plentiful there There are besides other Valleys with Water-springs in them that turn Mills for the use of the People There are several Monasteries in this Island one of which ought to be very Ancient for it is built in form of a Tower upon a Hill. There is another called Fanaromeni Fanaromeni dedicated to the Virgin because a Picture of the Virgin was found in that Place which is held in great Veneration and called Faneromeni it is not long since that Monastery was built and contains threescore and ten Rooms or Chambers besides those that are under Ground the Church is small but well built and beautified It is served by ten Monks all Countrey Clowns who have no Learning and not only there but over all the Isles of the Archipelago they are so ignorant that it may be said of them Ignoto Deo and it is impossible but that Vice must reign where People are so ignorant of the commands of God and where there is so much Idleness and Drunkenness Threscore miles from the Town there is a Tower and another Church also dedicated to the Virgin named Tagia in that place there is a Spring of as good Water as can be desired and a Monk and some Shepherds live there the people of the Island often go thither out of Devotion and not without much Pain because of the troublesome Hills and Valleys that are in the way About six miles from thence near the Sea overagainst the Isle of Nicaria there is to be seen upon a very steep and rugged Mountain The Castle of Apollo some ruines of the Castle of Apollo and it is a wonder how they could carry up Stones to Build it The wall is eight hand breadth thick it is not carried on to the Sea on the East-side because there is no going up to it on that side but by a very dangerous place but on the South East and South-side it is built of Stone and Bitumen down to the Sea. In that Castle there are several Houses and Cisterns for Water In the neighbourhood of it are four little Towns very well Inhabited In these Quarters there are also many Goat-heards that keep Goats and the Hills are full of an Herb which Mathiolus calls Ledum The Ledum of Mathiolus Kissaros an Herb. Laudanum a Gum. Darmilla Strongyle Palace of Bacchus and
This Castle contains about an hundred and fifty houses built round a Rock that overlooks them upon which heretofore were several houses and the Greeks have still a Church there which formerly belonged to the Latins wherein there are two Images of Massive Silver the one of our Lady and the other of St. Michael That Rock is supported by walls for fear it should fall upon the houses for if so it would smother all the Inhabitants who are about five hundred in number The Latin Bistop lives in that place Half-way betwixt Scaro and another Castle called Pirgo Pirgo there is a Chappel of our Lady with many large Caves where about two hundred People live But in going from Scaro to Pirgo there is a Hill to be mounted with great pain from whence one has a view of the whole Island and the Plain cultivated and Planted with Vines but few Trees unless it be Fig-Trees and white Mulberry-Trees Their Vineyards afford them wine enough for the use of all the Inhabitants and some more which they sell to their Neighbours who come and Export it It is carried to Chio Smyrna and other Places They make all sorts of Stuffs of which they raise Money to pay their Tribute In this place there are a thousand Souls almost all Greeks and there the Cady Resides Their Houses are well built look all white and are of a round Figure and encompassed with walls so that not being seen they look only like a Tower. At Scaro there is a Monastery of Nuns of the Latin rite and the Order of St. Dominick but they are ill lodged because the place is narrow and the Air bad Their Church is kept in good order and served by a Priest that is their Chaplain Nebrio St. Stephen's Hill. Betwixt Pirgo and another place called Nebrio there is a Hill called St. Stephens Hill on which are several Chests of Marble with Covers and pieces of Statues hot Caves and the walls of the first Town stood upon it called Famosa Famosa there are also three Statues there of a prodigious length lying upon the Ground which a Candiot who took away all the Antiquities of this Isle could not remove who as it is said found a great many pieces of Gold and Silver Money there A woman that in Ancient times lived upon that Hill gave Victuals to all the People for a whole year that a Plague and Famine lasted and it is probable these Statues have been erected in honour of that good Lady On the other point of the Isle that in form resembles a Crescent Crotiri There is also a Castle called Crotiri Inhabited by about an hundred and fifty Souls and there are seven Villages here and there in the Country but ill Peopled for indeed the Inhabitants of this Island live very meanly Their Bread which they call Schises Schises Bread. is Bisket made of equal parts of Wheat and Barley as black as Pitch and so harsh that one can hardly swallow it They never heat the Oven but twice a Year and then make their Bisket which with great Veneration they carry home to their Houses and the reason why they do so is perhaps because they have not a bit of Wood but have it brought from Nio and buy it by the pound They have no Flesh if it be not miraculously brought them by some Raven they have nevertheless some Cattel which furnish them with a little Cheese As for Fish they can have none because the Sea about them has no bottom Some wild Fowl and Eggs they have but it is a hard labour to climb up and down these difficult and craggy Rocks Salt meats are relicts to them and they feed on nothing but Beans Pease Eggs and Bisket They have very little or no Fruit at all unless it be Grapes of which they have enough in the Season They know not what Physicians Chirurgeons Apothecaries and men of that profession are They are very stout and can defend themselves from their Enemies with Stones especially at Scaro where one single man may beat down as many as he pleases They who stay at home in the Island lead a beastly life for they do nothing but eat drink sleep and play at Cards This is all that can be said of that Island which looks like Hell for the Sea in the Harbour and about the Coast is black and all seems Burn'd and Scorched by reason of a little Rockie Island which appearing about threescore Years ago vomited up incredible Flames which left so deep a hole there that when a Stone is thrown into it it is never heard fall to the bottom But there happened something else since in that Port which is no less wonderful and I shall relate it according as I had it from several hands in several places One Sunday night about eighteen years agoe An extraordinary Accicident at Santorini an exceeding great Noise began in the Port of Santorini which was heard as far off as Chio two hundred miles distant but in such a manner that at Chio it was thought that the Venetian and Turkish Fleets were Engaged which made all People run up the next Morning to the highest places to see what might be seen and I remember the Reverend Father Bernard Superiour of the Capucins of Chio a venerable Person and of great Credit told me that he had been mistaken as well as others for he thought he had heard Guns as well as they in the mean time there was nothing to be seen and indeed it was only a Fire that brake out at the bottom of the Sea in the Port of Santorini and wrought such effects that from Morning till Night vast numbers of Pumice Stones were cast up out of the Sea with so great cracking and noise that one would have said they had been so many Cannon-Shot and that so infected the Air that in the Isle of Santorini many Died and several lost their Sight which nevertheless they recovered again some days after This Infection spread as far as the Noise that went before it for not only in that Isle but even at Chio and Smyrna all Silver whether lock'd up in Chests or in men's Pockets turn'd red and the Monks who live in those places told me that all their Chalices became red After some days that Infection was dissipated and the Silver came to its colour again The Pumice-stones that were cast up there so covered the Sea of the Archipelago that for some time when certain Winds blew Harbours were stop'd up with them insomuch that the least Barque that was could not get out unless those that are on Board with Poles made way through the Pumice-stones and there are of them still to be seen all over the Mediterranean Sea but in small quantity now they are dispersed up and down Seneca in one of his Epistles says that Santorini stands upon Mines of Sulphur and from them certainly the Fire proceeds It is said that Alexander the
herself being present and throw themselves into the water where he that stays longest under obtains the Maid in Marriage These are a sort of People that seem to be Fish rather than Men. They pay the Grand Signior their Tribute in Sponges and from them all Turkie is furnished This Isle hath no Haven for great Vessels but only for small Barks wherein they go to Chio and sell Honey Wax White-wine as clear as water which comes away by Urine as soon at it is drank and such like Commodities Their Vineyards are here and there among the Rocks But the World is turned topsie-turvie in this Island for the Women are the Mistresses there So soon as the Husband is arrived from any place the Wife goes to the Sea-side and takes the Oars and other implements and carries them home after which the Husband disposes of nothing without her leave In the time of the Emperours of Constantinople Persons of Quality that deserved Banishment were sent to this Island the Inhabitants whereof are well-shaped and strong But to return to Sea again we did what lay in our power to pass that Island and take Harbour at Stanchio but a South-east wind blowing soon after hindred us from that and though we beat and tack'd to and agen till the evening we gained no ground so that we resolved to turn back again and did so an hour before night finding that the South-east wind began to blow fresher and fresher In the Night-time we had much Lightning However while I was attentively considering Samos I saw a light on shore A Light which no body kindles which seem'd to me to be a Candle and having ask'd an honest Roman Catholick of Chio with whom I had made friendship what it was He made me answer That that Light was seen every night in the same place that having past that way ten or twelve times in the night-time he had always seen it that nevertheless there was neither House nor Tree there that many had gone oftentimes in search of it but could never find it seeing it very well at a distance but losing sight of it assoon as they came near and that about the place where the Light is seen there is an ancient Christian Church all ruinous which makes people think that there is some Mystery in it I thought the man had jeer'd me when he told me all these things and therefore I went to the Captain 's Cabin where having asked him the same question though he was a Turk he told me the same things the honest Chiot did who was Patron of the Saique and a Greek which made me more attentively consider that Light I ey'd it for the space of an hour and it seemed to me to be about two hundred paces from the Sea-side on that part of the Island which looks Westward opposite to the Isle of Nacaria or Nicaria I saw it rise and fall like a Candle and I remember that the Monks of Niamoni of the Isle of Chio told me just such another thing concerning the Foundation of their Church Having well considered that Light I went to sleep about eleven of the clock and the wind blew fresher about midnight with so thick a darkness that one could not see six steps on head and in the mean time we were in a dangerous place betwixt Samos and Nicaria so that we had cause to fear the Saique might run foul of one of these two places There fell afterward a great deal of rain but such strong gusts of wind with it as gave the Sea-men enough to do and besides that we had great claps of Thunder which doubling horribly betwixt these Islands made with the beating of the waves a fearful noise In the mean time the Ship made much water which created no small trouble to the Sea-men who had already their hands full on 't Another danger threatned us besides for they had left the Caique in the Sea towed at the Saiques stern which being forced by the violence of the wind knock'd its head so hard against the Saique that it might have started a plank and sunk her down to rights many Vessels being lost so even in the Port nevertheless their was no hoisting of it up though it had strucken so often against the Saique that all the Head of it was broken and the Saique was so slippery that there was no holding on her so that at several times three Men fell into the Sea but Ropes being quickly thrown out to them they were drawn up again At length came day but with it so thick a Fog that it was more than three Hours after before we could see Land. We afterward discovered Chio about ten a Clock in the Morning and put into Harbour the same day being Friday the seventeenth of November a little after Noon Our Captain perceiving the Weather to be contrary to us Scala Nuova or Couschadasi proposed to go and Anchor in the Port of Scala Nuova which the Turks call Couschadasi and I earnestly desired it because then I might have gone to Ephesus which is but half a days Journey from it but some Chiots told him that it was dangerous entring into the Port of Scala Nuova at that time But indeed I think it was that they had rather wait for fair Weather at home in their own Town than in another place So soon as I was come to Chio I failed not to speak to our Vice-Consul of the Light I had seen in the Isle of Samos and he told me all the same that the rest did and that he himself with some others had gone in search thereof but that as they drew nigh they always lost sight of it CHAP. LXXI Of Stanchio and Bodrou WE waited with great Impatience for fair Weather at Chio nevertheless the South-East Wind continued blowing till Tuesday the Twenty eighth of November when with day a North-Wind arose we let not slip the occasion for being got on Board we put out the same day about Four a Clock in the Afternoon and Wednesday the Twenty ninth of November past by Samos about Midnight In the Morning the Wind abated a little and nevertheless about One of the Clock we arrived at Stanchio Stanchio or Isola Longa. otherwise called Isola Longa Fourscore and ten Miles from Samos and came to an Anchor to take in Fresh-Water We who were Christians went not a Shoar because there were Eight hundred Spahis lately arrived to defend that Island against the Venetians and seeing these Blades play'd the Devil and all putting their Horses into the Churches of the Greeks they would certainly have abused us being then extreamly Exasperated against all Franks This Island called heretofore Coos Coos Lango and named at present by the Turks Stanchio and by the Franks Lango or Isola Longa is Seventy Miles in Circuit and is very Fruitful especially in good Wine the Country seems to be pleasant enough and upon the Port by the Sea-side there is a Castle that
on the other sides The marks of Buildings near the Pyramides Before each of the three Pyramides the marks of certain square Buildings are still to be seen which seem to have been so many Temples and there is a hole at the end of the pretended Temple of the second Pyramide by which some think there was a way down within the Temple to go to the Idol which is a few steps distant from that hole The Arabs call this Idol Abou el haoun Abou el haoun Sphynx King Amasis that is to say Father of the Pillar which Pliny calls Sphynx saying that the People of the Countrey believe King Amasis was buried in it I am sure they believe no such thing at present nor so much as know the Name of Amasis and indeed it is an erroneous belief Others say that a King of Aegypt caused this Figure to be made in memory of a certain Rhodope Rhodope a Corinthian Woman with whom he was much in love It is said that this Sphynx so soon as the Sun was up gave responses to any thing it was consulted about and hence it is that all who go into the Pyramides fail not to say that a Priest conveyed himself into that Idol by the Pit or Well in the Pyramide which we just now described But to shew how groundless an Opinion that is we must know how the Idol is made It is the Bust of a Body at some steps distance from the open Pyramide cut out of the natural Rock from which it hath never been separated though it seem to be of five Stones pieced together one upon another but having very attentively considered it we observed that that which at first seemed to be seams or joynings of the Stones are only veins in the Rock The Figure of the Idol or Sphynx The height of the Sphynx This Burst represents the face and breast of a Woman but it is prodigiously high being twenty six foot in height fifteen foot from the ear to the chin and yet all the proportions exactly observed Now what probability is there to believe that every day a man would take the pains and venture the breaking of his neck by descending into that Pit that being at the bottom he might only have the labour of coming up again for there is no passage there as they who have gone down have observed a passage must have been cut in the Rock then which would have cost a great deal of Money and been known of every Body It were more probable to think that they entered it by the Hole which as I said is in the pretended Temple of the second Pyramide or rather by another which is at the side of that Idol and very near it These two Holes are very narrow and almost choaked up with Sand wherefore we entred not into them not knowing besides but that we might meet with Vipers or other Venemous Beasts in them But though there had been a way through the Rocks into that Idol how could the Voice of that feigned Oracle have come out since there is no hole neither at the Mouth Nose Eyes nor Ears of it It may be said perhaps that the Voice was uttered by the Crown of the Head where there is a Hole into which we endeavoured to have cast some Hooks fastened to Ropes that I had brought purposely with me that we might get up but we could not compass that because of the height of it only when we threw up Stones they rested there And a Venetian assured me that he and some others having got up by means of little Hooks and a Pole which they brought with them they found a Hole in the Crown of the Head of it and having entred therein perceived that it drew narrower and narrower proportionably as it approached to the Breast where it ended The Voice of him that entred then by the above-mentioned Holes did not come out that way and therefore it must be concluded that if any entred it it must have been by a Ladder in the Night-time and that he put himself into the hole that is in the Head out of which his Voice came CHAP. VI. Of the Mummies HAving viewed the Pyramides and Idol Sakara the Village of the Mummies we went and Lodged in the Village of the Mummies called Sakara three good Leagues from the Pyramides we spoke to a Moor of the Village who is the Master of the Mummies that he would take care to have a Mummie-Pit opened for us against next Morning He carried us to a House How People sleep at Sakara where we Supped on what we had brought along with us and then went to rest upon a little Rising in the Court When we were about to go out next Morning they asked Money for Watching us as they said all Night and it was to no purpose for us to tell them that we wanted none of their Watching and that we had care enough to Guard our selves for all our Huffing was in vain and there they shut us in till we gave a Piastre to be let out They who would not be so imposed upon ought to lie abroad in the Fields but that 's not safe for they are very greedy of Money and spare not to do any thing so they may come by it And as they fancy that the Franks carry always a good deal about them when they have them in their Clutches they squeese from them all they can Wherefore when any one goes there he ought to be well Accompanied well Armed and have a good stout Janizary and with all that one must not venture to beat them for if he did he would soon have all the Rabble about his Ears We parted then from that Village early in the Morning with the Master of the Mummies and went to the Plain where the Mummie-Pits are a little way from the Village Memphis The Field of Mummies A lovely Pyramide towards the place of the Mummies and I think it would be very convenient to set out two Hours before day to avoid the heat of the Sun for there is no shelter there This Plain begins near the place where the stately City of Memphis heretofore stood of which some marks are still to be seen near the Nile There are several Pyramides in this Plain and that for several Miles together but not being very considerable I shall only speak of a very fair one which is four or five Miles from the Place where they opened a Mummis-Pit for us Having then agreed with the Master of the Mummies that for eight Piastres he would open me a Pit Mummie-Pits that had never been opened before and paid him down the Money for otherwise they would not work he with two Moors fell to the Business Whilst they were at work we went to see the Pyramide I mentioned before which would be nothing short of the beauty of the first if it had been finished We went up to the top before we
that go to other places that so they may avoid the heat which is almost insupportable and when the Moon does not shine there are Men who carry Links before the Caravan In all Caravans the Camels are tied tail to tail so that let them but go and there is no trouble of leading them Here I 'll give the Reader an account how many Stages there are betwixt Caire and Mecha how many days they stay in them how many hours travelling there is betwixt them and at what Stages the Waters are sweet or bitter all along the way This little Itinerary I had from a Prince of Tunis An Itinerary from Caire to Mecha who made that Journey whilst I was at Caire From Caire to the Birque it is reckoned four hours Journey there is fresh water there From the Birque to Misana that is to say Cistern ten hours no water there Misana Kalaat Aadgeroud Navatir Raftagara Kalaat el Nahhal Abiar Alaina Sath el Akaba Kalaat el Akaba Dar elHhamar Scharafe Benigateie Magare Chouaib Eyoun el Kaseb Kalaat el Moilah Castel Kalaat Ezlem Istanbel Antir Kalaat el Voudge Ekre Hank Krue Hhawre Nabte Nabathean Arabs Hazire Yanbouh Soucaife Beder Hunein Sibil el Mouhsin Rabij Haramein From Misana to Kalaat Aadgeroud which is to say the Castle of Sand-Pits twelve hours and an half there is bitter water there From the Castle of Aadgeroud to Navatir seven hours and an half no water there From Navatir to Rastagara ten hours no water there and the way bad From Rastagara to Kalaat el Nahhal that is to say the Castle of Palmes fifteen hours there they stay a day and have fresh water From the Castle of Nahhal to Abiar Alaina fourteen hours only bâ—tter water there From Abiar Alaina to Sath el Akaba that is to say the Plain of the Hill fifteen hours no water there From Sath el Akaba to Kalaat el Akaba that is to say the Castle of the Hill that 's upon the side of the Red-Sea sixteen hours there they stay two days and an half the way is very bad but they have fresh water From the Castle el Akaba to Darel Hhamar six hours and an half no water there Dar el Hhamar signifies Asses Back and it is like the Mountain in Italy where there is an Inn called Scarga l'asino From Dar el Hhamar to Scharafe Benigateie fourteen hours no water there From Scharafe Benigateie to Magare Chouaib that is to say the Grott of Jethro fourteeen hours fresh water there that is the Countrey of the Midionites From Magare Chouaib to Eyoun el Kaseb fourteen hours and an half fresh water there It was in that place where Jethro's Daughters going to water their Cattel and the Shepherds offering to hinder them Moses protected and defended them against those who would have hindred them to draw water From Eyoun el Kaseb to Kalaat el Moilah which is by the Sea-side fifteen hours there they rest two days and an half and have fresh water From Kalaat el Moilah to Castel eleven hours bitter water there From Castel to Kalaat Ezlem fifteen hours and an half bitter water there From Kalaat Ezlem to Istanbel antir fourteen hours fresh water there From Istanbel antir to Kalaat el Voudge that is to say the Castle of the Face thirteen hours and an half fresh water there From Kalaat el Voudge to Ekre sixteen hours no water there but what is bitter From Ekre to Hank Krue that is to say Gulf twelve hours and an half no water there From Hank Krue going to Hhawre they enter into the Territory of Mecha to Hhawre it is thirteen hours only bitter water there From Hhawre to Nabte fifteen hours fresh water there From thence come the Nabathean Arabs Eurus ad auroram Nabathaeaque regna recessit From Nabte to Hazire thirteen hours and an half no water there From Hazire to Yanbouh that is to say Fountain fourteen hours and an half there they stay two days and an half and have fresh water From Yanbouh to Soucaife thirteen hours no water there From Soucaife to Beder Hunein that is to say the Moon of Hunein eight hours fresh water there Hunein was a Man that shew'd the Moon in his Well From Beder Hunein to Sibil el Mouhsin that is to say the way of Benefaction or Benefit fourteen hours fresh water there From Sibil el Mouhsin to Rabij seventeen hours fresh water there Rabij is a Sacred Place that is to say not to be entered into without being well prepared and purged from all sin Hence it is that there are two places which are called Haramein Sacred Places to wit Mecha and Medina that is to say which are two Holy Places where one should take heed not to set his foot Kawdire Bi r el fan Vadi Fatima Mecha unless he be well washed from all Sin. From Rabij to Kawdire fifteen hours no Water there From Kawdire to Bi r el fan fourteen hours fresh water there From Bi r el fan to Vadi Fatima fourteen hours fresh water there From Vadi Fatima to Mecha six hours CHAP. XVIII Of Mecha THE Musulmans have so great a veneration for Mecha not only because Mahomet was Born there but more especially for the Temple called Kiaabe that is to say square house that they think all who are not Musulmans are unworthy to come there and therefore they suffer them not so much as to come within some days journey of it and if a Christian or any other who were not Mahometan should be apprehended in that Holy Land he would be burned without mercy I never made the journey then but seeing in the conferences that I have had with a great many who have made it I have learned some things relating thereunto I think I may tell what I know especially since no man that I know of hath as yet given us any true relation of it A description of Mecha Kiaabe Mecha is an ancient Town scituated among the Mountains and built all of Stone and Morter in the middle of this Town is the Kiaabe which is a square House surrounded with a wall that hinders people from approaching it there being a void space betwixt the House and the Wall the House is covered with a Dome Within it there is a well of indifferent good Water at least in respect of the other Waters of Mecha which are so bitter that one can hardly drink of them There is besides on the right hand near the door as they enter into that House a black stone as big as a mans Head which they say came down from Heaven A black stone come down from Heaven and that heretofore it was white but that through the Sins of men it became black as it is at present He that first can kiss it at the time when they give one another the Selam after the Prayer of Kouschlouk A great happiness for him that
this Cloath serves them to be buried in and for that end they keep it as if it were a Relick during this Solemnity one would certainly think himself in Hell amidst a Legion of Devils let loose and nevertheless the most serious cannot forbear Laughing at it After that is over they perform their office and then go eat for they neither eat nor drink that day before they have had the holy Fire Now it is impossible to know how they make this holy Fire for they have a special care that nobody comes near the holy Sepulchre to observe them but I am apt to beleive that a man hid within it strikes Fire with a Steel and so lights the Lamps The Turks discovered the Cheat and would have punished them for it but the Patriarch represented to them that he could not pay them so much Money as he did if they took from him the profit of the holy Fire and therefore they are suffered to continue the Juggle Next day the one and twentieth of April being Easter day the R. F. Commissary said high Mass upon an Altar purposely erected before the door of the holy Sepulchre a Father playing upon the Organ to which the Turks were very attentive but in the mean time purfumed us with the Smoak of their Tobacco and one of them fairly lighted his Pipe at one of the Tapers upon the Altar during the time that high Mass was saying At this Mass we all received the Sacrament from the hands of the R. F. Commissary That day we used Ornaments given by the King of Spain which are very rich in Embroadery but seeing it is not a compleat Service they made up what was wanting out of those that were given by the King of France The R. F. was very apprehensive that the Greeks might disturb our Service because they had resolved to perform theirs before ours but all was very well and we performed our Service first though they made as if they would come out of the Quire and begin their Procession at the same time we began our Mass however they durst not and perhaps they would have got nothing by it for we had Janizaries that would have hindred them They stayed then till our Service was over and then began theirs For our parts so soon as Mass was said we went out of the Church of St. Sepulchre and dined in the Convent of St. Saviour where every one of us found two Chaplets and two Crosses which had been touched at the Holy places upon our Plates The Convent treated both the Pilgrims and Monks with these CHAP. XLIV Of the places that are to be seen on the way from Jerusalem to Bethlehem MOnday the twenty second of April we put it to deliberation whether we should go to Emaus as the day seemed to require but it was not thought fit that we should go because it was in our way as we returned back so that we might not make the journey twice we went not for we had no time to lose but after Dinner we set out from the Convent at one a Clock to go to Bethlehem and going out by the Gate of Bethlehem and leaving Mount Sion to the left hand of which and of all that is to be seen there I shall speak hereafter we went first to a place where a Turpentine-Tree grew The Turpentine-Tree of the Virgin. under which as the People of the Countrey say the Blessed Virgin going one day from Bethlehem to Jerusalem rested her self to avoid the heat of the Sun and that then the Tree bent downwards to give her the greater shade Some years since it was set on Fire by the Arab Shepherds which the Monks hearing of ran thither in all haste and took what remained of it whereof they still make Chaplets and little Crosses Leaving that place to the left hand and keeping on our way we saw to the right hand out of the Road the House of Righteous Simeon The house of St. Simeon who made the Hymn Nunc Dimittis c. After that we found to the right hand the Cistern where the three Wise Men found again the Star which had appeared to them in the East and which they had lost as they entered into Jerusalem A little beyond that on the right hand is the House of the Prophet Habbakkuk The House of the Prophet Habbakkuk wherein the Angel took him by the Hair of the Head and carried him to Babylon to give Daniel Food when in that City he was put into the Lyons Den Dan. 14. To the left hand there is a Greek Monastery The place where Elias was Born. dedicated to the honour of the Prophet Elias who was Born in that place and before that Monastery there is a Stone on which the figure of his Body is imprinted and which they say was his Bed and a Well called Elias Well A little farther is the place where the Prophet Amos was Born. After that we found on our right hand the Field of Stone-pease where the People of the Country say that the holy Virgin going from Bethlehem to Jerusalem found a Man sowing Pease and asking him what it was he sowed he made answer Stones whereupon by Divine permission the Pease were changed into Stones retaining only the figure of Pease and there are of them to be found at present Then wide of the way to the right hand we saw the House of the Patriarch Jacob next The House of Jacob. The Sepulchre of Rachel the Sepulchre of the Beautiful Rachel made in the Vault of the Rock which is said to be so hard that Iron cannot hurt it it is under a little Dome open on all sides and supported by four square Pillars This Sepulchre is enclosed within a little Wall three Foot high having only a little entry to which one ascends by four steps It is all still so entire that it would seem to have been newly made Heretofore it was a Church which the Turks have now changed into a Mosque As we went on our way we found about twenty paces wide of the Road to the left hand David's Cistern made with three Mouths David's Cistern whereof mention is made in the 23 Chapter of the second Book of Samuel a little after about two in the Afternoon we arrived at Bethlehem CHAP. XLV Of Bethlehem BEthlehem was anciently a Town of the Tribe of Juda Bethlehem whither Joseph came with the Virgin Mary to be Enrolled as being of the Tribe of Juda according to the Edict of Augustus Caesar the Roman Emperour who commanded that all should give in their Names and Qualities in their Towns that he might know how many Souls were under his Government At present it is a pretty big Village where the Inhabitants get a Livelihood by making Chaplets Crosses c. There is a fair Convent in it A Convent of Monks where Latin Monks live consisting of a large Court through which you go into a second wherein
a low Valley the Garden of the same Salomon Hortus Conclusus The Mount Anguedy called Hortus Conclusus because it is on both sides shut in by two high Hills that serve it for a Wall. Then returning back towards Bethlehem we passed the Mount Anguedy where the Cave is in which David cut off the Skirt of Saul's Garment And about half a League from thence we saw a Castle upon a high Hill called Bethulia which the Franks maintained forty Years after they had lost the City of Jerusalem then we came to the Well where the Virgin desiring to drink when she fled from the Persecution of Herod and the People of the Country refusing to draw Water for her it swelled of it self up to the Wells mouth Next we went to the place where the Shepherds were when the Angel brought them the joyful Tydings saying I bring you good Tydings and Glory be to God on High which with great Devotion we sung there in an old ruinous Subterranean Church built by St. Helen in that place All the Inhabitants thereabouts are to this day Shepherds because it is a fertile Country We returned to Bethlehem about ten a Clock in the Morning and in the Evening went into the Grott where it is said the holy Virgin hid her self with the Child Jesus to avoid the Tyranny of Herod when he put to death the innocent Babes We carried Candles with us thither for you can see nothing unless you have a light with you This is a round Grott cut in the Rock and in it there is an Altar where the Latin Monks sometimes say Mass They say that the Virgin having in this place shed some of her Milk the Stone became white A Stone become white by the Virgins Milk. as it is at present and that by Gods permission it obtained this Vertue That it makes Womens Milk return to them nay the Turks and Arabs give the powder of it in water to their Females which have lost their Milk and that makes it return again About sixty paces from thence is the House where St. Joseph was when the Angel appeared to him bidding him flee into Aegypt with the Virgin and the Child Jesus CHAP. XLVIII Of the Mountains of Judea and of the Convent of Holy-Cross THursday the twenty fifth of April we parted from Bethlehem about seven a Clock in the Morning and went to the Mountains of Judea Mountains of Judea The Town of Sennacherib passing by the Town of Sennacherib so called because the Army of Sennacherib was cut to pieces there in the Night-time by an Angel. Then after we had ascended a little we passed close by Botirella which we left on our left hand and came to the Fountain where St. Philip Baptized the Eunuch of Candaie Queen of Aethiopia the Brook which runs from that Fountain is called in holy Scripture the Brook of Eshcoll Numb 13. That is to say the Brook of Grapes Brook of Eshcoll Vineyard of Sorec because it runs near to the Vineyard of Sorec Leaving that Fountain to the left hand we went near to the said Vineyard of Sorec that is to say Chosen Vineyard where the Spies whom Moses sent to view the Land of Promise Battir The Desart of St. John Baptist took a great cluster of Grapes then we pass'd by the Village of Battir and from thence by very bad way came to the Desart of St. John Baptist where after a pretty long Ascent we found a very old ruinous Building which heretofore was a Monastery under these ruines there is a Cave where that Saint lived and there you see the Bed whereon he lay which is the hard Rock cut in shape of a Bed. The Bed of St. John Baptist This Grott is on the side of a Hill at the foot of which there is a very stony Valley or Precipice then another Mountain which intercepts the View so that it is encompassed round with Hills There is a Spring of excellent water by the side of this Cave and near to it we Dined Being gone from thence we came to the House of St. Elizabeth where are the ruines of a fair Church that was built by S. Helen that is the place where the Virgin visited St. Elizabeth The House of St. Elizabeth and made the Magnificat which we Sung there Then going down about five hundred paces we found on the right hand the Well of St. John where St. Elizabeth washed his Clouts when he was an Infant Keeping on our way we came to a Village wherein is the House of St. Zacharias The House of Zacharias the Father of St. John Baptist which was converted into a Church wherein on the left hand of the Altar that is at the end of it as you enter is the Room where St. John was Born and where his Father at the Birth of that Son who was blessed from the Womb recovered his Speech and made the Benedictus which we sung there on the other side of the Altar to wit on the side of the Epistle there is a little hole where it is said St. Elizabeth kept St. John long hid to avoid the fury of Herod The Arabs lodge their Cattel many times in this Church When we came out from thence The Village of St. John. The Convent of Holy Cross we passed through the Village of St. John Inhabited by Arabs All the ways in the Hilly Country of Judea are very bad We came next to a Convent of Greeks called Holy-Cross built with very strong Walls we went into the Church which is fair very light and full of the pictures of Saints after the Mosaical way and paved also in that manner The place where the Olive-Tree was cut down of which the Coss of our Lord was made It is covered with a Dome There is a great hole under the high Altar where the Olive-Tree grew that was cut down to make the Cross of our Lord of When we had seen all these things we took our way streight to Jerusalem where we arrived about four a clock in the Afternoon We entered by the Castle-Gate called also the Gate of Bethlehem This Gate is called the Castle-Gate because there is a good Castle in that place CHAP. XLIX Of Bethany Bethphage Mount Sion the Houses of Caiaphas and Annas FRiday the twenty sixth of April we went out by the Gate of Bethlehem about seven a Clock in the Morning and saw first on our right hand at the foot of Mount Sion The Fish-ponds of Bathshebah Mount Sion The Palace of David Aceldama the two Fish-ponds of Bathshebah where she bathed her self and very near over against it but about fifty paces higher upon the same Mount Sion is the Palace of David from whence he saw and fell in Love with her then the Field called in holy Scripture Aceldama that is to say The Field of Blood because it was bought for the thirty pieces of Silver which Judas got for betraying of
wrought in it and a great many Magazines which served formerly to hold Provisions and Amunition Assi or Orontes The River Assi or Orontes runs by the side of this Castle and fills the Ditches about it that are cut in the Rock and very deep It runs also through the whole Town where it turns eightteen great Wheels which raise the Water two Pikes height into Channels that lye upon great Arches and convey it not only to the Fountains of the Town but also without into the Gardens You must also see a Mosque that stands near the River and over against the Castle before the door of which there is a Pillar of most lovely Marble erected with the figures of Men Birds and other Animals very well cut in Demy Relief upon it In this Mosque there is a very pleasant Garden Marra full of Orange-Trees by the River-side From Ama you go and lodge at Marra which is a sorry Town commanded by a Sangiac and there is nothing in it worth the observing but the Han you lodge in which is covered all over with Lead and is very spacious being capable of Lodging eight hundred Men and their Horses with ease In the middle of this Han there is a Mosque with a lovely Fountain and a Well two and forty Fathom deep from the top to the Water is still to be seen there About sixscore Years ago that Han was Built by Mourab Chelebi great Tefterdar when he made the Pilgrimage of Mecha About fifty paces from thence there is another old Han half ruined having a door of Black Stone of one entire piece seven span long four and a half broad and a span thick on which two Crosses like those of Malta with Roses and other Figures are cut in Demy Relief From Marra you go and lye at Aleppo CHAP. LXI The Road fram Tripoly to Aleppo by Damascus THose who have never seen Damascus may go to it from Tripoly in three good days Journey and from thence to Aleppo by the way following From Damascus the first nights Lodging is at Cotaipha one half of the way thither is over most pleasant and fruitful Plains abounding with Fruit-Trees Olive-Trees and Vines and watered by seven little Rivers and several Brooks where you see by the way a great many Villages in the Countrey about to the number as the People of the Countrey say of above three hundred and fifty The rest of the way is very Barren and Mountainous Cotaipha A fair great Han. There is at Cotaipha the lovelyest Han that is to be seen in the whole Countrey In the middle of this Han there is a Fountain that discharges its water into a great Pond There is plenty of all things necessary therein and a thousand Men and Horse may be commodiously lodged in it About fourscore years since Sinan Basha the Grand Visier passing through that Countrey upon his way to Mecha and Hyemen caused it to be Built as you go into it you must pass through a great Square Court walled in like a Castle It hath two Gates one to the South and the other to the North upon each of which there are three Culverines mounted to defend the Place There is a Caffare to be paid there From Cotaipha the next Nights Lodging is at Nebk and upon the Road five hours travelling from Cotaipha you see an old Castle called Castel or Han el Arous that is to say the Brides Han standing in a very Barren place and environed by Mountains Nebk is Situated upon a little Hill at the foot of which are Gardens full of Fruit-Trees and watered by a small River over which there is a handsom Bridge of four Arches Next day when you have Travelled two Hours you pass by a Village called Cara which contains two Hans and a Greek Church Dedicated to the Honour of St. George For half a League round this Village there is nothing but Gardens full of Fruit-Trees watered by little Brooks Two Leagues from thence you find a Castle called Cosseitel and without the walls of it is a Fountain that runs into a Pond twenty paces long then you come to Lodge at Assia which is a Han for lodging of Travellers As you go to it you pass through a large Court walled in like a Fort having a very lovely Fountain in the middle which discharges its Water by four Pipes and at the Back of the Han there is a Spring of Water that fills a Pond From Assia you go next day to Hems About mid way you find a sorry Han Hems. called Chempsi Hems is a pretty Town indifferently big the Walls whereof are of black and white Stones and half a Pikes height almost all round fortified with little round Towers to the number of six and twenty formerly they were begirt with Ditches which at present are for the most part filled up with ruines This Town hath six Gates and there are five Churches in it The first is very great and is supported with four and thirty Marble-pillars most part Jaspirs it is threescore and ten paces long and eighteen broad Within on the South-side there is a little Chappel where you may see a Stone-Chest or Case set in the Wall five spans in length and three in breadth wherein the people of the Country not only Christians The Case wherein is the Head of St. John Baptist but Moors believe the head of St. John Baptist to be and therefore the Moors make great account of it and have commonly a Lamp burning before it They say that on certain days of the year some drops of Blood distill from that Case There are also many other long and round pieces of Marble built in the Wall inscribed with Greek Characters and very artfully engraven with Roses and other Figures St. Helen built that Church which was long possessed by the Christians of the Countrey but at length about an hundred and sixty years ago was usurped by the Turks and serves them at present for their chief Mosque the Roof that is supported by these Pillars has been lately renewed and is only of Wood ill put together Christians are suffered to enter into it By the side of it without there is a great Pond where the Turks make their Ablutions before they go into it At the door of this Mosque there are two Marble-Pillars twenty span long lying along upon the Ground From thence you go to another Church held by the Moors called St. George's the Christians of the Country may perform their Devotions there paying for half the Oyl that is consumed in it The third is dedicated to the Honour of our Lady and is possessed by the Christians of the Countrey Arbain Chouade The fourth is held by the Greeks and is called Arbaine Chouade which is to say forty Martyrs it is very neat supported by five Pillars whereof four are Marble and the fifth Porphyrie wrought and cut in the form of a Screw
The Sepulchre of St. Julian The fifth Church is called St. Merlian alias St. Julian the People of the Countrey say that his Body is there in a Sepulchre of most excellent Marble standing behind the Altar made like a Beer or Coffin with a high ridged cover At the four Corners there are four Balls of the same Marble and twelve Crosses round it in Demy Relief This Sepulchre is ten Spans long five broad and as much in height seeming to be all of one entire piece The Sepulchre of Caius Caesar the Nephew of Augustus Six hundred paces West-ward from the Gate called Bab Jeoundy that is to say the Jews Gate there is a Pretty big Pyramid wherein the People of the Countrey believe that Caius Caesar the Nephew of Augustus is buried Upon a Hill to the South of the Town there is a Castle built like that of Ama which I mentioned in the foregoing Chapter but it is not so ruinous though it be uninhabited as well as the other They say that heretofore both of them were held by the Christians who endured long and hard Sieges before they surrendred them to the Turks and that 's the reason that the Grand Signior has commanded that they should not be Repaired nor Inhabited The Han where Travellers lodge is fifteen paces without the Walls of the Town on the North-side from Hemps The next Lodging is at Ama. About half way there is a little Oratory which they say was built by the Franks it is at present Inhabited by a Moorish Scheik A little further there is a ruined Village upon a Hill. Near to that is the Han where Travellers that have a mind to stop there may Lodge After that you pass over a Bridge of ten Arches called Dgeser Rustan that is to say Rustans Bridge which is very neat and has the River Assi running underneath it I have said enough of Ama in the Chapter before The Country of Job Betwixt Hemps and Ama is the Countrey which the People that live there say was inhabited by Job and his Family but half of it is not Cultivated The day following you Lodge at Scheicon Han that is to say the Han Scheick it is a very old Han having on the Gate a Marble-Stone six spans long and four spans broad upon which are engraven six lines in Arabick Characters and on the two sides there are also two round stones of Marble Scheicon Hani upon each whereof there is a Chalice with its Paten very well Engraven From Scheicon Hani you go to Marra of which I have spoken in the preceeding Chapter Next day you go to Han Serakib Upon the Road you see some ruinous Villages whereof that which is most entire is called Han Mercy built in form of a Castle having four Towers in the four Corners three square and one round this Han is four Hours going from Marra and about twenty paces short of it on the left hand you see five great Sepulchres in one whereof a Basha is Interred having his Turban cut in Marble at one end of his Tomb. In an old Building fifteen paces distant from the Gate of that Han Serakib there is a Well almost square which is two and forty Fathom deep before you come at the Water as well as that of Marra about fourscore paces from thence there is a pitiful Village little Inhabited though there be good Land about it Han Touman Sermin From Han Serakib you have a days Journey to Han Touman Upon the Road to the left hand you see a pretty handsome Town called Sermin and three or four ruinous Villages having been forsaken because of the Robberies of the Arabs About forty Years since Han Touman was rebuilt by a Basha of Aleppo called Hisouf Basha who put into it an Aga with fifty Soldiers and ten little Culverines Singa to keep it against the Arabs who formerly committed frequent Robberies thereabouts The River of Aleppo called Singa runs hard by it and turns two Mills not far from thence From Han Touman you go to Aleppo in three or four Hours time CHAP. LXII Our setting out from Acre to Damiette and our meeting with Italian Corsairs From Acre to Damiette WE staid at Acre four days expecting a passage for Damiette but at length finding two Sanbiquers of Cyprus which were both bound for Damiette we resolved to go along with them and having sent for the Reys of that Sanbiquer that was a Greek Monsieur de Bricard the Consul took the pains to make a Bargain for us Sanbiquer and recommended us to him Sanbiquers are Vessels made like Galliotts but longer the Stern and Stem of them are made much alike only in the Poop there is a broad Room under Deck there are several Banks for Rowers according to the length of the Sanbiquer and each Oar is managed by two Men. Ours had twelve Oars on each side but besides it had a great Mast with a very large Sail so that being light Loaded no Galley could be too hard for one of them if their Oars were long enough but they have them very short The Wind offering fair for us we took our Provisions and went on board our Sanbiquer Sunday the nineteenth of May about three a Clock in the Afternoon the other Sanbiquer being in company with us We were much afraid of Corsairs still and especially of him who had taken us before not only because his Men had said That if they had killed us they would not have been obliged to make Restitution of any thing but also least they might have accused us of being the cause that the Turks had come out against them and so used us the worse for that However we met with nothing considerable till next day being Monday the twentieth of May that about Sun-setting we passed by a Tower about twelve Miles from Jaffa when we were come near to that Tower they fired some great and Small shot at us which much surprised us but more when we saw that they made great Fires all along the Coast and especially upon the Towers We knew not the cause of this which I shall tell hereafter only we concluded that they took us for Pirats When we came near to Jaffa we perceived a great Fire upon the Tower and then about nine a Clock at Night offering to put into the Harbour to take in Wood and Water they fired at us both great and small Shot Then our Reys went upon the Poop and called out as loud as he could that he was such a Man Reys of a Sanbiquer calling by Name those whom he knew at Jaffa but we had no other answer from within but Alarga that is to say that we should stand off and with that another Volley of great and small Shot When this Musick had lasted about an Hour they continually Firing and our Reys calling to them and making a heavy Noise the other Sanbiquer stood in nearer than we and
relating to the Kingdom of Aethiopia which I shall here give the Reader an account of CHAP. LXIX Of Aethiopia Aethiopia AEThiopia or the Countrey of the Abyssins called in Arabick Abesch from whence comes the word Abyssin is a great Empire being above seven months travel in Circuit on the East-side it is bordered by the Red-Sea and Zanguebar on the South with Zeila Avousa Naria c. On the West by the Countrey of the Negros and Nubia and on the North with the Countrey of Nubia and Bugia Greyn Mahomet because to come from Aethiopia into Aegypt one must cross Nubia down the Nile About an hundred years ago Greyn Mahomet King of Zeila of which the Inhabitants are all Moors Invaded Aethiopia and forced the King to save himself on a Mountain from whence he sent to demand assistance of the King of Portugal The King of Portugal assists the King of Aethiopia who immediately sent it him but hardly was he who commanded these Auxiliaries entered the Countrey when he resolved to return back again finding that they ate raw Flesh there However his brother Don Christopher had more Courage and would not return without doing some Exploit he marched up into the Countrey with about three hundred Musqueteers Fought Vanquished and killed the Moorish King and then Re-established the lawful King of Aethiopia For reward of which Service the king of Aethiopia gave Lands and Estates to all the Portuguese that stayed within his Dominions and their Off-spring are still in that Countrey The Father of this present King was a good Catholick but he dying some thirty odd years agoe the Queen his Wife who was a great Enemy to the Jesuits and no Catholick and who suffered impatiently that they should govern as they pleased the late King her Husband wrought upon her Son that succeeded him A persecution of the Roman Catholicks in Aethiopia to Persecute all the Roman Catholicks in such a manner that the Jesuits were obliged to make their Escape and he put to Death all the Capucins whom he found Since that time three Capucins more were put to Death at Schouaken for the King of Aethiopia knowing that they had a mind to come into his Kingdom sent to the Governour of Schouaken praying him to put to death those three Religious Franks The Governour of Schouaken caused their Heads to be immediately struck off and sent them to the King of Aethiopia who as a reward made him a Present of three Bags of Gold-Dust promising him as many Baggs of Gold-Dust as he should send him Heads of Franks and fifteen or sixteen years since two others have been put to Death in the Province of Oinadaga whose names were Father Fioravanti and Father Francesco In short this King is a declared Enemy to all Franks whom he accuses of being Hereticks and of having conspired to put the Crown upon the Head of one of his Enemies so that a Frank who would go into that Countrey The belief of the Aethiopians must pass for an Armenian or Cophte for the King and all his People are of the Cophtish Religion They believe but one Nature in Jesus Christ At the end of eight days they Circumcise as the Jews do and Baptise a Fortnight after Before the Jesuits went thither they Baptised none before they were thirty or forty years of Age. They say Mass as the Cophtes do but their Church-Books are in the Aethiopick Language The Patriarch of Aethiopia depends on the Patriarch of Alexandria Their Patriarch depends on the Patriarch of Alexandria and when the Patriarch of the Abyssins dies they send Deputies to Alexandria to entreat the Patriarch to send them another and he Convocating his Clergy chuses out the fittest among them whom he sends but is never any more heard of in Aegypt till he be Dead After all the Ambassadour told us that most of the People of the Countrey are Catholicks in their Heart Sennar Naria There are four Kings that pay Tribute to the King of Aethiopia to wit The King of Sennar who pays his Tribute in Horses Sennar is a very hot Countrey The King of Naria who pays his Tribute in Gold. The King of Bugia and King of Dangala Naria is a good Countrey and in that Countrey are the Mines out of which they have the Gold that passes on the Coasts of Soffala and Guiney These Mines are not deep as in many other Countreys From that Countrey also comes the Civet I think it will not be amiss here to say somewhat of Civets which are so rare in our Countrey as that they deserve to be taken notice of where one can find them They are called Civet-Cats come from Naria as I just now said and are taken in Snares The Jews in Caire keep many of them in their Houses where for buying a few drachms of Civet one may see them It is a Beast almost as big as a good Dog Civet it hath a sharp Snout small Eyes little Ears and mustachios like a Cat the Skin of it is all spotted black and white with some â—â—â—…wish specks and hath a long bushy Tail almost like a Fox It is a very wild Creature and I believe the bite of it would put a body to no small pain The Jews keep them in great square wooden Cages where they feed them with raw Mutton and Beaf cut into small Pieces The way of getting Civet When they would get from them that which is called Civet and is the Sweat of this Beast that smells so sweet they make him go back with a stick which they thrust in betwixt the Bars of the Cage and catch hold of his Tail when they have that fast they take hold also of his two hind Legs pulling him half out of the Cage by the Door which falls down upon his Back and keeps him fast there then another opens a certain Cod of Flesh that these Beasts have which is shaped like a split Gyserne and with an Iron-Spatula scrapes all the Sweat off of it within The Males have that piece of Flesh betwixt their Stones and Yard which is like a Cats The Females have it betwixt their Fundament and Privities and it is emptied of the Sweat but twice a Week each Beast yielding about a drachm at a time by what I could discern When that Sweat or Excrement is taken out it is of a whitish grey but by little and little in some short space it turns to a very brown colour It smells very sweet at a distance but near hand it stinks and causes a Head-ach There are as many kinds of Civet-Sweat as there are of Civet-Cats for it is more whitish greyish or yellowish and dryer in some than in others and yet they mingle all together There is no pure Civet to be had After all it is in vain to think to have pure Civet for the Jews falsifie it and if a Man imagine it to be pure because he has seen it
taken from the Beast he is mistaken for before People come to their Houses they rub the inside of that piece of Flesh with a little Oyl or some such stuff that so the Sweat and it together may make more weight but when no body is present they take it out pure and mingle it afterwards To find out the truth of this I went one day to the House of a Jew that kept Civet Cats without giving him notice before for because I had bought a little of him and promised to come again another time he asked me as often as he saw me what day I would come and having desired him to get me some fresh Civet he told me that it was not the day he used to take it out and having returned without acquainting him before upon one of the days when he said he was accustomed to gather it he refused then also to do it pretending business which confirmed all that had been told me of that maitter In the mean time they hold these Beasts very dear for havihg asked that Jew and others also how much they would have of me for a Civet Cat Dangala Baberins they all told me an hundred Chequins Dangala is the Capital City of Nubia the King of Dangala is King of the Barberins who are a kind of Blacks of the Musulman Religion that came in crouds to Caire to get Services they are somewhat silly but very faithful and serve for a small matter for two Maidins a day or a Maidin and their Diet you may make them do whatsoever you please They wear a blew-Shirt plat all their Hair in Tresses and then rub it over with a certain Oyl to keep their Head from being Lousie At Caire when they have any falling out they go before the Scheiks of their own Nation who make them Friends and if they think It convenient adjudge them to pay a Fine with which they Feast and make merry together They are great lovers of Crocodiles Flesh and when any Frank has got one for the Skin they come and beg the Flesh which they dress with a pretty good Sawce When these blades have scraped together ten or twelve Piastres they return home again wealthy to their own Countrey provided they escape being Robbed by the Arabs upon the way who many times serve them so therefore they commonly return in companies as they came The King of Dangala pays his Tribute to the King of Aethiopia in Cloath The Provinces of Aethiopia are Gouyan where the King keeps a Vice-Roy Beghandir Dambia Amara which is a great Province full of Mountains and good Castles Damoud Tegre and Barnegas Besides there are several Provinces Governed by Princes who are Vassals to the King of Aethiopia In short the Kingdom of Aethiopia comprehends twenty four Tambours or Vice-Roys The Capital City is called Gonthar and is in the Province of Dambia Aethiopia as the Ambassadour told me is as cold as Aleppo or Damascus only the Countries near the Red-Sea and the Countrey of Sennar are hot The King of Aethiopia has above an hundred Wives and keeps no Eunuchs to look after them because they look upon it as a Sin to Geld a Man so that the Women have the same liberty there as in Christendom He is a King of very easie access and the poorest have the freedom to come and speak to him when they please He keeps all his Children on a Mountain called Ouohhni in the Province of Oinadaga which is a Mountain two days Journey distant from Gonthar there is a place like a Cistern on the top of the Mountain into which they are let down every night and taken up again in the day-time and suffered to play and walk about When the King dies they chuse out one of the wittiest of them and make him King without any regard to Birth-right and when he comes to have Children he sends his Brothers Prisoners to some other place and places his Children at Ouohhni The place where the Kings are Buried is called Ayesus and is a kind of Grott where the Aged are laid in one side and the young in the other Heretofore there was a Church there of the same name in time of the Jesuits and in the same place there is an excellent Library where are all sorts of Books in all kinds of Languages in great plenty and may be seen by those who have the Curiosity The Ambassadour assured me that he had been in that Library and I fancy it is the old Library of the Ancient Aethiopians Aethiopia is a good and fertile Countrey producing Wheat Barley c. The greatest Desarts of it are not above three or four days Journey over and nevertheless when the King makes any progress he always lodges in Tents The Houses of the great Lords are like those of Caire that is to say very mean in respect of the Houses of Europe and the rest are only of Mud. The Countrey affords men of all Trades except Watch-makers They have no Camels there but Mules Asses Oxen and Horses All the people of this Countrey eat raw Flesh except the King who has it dress'd and drinks Wine of Grapes the rest drink only Wine made of Millet or Sarasin wheat but as strong as ours and Brandy made of the same Grain They are Cloathed after the fashion of the Franks and wear Cloath Velvet and other Stuffs imported to them by the Red-Sea They have Harquebusses from the Turks and of those People there are not above three or four hundred who serve in the Wars with Harquebusses In Trading they make no use of Coined Money as the Europeans do but their money are pieces of fifteen or twenty Pics of Cloath Gold which they give by weight and a kind of Salt which they reduce into little square pieces like pieces of Soap and these pass for Money They cut out that Salt upon the side of the Red-Sea five or six days Journey from Dangala as you go from Caire and the places where they make it are called Arho Among them is the Nation of the Gaules whom in Aethiopick they call Chava and are a Vagabond people in Aethiopia as the Arabs are in Aegypt these Gaules are rich in Cattel and are always at Wars with the Aethiopians They have no Harquebusses nor other Fire-Arms but make use of Lances and Targets After all they speak so many different Languages in Aethiopia that the Ambassadour said to me If God hath made seventy two Languages they are all spoken in Aethiopia I asked his Excellency if he knew any thing of the Source of the Nile and this he told me concerning it The head of Nile is a Well that springs out of the Ground in a large Plain where many Trees grow this Fountain is called Ouembromma and is in a Province called Ago It makes that a very delightful place casting up Water very High in several places And this Ambassadour of Aethiopia assured me that he had been above twelve times with the
Month of December and at the same time it Thundered so much that the eleventh or twelfth night of the said month a man in the Castle was killed by Thunder though it had never been heard before that Thunder had killed any body at Caire It is cold weather also in December which I found by experience but it is never so cold that one stands in need of a Fire In the other Seasons it is extream hot but especially in Summer From January till March they catch Snipes in Aegypt in May yellow Birds or Nitrials Fowling in Aegypt which are nothing but a lump of Fat and wild-Turtles which are very good but for the house-Pigeons they are good for nothing In September also yellow Birds and Turtles which come again and at the same time Larks that last till the years end This Countrey indeed is not only most fertile but also very pleasant and it is not without reason that I said elsewhere that Aegypt is an Earthly Paradise inhabited by Devils but certainly the oppression the people lye under from their Governours abates much of their Pleasure as I shall say hereafter This Countrey produces a great deal of Corn and Herbs of all sorts but no Fruits nor Wine for it yields but very few Grapes which are of those great red Grapes that have a very thick Skin and little Juice in them Trees of Aegypt Many fair Trees grow there which we have not in this Countrey and especially Palm-Trees and the Sycamores or Fig-Trees of Pharaoh which differ from those Trees we call Sycamores for those of Aegypt are the true Sycamores they bear Figgs that stick to the stock which are not good and yet the Moors for all that eat them there are also Cassia-Trees there which are very lovely they bear always both Blossoms and Fruit the Blossoms of them being yellow and having a very pleasant Scent which may be smell'd at a great distance I wave many other plants as the Colocasse and Papyrus c. which are described in Prosper Alpinus CHAP. LXXIII Of the Manners of the Aegyptians the Woman who pulls Worms out of Childrens Ears and of the Arabick Language Caire Masr or Misr CAire the chief City of Aegypt called in Arabick Masr and in Turkish Misr as the whole Province of Aegypt is whereof it is the Capital is peopled by several different Nations The Nations that Inhabit Caire who may be reduced into some kinds for there are the people of the Countrey who are either Musulmans or Christians the Musulmans of the Countrey are the Moors the Christians and the Cophtes Besides these there are the Stranger Christians Turks and Jews the stranger Christians are either Franks or Greeks I shall here speak first of the Moors after I have said a word or two of the Aegyptians in general The People of the Countrey The manners of the Aegyptians generally speaking both Musulmans and Christians are all swarthy they are exceeding wicked great Rogues Cowardly lazy Hypocrites Buggerers Robbers treacherous very greedy of Money and will kill a man for a Maidin in short no vice comes a miss to them they are Cowards to the highest degree and are very loath to fight but when they fall out they huff scold and make a terrible noise as if they would cut one anothers Throats and nevertheless they refer their controversie to the next man they meet who makes them good Friends again then Spectators and all together for they soon gather to a croud lifting up their Hands say the prayer which they call Fatha I mean when they are Moors and then they are better Friends than ever they were before These wretches are used by the Turks like slaves or rather like Dogs for they govern them with a Cudgel and a Turk will knock a Moor on the head and he not dare to resist and indeed when they speak to a Turk they do it with great respect They labour and cultivate all the Land and yet the Bread they eat is very bad and have not their Bellies full of that neither though it be a most plentiful Countrey and indead they are of so bad a nature that they want to be well beaten and love those the better for it who beat them like Dogs serving very well when they are soundly drubbed whereas they are insupportable and will do nothing when they are gently used Dgibn Halum They live a wretched life their most ordinary Diet being salt Cheese which they call Dgibn Halum with very course Bread their Bread is as broad as our Plates made like thin Buns and consists only of two round pieces of paste and as thin as Parchment clap'd together and shewed to the Fire so that one of them may very well be eaten at three mouthfuls but it is so bad not only for the blackness of it but as being ill kned worse bak'd and full of Coals and Ashes that I could never accustome my self to it It is cheap enough indeed for you may have eight of these Cakes for a Maidin which is worth about three half pence For their Desert or after-course they suck Sugar-Canes they are also great eaters of ordinary Melons water-Melons and the like whereof they have great plenty and many sorts which we have not yet all cannot attain to them though they be extraordinarily cheap They are Apparrelled like the Turks when they are able I mean the Moors for the Christians wear neither any green nor the white Turban but most part of them are half naked and many have no more but a blew shirt upon their body They are a very ignorant sort of people and yet have Secrets which surprize the most knowing many thinking them to be knacks of Magick for to see a man take up a Viper in the Fields handle and stroak it open the mouth of it and put his Finger therein without the least hurt seems very strange to me They bring whole Sacks full of them into the City and sell them to the Apothecaries They come often to the Quarter of the French and boldly thrusting their hand into their Sacks pull out a whole handful of them One day one of these blades handling his Vipers in this manner in the quarter of the French they brought a Pullet and made one of the Vipers bite it which immediately thereupon died so that it evidently appeared that the Moor had something about him which preserved him against their Poyson But I cannot tell what to say of a Moorish Woman who lives in a corner close by the quarter of France A Moorish Woman that pulls Worms out of Childrens Ears and pulls worms out of Childrens Ears When a Child does nothing but cry and that they know it is ill they carry it to that Woman who laying the Child on its side upon her knee scratches the Ear of it and then Worms like those which breed in musty weevely Flower seem to fall out of the Childs Ear then turning it on the
Aegypt consists of 1200. Purses which make thirty Millions of Maidins that is Nine hundred and nine thousand and ninety Piastres Royals and thirty Maidins so that five Haznas are fifty millions of Maidins or Four millions five hundred forty five thousand four hundred fifty four Piastres Royals and eighteen Maidins One of these Hazna is sent to the Grand Signior in Money another in Provisions a third is employed in paying the Soldiers and all Officers in Aegypt the fourth is for the Present of Mecha and the last for the Basha He is besides all this obliged now and then to give great Sums for securing himself in his Place at least till he be reimbursed the money that he hath laid out For instance One at Constantinople may perhaps offer the Grand Signior Two hundred thousand Piastres to be made Basha of Caire this is made known to him that is in place who if he have a mind to keep his place must give the same sum that the other hath offered and so has the Preference I believe the Grand Signior often imposes upon them in this manner So in the Year 1658. on the first of July an Olak arrived at Caire from Constantinople who brought the Basha a Sword and Caftan from the Grand Signior as a Testimony that he continued him in the Bashaship of Aegypt It was thought at first that the Olak was come to make him Mansoul because it commonly happens that at the end of the Ramadan when they have sent the Hazna to Constantinople they are made Mansouls But this Man that he might be before-hand with his Enemies had ordered three thousand Purses to be given some time before at Constantinople for his Confirmation in the place for which the Grand Signior continued him in the Government The cause of the Avanies of the Basha of Aegypt Officers of Aegypt Charavalla The Seraf of the Basha Seraf Basha Cadilesquer of Aegypt This Olak entred the Castle in the Morning with the Caftan and Sword and then the Guns went off for joy It is not to be thought strange that this Basha so tyrannically oppresses People but rather that he does not do it more Every Basha brings with him from Constantinople the Charavalla who takes care to Collect all the Customs of Aegypt which wholly depend on him and he Lodges in the Serraglio of the Basha Every one brings with him also his Seraf who manages his Money As for the Seraf Basha who is another Jew taken at Caire he takes care of the Grand Signior's Revenue Then there is at Caire the Cadilesquer or chief Judge who is at Caire what the Mufti is at Constantinople and is Independent of the Basha being sent or recalled immediately by the Grand Signior After them Sangiack Beys of Aegypt Charkish Beys of Aegypt there is in Aegypt Twenty four Sangiack Beys and of those who are called Charkish Beys there are above forty The Charkish Beys were Instituted before the Sangiacks and their care is to Guard the City yet they are inferiour to the Sangiack Beys whose province is to keep the Country Each Bey has a Purse a Month and to procure the place it costs at least an Hundred thousand Piastres Beys of Aegypt partly given at Constantinople and partly in Aegypt Most of these Beys are Renegadoes that have been Slaves who endeavour at their own cost to make some of their slaves Beys in their own Life-time that they may have them at their devotion These Beys are the Lords of the Country and are very powerful some of them can command Ten thousand Arabs in the Country at an hours warning There is one of these Sangiack Beys always at old Caire who keeps Guard there and another upon the Road from the Matharee to Boulac and at some other places of Caire for fear of the Arabs and these Sangiack Beys mount the Guard by turns and stay on every one his Mouth Custom-Houses in Aegypt There are two Custom-Houses belonging to Caire to wit one at Boulac for what comes from Rossetto and Damiette and another at old Caire for what comes from Sayde or the Thebais There is in Caire also a Sous-basha who is as it were a Mayor or Provost he hath three Officers under him Asar Basha Devedar to wit the Asar Basha who is a Chorbagi the Devedar who is his Lieutenant and the Oda Basha There is a Sous-basha also at Boulac and another at old Caire Payed Soldiers in Aegypt As to the Militia there are Twelve thousand Janizaries in Aegypt of whom there is Seven thousand in Caire besides Thirty five thousand others who are under pay in the Country When the Janizaries march in body about ten in Front a Janizary carries a Borachio full of Water with several Cups to give his Comerades who are dry Water to drink and this charge is so Honourable that when they are removed from it they are made Chorbagis Basch Chaousch Alai Chaousch Koutcbu Chaousch Chorbadgi Oda Basha The Officers of the Janizaries are the Aga who is General the Kiaya who is his Lieutenant the Basch Chaousch who is Ensign the Beitulmal Chaousch the Alai Chaousch who is Serjeant Major the Koutchu Chaousch who calls the Chorbadgi that is Captain of a Company the Oda Basha who is the chief of a Division To rise to any of these Offices one must have been Saradge to the Kiaya or Aga then they mount up from the lowest to the highest of these places The Chorbagis are made either for Money or some signal piece of Service No Moors Janizaries Oda Bashas are presented according to Seniority No Moors are made Janizaries and they exclude them that they may keep them always under Nevertheless the strength of Aegypt consists chiefly in the Arabs of the Country who will get together into a Body of several thousand Horse in the twinkling of an Eye CHAP. LXXIX Of Punishments in Vse in Aegypt THE usual Punishments in Aegypt are Beheading Punishments in Aegypt which they dextrously perform For the Sous-basha finding a Robber or any one that looks like such seises him and making him kneel one of his Men cuts off his Head at one blow with a Shable and yet not striking with great force neither but drawing towards him the Shable and so usiing the whole length of it he never fails at the first blow to sever the Head from the Body Impaling Impaling is also a very ordinary Punishment with them which is done in this manner They lay the Malefactor upon his Belly with his Hands tied behind his Back then they slit up his Fundament with a Razor and throw into it a handful of Paste that they have in readiness which immediately stops the Blood after that they thrust up into his Body a very long Stake as big as a Mans Arm sharp at the point and tapered which they grease a little before when they have driven it in with a Mallet till it come out at his
about it all the while with West-north-west and North-winds Our Mates told us that they were always a long time in doubling that Cape and sometimes spent three Weeks about it About five a Clock in the Evening we Sailed betwixt the Isle of Zimbre and an Isle or Rock that is almost mid-way betwixt the Main-land and Zimbre Zimbre Zimbre is Inhabited has convenient Anchorage by it and good Water in it From Zimbre it is but forty Miles to Goletta Having passed Zimbre we stood off from Land intending not to enter Goletta till next day because of the many Flats that are on that Coast Friday night and Saturday morning the eighth of March we had greater gusts of Wind and Rain than before and if we had not doubled the Cape we must have been a long time still before we could have done it considering the Weather that happened afterward During these storms a Moor on board of us died who had been ill of a Bloody Flux almost ever since the beginning of our Voyage and next morning he was thrown over-board At length on Saturday the eighth of March about seven a Clock in the Morning we came into the Port or rather the Road of Goletta for it is not a Harbour but a Road that lies open to the South east Wind and in all Barbary there are but two good Ports to wit Porto Farina Porto Farina Porto Stera Biserta Vtica and Porto Stera The Harbour for the Galleys of Tunis is Biserta a little Town threescore Miles from Tunis Biserta was formerly called Vtica and here it was that Cato killed himself wherefore he was called Cato Vticensis We came to an Anchor near a Point of Land where the Sepulchre of Dido is The Sepulchre of Dido Marabout and a Marabout or Sheick is Interred there So soon as we had dropt Anchor Don Philippo sent ashoar one of his Men who having informed a poor Moor whom he met that Don Philippo was arrived the poor Man ran with all the speed he could to the Town to carry the news to Don Philippo's Mother who was overjoyed thereat and gave him twenty Crowns for a Reward he was no more expected at Tunis and it was thought he was gone back again into Christendom having been absent almost two Years Sunday the ninth of March we went ashoar and when Don Philippo left the Ship they fired fifteen Guns He found several Men on Horse-back and amongst them all his Brothers who were come out to receive him CHAP. LXXXIX Of Goletta and our Arrival at Tunis Goletta GOletta is no more but two Castles whereof the one was built by the Emperour Charles the fifth and the other by Ahmet Dey the Father of Don Philippo who perceiving that the Galleys of Malta came and took ships in the Road without any damage from the Guns of the Castle built this last which is very low and has seven or eight great Gun-holes two foot above the Water by which the Guns play level with the surface of it This Castle is round on the side next the Sea and that of Charles the fifth is almost square Between these two Castles there are three Houses one belonging to the Family of Don Philippo the other to the Bey and the other to Schelebi the Son of Hisouf Dey who is called barely Schelebi because he was Born during the time his Father Reigned When we had refreshed our selves a little in the House of Don Philippo we took Boat and went to Tunis by the Canal or rather Lake which in the beginning is very narrow there being many Canes fixed all round in the bottom of the Water for catching of Fish afterwards it grows very wide It is not commonly above five span deep in Water then it was very shallow and had many dry places in it which with the least Wind are quickly covered and that very high with Water Don Philippo went by Land with his company mounted on a stately Horse that was brought him The first thing we saw upon that Water was a Hill to the left hand very near the Sea-side where there are natural Baths of Water almost boyling hot There is a Bagnio built there and it is called Hamarmulf Hamarmulf Zagouam then a little further on upon the same side they shewed us a high Hill called Zagouam which is a great way from this Lake and a days Journey distant from Tunis there there is a little Town of Tagarins or Andalaous called also Zagouam When the Christians possessed that Countrey there were Aqueducts that brought Water from thence to the City of Carthage at present they are broken but some Arches with the Fountains and Cisterns still remain to be seen As we came near to Tunis we saw a great many Olive-Trees and abundance of other Trees which denote a good Countrey In four hours time we arrived at Tunis though with a little wind they go it many times in two hours but we were many times imbayed By Land it is eighteen miles from Goletta to Tunis If they pleased they might make a good Port at Tunis but then the Town would not be so strong or at least not so secure From the place where you Land it is a mile still to the Town where being arrived we went to lodge at the House of Monsieur Le Vacher a Perisian Priest and Father of the Mission who was then Consul for the French and he received us very Affectionately CHAP. XC Of the Countrey-Houses and other places that are to be seen about Tunis TWO days after our arrival Don Philippo sent for us to shew us a Countrey-House he had half a League from the Town The Countrey about Tunis is full of these Countrey Houses which are built like the Bastides about Marseilles Don Philippo's is very pretty it is built in form of a square Tower and higher than any about it from the Hall to the top of the Tower there are an hundred and eleven steps up and from thence there is an excellent Prospect which discovers on all hands a lovely Plain reaching out of sight full of Olive-Trees In it there is a great Hall open above with covered Galleries round it which have the Roof supported by several Pillars In the middle of this open place there is a great reservatory of Water which serves for several Water-works All this place is adorned with Marble as also all the Halls and Chambers which are beautified with Gold and Azure and very pleasant Plaister-work there being Fountains every where that play when one pleases One should also see the Bardes which are three Houses built by the Bey for his three Sons a League from Tunis This Bey is as it were the Basha's Farmer to whom he gives so much of the Revenue due to the Grand Signior in the Countrey which he gathers and the rest he keeps to himself He was not at that time Bey but Basha and his eldest Son was Bey In these Houses
nine of the Clock we passed by a little square Castle El-Bouraidgee called El-Bouraidgee of which the Gates are faced with Iron Upon the Walls I saw two small Falcons or Petreras appearing out at the Battlements Then for above an hour we struck off to the North-West amongst little hills and half an hour after ten entered into a great Plain where nothing grew but Heath and Abrotonum faemina Assoon as we entered that Plain we discover'd Assia Assia where we arrived about one of the Clock We encamped close by Assia which is a little very weak Castle The Han of Assia but it joins to a goodly Han of Free-stone under the Gate whereof there is a Market kept as at Cteifa Along one of the sides therof to wit the West-side there reaches a half pace vaulted and arched over for the Lodging of Travellers it is so likewise in one half of the two sides that lie to the North and East The other two half sides are employed for Doors Shops and Cellars In the middle of the fourth and East-side there is a Gate by which one enters into a Court where there are several appartments more two or three Foot raised from the ground that so the Men may be separated from the Beasts and each of them has its Chimney you have the like behind the Arches of the first Court in a word it is almost like to that of Cteifa but not so handsome In the middle of the Court there is a square Mosque covered with a Dome rough cast and close by a little watering place which three little Channels continually fill with fair water that runs pretty near that Han. from the second Court we enter into a place which they say is the Castle built of rough Stone but it hath no figure of a Castle and is a bare enclosure ef low Walls Nevertheless several Families for most part Greeks have their aboad there About fifty paces from that pretended Castle there is a little Village not to be seen but by chance as it happened to me when I was walking for there are about twenty Earthen houses a fathom high built in a large square Ditch so deep that the Roofs or Terrasses of the houses are two or three fathom lower than the level of the Fields about so that when one is upon the brink of that Ditch the houses seem so low that at first I took it for a Quarry Friday Morning the five and twentieth of April we parted from Assia three hours before day at the break of day we met a Caravan of Mules carrying Pilgrims to Damascus who were going thither on their way to Mecha A little after we passed by a small Castle called Chemsin Chemsin We then continued our Journey North-wards through a great Plain full of Daffadils Crow-foots Wind-flowers Willow-herbs Hyssop folio luteo Daffadils Crowfoots Wind-flowers Willow-herbs Hyssop Dragon-wort Harmolans Hams The Countrey of Job Dragon-wort and several other Flowers which by their variety and multitude yielded a very lovely prospect In that Countrey there are also a great many Harmolans and I saw plenty of them in all the places of Asia through which I past Before Noon we arrived at Hams and encamped in a place by the side of the Town near the Burying-place The Inhabitants believe that that Town was the Countrey of Job In passing I viewed the Castle which is situated on a little hill of an oval figure that tapers from the bottom to the top it is all covered over with herbs but so steep that I think there is but one way to get up to it and that made on purpose too upon it stands the Castle which in some places has great breaches In those quarters all the Castles are built on hills I perceived very well that the Village was long but that is all I could observe because my Moucre made me get under the Tent of one of his Friends to avoid the Caffare which was of twenty Piastres and would needs also have me put on a white Turban before I came to the Town that so I might pass for a Turk but I would not do it In that Plain where we encamped there are a great many ancient Sepulchres in form of a Pyramide and amongst others I saw one which I judged to be that on which Belo and Pietro della Valle observed an inscription but seeing the Sun was set before I went thither I can say nothing as to that In that place there is a Cachef who is placed there by the Basha of Damascus We parted from Hams on Saturday the twenty sixth of April a little while after mid-night and marched still Northwards and through the same Plain we had the day before About Eight in the Morning we passed near a little Village called Restan Restan in the middle whereof there is a Mosque covered with a Dome rough cast Some hundreds of paces from thence we found a fair stone-Bridge paved with large Stones In going thither we past by the Gate of a Han which reaches along the River's side at each Corner it is flanked with a round Tower and in the middle of it there is a Mosque covered with a Dome rough cast over Then we crossed the Bridge which they call Dgeser Restan Dgeser Restan that is to say the Bridge of Restan I thought that Bridge had taken its Name from the Village but I was told that the River also was called Restan Asi though its common Name be Asi that 's to say rebell because said one of the Caravan to me it is a very rapid River and especially at that place This Bridge hath ten Arches somewhat more than a fathom broad Orontes and a little higher and it is the Orontes of the Ancients that runs under it Before it reach the Bridge it makes two little Isles like to very pleasant Gardens Over against the middle of the Bridge towards a Han there is a great square pile of building in the Water through which the Water passing makes on the other side lovely cascades or falls so that there seems to be some mill within but I heard no noise of any At that place the River is as broad as the Bridge is long but then its Channel is streightened to six or seven fathom over as before and in some places to less making many turnings amongst the hills where it runs but the Water of it is thick and muddy Having crossed that Bridge we left the River taking our way Northward and saw many good Corn-fields Two hours after we discovered Hama Hama where we arrived after Noon Apamea Hama is the Ancient Apamea of Syria a great Town seated on the side of a hill having a Basha and a Castle To please my Moucre I put my self as I did the day before under the Tent of a Friend on the other side of the Burying-place where the Caravan encamped and he went and encamped elsewhere that
would have perswaded me to stay till the heats were over I agreed with a Turk who had hired several Mules Agreement for transportation from Aleppo to Mosul and Bagdad and gave him thirty Piastres to transport me my man and baggage by Land to Mosul and from Mosul to Bagdad by Keleck and to clear me of all Caffares some days after he would have three Piastres more and Cloath-Stockins for four Piastres I gave him all in hand as he desired though I thought it not the safest course but onely that I might not baulk a friend from whom I had received many kindnesses and who had made the bargain for me Seeing he had never travelled that Journey himself and that he thought every man as honest as he was he perswaded himself that he had done very well for me In the mean time the onely way is to bargain with the Muletors and not to pay them in hand for if I had done so it would not have cost me so much That Turk payed the Muletor but fifteen Piastres for the two Mules and a half that I had loaded and all the rest of the Caravan payed no more but six Piastres a Mule. Besides Six Piastres a Mule. that infidel told me many times upon the road that he had neither agreed for my baggage nor for the Caffares and would have I know not how many Piastres more and in fine I was forced to pay new charges from Mosul to Bagdad I parted from Aleppo on Sunday the nine and twentieth of June accompanied with several French Merchants on Horse-back who would needs do me that honour to see me to the Caravan which was in the Meidan by the Gardens close by the City I went out by the Gate Bab-El-Barkousa and my Servant told me who had been there with my Goods two days that the Night before one of my Fire-locks had been stollen A Theft and some Goods taken from others It behoved me to be contented since others were in the same condition and that they told me they had seen the Thieves and pursued them but could not overtake them These thieves slide cunningly along upon their bellies like Snakes and therefore in all that Journey they lye not in tents in the Night-time but on the contrary unpitch them at Night because then as they say they serve onely for spectacles to Robbers Next morning at the break of day we set forward on our Journey and were at first troubled with cold for some time We marched till nine of the Clock and then encamped in a Field called Sammaia Sammaia near the River of Aleppo that runs by this place and has a little Bridge over it We parted from thence on Tuesday the first of July about break of day and about nine a Clock we met a great Caravan coming from Mosul in which there was a Watch-maker who came from Persia where he had long lived with his Wife and Children After we had discoursed a little together we parted there Caravan going on to Sammaia and ours about ten in the morning stopping in a field called Chetanli Chetanli where a little Brook runs among Reeds From Aleppo to that place we had always kept East-North-East and from thence to Bi r our way lay East Next day being Wednesday the second of July we parted from Cheranli about break of day and about ten in the Morning came to a great Village called Mazar Mazar near to which we encamped This place hath much wood and water about it which renders it very pleasant and here you may see a very lovely Cascade of nine or ten Stories which has been made for a Water-mill hard by We began then to feel it very hot both day and night Next morning July the third we decamped about two Clock after midnight and at break of day past betwixt two grounds where a great many Fig-trees were planted in streight rows About half an hour after seven we marched betwixt two Hillocks upon one of which to the right hand there is a Building with a kind of a Pyramide Half an hour after we came to the Banks of Euphrates Euphrates which seemed to me to be no bigger than the River of Seine but they say it is very broad in Winter and the truth is its bed is twice as broad This River is called Frat and Mourat Soui that 's to say the water of desire because say they a Calife of Bagdad having sent for a little of all the Waters of the Countrey The Water of Euphrates is very light and having caused them to be weighed the Water of Euphrates was found to be the lightest This River runs very slowly and is navigable for little Barks as far up as the place where it joyns the Tygris but great Barks go onely from Bi r to Rousvania Rousvania which is a Village distant from Bi r about ten days Journey and then they unload their Goods which are carried upon Camels to Bagdad which is but a small days Journey from it where they are conveyed by Water upon the Tygris Thus do the barks loaded with glass of which I shall presently speak go to Baslora Not that this River is so unnavigable as some would have it for whilst I was at Aleppo the Scheick Bandar hired a bark to carry by Euphrates to Rousvania five or six hundred cases of glass which he sent to the Indies The reason why great barks go not beyond Rousvania is because there are some Rocks in the River which hinder their passage but are avoided by smaller Boats. Nevertheless I should have taken that occasion to go to Bagdad had I not been told that the barks stopped some days in certain places where the passage is best and go but very slowly and that besides I could not in the least stir from the bark without danger of being robbed by the Arabs nor stay on board without being much incommoded by the heat because they have no Deck I wondered to see that they who baled up these Chests for the Scheick Bandar tumbled them so rudely that they broke all the glass but they told me that it mattered not though it were all broken into pieces because the Indian Men and Women buy it onely to have little pieces set in Rings which serve them for Looking-glasses to see themselves in That glass is all over laid with Quick-silver on one side and is a very saleable commodity in the Indies and profitable to the Merchants The Boats of Euphrates We crossed over Euphrates in great boats which have the rudder about three foot distant from the stern of the boat below as Pietro della Valle reports and I think no other reason need to be given for it but that of frugality because these kinds of boats cost them less than if they were made like ours for their rudder is no more but pieces of board nailed cross-ways to the end of Poles and that would signifie nothing
dues from our Caravan and took my Sword out of my Tent which he left in the hands of the Kervan-Bassa pretending a Piastre from me as being a Franck but having spoken to my Moucre he went and brought back my Sword. Next day a Thief stole the Doliman or long Coat of one of our Company A Thief but after a very bold and in some manner pleasant way We stayed and lay at the house of a Physician who was a Franck and being asleep in the cool upon a Mastabe of his Court about an hour before day a nimble Rogue cunningly opened the Gate and came softly to the Doliman which was near to him it belonged to he awakening at the noise the Thief made in emptying his Pockets was not at all startled on the contrary thinking it was his man he twice called him by his Name at which our Thief who as I think had no design to carry off the Doliman but onely what was in the Pockets imagining that he was discovered whipt away Doliman and all In the mean time the onely remedy was not to talk of it for if the Sousbasha had come to know it he would have come to the House and seized all that he found in it protesting that there were no Thieves in the Town and that the Theft must be proved by producing the Thief At Orfa there is pretty good Wine both White and Claret CHAP. X. The Continuation of the Journey to Mosul by Codgiasar the Countrey of Merdin and Nisibin Departure from Orfa SAturday the twelfth of July we parted from Orfa at two of the Clock in the Morning we had put off our departure for two days that we might learn news of the Arabs but at length when we were on our way we heard that there were above a thousand of the Arabs Tents in the place where we were to encamp the first Night This gave so fearfull an allarm to all our Caravan though it consisted of two hundred men armed with Muskets or Lances that it was resolved we should leave the High-way which was almost East or East-North-East and instead of that we took our way streight North-East on that side we found some Cuodes with their flocks who perceiving us were themselves in great fear for they took us for Arabs Heretofore they robbed in Troops on Horse-back but the Arabs having often routed them they have forsaken the trade onely in the Night-time they come creeping on their Bellies and endeavour to snap somewhat in the Caravans but on the Frontiers of Bagdad and Persia they are bolder than in those quarters Dgiallab Having twice crossed the small River or Brook of Dgiallab about ten of the Clock we encamped in a plain called Edue where I cured one of our Moucres of a head-ach that had held him three days with a fore-head Cloath dipt in Brandy on which I put bruised Pepper Edue The plain of Edue is watered by the Brook Dgiallab which at this place is as broad as the River of the Gobelines at Paris the head of it is an hours march from thence North-Eastward in a place called Pouar-Bashi that 's to say the Fountain-head wherein Sanson is mistaken who makes it to come from Mount Taurus An errour in Geography to the North of Orfa by which he makes it to run and then fall into Euphrates and nevertheless it runs not by Afra but having watered many Villages it loses it self under ground some days Journey from Edue In this plain there is a score of Tombs of Free-stone and on most of them a Stone-figure that dully represents a Lyon and at the sides of it a Buckler and Sword painted red They are the Tombs of some brave Curds who have died in the Wars We parted from Edue on Sunday the thirteenth of July half an hour after three in the morning as it had been published in the Camp the evening before all were likewise warned by a publick cry to take heed to themselves because of the many Robbers that were there abouts and that for that reason they would not load but by day-light We marched North-East and an hour after we were engaged amongst Hills but without any ascending and there we saw the source of Dgiallab The Source of Dgiallab We were not above three quarters of an hour among these Mountains and coming out from among them we entered into a Plain where we all found that we were out of our way however we still kept on East-North East but a little more to the North-ward that we might find Water to encamp by Turcomans About Eleven of the Clock we found a score of Turcoman Horse men armed with Muskets and Lances but they said nothing to us and I believe it was because they durst not though I was told that they have robbed no more since a Basha of Diurbeck called Dilaver provoked by the great Robberies they committed marched out and made a great slaughter of them After that we crossed over a Countrey full of little hills amongst which there were some small plains full of Thistles and Stones which made abominable way and we were so tired marching from hill to hill that we were all afraid we should be forced to march so till next day But at length a quarter after one of the Clock at Noon we arrived half roasted upon one of these little hills called Toubangiou where having found a Well of Spring-water Toubangiou we encamped by it from the top of these hills we had a view of the Mountains called Caradgia-Daglar Caradgia-Daglar About eleven a Clock at Night we had an allarm from twenty five Curdish Horse-men who came towards our Camp who being discovered the allarm was given for it had been published in the Evening that we should all watch for one another Allarmed at the sound of a Flute instead of a Drum and some of our Men marching out of the Camp and putting themselves in a posture to fire upon the Curds they cried aloud praying us not to fire upon them because they were going a hunting and so went on their way We spent every Night in this manner inciting one another to watch and singing to keep us from sleeping We parted next Morning about a quarter after three for we marched no more now before break of day that we might not be surprised Our way was East a little towards the South-East and about six a Clock we found fifteen or twenty of the Curds Tents made of the hair of black Goats Tents of the Curds under which were several Women and Children about eight of the Clock we found above sixty of them and three quarters of an hour after we encamped near a Well of Spring-water in a place called Alaki Alaki These Curds came and sold Provisions in our Camp but most part of them would not take Money but onely Soap or Tobacco and chiefly Soap and though they were offered Ten pence for that which was
not worth Eight pence they would not take it saying that they would not give it for a Piastre but for Soap they would The Night following we had a very cold Wind but not so the day after for then it was excessively hot We parted from Alaki on Tuesday the fifteenth of July about three of the Clock in the Morning and marched on East-South East An hour after we left the bad way full of Stones which we had constantly had from Orfa and entered into a great Plain having always to the left the Mountains Caradgia which are the Mount Taurus The Mountains of Caradgia or Taurus that reaches from above Ofra to Diarbeck towards the East and from thence South-East till over against Kinzilken and till near to Nisibin towards the North-East and from thence South-East till within two days Journey of Mosul About six a Clock I was told that the Town of Diarbeck The Town of Diarbeck called in Armenian Amid was two long or three short days march to our left hand and that was the nearest we came to it Half an hour after seven we passed by a little Chappel covered with a stone-Dome wherein there is a Tomb which the People of the Countrey say is the Tomb of Job Jobs Tomb. and at present there is a Santo who prays at the back of that Chappel for this is a famous place of Pilgrimage and this Santo hath a little Cell near a Well of good Spring-water Half an hour after eight we arrived at the foot of a hillock on which stands a Village called Telghiouran Telghiouran Tel in Arabick signifies a little hill and we encamped in the Plain near a Fountain This day and the preceeding we found by the way many plants called Agnus Castus or Canabis Canabis Agnus castus for they grow three foot high and have the leaves divided by fives like a hand the middlemost being the longest and then the two next to it the two last are the least they are jagged in the middle and white underneath in short that plant ends at the top in an ear of several little Flowers of a very bright blew they grow among the Stones and may be seen there in great tufts I must here also observe some faults in Sansons Mapp of Diarbeck An errour in Geography Mid-way from Orfa to Telghiouran we should have passed a River which he calls Soaid and makes it to come from Mount Taurus pass by Caraemit and a great deal after fall into Euphrates nevertheless in all our Caravan there was not one who could give me any tidings of that Water and from Orfa to Telghiouran we passed no other Water but Dgiallab Other errours Besides he hath made so many faults in the positions of places and in their distances as also in the changing their Names that nothing is to be known by it and though I named to many of our Caravan most of the Names that he has put in his Diarbeck or rather Diarbekir the best way I could yet they knew not above two or three of them Caramid Amid and Diarbeck are but one and the same Town Alchabour He makes two Towns of Caramid and Amid and it is but one to wit Diarbeck He makes the River Alchabour the same with Dgiallab and that of Orfa That River of Alchabour takes its source about four days Journey from Mardin towards the South and falls into Euphrates They say that the Water of this River is so good that if after a man hath eaten a whole Lamb he drink of it he 'll not find it burthen his Stomach Chabur Chobar But it is to be observed that there is also another River called Chabur which is the Chobar mentioned in the Prophesie of Daniel it is less and has it source below Mosul on the left hand to those who go down the Tygris and at Bagdad loses it self in the Tygris and by what I could learn of an ancient Syrian of Mosul who hath many times travelled by divers ways from Mosul to Aleppo and from Aleppo to Mosul there are a great many other faults in the Mapp of Diarbeck which makes me to think that it hath been taken from bad Memoirs Telghiouran Telghiouran is a Castle enclosed with a great many Stones piled up one upon another in former times it was a great Town but through the Turkish Tyranny it was defeated There are about an hundred Houses of Armenians in it but none of Turks except of the Aga and his Servants which Aga is also customer and Chorbagi we found a little thick muddy Claret there which they bring from Mardin Under the trees at the foot of the hill there is a little Chappel where are Chains that they put about mad mens Necks and they say that if they are to be cured they fall off of themselves but if otherwise they must be taken off The Customer of this place came to our Caravan to receive his dues We parted from thence next day the sixteenth of July three quarters after three in the Morning and continued our way East-South-East About half an hour after five we saw by the way many stones and some walls of houses still standing About six a Clock we had a great allarm because those who were foremost had espied some Horse-men all made ready some lighted their matches ond others took their bow and two arrows in their hand some run this way and others that way and nevertheless it was in vain for me to ask where the Arabs were for no body could let me see them because then they were in a little bottom A little after we came to know that it was the Aga of Telghiouran coming from some place where his business had carried him who was accompanied with ten Horse-men armed some with Muskets and others with Lances or Darts About eight a Clock we saw on our left hand near a Well several black Tents of the Curds who flying from the Arabs came and encamped in that place and we marching forewards about three quarters after ten came and encamped near a hillock in a place called Carakouzi Carakouzi where there is a Well of good Spring-water which bears the same Name Next day Thursday the seventeenth of July we parted from thence about three quarters after two in the Morning and continued our way East-South-East we entered among the Mountains where for almost an hour we did nothing but climb up and down in ways full of great stones having past them and got again into the plain we kept on the same course approaching to the Caradgia Mountains Half an hour after six we found a Well of good Spring-water Maes Sarazin Corn. Ricinus Palma Christi at seven we saw a Field sowed with Maez or Sarazin Corn and another full of Ricinus or Palma Christi at most but a foot high a great many draw Oil from it for Lamps and to rub the Camels with to make their
and amongst others we saw a flight altogether like Francolines save that they have an unpleasant smell though the flesh of them be firm and very good to eat They were so numerous that I think a grain of small shot could not have past through without hitting some of them and they made a Cloud above five hundred paces in length and fifty in breadth About six a Clock we began to have little hills on our right hand which lasted about two hours And we passed near to one out of which they have Sulphur which they purifie and melt into Canes This Sulphur is a very white Earth for we were pretty near that hill which is almost wholely of Sulphur We stopped on the Curdistan shoar two hundred paces from thence about Sun-setting and rested upon the ground by the Water-side some of the Company stayed on board to guard the Kelecks for the Arabs when they see Kelecks many times come swimming and take what they can and then make their escape in the same manner They have besides the cunning when they are swimming to put some branches of trees upon their heads that it may not be thought they are men The water over against these hills is no broader than the length of the Pont Marie at Paris That Night we had a very hot Wind which sometimes brought with it cold gusts also and I observed they were not so strong as the others I was afraid it might have been the Samiel because it blew from that hill of Sulphur Next Morning being Saturday the ninth of August we embarked about break of day Hills of Sulphur We still saw on the side of Mesopotamia some hills of Sulphur which we smelt We met several People Men Women and Girls that crossed the Water stark naked having a Borrachio under each Arm-pit and their baggage on their heads and amongst the rest we saw two Girls who swam over without any help Half an hour after Sun-rising we perceived on the Water-side to the left hand Houses of Arabs several of the Arabs houses square and about two fathom high they were made of Poles and covered with leaves their Cattel were hard by and also their Horses which are always saddled These are their Summer-houses for in the Winter-time they shelter themselves under their Tents of black Goats hair Alyhamam Hot Baths About six a Clock we stopt at a Village called Alyhamam in Mesopotamia there are a great many natural hot Baths there and I make no doubt but these Waters run through Sulphur The People of the Countrey have dugg great Pits in the Earth under little Domes wherein they bath themselves for my own part I thought it enough to wet a finger therein and found it very hot but not scalding Sick people come there from all quarters and are cured but especially Lepers There are a great many always there from Mosul which is but a days Journey of Caravan distant All the Houses of this Village are by the Water-side they are all about two fathom square and the Walls and Roofs are onely of Canes interlaced with branches of Trees we rested there about two hours and then continued our Voyage The Sun that day was several times overcast with Clouds that did us a great kindness after Noon we stopt a little to stay for the other Keleck which was not come up About three a Clock we came to Asiguir Asiguir which is a place where the remains of the Foundation of a Bridge are still to be seen over which the Water runs with so much noise that we heard it half an hour before we came to the place When we were got there we went a shoar on the left hand because there is onely a small passage near Land for the Kelecks and in the Summer-time it is so shallow that many times they are forced to keep in the middle and go over stones that rise to the brim of the Water and make a kind of cascade or fall We all took our Arms to defend us against the Lions which are there in great Numbers amongst little Coppises however we saw none When the Keleck had passed near the shoar the current carried it into the middle of the River so that it could not stop till it came to an Island which is about fifty paces from the main Land and thither we went to it up to the knees in water A little after we had a great many hills to the right hand and on the first of them there is still some remains of a Castle called Top-Calai that 's to say the Castle of Cannons Top-Calai they say it was built by Nimrod as well as that Bridge which he had built for his convenience in going to his Mistress whom he kept on the other side Besides that we saw a great many other hills of Sulphur and one amongst the rest very high the Sulphur whereof appeared very yellow and smelt strong About half an hour after we saw the end of these Mountains and had others on the left hand covered over with Trees A quarter of an hour after we saw on the left hand River of Zarb the place where the River of Zarb falls into the Tigris It 's a great River more than half as broad as the Tigris very rapid and the Water thereof is whitish and cold They say that it comes very far off from the Mountains of Curdistan and is onely Snow-water On the same side about a French League up in the Countrey there is a hill by it self on which are the Ruines of a Castle called Kchaf Kchaf Having passed this place which looks like a little Sea we had constantly to the left hand Woods full of Lions Boars and other wild Beasts We rowed on till the Sun was setting not knowing where to lye because we durst not go a shoar on the side of the Woods for fear of Lions and on the side of Mesopotamia we saw Arabs at length just at Sun-setting we stopt near Woods which are all of Tamarisk and Liquourice and set a guard both against Men and Beasts From Mosul to this place they reckon it two days Journey and a half by Caravan After midnight three Robbers stark naked approached but finding themselves discovered they dived into the water and disappeared nevertheless this gave us a great allarm for they who saw them ran in all haste to the Keleck crying out like men in extreme danger and the rest not knowing what the matter was and thinking that they had a Lion at their heels threw themselves desperately into the Keleck whilst those that were asleep on board awaking at the noise and imagining there was a Lion in the Keleck endeavoured to get out In short so great was the disorder that no man knowing what he did it is a wonder we did not kill one another Sunday the tenth of April about break of day we put forward again and half an hour after past by the foot of a
very thieving Beasts not only of what is fit for eating but of any thing else they find carrying away even Turbans sometimes they howl almost like Dogs one making the Treble another the Basse and a third the Counter-Tenor and so soon as one cries the rest cry also so that all together they make a noise which may truly be called Dogs Musick Thursday the fourteenth of August we parted from that place at break of day Aaschouk Maaschouk and a little after saw on our right hand a Village called Aaschouk and to the left another called Maaschouk The people of the Countrey say that these places are so called because in each of those two Villages there was in former times a Tower in one of which lived a Man who was in love with a Woman that lived in the Tower of the other Village and was in like manner beloved of her This place is the seventh Lodging of the Caravans that come from Mosul to Bagdad About half an hour after six we saw to the left hand a Village called Imam-Samerva Imam-Samerva Hedgiadge Elhan Digel About eleven a clock we passed by another Village called Hedgiadge which is in Mesopotamia Three hours after we saw another on the same side named Elhan and besides it some Houses all that Land being called Digel Half an hour past six in the evening we put a-shoar on our left hand where I was told of another-guess prowess of a Lion than what I had been told of that of Kizil-Han They said then that not long before a Caravan passing by that place a Lion came who setting upon a young Boy mounted on an Ass that came after the rest carried away both Boy and Ass in view of the whole Caravan After Supper we went upon the water again about nine of the clock at night and for the space of half an hour heard on our right hand many Chakales very near us which called the Lions and after that we saw no more Woods We began then to make the best of our way by night as well as by day because there are no more Banks and the River is very broad but also so still that it can hardly be discerned which way it runs We past by several Villages most of which were on Mesopotamia-side Next day being Friday the fifteenth of August we saw about noon many Boats near the shoar which have Masts like Saicks and serve to carry Corn to Bagdad from the neighbouring Villages We then discovered several Palm-Trees and many of those Wheels they call Dollab which serve to draw water out of Wells as at Mosul Half an hour after six in the evening we stopt at a Village called Yenghige on the left hand there are many Gardens there where they sold us good Figs Pomegranats and very big long Grapes At that place we were not altogether safe from Lions seeing the people of the Countrey told us that they come often into their Gardens and that one morning a Lion came to the very Suburbs of Bagdad that lies on the Desart-side where it seized a man who had risen too early Nevertheless betwixt Yenghige and Bagdad there are several Villages with a great many Gardens Yenghige We parted about nine a clock at night and next day being Saturday the sixteenth of August at two a clock in the afternoon passed by a Village called Imam-Mousa which is on the right hand It is a place of Pilgrimage Imam-Mousa whither people resort from afar and the Women of Bagdad go thither every Friday it being only an hours march by Land. A little after we saw another Village on our left hand called Imam-Aazem Imam-Aazem which is likewise a place of Pilgrimage and about five of the clock in the evening we arrived at Bagdad In that Voyage they speak every where Turkish The Turkish Language towards Bagdad but it is Persian Turkish which differs somewhat from that of Greece and the nearer Bagdad the more the Turkish Language differs from that of Constantinople CHAP. XIV Of Bagdad and of the Road from Bagdad to Mendeli the last Place the Turks have on the Confines of Persia BAGDAD is a long Town lying upon the River-side Bagdad the first thing one sees in arriving is the Castle on the side of the River to the left hand which on the outside appears to be pretty strong It is built of lovely white Stone but I was told that there was nothing within but Huts Below that Castle upon the water-side also stands the Serraglio of the Basha which hath fair Kiochks from whence they have a good Prospect and fresh Air. Next you find a Bridge of about forty Boats on which they cross into Mesopotamia where there is a Town also or rather a Suburbs of Bagdad but the Houses of it are ill built Every night they undo that Bridge It requires at least two hours to make the round of Bagdad which is not very strong on the Land-side There are fair Bazars and lovely Bagnio's in this Town built by the Persians and generally all that is goodly in it hath been built by them It is but ill peopled considering the bigness of the place and indeed it is not compactly built for there are a great many empty places in it where there 's not one Soul to be found and except the Bazars where there is always a great confluence of people the rest looks like a Desart The Soldiers here are very licentious and commit all imaginable Insolencies their Officers not daring scarcely to punish them Some weeks before I arrived there they had put the Basha to death by poyson because of his Tyrannies and it was said the Aga had a share in it though he kept not his bed but was in a languishing condition Besides the Turkish Militia there are a great many Christians in the Grand-Signior's Pay to fight against the Arabs when they are commanded It is very hot in this Town and that 's the reason the people sleep upon the Terrasses The degrees of heat at Bagdad The eighteenth of August at noon the heat was at the thirty seventh degree by my Thermometre and nevertheless it blew a cool breeze of wind The Capuchins to whom I went as soon as I entred Bagdad very charitably practise Physick there The water of the Tygris Opposite to Bagdad the Tygris is very broad the water whereof they draw and put into great Jars of Clay that is not burnt and through these Jars the water transpires and percolates into an earthen Vessel underneath in the same manner as at Aleppo they call this River Chav-Bagdad that 's to say the River of Bagdad but wanting skill to make Water-mills upon it they are forced to grind all their Corn with Horse-mills or Hand-mills Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is very desart every thing being ruined there by the Tyranny of the Turks but the places that are inhabited are well peopled It bears few or no Trees
us lay by our Swords which we freely did and he drew them one after another We had some thoughts that he intended to be revenged for our offering to fire upon him but after he had look'd upon them be put them up again He told us a second time that his office was to suffer no man to enter into Persia unless he were known least some might come and make their escape there when they had committed Villanies elsewhere I made him answer that many Franks had past that way before without being stopt but he assured me of the contrary and indeed I believe that the ordinary way is somewhat more towards the North than Mendeli In short he protested that he would not let us goe unless those of the Caravan would answer for us wherefore we sent our Muletor with one of the Persians to the Camp which was half an hours walk from thence In the mean time that man complained several times to my Servant that we should have offered to fire at him and give him bad language as if he had been a Rogue Nevertheless he civilly ordered our Dinner to be brought which consisted of a great Bowl full of Bread two Bowls of sower Milk two plates of new made Butter and a wooden Dish wherein there were about two Eggs prepared with a sauce which I think can hardly be found in any Book of Cookery and that was for about a dozen of men We fed a little and drank Water in wooden Cups Then the man must needs see our Trunks he handled the watches of Monsieur Jacob one after another I opened also my Sepet but finding that he had a mind to see all things onely out of Curiosity and to make Tamascha as he called it I told him that he had no right of demanding custom nor by consequence of viewing our goods that it required much time to do them up again and that therefore he might undoe what he thought fit and do them up again himself but that if any thing were lost he should be made accountable for it and that made him suffer me to make all fast again Afterwards the man whom we sent with our Muletor arrived and brought him a Paper signed by several of our Caravan who vouched for us and who indeed threatned that if the least wrong were done unto us they would complain of it and that if we went and complained to the Chan it would certainly bring them into trouble Immediately they dismissed us and we turned to the Caravan Isterkil Rogoura Roudhhouna a River It lay at a place called Isterkil which is a little plain amongst hills through which runs the River Rogoura perhaps a Word corrupted from Roudhhouna which signifies a River that runs for the Persians give that Name to all great Rivers It is hard to describe that Countrey well if one be not perfect in the Language especially because of the Rivers Near to us there were six or seven Huts of Licurdi or Curds who so soon as we had pitched our Tents came and squatted down all round under them like rustical Clowns that had never seen any thing which made a Janissary that was with us stark mad for though he bid them be gone they would not stir but laughed at him and this vexed him the more to see that in that Countrey he had not the Authority which those of that body have in all places of Turkey At length having spoken to them so often they went away in great dudgeon calling him a thousand Names We were now free from keeping guard in the Night-time for there are no Robbers there and we saw no more Palm-trees after we were gone thence We parted from that place next day being Thursday the eight and twentieth of August about one of the Clock in the Morning and presently after we were at a loss no body knowing the way which we sought for up and down it being very dark and the sky overcast with Clouds that now and then sent us some drops of Rain Many of our loads happened to fall also so that we lost above half an hours time At length we made a shift to cross a little Ditch of Runningwater and then scrambled up a very high and steep hill doing nothing all the rest of the Night but climb up and down go backwards and forwards looking for the way which we had lost Once we passed the River Rogoura or Roudhhouna which runs amongst these hills with a great noise because of the Stones its Channel is full of About five of the Clock in the Morning we saw the Ruines of a very high Bridge with two Stories of Arches one over another it was built of rough Stone but one half of it onely remains and that made me think that this Water is sometimes apt to overflow very much A little after we passed it a second time and met a Caravan coming from Hamadan and going to Bagdad We continued our way upwards along the side of that River and about six a Clock in the Morning saw a little Village of Curds that 's to say some Huts made of Canes and Leaves of Trees and then we crossed that River again seven or eight times which at the place where we past it last to wit towards the head is seven or eight fathom over About eight in the Morning we saw the half of another very high Bridge built of the same stuff as the other is over the same River but onely of one Story of Arches About nine a Clock we went near to a Village of Curds called Samsurat where we made account to encamp and indeed a good part of the Caravan encamped there but we who were in the front perceiving that some before us advanced farther on followed them and having sufficiently tired our selves with ups and downs since our departure from Isterkil we stopt at length about half an hour after ten in the Forenoon by a Village of Curds called Nian Nian Turpentine wild Chestnut-trees Agnus Castus Kerbela Imam-Hussein All these hills are covered with Turpentine and wild Chestnut-trees and most of the Waters bordered with Agnus Castus and Rose-Laurels After we had pitched our Tent we saw a Caravan that came from Persia and was going to Bagdad upon a Pilgrimage to a place called Imam-Hussein or Kerbela where there is great devotion payed it is the place where Hussein was killed and where his Tomb is and is about four days Journey from Bagdad towards Mosul in Mesopotamia Towards the Evening that day we had a great shower of Rain but it was presently over and it was so cold in the Night-time that though I was in my Cloaths for I never stript in the Fields I stood in need of my coverlet and that cold encreased daily the farther we advanced on our way We parted from that place on Friday the nine and twentieth of August at two a Clock in the Morning and having marched three hours longer among the hills we came into
better Way though the Mountains still surrounded us but we mounted onely some small Ascents until marching Northwards we began an hour after to have ups and downs again over very high hills and in worse and more dangerous ways than hitherto we had seen but that lasted not an hour and then we came into a Plain encompassed with hills Standing away Eastwards we came by a Village called Chegiafar Chegiafar where there are a great many scattering houses of which part are built of rough Stone and Earth and some of Canes and Reeds covered with green branches those of Earth serve for the Winter and Rainy weather and then no body lived in them and the other of Canes are for the Summer that the Inhabitants may have the fresh Air. Amongst these houses there is also a great Mosque built of rough Stone and Earth We made no stop there but a little beyond it came and encamped near another Village consisting as the former in the Summer and Winter-houses but not in so great Number it is called Seraou Seraou and is distant from Chegiafar about a quarter of an hours march We arrived there a little after seven in the Morning the Village stands upon a rising ground at the foot whereof runs a lovely Spring-water Towards the Evening some of these Curds came to our Tent and bid us take heed to our selves because there were Robbers in the hills who creeping on their Bellies in the Night-time came and carried away what they could find We shew'd them our Arms which they seemed to be much in love with many amongst us believed that they themselves were the onely Thieves and that they came to give us this warning that we might not accuse them if we were robbed and also that they might see our Arms. We parted from thence on Saturday the thirtieth of August half an hour after two in the Morning We went up hill and down hill over exceeding high and troublesome Mountains until eight a Clock after that we marched for two hours in a plain environed with hills where we saw several black Tents and about ten a Clock we encamped under Trees in a place called Rengpereng Rengpereng near which a Brook runs There was close by a Village of Curds who brought us provisions We parted from thence on Sunday the last of August about four of the Clock in the Morning At first we marched Eastward amongst Woods of Chestnut-trees where there is great plenty of liquorice as there is all that Countrey over we kept going upward still but in very good and easie way In the Morning we saw a Field sowed with Rice About seven a Clock we encamped in a Plain where there are some Trees near a Hamlet of three or four Huts of Canes Goaour and this place is called Goaour We parted from thence the same day about seven at Night and by Moon-light marched Eastward in the Plain or Valley till past Midnight that we descended by an ugly way into a very low Plain where having travelled almost an hour we passed a little Water Having marched about another hour we passed a Stone-Bridge of one Arch under which runs a little River that I could not learn the Name of a little after we passed over another Bridge much alike standing upon the same River About half an hour after two in the Morning Munday the first of September we encamped at the end of that Bridge near to a Village called Arnoua Arnoua where there is a good Kervanserai of brick there are also several Stone-houses and as many Huts of Canes These Bridges seem to have been lately built and the River that runs under them has no other Name amongst the People of the Countrey but the Water of Arnoua There are so many Frogs in that Countrey that my Tent was always full of them though they were continually driven out We parted the same day half an hour after ten at Night and marched Eastward in fair way till half an hour after one a Clock in the Morning of Tuesday the second of September when we came to a very uneasie descent and very dangerous too especially being in the dark because the Moon was then set for three hours after we had pretty good way Goumedli a River We crossed several Brooks and a small River called Goumedli and our way lay Northwards About half an hour after four in the Morning having gone down hill a little we went away Eastward in pretty good way having for sometime a large Brook of running Water on our left hand Half an hour after five we descended into a great Plain where we marched about an hour still Eastward Then about half an hour after six we came and encamped near to a Kervanserai built by a Lady A quarter of a league from that Kervanserai Maidescht there is a Village built of stone called Maidescht and a little farther off than that Village Scheik-Hali-Kan-Kervanserai there is another Kervanserai called Scheik-Hali Kan Kervanserai from the Name of a Chan that built it We passed by it after we had dislodged from the other about half an hour after eight at Night We lookt upon it to be very fair and commodious especially because of a little River that runs close by it it is called from the Name of the Village Maidescht Soui We crossed over it upon a Bridge of one Arch which is built very steep and sharp as most of the rest are we then kept on our way Eastward in the same smooth Plain Wednesday the third of September a litttle after Midnight we went over a hill but the way was pleasant enough and then came into the Plain again About three a Clock in the Morning we passed a little River and an hour and a half after came to a Village called Poul Schah Poul-Schah that 's to say the Kings Bridge we put our selves under cover there in a Kervanserai The Kervanserais of Persia are much finer and more commodious than those of Turkey at least such as are on the great Roads The Kervanserais of Persia for I speak not of those in Towns the loveliest in all the Levant being in Bursa These Kervanserais of Persia are large square brick-Buildings above three fathom high the entry into them is by a Portico under which are shops where all things necessary for life are to be had Passing through that Portico one enters into the Court in the middle of this of Poul Schah there is a Fountain which is not to be found in others All round the Court there are great Arches about three fathom wide and one and a half or two fathom deep under which are Mastabez or stone Divans about two foot raised from the ground In the middle of the Front or if you will at the bottom of the Divan there is a door about two foot wide where one enters into a Room of the same bigness as the place under the
Arch without and that Chamber has its Chimney All together makes a pretty commodious apartment for the Mastabe serves for a Divan and Anti-chamber and the Chamber is for retiring into when one hath no mind to be seen and for securing ones Goods These appartments are separated one from another by a partition Wall about three foot thick On the back-side all round the Han are the Stables where the Horses may stand dry under roof aswell as the Men and there are besides on one side Arches with Mastabez and Chimneys where one may lodge when the appartments of the Court are taken up They enter into it by four Gates one at each Corner of the Court. The whole Fabrick is covered with a Terrass upon which one may walk all round and the way up to it is by two pair of Stairs which are on the two sides of the Portico I mentioned at the entry One may stay in these Kervanserais as long as he pleases and nothing to be payed for lodging but the Chambers are not shut having neither door nor window nor is there a bit of Timber in the whole except at the great Gate In this Kervanserai we found Apples Pears and ordinary Grapes besides another sort which are small and have no stones they are very good and are called Kischmisch Kischmisch Poul-Schah a River A few steps from that Han runs a River called Poul-Schah that 's to say Kings Bridge from the Name of a very fair high Bridge which King Abbas caused to be built upon it near to that Village to which it hath given the Name This Bridge hath six Arches whose Pillars are of Free-Stone to the height of five or six foot above the water And upon these Pillars there are as many little Arches more which have on each hand a good Pillar round on the inside but sharp towards the Water for cutting and breaking the force of it when it rises so high these Pillars reach to the top of the Bridge against which they rest This Bridge is in length an hundred and thirty six common paces from the first to the last Arch without comprehending the two Avenues which are paved as the Bridge is having side-Walls of the same materials four or five foot high and each of them about forty paces in length the breadth of the Bridge is about ten common paces All that Bridge is of brick except the Pillars with their sharp points and butteresses It is well built and kept in so good repair that there is not one brick wanting and it seems to be Brannero There are fair and good Fish taken in that River and they are commonly taken with Coculus Indicus much used in that Countrey they make it up with Paste to make the Fish drunk The Town where the Chan resides is about two miles distant from the Village it is called Kerman Schahon that 's to say the Kings Barns Kerman Schahon because the Countrey about bears plenty of Rice which Schah Abbas gave for the Zaret or Pilgrimage of Devotion that was made to the Mosque of Imam Hussein which I spoke of before But the Turk being Master of it at present the Rice is sent to Ispahan This is but an inconsiderable Town nevertheless it hath a covered Bazar well stored with Goods and Provisions for the Belly There is a Serraglio in it for the Chan or Governour The truth is though it make some better shew than the rest of the houses it is indeed of no great worth at least on the outside for I entered not the Gate but saw some Divans for taking the Air in We rested there all that day and the three following because the Chans Vizir for so they call the Officer who commands in his absence would not suffer us to go Watchmakers company inconvenient in Persia till first he knew whether the Chan would buy any Watches Wherein I observed that it is not good to travel in that Countrey with Watch-makers because in this manner they stop all Caravans till the Chan hath seen whether there be any thing that he has a mind to buy We parted not then till Saturday the sixth of September about eleven of the Clock at Night and we took our way Eastwards by a fair Road having near us to the left rocky hills very high and steep and to the right hand other Mountains at a little more distance We found on this way many People in companies coming and going which was far more pleasant to us than the ways through the Desarts Sunday the seventh of September about five a Clock in the Morning we past by a Village called Schechernow Schechernow that 's to say new Town where there is a fair Kervanserai with many stone-Buildings and several black Tents A little Water runs by it which divides it self into several Rivulets it is called Bisitoum Bisitoum and has its source an hundred paces from thence at the foot of a hill near to which we passed That hill thrusts out pieces of Rock separated from one another by Veins and these pieces are somewhat round sticking on the hill from the top to the bottom and appear like figures in relief The People of our Caravan told me that they were so many figures which Ferhad cut for the love of his dear Schirin Ferhad Schirin who had her Castle upon that hill This Ferhad was an excellent Sculptor in that Countrey who was so deeply in love with Schirin that he broke his heart and died for her Cosrouve Schirin His Amours are described in the Poem entituled Cosrouve Schirin whereof there is a Manuscript in the French King's Library at Paris About six a Clock we found a Bridge of four Arches under which runs a River called the Water of Schechernow and that 's the Name of the Bridge also they say that this Bridge was built by the same Person who built the Village of Schechernow Half an hour after we came to another Bridge of two Arches Chadiar under which runs a River called Chadiar but because it is very ill paved and has no Rails nor side-Walls we crossed the Water which is not a foot deep a little below the Bridge and encamped on a Plain on the other side where we had three Villages round us about two or three Musket-shot distant Zufear Calantar Sagas The Village to the North is called Zufear that to the West Calantar and the third which is to the South Sagas We were obliged to keep guard that Night for the Inhabitants of those quarters are reckoned so nimble at thieving that they 'll carry away a mans goods even from under his head and he not perceive it and they are so sharp at it and so obstinate that they are attentive in watching their opportunity not onely while all things be loaded but even untill the Caravan be gone We dislodged the same day half an hour after eleven at Night and kept on Eastwards in a
fair Road near hills we passed by many Rivulets on our right hand Munday Morning the eighth of September half an hour after five we came to a great bourg Sahna called Sahna We went through that Town and encamped without near the Gardens which are about it in great Numbers from whence they brought us fair Grapes Apples and Pears and furnished us under hand with a little Wine that we had not tasted since we left Mosul unless at Bagdad with the Fathers Capucins who make some privately for Mass for it is forbidden either to make or sell any And a little before I came to Bagdad an Armenian being catched there making Brandy had several hundred Bastinado's and whilst some beat him others poured his Brandy upon his head Now in all those places of Persia where there are no Christians not onely there is none to be found but even it is a Crime to speak of it nevertheless having demanded some of an Inhabitant of this Town who brought us Grapes after he had lookt about him on all hands to see if any body heard him he promised us a Jarr which he brought us a little while after It was sweet and red and had not sufficiently purged nevertheless it was good and delicious and so are their Grapes excellent Here we began to see sow'd Lands and a great many Gardens full of Vines and of all sorts of fruit and though it be in Curdistan Sofis yet Sofis also live there We parted from Sahna next day being Tuesday the ninth of September about two of the Clock in the Morning and about five we went up hill and down hill for a little while Half an hour after seven we crossed over a Bridge of four Arches under which runs a pretty broad River but shallow and it is called Camoutedona An hour after we came to a big Town Camoutedona a River Kenghever called Kenghever where we lodged in a Kervanserai This is a large Town well built and populous a Rivulet runs by it which they call the Water of Kenghever About it are a great many Gardens full of Fruit-trees of all sorts and it must heretofore have been a considerable place for there are the Walls of a Fortress still standing almost entire they are built of Flints and other very hard Stones that are both large and thick and some Towers still remain with several pieces of white Marble-Pillars of which the Capitals are so thick that it 's enough for three men to embrace them Amongst others at a little distance from a Tower close by this Fort there are some Port-holes for great Guns and a Gate towards the Countrey where two Pedestals of Marble are still remaining which formerly carried Pillars and these Pedestals which are four or five foot in length are placed at three or four foot distance from one another both upon a very thick Wall of fair Stone with a very lovely wreath on the outside So that in all probability these Pillars supported some Pavillion or Balcony for prospect or some thing else that was very weighty This Fortress is built upon an Eminence which affords a very distant prospect and the Town is the last place of Curdistan which terminates here Before I leave it for good and all The utmost bounds of Curdistan Curds I must say somewhat of the People that inhabit it The Curdi called anciently Carduchi live in the Summer-time in Huts made of Canes and Boughs of Trees and in Winter under Tents Their Countrey is so mountainous and so hard to be passed that I do not now wonder that the King of Persia every time that he went to besiege Bagdad instead of taking Cannon with him carried upon Camels metal to cast them obliging every Trooper besides to carry an Oque for it is absolutely impossible to have Cannon drawn along these ways Though these Curds lead a life much like the Arabs nevertheless they are more warlike and make very good use of Harquebuses nay in all places we past through there were always some of them who came and cheapened our Arms thinking they had been to be sold Amongst others one of them once offered me ten Abassis for my Fire-lock These Curds instead of Candle burn onely Oil of Naphta which is got in a place not far from Bagdad We parted from Kenghever the same day about half an hour after eleven at Night and in a very good Road marched Northwards About three a Clock in the Morning Wednesday the tenth of September we past over a fair Bridge of six Arches called the Bridge of Scheich-Hali-Kan Scheich-Hali-Kan from the name of a Chan that founded it the River that runs under it is called the Water of Scheich-Hali-Kan Bridge for to Bridges they give the Name of the Founder and to the Waters that run under them the Name of the Bridge An hour after we went by a Village which we onely saw by Moon-light but it seemed to me to be big and well built Having afterwards marched through a great Plain for a long while about seven of the Clock in the Morning we came to a Town called Asad Abad Asad Abad That Town or rather Burrough is of a vast extent and well built There are streight large Streets in it and in the middle of them a running Brook. The Entries into all the Houses are handsom though the Doors of many of them be but low and have many Gardens round them We lodged in the Fields without but close by the Town and parted from thence the same day about ten a Clock at Night directing our way full East Immediately after in very good way we went up a hill called Elouend Elouend it is so high that it took us a compleat hour to mount it and almost three quarters of an hour in coming down again on the other side After that we went by a little house of Rahdars where for every horse there are two Cabeghis of Caffare to be payed Then we marched above two hours and a half amongst Mountains and there after came into a Plain where having past by a great many Villages and crossed several Brooks and half an hour after five having left a Town called Zaga to the left hand Zaga two hours after we arrived at Hamadan where we lodged in a Kervanserai and payed a Bisti which is worth four Cabeghis a day for a Room We shall speak of the money of Persia in the description of Ispahan CHAP. II. Of the Road from Hamadan to Ispahan HAmadan is a very large Town but contains many void places Gardens and even ploughed Fields within it The houses are lovely and built onely of Bricks baked in the Sun There is no fair Street in it but that where they sell Stuffs Cloaths ready made and such like Commodities It is a streight long and broad Street and the shops of it are well furnished it lies near the Bezestein which is little but pretty well built This is a
till within three or four days Journey of Schiras and that rain lasted from the beginning of August untill the middle of September so that it seemed the Winter of the Indies had shifted into that Countrey but that was lookt upon as a thing extraordinary The VValls of Ispahan The Circuit of Ispahan The City of Ispahan is walled round with Earthen Walls which is singular to it for in Persia most part of the Towns have none at all It requires about four or five hours to make the round of this City but there are a great many large Houses that have but few living in them and which take up a great deal of space because of the spaciousness of the Gardens Great Gardens some houses taking up twenty Acres of ground nay it is not long since there was nothing but Gardens on the side of the Fort But now there are many Buildings there and that quarter is called the New Town where the Air and Water are better than in the old Town The New Town This City hath seven Gates of which these are the Names Der-Vasal Lembon Der-Decht Der-Mark Der-Tockhi Der-Cha Gerestan Der-Nasanabad and Der-Vasalchab which is not far from the Serraglio The City of Ispahan hath also great Suburbs where many Persons of Quality live The best built most beautifull and richest of all is the Suburbs of Giolfa that lies beyond the River of Senderu and the Walls of its Gardens being near that River in this Burrough or Suburbs live the Armenians whom Schah Abbas the first transplanted thither after he had ruined a Town of that Name in the Upper Armenia And they thought fit to give to this new Habitation the Name of their ancient Town and Countrey to preserve the memory of it so that to distinguish them from the others they are commonly called Giolfalu that 's to say one of Giolfa All round Giolfa there are a great many other Cantons which are likewise pretty well built not onely of Armenians who have left their own Countrey to come and live there but also of other Nations There are the Cantons of Ecrivan Nackhuan Chaksaban Sirou-Kainan Gaur Sitchan Mekrigan c. The quarter of Taurislu called Tauris-Abad or Abis-Abad which is opposite to Giolfa on this side the River towards Ispahan is much bigger than Giolfa but neither so pleasant nor so well built The beauty of the houses of pleasure which Persons of Quality have in the Suburbs consists in great Divans having in the middle and before them Basons of Water and the Gardens which are full of two or three kinds of Flowers and these commonly Turkey Gilly-Flowers Marsh-Mallows and some other such all very ordinary Flowers but yet lasting many Months of the year give a pleasant prospect The Persians fit in the cool in these Divans every one with his Pipe of Tobacco which is the most delightfull Employment they have when they are at home There are many squares in Ispahan but of all that which is called the Meidan is not onely the loveliest but I think that of all regular Piazzas The Meidan it is the greatest and finest place in the World. It is about seven hundred common paces in length and two or three hundred in breadth so that it is above twice as long as broad It is built all about and the Houses are all in form of Portico's over which there is another second range of Arches more backwards which serve for Galleries and a passage to the rooms of some adjoyning Kervanserais and seeing these houses are all of an equal height they yield a very lovely prospect All round the place at some little distance from the Buildings there is a fair Canal of Spring-water made by the Schah Abbas the first who for greater embellishment caused plane-Trees at competent distances to be planted all along which render that place exceedingly delightfull but they dayly decay because they neglect the planting of Trees in the place of those that are wanting At one end of the place that is on the North over the Gate of the Bazar there is a Bell round which is this inscription Ave Maria gratia plena A Bell. They say that it was taken out of a Monastery of Nuns at Ormus On the two sides of that Bell are great Balconies or Galleries Galleries where every Evening at Sun-set and at midnight many men assemble who make musick some with the ordinary trumpet some with Timbrels and others with an extraordinary kind of trumpet which perhaps has not as yet been heard of in France and therefore I have thought fit to give a description of it A long copper Trumpet These trumppets are made of copper and streight about eight foot long the body of it is of an unequal bigness for the end that is put to the mouth is an inch in diameter but about an inch from it the neck is very narrow Hence our speaking Trumpets and then enlarges again to the breadth of an inch and the end or mouth out of which the sound and wind comes is almost a foot and a half in diameter These trumpets are taken in two at the middle and they put the upper part into the lower at the great end where it easily enters when they have a mind to sound they skrew the two parts together but they had need of a strong Arm to hold that long Pipe of copper out right when they sound it It makes a strong deep sound so that the musick is heard all over the City but it is not at all pleasant and is more proper to fright People with an Allarm than to divert them As you go from that place of the Meidan where these musicians meet which as I said is at the North end of it towards the South there are two Banks five or six foot high and above a fathom distant which serve for playing at the mall on horse-back and the bowl must go betwixt those Banks The Mall About the middle of the Place there is a high Tree or Mast erected on the top whereof there is a round ball A Mast where they shoot with Arrows and there Horse men practice Archery riding at full speed and not shooting their arrow till they be past which they do by turning themselves quite round upon the crupper of the horse The Gate of Aly. A little farther to the right or West-side is the Gate of Aly called Aly-Capi which is a large plane Gate over which there is a lovely Divan the roof whereof is onely supported with wooden Pillars and the King comes often to take the Air in this place Entering in at this Gate you go along a great Alley to another large Gate The threshold of a Gate in Veneration whose threshhold is a step of round stone to which the Persians shew great respect and that is it which is properly called the Gate of Aly. All malefactors that can make their escape into a Court
bits of Straw so that it looks more like brown Paper than bread if a Stranger were not told it he might be mistaken And some French when first these Cakes were brought before them took them for course Napkins They make great use of Earthen ware which is very pretty especially because of the lovely Varnish they give it it is made in Kerman and I was assured that the Dutch had the invention from thence of making that false purcelane which we call Hollands purcelane Butter In Persia generally they make not use of Butter of Cow's Milk alone because it is not good but they mingle it with the Butter of Ewes Milk which is much better The Yogourt is an ordinary Ragoe in that Countrey I remember that I have described it already and shall onely now add how they season it in the Spring they cut Fennel into small bits and with Turpentine-seed which in that season is still green and begins onely to look a little reddish they put it into the Yogourt to qualify the coldness of it Torschi They also make Torschi or a preserve of that seed in Vinegar into which they put the Berries to be pickled whole The Persians way of drinking VVine The Persians by their Law are prohibited to drink Wine as well as the Turks but they are not so scrupulous as to that point When they drink VVine they do it without mixture after the Levantines manner who never drink water with it but when they drink VVine they have pots of water by them whereof now and then they take large draughts Bowl of Punch The Francks use a Beverage there which they call a Bowl of Punch and is cooling They take a large Earthen Bowl that holds four or five quarts and fill it half full of water then they put in as much VVine with the Juice of Limons Sugar Cinamon and Nutmeg which they drink in full draughts in the Summer-time Ice-houses in Persia The Persians make great use of Ice even in VVinter but never of Snow they make not their Ice-houses as in France and this is their way They raise a wall towards the South three or four fathom high Along that wall on the North-side they digg a Ditch about three fathom deep and as much broad and Northwards from the Ditch they make several beds six or seven fathom long and one fathom broad which are separated one from another by little Dykes of Earth like Salt-pits some are two or three foot deep and others one foot When it is very cold they bring the River-water into these beds which freezes very quickly and when it is thick and hard they break the Ice of the hollowest beds into great pieces which they carry into the Ditch where they lay it in very good order Then they break the Ice of the shallower beds and having put it into the Ditch upon that which they had laid there before they beat it into very small morcels with a spade or shovel and fill up all the chinks that are betwixt the large pieces with them At night they throw a great deal of water over all which they do with the skins of gourds cut in two pieces and fastened to the end of long poles this water freezes in the Night-time and joyns all the Ice into one piece In the mean time they bring in more water into the beds that it may freeze there after which they remove the Ice into the Ditch where they place it above the former in the same manner untill it be a fathom and a half high then they cover all with Straw and Reeds two or three foot thick and when they would take out any for use they open the Ditch but in one place This is an easie invention at at Ispahan where the Air is very dry and where there is but little moist Weather It would seem some few of these Ice-houses might be sufficient for a whole great City and nevertheless there are a great many such made in several places near the Town A good many in Persia take Opium The use of Opium but it is a drug that so enslaves those who are addicted to it that if a man hath once made it customary to himself and after forbear to take it no less than his life is in danger so that if a Tereaqui as they call them all over the Levant go ten Leagues from the Town and forget to take Opium with him if he find none in the place he comes to though he should immediately return back again and make all the haste he can yet he would not get to the Town in time enough to save his Life CHAP. XI The Continuation of the Observations of Ispahan Of the Court of Persia HAving treated of the nature of the Persians of their Carriage Apparel and way of living we may now see how their Monarch governs them whom he makes use of for executing his Orders and at the same time observe some of his recreations Persia is a Monarchy governed by a King Monarchy of Persia The King of Persia absolute in all things who has so absolute a power over his Subjects that no limits can be set to it He meddles in Religion and they do not begin the Ramadan nor any Festival till first they have had his leave and sometimes he keeps them back a few days according to his pleasure though the Moon wherein they are to be celebrated hath been seen His Subjects never look upon him but with fear and trembling and they have such respect for him and pay so blind an obedience to all his Orders that how unjust soever his Commands might be they perform them though against all Law both of God and Nature Nay if they swear by the King's head their Oath is more Authentick and of greater credit than if they swore by all that is most sacred in Heaven and upon Earth He observes no form of Justice in most of his Decrees and without consulting any Person no not the Laws and Customes he judges of lives and fortunes as seems best to him without any regard to those who feel the weight of his power The kinds of punishments not regulated and that without observing the kinds of punishments that are in use in the Countrey but appointing such as his fancy suggests to him According to this Principle two years ago he commanded the Nazer who had vexed him to be exposed naked to the Sun and the Nazer is one of the chief Officers of that Court This was presently put into execution and he was exposed to the heat of the Sun and the rage of flies in the great place from Morning till Night at which time the King discharged him Whilst he was thus exposed no body minded him no more than if he had been a Dog which was a great instance of the inconstancy of fortune and of the friends she gives but both counterfeit and real friends have this excuse that on
always to be seen about the many holes that are amongst the ruins they are to be seen sometimes also at Schiras but that is only in the time of Mulberries of which at least of the white they are very greedy these Birds in bulk and shape are much like Starlings CHAP. VIII The Road to Bender-Rik I Bargained with a Muletor at Schiras to go to Bender-Rik at the rate of a Toman for five Mules for that Road is not proper for Horses which comes to ten Abassis apiece for the Mules Departure from Schiras to Bender-Rik and he obliged himself to carry us to Bender-Rik in seven days I went in the Company of the Reverend Father Denys a Polander Provincial of the bare-footed Carmelites who had two with him and I my servant We parted from Schiras Munday the eight and twentieth of September a little after midnight and went out of the Town by the West Gate which is called the Gate of Bassora because that is the way to it though there be neither Gate nor Walls at the place We took our way streight West Travelling in a Plain more fruitful in Bushes than any thing else about three a Clock in the Morning we past by a little wretched Kervanseray where there are Rahdars who demanded Toll of us but we answered that we were Franks and had an Order from the King not to pay any thing only we made them a Present of five Casbeghis This Kervanseray is two Parasanges from Schiras and is called Tschenar Rahdar that is to say the Rahdars Maple though there be no Maple-Trees there Near to it there is a new built Bridge of three Arches as I take it under which runs a little water but which in the Winter-time must be impetuous for near to that Bridge I saw the ruins of another which in all appearance hath been beat down by the water This water is called Abtschenar-Rahdar We past over that Bridge Abtschenar-Rahdar and half an hour after crossed another new one also of two Arches over the same River near to which are also the ruins of another Bridge These Bridges are called Poul-Hhadgikol that is to say the Bridge of Hhadgikol which perhaps Poul-Hhadgikol was the name of him that built them A quarter of an hour after we passed by the ruins of a Kervanseray that had been very spacious and seated upon the side of the same River which in appearance beat it down also though it stood upon a pretty high Bank the Chanel of the River being very deep at that place A quarter of an hour after we foarded over that River and began to ascend in a way that was pretty good except in some passes About half an hour after five we crossed a little Canal About six a Clock we were got into a Plain all full of Heath as the Hills about were and had very good way Half an hour after nine we came to lovely running streams The River of Preskiaft that come from a River called Preskiaft which waters the Country thereabout About ten of the Clock we met with two ways the one pretty narrow on a very steep Hill which has the same River running by the foot of it that is very deep there and if the Mules made a false step in this way which is high above the River they would not fail to fall into it and be in danger either of breaking their Necks or drowning The other way is on the other side of the River which may be crossed in several places where the water is shallow this was the way I took because it pleased my Mule so to do to whom I freely gave the Reins being persuaded that it was better acquainted with the Road than I was one of our Company who followed the other way had almost tumbled into the River Mule and all together perhaps the way that I took is covered with water in Winter and so there is a necessity of going the Hill way About half an hour after ten we came to a wretched Kervanseray which is no more but some sorry Vaults all black with Soot and full of Horse and Pullets dung however we had shelter there There are some Rahdars that live in that place to whom we gave a few Casbeghis The River of Preskiaft runs in a bottom at the back of this Kervanseray where there are four Arches remaining of a Bridge that has been in that place which are mightily decayed the water runs not under these Arches but at the side of them where the ruins of the rest of the Bridge may still be seen which seems to have been of eight Arches The River is not very deep at that place but very broad and one may see that in Winter it swells very high and overflows a great part of the Country about Hadgi-Zenon This Kervanseray is named Hadgi-Zenon and is eight Parasanges or Agatsch from Schiras We parted from Hadgi-Zenon Tuesday the nine and twentieth of September at two a Clock in the Morning and continued our way Westward We had not gone an hundred paces when we past over a new Bridge of four Arches under which runs the River Preskat afterwards we found a great many lovely waters that fall down from the Hill and I believe that in the Winter-time they overflow all the Land thereabouts which is very barren and stony bearing nothing but Heath wild Chess-Nuts and such like Trees Half an hour after three we came to a Hill called Estou Asbi Estou-Asbi and having a good way to go up an hour after we came to the top of it where there is a Lodge for Rahdars whom we satisfied with a Present of a few Cosbeghis then we had a little down Hill till about six a Clock we came into a large Plain full of water in the middle that makes a Marish which made us fetch a compass about for the space of two hours and above to gain a very high Mountain called Andgira Mount Andgira covered with Turpentine and other wild Trees about a quarter after eight we were got there and having passed by a Kervanseray Chadgeghi called Chadgeghi at the foot of it we mounted up a very stony way for the space of a long hour and then went down on the other side till about eleven a Clock when finding good water we rested at half way down the Hill under a Tree there being no Lodging but a kind of Cottage where commonly lives a man that sell Victuals and who was not there at that time it is six Parasanges from Hadgi-Zenon to this Menzil for so they call a Lodging place in those Quarters We parted from thence on Wednesday the last of September about two of the Clock in the Morning and having kept going down Hill still about an hours time we then Travelled on two hours Westward in a great Plain where there are a great many Oaks and other wild Trees which made the way that was of it self
midnight we had a fresh Gale from North-West Monday Morning the twelfth of October the Wind slackned very much but changed not and therefore we weighed Anchor at half an hour after eight and standing away South-West we were soon after becalmed Towards Noon we Rowed a little and half an hour after had a breeze from South-West with which we bore away North-West till three in the Afternoon when we entered into the River Caron that comes from the Hills above the Town Souster Caron Souster Khusistan Susa Ahasuerus Coaspes Choasp Tiripari Zeimare which is the Capital Town of Khusistan and was in ancient times the Town of Susa where Ahasuerus held his Court. This River of Caron must be the Coaspes of the Ancients nay they assured me that there is still at present near to the Town of Souster a Hill called Choasp where the River of Caron which Sanson calls Tiripari Tiritiri and Zeimare hath its source but what reason he has for these names I cannot tell since no body could give me any account of them though I have enquired of many who all told me they knew of no such thing On the Right Hand to the West there is an Isle called Dorghestan and on the Left or towards the East Dorghestan Gheban is the Island of Gheban the point whereof is called Mouele and Gheban because all that Country is called Gheban and is the limits of the Kingdom of Bassora on that side In that place to the Left Hand there is a piece of of Palm-Tree-Wood fixed in the Ground to serve for a signal when it his high water not to go beyond it and they call that signal Dgioudoh The Land here on both sides depends on the Basha of Bassora The usual way to Bassora is by Sea to the mouth of Schat-el-Aarab The way to Bassora which they enter and go by water to Bassora but we put in to the River because our Sea-men who had nothing to do at Bassora being only come to take in Dates imposed upon us telling us that we must go to Gheban to take in fresh water and wood which we wanted and that it was also the shortest cut to Bassora but that great Barks went not that way because it was not deep enough which we too easily believed So soon as we were got into the River we came to Anchor in a Fathom water At low water the River at that place is but very little salt and a little higher it is fresh even when it is Flood Being Flood about midnight our men fell to their Oars but Rowed not above an hour and then came to an Anchor The Country about seems to be very good Land it is low even and green on all Hands and we saw many Cows there feeding in the Meadows which look much like the Meadows of Holland Tuesday the thirteenth of October about ten a Clock in the Morning our Sea-men went a shoar and Towed us up till one of the Clock when being over against a Village where there are a great many Palm-Trees we hoisted Sail with a North-West Wind that lasted not long and so came to an Anchor again Our men went a shoar to hear News as they said of Bassora and coming back in the Evening told us that all things were in confusion at Bassora that the Basha was marched with his whole Army towards Bagdad and that all Barks were taken up for Transporting of Soldiers and that therefore they durst go no farther but were resolved to return empty to Bender-Rik This was all false A cheat of the Sea-men and the truth was they had no mind to go any farther designing to take in their Cargoe at the place we were at where there is plenty of Dates and that was the reason they had brought us that way Nevertheless we must pretend to believe all the Knaves told us and try to find another Bark to carry us to Bassora We sent then a servant next day to look for one and he brought us a small thing wherein the men promised in four and twenty hours to carry us to the Town for six Abassis which we gave them These Barks are flat bottomed about a Fathom high one and a half broad and about five Fathom long The Stern is very low but the Head is as high again and draws into a sharp point as the Gondolos of Venice Barks on the River of Caron These Barks are not Caulked but only Pitched over on the outside which they do in the manner following When they are to Pitch a Daneg for so they call that sort of Bark in Arabick ten or twelve paces from the Daneg they make a Furnace of Earth the upper part whereof is made like a Cauldron into that they put the Pitch and the fire underneath and when the Pitch is almost melted but not altogether liquid a man comes with a little wet Shovel in his Hand and another lays some of this Pitch upon it The Pitching of a Daneg and then puts water upon the Pitch which the first carrying to the Daneg and stirring the Pitch with a piece of Wood to which it does not stick he that is working at the Daneg takes the Pitch in his Hand and dawbs it as one would do Plaster upon the Daneg and then with a Rowler which is not altogether round he spreads it upon the Vessel and in that manner Pitches it all over on the outside These Barks are made very strong the sides being about a Foot thick and all the Planks are Nailed with great Nails such as are driven into Gates in France they have likewise a Mast of an indifferent bigness Indeed these Barks make but heavy way especially in the middle of the water where they cannot use a Sail if they have not the Wind in Poop and nevertheless they load them so deep that they are not above half a Foot above water We embarked in one of these Boats about half an hour after three in the Afternoon it was full of a kind of very long green Rushes that have a great point at the end whereof they make very fine mats Our Crew consisted of two Sea-men and a Master the two men Towed us on Land till half an hour after six that we came before a Village to the Left Hand there we cast Anchor our Men unloaded all the Rushes and going afterwards to the Village we we saw no more of them till next day This is a great Village and has a square Castle with eight Towers to wit one at each corner and one in the middle of each side but they are all of Earth and so thin that a double Musket could batter them all down This place is called Koutmian Koutmian that is to say Castle Mian and they make many Danegs there The Country of Gheban reaches from thence to the mouth of the River of Caron and in all that space the Land on both sides the River is called Gheban it
it than indeed they were Next morning we saw two Snakes upon the water Snakes upon the water are a sign of the nearness of Land. which occasioned great joy in the Ship for when they begin to see Snakes it is an infallible mark that they are not above forty Leagues off the Land of the Indies wherefore one may boldly come to sounding and indeed when at nine a Clock we heaved out the Lead we found fifty three Fathom water At noon by the Gunners Observation we were in one and twenty degrees thirty three minutes Latitude having in the last twenty four hours run five and twenty Leagues and a half we sounded a second time and had forty Fathom water whereupon we stood away South-East and by East that we might not run upon the Land of Diu where we had nothing to do and which is the Rendez-vous of the Malabar Corsairs and the Zinganes Half an hour after five in the evening we had but thirty five Fathom water and then we saw upon the water a great many little yellow Snakes a Foot long and as big as ones little Finger which made us know that we were near the Coast of Diu along which the Snakes are small for from thence forwards along the Coast of the Indies they are big That we might not then run within Land we stood away South-East About six a Clock we began to see some Excrements of the Sea which the Provensals call Carnasse the Italians Potta-Marina Carnasse or Potta Marina or Alfareca and the Portuguese call Alfareca I fancy that I have seen the figure and description of them by the name of Potta-Marina in a Treatise of Fabius Columna de Conchis which is at the end of the Treatise de Plantis of the same Author Our Ships Company told me it was like a frothy Flesh which the Fish eat and when it touches a Mans Flesh it sticks to it like Glew and puts him to hot stinging pains This puts me in mind that heretofore being at Calais a Gentleman of Honour told me that in the Sea of Calais there were some certain Sea-Excrements which stung and occasioned such burning pains when they touched a Mans Flesh that he had seen some Soldiers of the Garison run about the streets roaring and crying out like Mad-men through the violence of the pain they suffered by these Excrements which had touched their Flesh when they washed themselves in the Harbour and that this pain lasted two or three days In all probability those Excrements he spoke to me of were Carnasses If the Translatour be not mistaken the English call that Excrement a Carvel We saw so great a quantity of them all the evening that sometimes they made the Sea look all white and they lay as it were in veins so that to judge by the sight one would have taken them for great Banks of Sand but of a very white Sand or else for Rivers of Milk and certainly a Man that had never seen them nor been told what they were would think himself to be upon a Bank of Sand. No sooner was one of these veins past but we saw another a coming and each of them was above five hundred paces in length and proportionably broad Those that floated along the Ships side lookt like so many very clear Stars and at first I took them for sparks that are many times seen to flash out of the Sea when the water is very rough but having observed that they lost not their splendour as commonly that sort of sparks does which disappear as soon as they are seen I took notice of them to the Captain and the rest that were upon the Quarter Deck and asked them what they were they all told me they were Carnasses and they knew by that that we were near Land for these Excrements are not commonly seen but very near the shoar and are the fore runners of a Gale of Wind but when the Captain considered them and saw them coming in so great a quantity he acknowledged to me that he had never seen so many of them together and about eight a Clock the Lead being heaved out we found thirty Fathom water After eight a Clock we saw no more Carnasses A little after eight the Wind blew very fresh which made us take in the Main-Top-Sail At the same time we perceived to the Windward at East North-East a great light which all presently knew to be some great fire a shoar and we saw many such until midnight which confirmed us in the opinion that we were very near the Land of Diu. Wherefore we Steered on our Course South-East bearing rather to South than East About eleven a Clock the Wind slackened much Thursday the last day of the year one thousand six hundred sixty five about three a Clock in the morning the Wind turned North-East and we still Steered our Course South-East About break of day we made to the Leeward South of us a great Ship with all Sails abroad even their Top-Gallant-Sails though it was no good weather for carrying such Sails which made us conclude it was the Masulipatan which put out from Congo the same day that we did in the morning and which we thought had been at Comoron In all appearance he took our Ship for an English man for the Captain of the Masulipatan was a Hollander and therefore he had put out his Top-Gallant-Sails to run for it and the truth is he made so good way that in an hours time he was got almost out of fight Half an hour after six we cast out the Lead and had thirty five Fathom water According to the Gunners Observation at noon we were in twenty degrees forty minutes Latitude and in four and twenty hours time we had made seven and twenty Leagues and a half We were then becalmed and half an hour after five we had thirty three Fathom water At eight of the Clock at night we had a small Gale from North-East which made us Steer away East South-East At midnight having sounded we found still thirty three Fathom water Friday New-years-day one thousand six hundred sixty and six at five a Clock in the morning we had twenty six Fathom water At break of day we made to the Leeward South South-East of us the same Ship which we saw the day before but somewhat nearer to us We also made Land which was known to be the Point of main Land Point of Diu. The Isle of Diu belonging to the Portuguese Alambater called the Point of Diu and immediately after we made the Island which bears the same name and is near the main Land of the Country of Cambaya This Island was anciently called I think Alambater lyes in the Latitude of twenty degrees forty minutes or one and twenty degrees the Portuguese are masters of it and have a Town there of the same name with the Island and a Fort which is thought to be impregnable being surrounded with two Ditches filled with the
every the least inch of stuff about him with all exactness if they perceive any thing hard in it they immediately rip it up and all that can be done is to suffer patiently That search is long and takes up above a quarter of an Hour for every Person severally though at that time they only examine what they have about them If they find Gold or Silver they take two and a half per cent and give back the rest then the partie is let go but must leave his Goods and Baggage He that hath been searched marches out by the Wicket of a Gate that opens into the Street where there is a Guard that suffers him not to pass without Orders from the Customer Next Day all who have left their Goods or Baggage fail not to come to the same Gate The Customer comes also about ten of the Clock in the Morning and having considered whether the Seal which the Day before he put upon two great Padlocks that hold the great Gate and Wicket shut be whole or not he causes both to be opened He and his Men go in the Gate is shut again and the Wicket only left open So all wait without till they be called in and it was my good fortune to be introduc'd with the first They presently bid me own what belong'd to me and my Cloakbags being brought into the middle of the Hall they were opened and emptied every thing was examined one after another Though I had no Merchant-goods yet all was searched my Quilt was ript up they undid the Pommel of one of my Pistols with Pegs of Iron felt in the Holsters and the Clerks at length being satisfied with the view of my things I was let go and pay'd only Custom for my Money It was no small fortune for me to be so soon dispatched for Men may wait sometimes a Month before they can get out their Baggage and especially they who have Merchants-goods for which at that Custom-house they pay Four in the Hundred What is pay'd at the Custom-house if they be Christians and Five in the Hundred if they be Banians CHAP. II. Of the Indies BEfore I enter into a particular Description of what I have seen in the Indies it is necessary for the understanding of the Countrey that I describe the Limits thereof and say somewhat of their Extent The Limits of India If one would comprehend in the Indies all the Countries which to the West border on the Provinces of Macran or Sinde Candahar and Kaboul to the North or Tartary to the East on China and the Sea and to the South on the Ocean there is no doubt but that so great a number of Kingdoms and Provinces must make a very vast Countrey But it may be truly said that to the East the extent of it which is very large is not as yet well known seeing the Traders of Indostan who traffick in China spend above a Year in Travelling from their own Countrey into that and that long Journey is a good Argument that there are several Kingdoms betwixt the Great Moguls Countrey and that of the Emperour of China In the usual Division of the Indies The Division of the Limits of Indostan that Eastern part is called India beyond the Ganges as the Western is named India on this side of Ganges This latter part is best known and is called Indostan having for its natural Limits to the West and East the Ganges and Indus The Source of Ganges which have their Sources in the Mountains of Zagatay and Turquestan These two last Countries border Indostan on the North-side as the Indian Sea limits it on the South round the Cape of Comory from the Mouths of Ganges to those of Indus The Empire of the Great Mogul which in particular is called Mogulistan is the largest and most powerful Kingdom of the Indies and the Forces of the other Kings of Judostan ought the less to be compared to his that most of them are in some dependance on that Prince I shall write what I know of their Kingdoms when I have treated of his and of himself CHAP. III. Of the Great Mogul THe Great Mogul descends in direct line from Tamerlan whose Successours that setled in the Indies took to themselves the Name of Moguls that they might be distinguished from those to whom that Prince left Zagatay Corassan Persia and other Countries to be Governed after him They thought that that Name might contribute much to the Glory of their Family because by taking it they would more easily perswade Men that they are of the Race of Ginguis Can Ginguis Can. the First Emperour of the Ancient Moguls who had carried it above Twelve Ages before them and who under that Title began the Greatest and most Powerful Empire in the World. Mogul Mogul was heretofore the Name of a mighty People who inhabited a vast Country at the extremity of East Tartary towards the North which some have called Mogul others Mongul and Mongal and others Mogulistan where Ginguis Can was Born. That Emperour or Great Chan reduced it wholly under his Obedience before he undertook the Conquest of the rest of Asia and his Subjects as well as he were called Moguls This gave occasion to those of India to take the same Name thereby to signifie that they are descended from him Tamerlan As for the Genealogy of Tamerlan it must be examined some where else than in the relation of Travels if one would know the truth of it because of the diversity of opinions that are to be found amongst the Oriental writers upon that subject Gazna Tamerlan had already given great jealousie to the Indians by Conquering the Province of Gazna which had been sometimes in their dependance though lying a great deal on this side of the Indies and which in his own lifetime was Possessed by Pir Muhemmed Pir-Muhemmed Gayetedden Mirza Baber Son of his Eldest Son Gayeteddin but when Mirza Baber who descended from the Third Son of that Emperour retreated thither after the loss of Maurenahor or Zagatay he bestirred himself so well in setling his Dominion there as he did in some other Countries of the Indies that lay next to him and were according to the Lebeltaric Humayon he Reigned Fourty three Years that his Son Humayon had no great difficulty to get Footing in Judostan after the death of his Father which happened in the Year 1530. and who had already made some unsuccessful attempts in that Country This young Prince made himself Master of Candahar Caboul and many other Towns the greatest part whereof he lost sometime after by the Valour of Chaalem King of Bengale and Deran but he recovered them in process of time by the means of Tahmas Kings of Persia whose Sister he Married and having carried his Conquest farther on he made Delby the Capital of his Kingdom Ecbar His Son Ecbar Succeded him and having joyned a great many
with Tiles made half round and half an Inch thick but ill burnt so that they look still white when they are used and do not last and it is for that reason that the Bricklayers lay them double and make them to keep whole Canes which they call Bambous serve for Laths to fasten the Tiles to Bambous and the Carpenters work which supports all this is only made of pieces of round Timber Such Houses as these are for the Rich but those the meaner sort of People live in are made of Canes and covered with the branches of Palm-trees The time to Build in Now it is better building in the Indies in the time of Rain than in fair weather because the heat is so great and the force of the Sun so violent when the Heavens are clear that every thing dries before it be consolidate and cracks and chinks in a trice whereas Rain tempers that heat and hindering the Operation of the Sun the Mason-work has time to dry When it rains the Work-men have no more to do but to cover their Work with Wax-cloath but in dry weather there is no remedy all that can be done is to lay wet Tiles upon the Work as fast as they have made an end of it but they dry so soon The Streets of Surrat that they give but little help The Streets of Surrat are large and even but they are not paved and there is no considerable publick Building within the Precinct of the Town The Meat at Surrat The Christians and Mahometans there eat commonly Cow-beef not only because it is better than the Flesh of Oxen but also because the Oxen are employed in Plowing the Land and carrying all Loads The Mutton that is eaten there is pretty good but besides that they have Pullets Chickens Pidgeons Pigs and all sorts of wild Fowl. They make use of the Oyl of Cnicus silvestris Oyles at Surrat or wild Saffron with their Food it is the best in the Indies and that of Sesamum which is common also is not so good Grapes at Surrat They eat Graps in Surrat from the beginning of February to the end of April but they have no very good taste Some think that the reason of that is because they suffer them not to ripen enough Nevertheless the Dutch who let them hang on the Vine as long as they can make a Wine of them which is so eager that it cannot be drunk without Sugar The white Grapes are big and fair to the Eye and they are brought to Surrat from a little Town called Naapoura Naapoura a Town in the Province of Balagate and four days Journey from Surrat The Strong-water of this Country is no better than the Wine that which is commonly drunk is made of Jagre or black Sugar put into Water with the bark of the tree Baboul to give it some force and then all are Distilled together They make a Strong-water also of Tary which they Distil But these Strong-waters are nothing so good as our Brandy no more than those they draw from Rice Vinegar at Surrat Sugar and Dates The Vinegar they use is also made of Jagre infused in Water There are some that put Spoilt-raisins in it when they have any but to make it better they mingle Tary with it and set it for several days in the Sun. CHAP. VIII Of Tary TAry is a liquor that they drink with pleasure in the Indies Tary It is drawn from two sorts of Palm-trees to wit from that which they call Cadgiour and from that which bears the Coco the best is got from the Cadgiour Cadgiour They who draw it gird their Loyns with a thick Leather-girdle wherewith they embrace the trunk of the Tree that they may climb up without a Ladder and when they are come to that part of the Tree from which they would draw the Tary they make an incision one Inch deep and three Inches wide with a pretty heavy Iron-Chizel so that the hole enters in to the pith of the Cadgiour which is white At the same time they fasten an earthen Pitcher half a Foot below the hole and this Pot having the back part a little raised receives the Liquor which continually drops into it whil'st they cover it with Briars or Palm branches least the birds should come and drink it Then they come down and climb not up the Tree again till they perceive that the Pitcher is full and then they empty the Tary into another Pot fastened to their girdle That kind of Palm-tree bears no Dates when they draw Tary from it but when they draw none it yields wild Dates They take another course in drawing that Liquor from the Coco-tree The Coco-tree They make no hole but only cut the lower branches to a Foot length They fasten Pots to the end of them and the Tary Distils into the Vessels Seeing the Operation I have been speaking of is but once a year performed on these Palm-trees they whose Trade it is to fell Tary have a prodigious number of these Trees and there are a great many Merchants that Farm them The best Tary is drawn in the Night-time and they who would use it with pleasure ought to drink of that because not being heated by the Sun it is of an acide sweetness which leaves in the Mouth the flavour of a Chestnut which is very agreable That which is drawn in the day-time is eager and most commonly made Vinegar of because it easily corrupts and decays That kind of Palm or Coco-tree is fit for many other uses Coco for of its trunk they make Masts and Anchors nay and the hulks of Ships also and of its bark Sails and Cables The Fruit that springs from its feathered branches is as big as an ordinary Melon and contains a very wholesome Juice which hath the colour and taste of Whitewine The Dutch have a great many of these Coco-trees in Batavia which turn to great profit to them The Revenue alone of those which belong to the Company near the Town with the imposition on every Stand of those who sell any thing in the Market-place is sufficient to pay their Garison But they are so rigorous in exacting it that if any one leave his Stand to take a minutes refreshment in the Rain or for any other necessary occasion though he immediately come back yet must he pay a second time if he will challenge the same Stand. At Surrat are sold all sorts of Stuffs and Cotton-cloaths that are made in the Indies all the Commodities of Europe nay and of China also Commodities of Surrat as Purceline Cabinets and Coffers adorned with Torqueises Agats Cornelians Ivory and other sorts of embellishments There are Diamonds Rubies Pearls and all the other pretious Stones which are found in the East to be sold there also Musk Amber Myrrh Incense Manna Sal-Armoniac Quick-Silver Lac Indigo the Root Roenas for dying Red and all sorts of Spices
and Fruits which are got in the Indies and other Countries of the Levant go off here in great plenty and in general all the Drogues that Foreign Merchants buy up to transport into all parts of the World. CHAP. IX Of the Weights and Money of Surrat The weights of Surrat Candy a measure The Man a weight at Surrat The Pound of Surrat Tole Mangelus Caracts Vales. Gongy The Ounce of Paris AT Surrat as elsewhere there are diverse kinds of Weights and Measures That which is called Candy is of twenty Man 's but the most common Weight used in Trade is the Man which contains fourty Serra or Pounds and the Pound of Surrat contains fourteen Ounces or five and thirty Toles All Gold and Silver is weighed by the Tole and the Tole contains fourty Mangelis which makes fifty six of our Caracts or thirty two Vales or otherwise fourscore and sixteen Gengys The Vale contains three Gongys and two Toles a third and a half answers to an Ounce of Paris weight and a Tole weighs as much as a Roupie The Man weighs fourty Pound weight all the Indies over but these Pounds or Serres vary according to different Countries For instance the Pounds of Surrat are greater than those of Golconda and by consequence the Man is bigger also The Serre or Pound of Surrat weighs no more but fourteen Ounces and that of Agra weighs twenty eight The Money of Surrat Great sums of Money are reckoned by Leks Croiels or Courous Padans and Nilâ— An hundred thousand Roupies make a Lek an hundred thousand Lek a Courou an hundred thousand Courous a Padan and an hundred thousand Padans a Nil Roupies of Gold. The great Lords have Roupies of Gold which are worth about one and twenty French Livres but since they pass not commonly in Trade and that they are only Coined for the most part to be made presents of I shall only speak of those of Silver Roupies of Silver The Silver Roupie is as big as an Abassy of Persia but much thicker it weighs a Tole It passes commonly for thirty French Sols but it is not worth above nine and twenty They yearly Coin Roupies and the new ones during the year they are Coined in are valued a Pecha more than those of the foregoing year because the Coiners pretend that the Silver daily wears The truth is when I came to Surrat the Roupies were worth thirty three Pechas and a half and when I left it the same were worth but thirty two and a half They have Roupies and quarter pieces also Abassis The Abassis that are brought from Persia pass only for ninteen Pechas which are about sixteen French Sols and a half There is also a Mogole Silver-Coin called Mahmoudy which is worth about eleven Sols and a half Pecha The Pecha is a piece of Copper-Money as big and thick as a Roupie it is worth somewhat more than ten French Deniers and weighs six of our Drachms Baden They give threescore and eight Baden or bitter Almonds for a Pecha These Almonds that pass for Money at Surrat come from Persia and are the Fruit of a shrub that grows on the Rocks There are also half Pechas The Moguls Money very fine It is to be observed that the Silver Money of the Great Mogul is finer than any other for whenever a Stranger enters the Empire he is made to change the Silver he hath whether Piastres or Abassis into the Money of the Country and at the same time they are melted down and the Silver refined for the Coyning of Roupies CHAP. X. Of the Officers of Surrat THere is a Mufty at Surrat Officers of Surrat Mufty Cady who has the inspection over all that concerns the Mahometan Religion and a Cady established for the Laws to whom recourse is had in case of contest The Great Mogul entertains another great Officer there whom the Franks call Secretary of State and whose duty much resembles that of the Intendant of a Province in France He is called Vaca-Nevis Vaca-Nevis that is who writes and keeps a Register of all that happens within the extent of the Country where he is placed The King keeps one in every Government to give him notice of all that occurs and he depends on no Minister of State but only on his Majesty There are two Governours or Nabad at Surrat Two Governours at Surrat Nabad who have no dependance one on another and give an account of their actions only to the King. The one Commands the Castle and the other the Town and they encroach not upon one anothers rights and duties The Governour of the Town Judges in Civil matters and commonly renders speedy Justice The way of suing for a Debt in the Indies If a Man sue another for a Debt he must either shew an obligation produce two witnesses or take an Oath If he be a Christian he swears upon the Gospel if a Moor upon the Alcoran and a Heathen swears upon the Cow The Gentils Oath consists only in laying his hand upon the Cow and saying that he wishes he may eat of the Flesh of that Beast if what he says be not true but most of them chuse rather to lose their cause than to swear because they who swear are reckoned infamous among the Idolaters The first time one goes to wait upon the Governour as soon as they come they lay before him five six or ten Roupies every one according to his Quality and in the Indies the same thing is done to all for whom they would shew great respect This Governour meddles not at all in Criminal Affaires an Officer named Cotoual takes cognisance of them The Criminal Judge Cotoual In Turky he is called Sousbassa and in Persia Deroga He orders the Criminals to be punished in his presence either by Whipping or Cudgelling and that correction is inflicted many times in his House and sometimes in the Street at the same place where they have commited the fault When he goes abroad through the Town he is on Horse-back attended by several Officers on Foot some carrying Batons and great Whips others Lances Swords Targets and Maces of Iron like the great Pestles of a Morter but all have a dagger at their sides Nevertheless neither the Civil nor Criminal Judge can put any one to death The King reserves that Power to himself and therefore when any Man deserves death a Courier is dispatched to know his pleasure and they fail not to put his Orders in execution so soon as the Courier is come back The Cotoual is obliged to go about the Street in the Night-time to prevent disorders and sets guards in several places If he find any Man abroad in the Streets he commits him to Prison and very rarely does he let him go out again without being Bastonadoed or Whipt Two of the Officers that wait on him about nine of the Clock beat two little Drums whil'st a third sounds two
or three times a long Copper-Trumpet which I have described in my Voyage into Persia The cry of Caberdar Then the Officers or Serjeants cry as loud as they can Caberdar that 's to say take heed and they who are in the Neighbouring Streets answer with another cry to shew that they are not asleep After that they continue their round and begin to cry again afresh until they have finished it This round is performed thrice a Night to wit at nine of the Clock Midnight and three in the Morning The Cotoual answers for Robberies The Cotoual is to Answer for all the Robberies committed in the Town but as generally all that are put into that Office are very cunning so they find always evasions to come off without paying Whil'st I was at Surrat an Armenian Merchant was Robbed of two thousand four hundred Chequins his name was Cogea Minas Two of his Slaves absconding about the time of the Robbery he failed not to accuse them of it all imaginary enquiry was made after them but seeing there was no news to be had neither of them nor of the Money the report run that these Slaves had committed the Theft and that they were concealed by some Moor that was in intelligence with them who perhaps to get all the Money had killed and buryed them as it had already happened at Surrat In the mean time the Governour told the Cotoual that he must forthwith pay the Money because if the Emperour came to know of the matter all the fault would be laid at their door that perhaps they might be served worse than to be made pay the Money that had been stollen from Cogea Minas and that therefore they had best send for the Armenian and learn from him how much he had really lost The Cotoual said nothing to the contrary but at the same time asked leave to commit him to Prison and to put him and his servants to the Rack that so by torture he might discover whether or not he had really lost the Money and if so whether or not one of his own Men had Robbed him The Governour granted what he demanded but no sooner was the news brought to the Armenian but he desisted from pursuing the Cotoual and chose rather to lose all than to suffer the torments that were designed for him In this manner commonly the Cotoual comes off The punishment of those who are suspected of Robbery When any one is Robbed this Officer apprehends all the People of the House both Young and Old where the Robbery hath been committed and causes them to be beaten severely They are stretched out upon the Belly and four Men hold him that is to be punished by the Legs and Arms and two others have each a long Whip of twisted thongs of Leather made thick and round wherewith they lash the Patient one after another like Smiths striking on an Anvil till he have received two or three hundred lashes and be in a gore of Blood. If at first he confess not the Theft they whip him again next day and so for several days more until he hath confessed all or the thing stolen be recovered again and what is strange the Cotoual neither searches his House or Goods but after five or six days if he do not confess he is dismissed Prevost Foursdar At Surrat there is a Prevost who is called Foursdar and he is obliged to secure the Country about and to Answer for all the Robberies that are committed there but I cannot tell if he be so crafty as the Cotoual When they would stop any Person Doa-Padecha they only cry Doa-padecha which hath greater force than a Hue-and-cry and if they forbid a Man to stir out of the place where he is by saying Doa-padecha he cannot go without rendering himself Criminal and is obliged to appear before the Justice This cry is used all over the Indies After all there are but Fines imposed at Surrat the People live there with freedome enough CHAP. XI Bad Offices done to the French Company at Surrat Bad Offices done to the French Company at Surrat THe Governour of Surrat was making strict enquiry into the French Company when I came to the Indies Seeing at first he applyed himself to the other Franks and particularly to those whose interest it was not to have it established at Surrat they told him a great deal of evil of the French so that by the Artifice of their Enemies he had conceiv'd a bad Opinion of them He was thinking to sollicite their exclusion at Court when Father Ambrose Superiour of the Capucins being enform'd of it went to undeceive him telling him that he ought not to give credit to the Enemies of that Company for that they were combin'd to ruin it if they could He loved that Father because of his Probity and therefore did not reject him only adjur'd him to tell him the truth without dissimulation concerning the matter and whether the French who were to come were not Pirates as it was reported all over the Countrey and as many Franks had assured him they were This thought was suggested in Surrat so soon as it was known that there was a Design in France of sending Ships to trade in the East-Indies and the Calumny was easily believ'd because one Lambert Hugo Lambert Hugo a Corsar a Dutchman who had had French on Board of him and whom they brought fresh into the Peoples Minds had been two Years before at Moca with French Colours and a Commission from the Duke of Vendosme then Admiral of France and had taken some Vessels But that which offended most was the story of the Ship that carried the Goods of the Queen of Visiapour and was stranded about Socotra The Queen of Visiapour Socotra an Isle lying in eleven Degrees forty Minutes Latitude at the entry of the Red-Sea That Queen who was going to Mecha was out of the reach of the Corsar for luckily she had gone on Board of a Dutch Ship but being satisfied with a Ship belonging to her self for transporting her Equipage Hugo met that Ship and persued her so briskly that the Master was forced to run aground It being difficult for the Corsar to approach the Ship in the place where she lay he lost no courage but patiently expected what might be the issue of her stranding His expectation was not in vain for the Indians wanting Water for a long time and finding none where they were suffered great extremity and therefore having hid in the Sea what Gold Silver and pretious Stones they could they resolved to have recourse to the Corsar himself to save their lives hopeing that he would be satisfied with what remained in the Ship. Hugo being come up with them The Cunning of Hugo cunningly found out that they had sunk somewhat in the Sea and a false Brother told him that none but the Carpenter and his Son knew where the Queens Treasure was for she
are above four Foot Diametre and hard by there is a kind of Mahometan Chappel This Tanquie was made at the charges of a rich Banian named Gopy Gopy who built it for the publick and heretofore all the Water that was drank in Surrat came from this Reservatory for the five Wells which at present supply the whole Town were not found out till long after it was built It was begun at the same time the Castle was and they say that the one cost as much as the other It is certainly a Work worthy of a King and it may be compared to the fairest that the Romans ever made for publick benefit But seeing the Levantines let all things go to ruine for want of repair it was above six Foot filled with Earth when I saw it and in danger sometime or other to be wholly choaked up if some Charitable Banian be not at the charge of having it cleansed Having viewed that lovely Reservatory The Princesses Garden we went a quarter of a League farther to see the Princesses Garden so called because it belongs to the Great Moguls Sister It is a great Plot of Trees of several kinds as Manguiers Palms Mirabolans Wars Maisa-trees and many other planted in a streight line Amongst the Shrubs I saw the Querzehere or Aacla of which I have treated at large in my Second Part and also the Accaria of Egypt There are in it a great many very fair streight Walks and especially the four wich make a Cross over the Garden and have in the middle a small Canal of Water that is drawn by Oxen out of a Well In the middle of the Garden there is a Building with four Fronts each whereof hath its Divan with a Closet at each corner and before every one of these Divans there is a square Bason full of Water from whence flow the little Brooks which run through the chief Walks After all though that Garden be well contriv'd it is nothing to the gallantry of ours There is nothing to be seen of our Arbours Borders of Flowers nor of the exactness of their Compartments and far less of their Water-works About an hundred or an hundred and fifty Paces from that Garden The War-tree we saw the War-tree in its full extent It is likewise called Ber and the Tree of Banians as also the Tree of Roots because of the facility wherewith the branches that bear large Filaments take Rooting and by consequence produce other branches insomuch that one single Tree is sufficient to fill a great spot of Ground and this I speak of is very large and high affording a most spacious shade It s circuit is round and is fourscore Paces in Diametre which make above thirthy Fathom The Branches that had irregularly taken Root have been so skilfully cut that at present one may without any trouble walk about every where under it The Gentils of India look upon that Tree as Sacred A Sacred Tree and we might easily perceive that at a distance by the Banners which the Banians had planted on the top and highest Branches of it It hath by it a Pagod dedicated to an Idol which they call Mameva and they who are not of their Religion believe it to be a representation of Eve. We found a Bramen sitting there who put some Red Colour upon the Foreheads of those who come to pay their Devotions and received the Presents of Rice or Cocos that they offered him That Pagod is built under the Tree in form of a Grot the outside is painted with diverse Figures representing the Fables of their false Gods and in the Grot there is a Head all over Red. Charity towards Ants. In that place I saw a Man very charitable towards the Ants He carried Flower in a Sack to be distributed amongst them and left a handful every where where he met with any number Whilst we were abroad in the Fields we considered the Soyl of Surrat it is of a very brown Earth and they assured us that it was so very rich that they never dunged it After the Rains they sow their Corn that is after the Month of September and they cut it down after February They plant Sugar-Canes there also Sugar Canes and the way of planting them is to make great Furrows wherein before they lay the Canes they put a great many of the little Fish called Gudgeons Whether these Fish serve to fatten the Earth or that they add some qualitie to the Cane the Indians pretend that without that Manure the Canes would produce nothing that 's good They lay their pieces of Canes over these Fish end to end and from every joint of Cane so interred their Springs a Sugar-cane which they reap in their season The Soyl about Surrat is good for Rice also and there is a great deal sown Manguiers and Palm-trees of all kinds and other sorts of Trees thrive well there and yield great profit The Dutch water their Ground with Well-Water which is drawn by Oxen after the manner described in my Second Part but the Corn-land is never watered because the Dew that falls plentifully in the Mornings is sufficient for it The River of Tapty The River of Tapty is always brackish at Surrat and therefore the Inhabitants make no use of it neither for Drink nor Watering of their Grounds but only for washing their Bodies which they do every Morning as all the other Indians do They make use of Well-water to drink and it is brought in Borrachoes upon Oxen. This River of it self is but little for at High-water it is no broader than half of the River of Seine at Paris Nevertheless it swells so in the Winter-time by the Rain-water that it furiously overflows and makes great havock It has its source in a place called Gehar-Conde in the Mountains of Decan ten Leagues from Brampour It passes by that Town and before it discharge it self into the Sea it Waters several Countries and washes many Towns as last of all it does Surrat At low Water it runs to the Bar but when it flows the Sea commonly advances two Leagues over that Bar and so receives the Water of the Tapty CHAP. XV. The Port of Surrat The Port of Surrat THe Bar of Surrat where Ships come at present is not its true Port at best it can be called but a Road and I had reason to say in the beginning of this Book that it is called the Bar because of the Banks of Sand which hinder Ships from coming farther in The truth is there is so little Water there that though the Vessels be unloaded the ordinary Tides are not sufficient to bring them up and they are obliged to wait a Spring-tide but then they come up to Surrat especially when they want to be careen'd Small Barks come easily up to the Town with the least Tides The true Port of Surrat is Soualy two Leagues from the Bar. Soualy It is distant from the Town
Campson Sultan of Egypt Mammelukes Its first Castle was built in the Year fifteen hundred and fifteen by Albaquerque a Portuguese Campson the last but one of the Mammelukes of Egypt set on by the King of Guzerat sent an Army against the Portuguese which perished there They were not then Masters of the Town and had no more but the Castle Sultan Soliman Sultan Soliman Emperour of the Turks sent and besieged it in the year One thousand five hundred and thirty eight at the desire of the same King of Guzerat King of Guzerat named Badur for that Country belonged not then to the Moguls and his success was no better than that of the Sultan of Egypt Solimans Fleet consisted of threescore and two Gallies Solimans Fleet and Army six Gallions and a great many other smaller Vessels fitted out at Suez in the Red Sea which had on board four thousand Janisaries and sixteen thousand other Soldiers not to reckon Gunners Sea-men and Pilotes It parted from Suez in June and a Basha called Soliman who cammanded it in his passage Seized the Town of Aden Aden by horrible treachery and hanged the King of it When this Fleet came before Diu it was joyned by fourscore Sail of Ships of the Country and so soon as the Forces were put a-shore they landed fifty pieces of Cannon wherewith they battered the Citadel which on the other side was besieged by a Land-army of the King of Guzerat Many brave Actions happened during that Sicge The Governour of the Citadel called Silveira a Portuguese shew'd so much Valour and Prudence in resisting the several assaults and attacks of the Turks and Indians Silveira a Portuguese that he forced them to raise the Siege shamefully and to forsake their Pavillions Ammunition and Artillery to leave above a thousand wounded Men in their Camp above a thousand more that were out a forraging and fifty pieces of Cannon besides which were Seized by the Portuguese Stones of Cobra In this Town of Diu the so much famed Stones of Cobra are made they are composed of the Ashes of burnt roots mingled with a kind of Earth they have and once again burnt with that Earth which afterwards is made up into a Paste of which these Stones are formed They are used against the stingings of Serpents and other venemous Creatures Stingings of Serpents or when one is wounded with a Poysonous Weapon A little Blood is to be let out of the Wound with the prick of a Needle The Remedy and the Stone applied thereto which must be left till it drop off of it self Then it must be put into Womans milk or if none can be had into that of a Cow and there it leaves all the Venom it hath imbibed for if it be not so used it will burst Nariad and Mamadebad Towns. Betwixt Broudra and Amedabad there are two Towns more of indifferent bigness the one called Nariad and the other Mamadebad where many Stuffs are made and the latter furnishes the greatest part of Guzerat and other Neighbouring Countries with Cotton-thread I shall treat no more here of the other Towns of this Kingdom because there being but little worth remarking in them the discription would be tedious It pays commonly to the Great Mogul Twenty Millions five hundred thousand French Livres a Year The Revenue of the Province of Guzerat CHAP. XIX Of the Province and Town of Agra AGra is one of the largest Provinces of Mogulistan Agra and its Capital Town which bears the same Name is the greatest Town of the Indies It is distant from Surrat about two hundred and ten Leagues which they make commonly in five and thirty or six and thirty days Journey of Caravan and it lies in the Latitude of twenty eight degrees and half on the River Gemna which some call Geminy and Pliny Jomanes Gemna a River Jomanes River The course of the Gemna This River hath its source in the Mountains to the North of Dehly from whence descending towards this Town and receiving several rivulets in its course it makes a very considerable River It runs by Agra and having traversed several Countries falls into the Ganges at the great Town of Halbas There is no need of taking the pains that some have done Bacchus to have recourse to Bacchus for illustrating Agra by an ancient Name Before King Ecbar it was no more but a Bourg which had a little Castle of Earth and pretended to no privilege over its Neighbours upon account of Antiquity and indeed there were never any marks of that to be found That Prince being pleased with the seat of it joyned several Villages thereunto He gave them the form of a Town by other buildings which he raised and called it after his own Name Ecbar-Abad Agra called Bebar-Abad the habitation of Ecbar where he established the seat of his Empire in the year One thousand five hundred threescore and six His declaration of that was enough to People it for when the Merchants came to understand that the Court was there they came from all parts Merchants Flock to Agra and not only the Banian Traders flocked thither but Christians also of all Perswasions as well as Mahometans who strove in emulation who should furnish it with greatest variety of Goods and seeing that Prince called the Jesuits thither Jesuits at Agra and gave them a Pension to subsist on Catholick Merchants made no scruple to come and live there and to this day these Fathers take the care of Spirituals and teach their Children Though this Prince pretended to make Agra a place of consequence yet he Fortified it not neither with ramparts Walls nor Bastions but only with a Ditch hopeing to make it so strong in Soldiers and Inhabitants that it should not need to fear the attempts of any Enemy Castle of Agra The Castle was the first thing that was built which he resolved to make the biggest at that time in the Indies and the situation of the old one appearing good and commodious he caused it to be demolished and the foundations of the present to be laid It was begirt with a Wall of Stone and Brick terrassed in several places which is twenty Cubits high and betwixt the Castle and River a large place was left for the exercises the King should think fit to divert himself with The Kings Palace is in the Castle The Kings Palace at Agra It contains three Courts adorned all round with Porches and Galleries that are Painted and Gilt nay there are some peeces covered with plates of Gold. Under the Galleries of the first Court there are Lodgings made for the Kings Guards The Officers Lodgings are in the second and in the third the stately appartments of the King and his Ladies from whence he goes commonly to a lovely Divan which looks to the River there to please himself with seeing Elephants fight his Troops exercise and Plays which
of the Province of Agra Gemna or Geminy Lanque Cham-Elnady Geogonady Singour all Rivers of Agra The Revenue of Agra and Schites are made there which in beauty come near those of St. Thomas There are a great many other Towns whose Names I know not The chief Rivers that water Agra are the Gemna or Geminy Lanque Cham-Elnady Geogonady Singour and a great many smaller The Kings Revenue in this Province of Agra is reckoned to amount to above thirty seven Millions of French-Livres a Year CHAP. XXII Of the Province or Town of Dehly or Gehan-Abad The Province of Dehly THe Province of Dehly bounds that of Agra to the North and at present the Great Mogul Auran-zeb keeps his Court in the chief City of it which is about fourty five Leagues distant from Agra In Indostan it is called Gehan-abad Gehan-Abad and elsewhere Dehly The Road betwixt these two Towns is very pleasant it is that famous Alley or Walk one hundred and fifty Leagues in length A Walk of 150 Leagues which King Gehanguir planted with Trees and which reaches not only from Agra to Dehly but even as far as Lahors Each half League is marked with a kind of Turret There are threescore and nine or threescore and ten of them betwixt the two Capital Cities and besides there are little Serraglio's or Carvanseras from Stage to Stage for lodging Travellers However there is nothing worth the observing about these Serraglios unless in that which is called Chekiserai which is six Leagues from Agra The Pagod of Chekiserai In that place there is the Ancient Temple of an Idol and it may be reckoned amongst the largest and fairest Pagods of the Indies It was more frequented than now it is when the Gemna washed the Walls thereof because of the convenience of Ablutions But though that River hath fallen off almost half a League from it yet many Indians still resort thither who forget not to bring with them Food for the Apes that are kept in an Hospital built for them An Hospital for Apes Though the Road I have been speaking of be tolerable yet it hath many inconveniencies One may meet with Tygres Panthers and Lions upon it and one had best also have a care of Robbers and above all things not to suffer any body to come near one upon the Road. The cunningest Robbers in the World are in that Countrey The Robbers Snare They use a certain Slip with a running-noose which they can cast with so much slight about a Mans Neck when they are within reach of him that they never fail so that they strangle him in a trice They have another cunning trick also to catch Travellers with Dangerous Women upon the Road from Agra to Dehly They send out a handsome Woman upon the Road who with her Hair deshevelled seems to be all in Tears sighing and complaining of some misfortune which she pretends has befallen her Now as she takes the same way that the Traveller goes he easily falls into Conversation with her and finding her beautiful offers her his assistance which she accepts but he hath no sooner taken her up behind him on Horse-back but she throws the snare about his Neck and strangles him or at least stuns him until the Robbers who lie hid come running in to her assistance and compleat what she hath begun But besides that there are Men in those quarters so skilful in casting the Snare that they succeed as well at a distance as near at hand and if an Ox or any other Beast belonging to a Caravan run away as sometimes it happens they fail not to catch it by the Neck There are three Towns of Dehly near to one another Three Towns of Dehly The first Town of Dehly The first which is entirely destroy'd and whereof some Ruins only remain was very ancient and the learned Indians will have it to have been the Capital Town of the States of King Porus so famous for the War which he maintained against Alexander the Great It was nearer the Source of the Gemna than the two others that have been built since The Indians say it had two and fifty Gates and there is still at some distance from its Ruins a Stone-bridge from whence a Way hath been made with lovely Trees on each side which leads to the second Dehly The Sepulchre of Cha-Humayon by the place where the Sepulchre of Cha-Humayon is This Second Town of Dehly is that which was taken by the King The second Town of Dehly whom they call the first Conquerour of the Indies amongst the Modern Moguls though his Father Mirzababer had invaded it before It was then beautified with a great many stately Sepulchres of the Patan Kings and other Monuments which rendred it a very lovely Town but Cha-Gehan the Father of King Auran-Zeb demolished it for the Building of Gehan-Abad Towards the Sepulchre of Humayon A Pyramide of great Antiquity towards Dehly there is a Pyramide or Obelisk of Stone which by its unknown Characters shews a great Antiquity and which is thought in the Indies to have been erected by Alexander's order after the defeat of Porus. This I cannot believe because I make no doubt but that the Inscription would then have been in Greek which is not so The Third Town of Dehly is joyned to the remains of the Second The Third Town of Dehly Cha-Gehan resolving to imitate King Ecbar and to give his Name to a new Town caused this to be built of the Ruines of the Second Dehly and called it Gehan-Abad So the Indians call it at present though amongst other Nations it still retains the Name of Dehly It lies in an open Champian Countrey upon the brink of the Gemna which hath its source in this Province and runs into the Ganges The Fortress of it is half a League in circuit The Fort of Dehly and hath good Walls with round Towers every ten Battlements and Ditches full of Water wharffed with Stone as likewise lovely Gardens round it The Kings Palace at Dehly And in this Fort is the Palace of the King and all the Ensignes of the Royalty This Town of Dehly or Gehan-abad contrary to that of Agra or Ecbar-abad hath no Ditches but Walls filled up with Earth behind and Towers There is a place towards the Water-side for the fighting of Elephants and other Exercises and towards the Town there is another very large place where the Raja's who are in the Kings Pay encamp and keep Guard and where many exercises are performed The Market is also kept in that Square and there Puppet-players Juglers and Astrologers shew their tricks A Description of the Palace The Canal of the Palace of Dehly Here I should give a description of the inside of the Fort and Palace and having begun with the two Elephants at the entry which carry two Warriours speak of the Canal that enters into it of the Streets that lead to
richer Their other offensive Arms are the Bow and Arrow the Javelin or Zagaye and sometimes the Pistol The Foot carry a Musket or a Pike twelve Foot long They have Cannon also in their Towns The Moguls Cannon good for nothing but since they melt the Metal in diverse Furnaces so that some of it must needs be better melted than others when they mingle all together their Cannon commonly is good for nothing Defensive Arms. The Moguls Buckler The defensive Arms of the Indians are a round Buckler about two foot in diametre It is made of Buff varnished over with Black and hath a great many Nails the heads whereof are above an inch over with it they defend themselves against Arrows and Swords Coat of Mail. The Moguls Vambrace They have likewise the Coat of Mail the Cuirats the Head-piece and a Vambrace fastened to the Sword this Vambrace is is a piece of Iron covering the Handle almost round and growing broader as it reaches from the Guard of the Sword to the upper part of the Pummel and sometimes higher It is four or five inches in diametre at that place and is lined with Velvet or some such like thing in the inside that it may not hurt the Hand So that by means of that Engine both hand and handle are wholly covered from the Enemies blows CHAP. XXIV Of the Beasts at Dehly Beasts at Dehly AT Dehly are all sorts of Beasts that are known The King hath many and private Men who are Rich have some also They have Hawks there of all kinds Elks. Rhinoceros Buffles all kinds of Camels Dromedaries Mules Asses and Elephants They have also Elks and Rhinoceroses which are as big as the largest Oxen. The ordinary Oxen there are less than ours Buffles they have also and those of Bengala are the dearest because they are very stout and are not at all afraid of Lions Dogs of Maurenahar Nor do they want Dogs of all sorts but those which are brought from Maurenahar or Transoxiane are most esteemed for Hunting though they be small However the Indian Dogs are better for the Hare They have also Stags Lions and Leopards Horses There is abundance of all sorts of Horses there Besides the Country breed which the Moguls make use of and which are very good Horses they have others also from the Country of the Ulbecks Arabia and Persia those of Arabia being most esteemed and the loveliest of all are constantly reserved for the King. The way of dressing and feeding the Horses They have neither Oats nor Barley given them in the Indies so that Foreign Horses when they are brought thither can hardly feed The way they treat them is thus Every Horse has a Groom he curries and dresses him an hour before day and so soon as it is day makes him drink at seven of the Clock in the Morning he gives him five or six balls of a composition called Donna made of three Pounds of Flower the weight of five Pechas of Butter and of four Pechas of Jagre these Balls are at first forced down his Throat and so by degrees he is accustomed to that way of feeding which in some Months after he grows very fond of An hour after the Groom gives the Horse Grass and continues to do so at certain times every hour of the day after and about four of the Clock after noon he gives him three Pound of dried Pease bruised he mingles Water with them and sometimes a little Sugar according to the disposition the Horse is in Litter of dry Horse-dung and when Night is drawing on he carefully prepares his Horses litter which is of dry Dung laid very thick which he is very careful to provide For that end he gathers all that his Horse hath made and when that is not sufficient he buys from others who are not so much concerned for the convenience of their Horses Flying tassels of white Hair taken out of the tails of some Oxen. At Dehly as elsewhere they take care to adorn their Horses The great Lords have Saddles and Housses Embroadered and set sometimes with Pretious Stones proportionably to the charge they intend to be at But the finest Ornament though of less cost is made of six large flying tassels of long white Hair taken out of the Tails of wild Oxen that are to be found in some places of the Indies Four of these large tassels fastened before and behind to the Saddle hang down to the ground and the other two are upon the Horses head so that when the Rider spurs on his Horse to a full speed or if there be any wind these tassels flying in the Air seem to be so many wings to the Horse and yield a most pleasant prospect There are several sorts of Elephants at Dehly Elephants as well as in the rest of the Indies but those of Ceilan are preferred before all others because they are the stoutest though they be the least and the Indians say that all other Elephants stand in awe of them They go commonly in Troops Elephants Robbers on the High-ways and then they offer violence to no body but when they straggle from the rest they are dangerous There are always some of them that have the cunning and inclination to do mischief and in the Country these are called Robbers on the High-ways because if they meet a Man alone they 'll kill and eat him Strong Elephants can carry forty Mans An Elephants Load at fourscore Pound weight the Man. Those of the Country of Golconda Siam Cochin and Sumatra are indeed less esteemed than the Elephants of Ceilan The choice of Elephants but they are much stronger and surer footed in the Mountains and that is the reason why the great Men when they are to Travel provide themselves of those rather than of the Elephants of Ceilan However it may be said in general that Elephants of what Country or kind soever they be are the surest footed of all Beasts of Carriage because it is very rare to see them make a trip But seeing it is chargeable to feed them The food that is given to an Elephant and that besides the Flesh they give them to eat and the Strong-waters they drink it costs at least half a Pistol a day for the Paste of Flower Sugar and Butter that must be given to a single one there are but few that keep them Nay the great Lords themselves entertain no great number of them and the Great Mogul has not above five hundred for the use of his houshold in carrying the Women in their Mickdembers with grates which are a sort of Cages and the Baggage Mickdembers and I have been assured that he hath not above two hundred for the Wars of which some are employed in carrying small Field-pieces upon their Carriages When an Elephant is in his ordinary disposition Elephants docile his Governour can make him do what he pleases
and glittering Throne with those others that are carried about in progresses which are likewise adorned with Jewels The fairest Elephants decked with the richest Trappings Decked Elephants are from time to time brought out before the King and the loveliest Horses in their turns also and since the first Mogul Kings introduced a custom of being weighed in a Balance to augment the pleasure of the solemnity the King in being The King is weighed never fails to do so The Balance wherein this is performed seems to be very Rich. The Balance wherein the King is weighed They say that the Chains are of Gold and the two Scales which are set with Stones appear likewise to be of Gold as the Beam of the Balance does also though some affirm that all is but Guilt The King Richly attired and shining with Jewels goes into one of the Scales of the Balance and sits on his Heels and into the other are put little bales so closely packt that one cannot see what is within them The People are made believe that these little bales which are often changed are full of Gold Silver and Jewels or of Rich Stuffs and the Indians tell Strangers so when they would brag of their Country then they weigh the King with a great many things that are good to eat and I believe that what is within the Bales is not a whit more Pretious However when one is at the Solemnity he must make as if he believed all that is told him and be very attentive to the Publication of what the King weighs for it is published and then exactly set down in writing When it appears in the Register that the King weighs more than he did the year before all testifie their Joy by Acclamations but much more by rich Presents which the Grandees and the Ladies of the Haram make to him The presents of the Festival when he is returned to his Throne and these Presents amount commonly to several Millions The King distributes Trifles given by the King. first a great quantity of Artificial Fruit and other knacks of Gold and Silver which are brought to him in Golden Basons but these knacks are so slight that the profusion which he makes in casting them promiscuously amongst the Princes and other Great men of his Court who croud one another to have their share lessens not the Treasure of his Exchequer for I was assured that all these trifles would not cost one hundred thousand Crowns And indeed Auran-Zeb is reckoned a far greater Husband Auran-Zeb a great Husband than a great King ought to be during five days there is great rejoycing all over the Town as well as in the Kings Palace which is exprest by Presents Feastings Bonefires and Dances and the King has a special care to give Orders Publick rejoycing that the best Dancing-women and Baladines be always at Court. Play at Dice The Gentiles being great lovers of Play at Dice there is much Gaming during the five Festival days They are so eager at it in Dehly and Benara that there is a vast deal of Money lost there and many People ruined And I was told a Story of a Banian of Dehly who played so deep at the last Festival that he lost all his Money Goods House Wife and Children At length he that won them taking pity of him gave him back his Wife and Children but no more of all his Estate than to the value of an hundred Crowns To conclude The Province of Dehly hath no great extent to the South-East which is the side towards Agra but is larger on the other sides especially Eastwards The Ground of Dehly where it hath a great many Towns The Ground about it is excellent where it is not neglected but in many parts it is The ground about the Capital City is very fertile Wheat and Rice grow plentifully there They have excellent Sugar also and good Indigo Chalimar one of the Kings Country Houses especially towards Chalimar which is one of the Kings Countrey-houses about two Leagues from Dehly upon the way to Lahors All sorts of Trees and Fruit grow there also but amongst others the Ananas are exceeding good I shall speak of them in the Description of the Kingdom of Bengala The Yearly Revenue of Dehly It is specified in my Memoire That this Province pays the Great Mogul yearly between thirty seven and thirty eight Millions CHAP. XXVII Of the Province and Town of Azmer The Road from Agra to Azmer THE Province of Azmer lies to the North-East of Dehly the Countrey of Sinde bounds it to the West It hath Agra to the East Multan and Pengeab to the North and Guzerat to the South This Province of Azmer It is Six Leagues from Agra to Fetipout 6 Leag to Bramabad 7. Leag to Hendouen 7 Leag to Mogul-serai 6 Leag to Lascot 7 Leag to Chafol 4 Leag to Pipola 7 Leag to Mosa-ban 5 Leag to Bender-Sandren 6 Leag to Mandil 1 Leag to Azmer hath been divided into three Provinces of Bando Gesselmere and Soret and the Capital City at present is Azmer which is distant from Agra about sixty two Leagues The Situation of Azmer This Town lies in twenty five Degrees and a half North Latitude at the foot of a very high and almost inaccessible Mountain There is on the top of it an extraordinary strong Castle to mount to which one must go turning and winding for above a League and this Fort gives a great deal of reputation to the Province The Town hath Stone-Walls and a good Ditch without the Walls of it there are several Ruins of Fair Buildings which shew great antiquity King Ecbar was Master of this Province before he built Agra And before it fell into his hands it belonged to a famous Raja Raja Ramgend or Raspoute called Ramgend who came to Fetipour and resigned it to him and at the same time did him Hommage for it This Raja was Mahometan as his Predecessors had been and besides a great many ancient marks of Mahometanism that were in that Country in his Time Cogea Mondy the famous Cogea Mondy who was in reputation of Sanctity amongst the Mahometans was reverenced at Azmer and from all Parts they came in Pilgrimage to his Tombe It is a pretty fair Building having three Courts paved with Marble whereof the first is extreamly large and hath on one side The Sepulchre of Cogea Mondy several Sepulchres of false Saints and on the other a Reservatory of Water with a neat Wall about it The second Court is more beautified and hath many Lamps in it The third is the loveliest of the three and there the Tomb of Cogea Mondy is to be seen in a Chappel whose door is adorned with several Stones of colour mingled with Mother of Pearl There are besides three other smaller Courts which have their Waters and Buildings for the convenience and lodging of Imans who are entertained to
the Presents they made him at this Solemnity But he rewarded them afterwards by Offices and Employments And this is the course the King commonly takes with them and few complain of it CHAP. XXIX Of the Beasts of the Country of Azmer and of the Saltpetre THere is in these Countries a Beast like a Fox in the Snout which is no bigger than a Hare the Hair of it is of the colour of a Stags and the Teeth like to a Dogs It yields most excellent Musk for at the Belly it hath a Bladder full of corrupt Blood and that Blood maketh the Musk The Musk Animal or is rather the Musk it self They take it from it and immediately cover the place where the Bladder is cut with Leather to hinder the scent from evaporating But after this Operation is made the Beast is not long liv'd There are also towards Azmer Pullets whose Skin is all over black Pullets as well as their Bones though the Flesh of them be very white and their Feathers of another colour In the extremity of this Province the Maids are very early Marriageable Maids Marriageable at 8 or 9 years of age and so they are in many other places of the Indies where most part can enjoy Man at the age of eight or nine years and have Children at ten That 's a very ordinary thing in the Country where the young ones go naked and wear nothing on their Bodies but a bit of Cloath to cover their Privities Most of the Children in these Countries have the same playes to divert them with as amongst us they commonly make use of Tops Giggs The Childrens playes and Bull-flies in the season of Childrens Trumpets and many other Toys of that nature The People are rude and uncivil The Men are great clowns and very impudent they make a horrid noise when they have any quarrel but what Passion soever they seem to be in and what bitter words soever they utter they never come to blows The Servants are very unfaithful and many times rob their Masters There are very venemous Scorpions in that Country Venemous Scorpions The remedy of Fire but the Indians have several remedies to cure their Stinging and the best of all is Fire They take a burning Coal and put it near the wound they hold it there as long and as near as they can The venom keeps one from being incommoded by the heat of the Fire on the contrary the Poison is perceived to work out of the Wound by little and little and in a short time after one is perfectly cured The ways of this Country being very Stony The Oxen are shod they shoe the Oxen when they are to Travel far on these ways They cast them with a Rope fastened to two of their Legs and so soon as they are down they tye their four Feet together which they put upon an Engine made of two Sticks in form of an X and then they take two little thin and light pieces of Iron which they apply to each Foot one piece covering but one half Foot and that they fasten with three Nails above an Inch long which are clenched upon the side of the Hooffs as Horses with us are shod Seeing the Oxen in the Indies are very tame Indian Oxen. many People make use of them in Travelling and ride them like Horses though commonly they goe but at a very slow pace Instead of a Bit they put one or two small strings through the Gristle of the Oxes Nostrils and throw over his Head a good large Rope fastened to these strings as a Bridle which is held up by the bunch he hath on the fore part of his back that our Oxen have not They Saddle him as they do a Horse and if he be but a little spurred he 'll go very fast and there are some that will go as fast as a good Horse The Oxen are Saddled These Beasts are made use of generally all over the Indies and with them only are drawn Waggons Coaches and Chariots allowing more or fewer according as the load is heavier or lighter The Oxen serve to draw Coaches as well as Carts and Waggons The Oxen are Yoaked by a long Yoak at the end of the Pole laid upon their Necks and the Coach-man holdeth in his hand the Rope to which the strings that are put through the Nostrils are fastened These Oxen are of different sizes there are great small and of a middle size but generally all very hardy so that some of them will Travel fifteen Leagues a day There is one kind of them almost six Foot high but they are rare and on the contrary another which they call Dwarfs because they are not three Foot high these have a bunch on their Back as the rest have go very fast and serve to draw small Waggons White Oxen are very dear They have white Oxen there which are extraordinary dear and I saw two of them which the Dutch had that cost them two hundred Crowns a piece they were really lovely strong and good and their Chariot that was drawn by them made a great shew When People of quality have lovely Oxen They have great care of the Oxen. they keep them with a great deal of care they deck the ends of their Horns with sheaths of Copper they use them to Cloaths as Horses are and they are daily curried and well fed Their ordinary Provender is Straw and Millet The food of the Oxen. but in the Evening they make each Ox swallow down five or six large Balls of a Paste made of Flower Jagre and Butter kned together They give them sometimes in the Country Kichery which is the ordinary Food of the Poor Kichery and it is called Kichery because it is made of a Grain of the same name boiled with Rice Water and Salt Some give them dryed Pease bruised and steeped in Water After all no part of this Province is fertile but the Countries about Azmer and Soret for the Countries of Gesselmere and Bando are Barren The chief Trade of Azmer is in Saltpetre The Saltpetre of Azmer and there are great quantities of it made there by reason of the black fat Earth that is about it which is the properest of all other Soils to afford Saltpetre The Indians fill a great hole with that Earth and pound it in Water with great pounders of very hard Timber when they have reduced it into a Liquid mash they let it rest to the end the Water may imbibe all the Saltpetre out of the Earth The way of making Salt-petre This mixture having continued so for some time they draw off what is clear and put it into great Pots wherein they let it boil and continually scum it when it is well boiled they again drain what is clear out of these Pots and that being congealed and dryed in the Sun where they let it stand for a certain time it is in its perfection
and then they carry it to the Sea-port Towns and especially to Surrat where the Europeans and others buy it to Ballast their Ships with and sell elsewhere This Province of Azmer pays commonly to the Great Mogul thirty two or thirty three Millions notwithstanding the barren places that are in it CHAP. XXX Of the Province of Sinde or Sindy The Province of Sinde or Sindy SInde or Sindy which some call Tatta is bounded with the province of Azmer to the East and the Mountains which border it on that side belong to the one or other Country It hath Multan to the North to the South a Desart and the Indian Sea and to the West Macran and Segestan It reaches from South to North on both sides the River Indus and that River is by the Orientals called also Sindy or Sinde The River Sinde Ginguis-Can Gelaleddin Carezmian Princes On the banks of it was fought that famous Battel betwixt Ginguis-Can first Emperour of the Tartars or Ancient Moguls and the Sultan Gelaleddin which decided the destiny of the Empire in favour of the former against the Carezmian Princes who had for a long time been Masters of the Kingdom of Persia of all Zagatay and of the greatest part of the Country of Turquestan The chief Town of this Province is Tatta and the most Southern Town Tatta Diul Dobil Diul It is still called Diul-Sind and was heretofore called Dobil It lyes in the four and twentieth or five and twentieth degree of Latitude There are some Orientals that call the Country of Sinde by the name of the Kingdom of Diul It is a Country of great Traffick and especially in the Town of Tatta where the Indian Merchants buy a great many curiosities made by the Inhabitants who are wonderfully Ingenious in all kind of Arts. The Indus makes a great many little Islands towards Tatta and these Islands being fruitful and pleasant make it one of the most commodious Towns of the Indies though it be exceeding hot there There is also a great trade at Lourebender Lourebender which is three days Journey from Tatta upon the Sea where there is a better Road for Ships than in any other place of the Indies The finest Palanquins that are in all Indostan are made at Tatta and there is nothing neater than the Chariots with two Wheels which are made there for Travelling It is true they have but few Coaches because few Europeans go thither and hardly any of the Indians make use of Coaches but they Chariots convenient for Travelling but these Chariots are convenient enough for Travelling and are not harder than Coaches They are flat and even having a border four fingers broad with Pillars all round more or fewer according to the fancy of him for whom it is made but commonly there are but eight of which there are four at the four corners of the Engine the other four at the sides and thongs of Leather are interwoven from Pillar to Pillar to keep one from falling out Some I confess have the Chariot surrounded with Ballisters of Ivory but few are willing to be at the charges of that and the Custom of making use of that Net-work of Leather makes that most part cares not for Ballisters but go so about the Town sitting after the Levantine manner upon a neat Carpet that covers the bottom of the Chariot Some cover it above with a slight Imperial but that commonly is only when they go into the Country to defend them from the Sun-beams This Machine hath no more but two Wheels put under the side of the Chariot and not advancing outwards The Wheeles of the Indian Chariots they are of the height of the fore Wheels of our Coaches have eight square spoaks are four or five fingers thick and many times are not shod Hackny-coaches to Travel in with two Oxen are hired for five and twenty pence or half a Crown a day but whatever ease the Indians may find in them our Coaches are much better because they are hung The Wheels of Waggons or Carts for carrying of Goods Cart-Wheeles have no Spoaks they are made of one whole piece of solid Timber in form of a Mill-stone and the bottom of the Cart is always a thick frame of Wood. These Carts are drawn by eight or ten Oxen according to the heaviness of the Loads When a Merchant conveys any thing of consequence he ought to have four Soldiers or four Pions by the sides of the Waggon to hold the ends of the Rope that are tyed to it to keep it from overturning if it come to heeld in bad way and that way is used in all Caravans though commonly they consist of above two hundred Waggons CHAP. XXXI Of Palanquins Palanquin INdians that are Wealthy Travel neither in Chariots nor Coaehes They make of use of an Engine which they call Palanquin and is made more neatly at Tatta than any where else It is a kind of Couch with four feet having on each side Ballisters four or five Inches high and at the head and feet a back-stay like a Childs Cradle which sometimes is open like Ballisters and sometimes close and Solid This Machine hangs by a long Pole which they call Pambou by means of two frames nailed to the feet of the Couch which are almost like to those that are put to the top of moving Doors to fasten Hangings by and these two frames which are the one at the head and the other at the opposite end have Rings through which great Ropes are put that fasten and hang the Couch to the Pambou The Pambous of Palanquins The Pambous that serve for Palanquins are thick round Canes five or six Inches in Diametre and four Fathom long crooked Arch-wise in the middle so that on each side from the bending there remains a very streight end about five or six foot long On the bending of the Pambou there is a covering laid of two pieces of Cloath sewed together betwixt which at certain distances there are little Rods cross-ways to hold the Cloaths so that they may conveniently cover the Palanquin If a Woman be in it it is covered close over with red Searge or with Velvet if she be a great Lady And if they be afraid of Rain the whole machine is covered over with a waxed Cloath In the bottom of these Palanquins there are Mats and Cushions to lie or sit upon and they move or ease themselves by means of some Straps of Silk that are fastened to the Pambou in the inside of the Machine The Ornament of Palanquins Every one adorns his Palanquin according to his humour some have them covered with plates of carved Silver and others have them only Painted with Flowers and other Curiosities or beset round with guilt Balls and the Cases or Cages wherein hang the Vessels that hold the Water which they carry with them to drink are beautified in the same manner as the Body of the Palanquin
The Porters of Palanquins These Machines are commonly very dear and the Pambou alone of some of them costs above an hundred Crowns but to make a-mends for that they have Porters at a very easie rate for they have but nine or ten Livres a piece by the Month and are obliged to Diet themselves It requires four Men to carry a Palanquin because each end of the Pambou rests upon the Shoulders of two Men and when the Journey is long some follow after to take their turn and ease the others when they are weary The yearly Revenue of the Province of Sinde Sinde of which we have been speaking yields not the Great Mogul above three Million four hundred thousand French Livres a Year CHAP. XXXII Of the Province of Multan MUltan which comprehends Bucor Multan has to the South the Province of Sinde and to the North the Province of Caboul as it hath Persia to the West and the Province of Lahors to the East It is watered with many Rivers that make it Fertile The Capital Town which is also called Multan was heretofore a place of very great Trade because it is not far from the River Indus but seeing at present Vessels cannot go up so far because the Chanel of that River is spoilt in some places and the Mouth of it full of shelves the Traffick is much lessened What Multan produces by reason that the charge of Land-carriage is too great However the Province yields plenty of Cotton of which vast numbers of Cloaths are made It yields also Sugar Opium Brimstone Galls and store of Camels which are transported into Persia by Gazna and Candabar or into the Indies themselves by Lahors but whereas the Commodities went heretofore down the Indus at small Charges to Tatta where the Merchants of several Countries came and bought them up they must now be carried by Land as far as Surrat if they expect a considerable price for them The Town of Multan is by some Geographers attributed to Sinde The Town of Multan Cozdar or Cordar Candavil Sandur Towns. though it make a Province by it self It lies in twenty nine Degrees forty Minutes North Latitude and hath many good Towns in its dependance as Cozdar or Cordar Candavil Sandur and others It furnishes Indostan with the finest Bows that are to be seen in it and the nimblest Dancers The Commanders and Officers of these Towns are Mahometans and by consequence it may be said that most part of the Inhabitants are of the same Religion But it contains a great many Banians also Banians for Multan is their chief Rendezvous for Trading into Persia where they do what the Jews do in other places but they are far more cunning for nothing escapes them and they let slip no occasion of getting the penny how small soever it be The Tribe of these Banians is the fourth in dignity amongst the Castes Tribes or Sects of the Gentiles of whom we shall treat in the sequel of this Relation They are all Merchants and Broakers and are so expert in business that hardly any body can be without them The Banians useful They give them Commissions of all kinds though it be known that they make their profit of every thing yet Men chuse rather to make use of them than to do their business themselves and I found often by experience that I had what they bought for me much cheaper than what I bought my self or made my servants buy They are of a pleasing humour for they reject no service whether honourable or base and are always ready to satisfie those who employ them and therefore every one hath his Banian in the Indies and some persons of Quality intrust them with all they have though they be not ignorant of their Hypocrisie and Avarice The richest Merchants of the Indies are of them and such I have met with in all places where I have been in that Country They are commonly very Jealous of their Wives who at Multan are fairer than the Men but still of a very brown complexion and love to Paint At Multan there is another sort of Gentiles whom they call Catry Catry That Town is properly their Country and from thence they spread all over the Indies but we shall treat of them when we come to speak of the other Sects both the two have in Multan a Pagod of great consideration The Pagod of Multan because of the affluence of People that came there to perform their Devotion after their way and from all places of Multan Labors and other Countries they come thither in Pilgrimage I know not the name of the Idol that is Worshipped there The Idol of Multan the Face of it is black and it is cloathed in red Leather It hath two Pearls in place of Eyes and the Emir or Governour of the Countrey takes the Offerings that are presented to it To conclude The Town of Multan is but of small extent for a Capital but it is pretty well Fortifi'd and is very considerable to the Mogul when the Persians are Masters of Candabar as they are at present The yearly Revenue of Multan What the Great Mogul receives yearly from this Province amounts to Seventeen millions Five hundred thousand Livres CHAP. XXXIII Of the Province of Candahar The Province of Candahar BEfore I speak of the Eastern Provinces of the Indies I shall proceed to treat of those which are to the West of the Indus or towards the Rivers that make part of it Candahar is one of them tho' the chief Town of it belong at present to the King of Persia who took it from Cha-Gehan contrary to the will of his Grand-mother which cost her her Life It is said That that Lady got Money from the Great Mogul to hinder the Siege of this Town Her Grand-son being ready to march she made him a thousand Entreaties to divert him from the expedition and finding that she could gain nothing of him by fair means she fell into a passion and upbraided him that he was going to squander away the Estate of Orphans This Discourse so offended the King that having asked her if that Estate belonged to any but to him The King of Persia kills his Grand-mother He cut her over the head with an Axe that he held in his hand of which she died This Province hath to the North the Country of Balc whereof an Usbec Prince is Sovereign To the East it hath the Province of Caboul to the South that of Bucor The bounds of Candahar which belongs to Multan and part of Sigestan which is of the Kingdom of Persia and to the West other Countries of the King of Persia The Province is very moutainous and Candahar its chief Town lies in the twenty third degree of Latitude though some Travellers have placed it in the four and thirtieth That Countrey produces abundantly all sorts of Provisions that are necessary for the subsistence of its
Inhabitants unless it be on that side which lies towards Persia where it is very barren Every thing is dear in the chief Town because of the multitude of Forreign Merchants that resort thither and it wants good Water The Town of Candahar is considerable by its Situation and every one knows that the Persian and Mogul both pretend to it The former has in it at present a Garrison of nine or ten thousand Men least it should be surprized by the Mogul and being besides a Town of great importance Two Citadels at Candahar it is fortified with good Walls and hath two Citadels Candahar a rich Town The Trade that it hath with Persia the Country of the Uzbecs and Indies makes it very rich and for all the Province is so little it heretofore yielded the Mogul betwixt fourteen and fifteen Millions a year The yearly Revenue of the Mogul from Candahar There is no Province in Indostan where there are fewer Gentiles The Inhabitants are great lovers of Wine but they are prohibited to drink any and if a Moor who hath drank Wine commit any Scandal he is set upon an Ass with his Face to the Tail Wine-drinkers punished and led about the Town attended by the Officers of the Cotoual who beat a little Drum and they are followed by all the Children who hooop and hallow after them Though there be no Province of Indostan where there are fewer Gentiles yet there are Banians there because of Traffick but they have no publick Pagod And their Assemblies for Religion are kept in a Private House under the direction of a Bramen whom they entertain for performing their Ceremonies The King of Persia suffers not the Gentiles Wives there to burn themselves when their Husbands are dead The Wives are not burnt at Candahar There are a great many Parsis or Guebres there but they are poor and the Mahometans employ them in the meanest and most servile drudgeries They perform the Ceremonies of their Religion on a Mountain not far distant from the Town where they have a place wherein they preserve the Fire which they worship I have spoken of these People in my Book of Persia The same Officers are in Candahar as in the Towns of the Kingdom of Persia and do the same Duties but above all things they have special Orders to treat the People gently because of the proximity of the Moguls and if they oppress them in the least they are severely punished for it There are some small Rajas in the Mountains who are suffered to live in liberty paying some easie Tributes And these Gentlemen have always stuck to the strongest side when the Country came to change its Master There is also a little Countrey in the Mountains which is called Peria Peria that 's to say Fairy-Land where Father Ambrose a Capucin spent a Lent upon the mission in two Bourgs whereof the one is named Cheboular and the other Cosne And he told me That that Country is pleasant enough and full of good honest People but that the Christians who are there have but slight tinctures of Religion CHAP. XXXIV Of the Province of Caboul or Caboulistan Province of Caboul CAboulistan is limited to the North by Tartary Caboulistan from which it is separated by Mount Caucasus which the Orientals call Caf-Dagai Cachmire lies to the East of it It hath to the West Zabulistan and part of Candahar Zabulistan and to the South the Countrey of Multan Two of the Rivers that run into the Indies have their source in the Mountains thereof from whence they water the Province and for all that render it nothing the more fruitful for the Countrey being very cold is not fertile unless in those places that are sheltered by Mountains Nevertheless it is very rich because it hath a very great Trade with Tartary the Countrey of the Usbecs Persia and the Indies The Usbecs alone sell yearly above threescore thousand Horses there and that Province lies so conveniently for Traffick that what is wanting in it is brought from all Parts and things are very cheap there The chief Town of the Province is called Caboul Caboul a Town a very large place with two good Castles And seeing Kings have held their Courts there and many Princes successively have had it for their Portion there are a great many Palaces in it It lies in thirty three degrees and a half North Latitude Mirabolans grow in the Mountains of it Mirabolans and that 's the reason why the Orientals call it Cabuly There are many other sorts of Drugs gathered there and besides that they are full of aromatick Trees which turn to good account to the Inhabitants as also do the Mines of a certain iron which is fit for all uses From this Province especially come the Canes of which they make Halbards and Lances and they have many Grounds planted with them Caboulistan is full of small Towns Burroughs and Villages most of the Inhabitants are heathen and therefore there are a great many Pagods there They reckon their months by Moons and with great Devotion celebrate their Feast called Houly which lasts two days Houly a Feast At that time their Temples are filled with People who came to Pray and make their Oblations there the rest of the Celebration consists in Dancing by companies in the Streets to the sound of Trumpets At this Feast they are cloathed in a dark Red and many go to visit their Friends in Masquarade Those of the same Tribe eat together and at night they make Bonefires in the Streets That Feast is Celebrated yearly at the Full Moon in February and ends by the destruction of the Figure of a Giant against which a little Child shoots Arrows to represent what the People are made to believe God under the name of Cruchman to wit That God coming into the World under the name of Cruchman he appeared in shape of a Child that a great Giant that feared to be undone by him endeavoured to ruin him But that that Child hit him so dexterously with an Arrow A Giant killed by Cruchman that he laid him dead upon the ground These people seem heretofore to have been Christians but if they have had any Tincture of it it is much corrupted by the Fables and strange Tales that have been told them concerning the same to which they conform their Lives and Religion The Charity of the Indians of Caboul Their chief Charity consists in digging a great many Wells and in raising several Houses at certain distances upon the High-ways for the convenience of Travellers And by these little Houses there is always a place fit for those who are weary and heavy Loaded to rest in so that they can put off or take up their Burden without any bodies help Physicians of the Indies This Countrey supplies the rest of the Indies with many Physicians who are all of the caste of Banians Nay and
some of them are very skilful and have many secrets in Medicine and amongst other Remedies they often make use of burning The yearly Revenue of Caboul The Great Mogul has not out of this Province above four or five Millions a year CHAP. XXXV Of the Province of Cachmir or Kichmir The Province of Cachmire THe Kingdom or Province of Cachmir hath to the West Caboulistan to the East part of Tibet to the South the Province of Lahors and to the North Tartarie But these are its most remote limits for it is bounded and encompassed on all hands by Mountains and there is no entry into it but by by-ways and narrow passes This Countrey belonged sometimes to the Kings of Turquestan and is one of those which were called Turchind Turchind that is to say the India of the Turks or the Turky of the Indies The Waters of the Mountains that environ it afford so many Springs and Rivulets that they render it the most fertile Countrey of the Indies and having pleasantly watered it Tchenas a River make a River called Tchenas which having communicated its Waters for the transportation of Merchants Goods through the greatest part of the Kingdom breaks out through the breach of a Mountain Atoc and near the Town of Atoc discharges it self into the Indies but before it comes out it is discharged by the name of a Lake which is above four Leagues in circuit and adorned with a great many Isles that look fresh and green and with the Capital Town of the Province that stands almost on the banks thereof Some would have this River to be the Moselle but without any reason for the Moselle runs through Caboulistan and is the same that is now called Behat or Behar because of the aromatick Plants that grow on the sides of it Cachmir a Town The Town of Cachmir which bears the name of the Province and which some call Syrenaquer lies in the five and thirtieth degree of Latitude and in the hundred and third of Longitude Syrenaquer This Capital City is about three quarters of a League in length and half a League in breadth It is about two Leagues from the Mountains and hath no Walls The Houses of it are built of Wood which is brought from these Mountains and for the most part are three Stories high with a Garden and some of them have a little Canal which reaches to the Lake whither they go by Boat to take the Air. This little Kingdom is very populous hath several Towns The beauty of Cachmire and a great many Bourgs It is full of lovely Plains which are here and there intercepted by pleasant little Hills and delightful Waters Fruits it hath in abundance with agreeable Verdures The Mountains which are all Inhabited on the sides afford so lovely a prospect by the great variety of Trees amongst which stand Mosques Palaces and other Structures that it is impossible perspective can furnish a more lovely Landskip The Great Mogul hath a House of Pleasure there wtih a stately Garden and the Magnificence of all is so much the greater that the King who built it adorned it with the spoils of the Gentiles Temples amongst which there are a great many pretious Things King Ecbar subdued this Kingdom King Ecbar subdued Cachmir which was before possest by a King named Justaf-can He being Victorious in all places wrote to this Prince that there was no appearance he could maintain a War against the Emperour of the Indies to whom all other Princes submitted Justaf-can King of Cachmir that he advised him to do as they had done and that he promised him if he would submit willingly without trying the fortune of War he would use him better than he had done the rest and that his Power instead of being lessened should be encreased seeing he was resolved to deny him nothing that he should ask Justaf-can who was a peaceable Prince thinking it enough to leave his Son in his Kingdom came to wait upon the Great Mogul at the Town of Labors trusting to his word He payed him Hommage and the Emperour having confirmed the Promise which he made to him in his Letters treated him with all civility In the mean time Prince Jacob Instafs Son would not stop there Jacob the Son of Justaf-can For being excited by the greatest part of the People of the Kingdom who looked upon the Dominion of the Moguls as the most terrible thing imaginable he caused himself to be proclaimed King made all necessary preparations in the Countrey and at the same time secured the Passes and Entries into it which was not hard to be done because there is no coming to it but by streights and narrow passes which a few Men may defend His Conduct highly displeased the Great Mogul who thought at first that there was Intelligence betwixt the Father and Son but he found at length that there was none And without offering any bad usage to the Father he sent an Army against Cachmir wherein he employed several great Lords and Officers of War who had followed Justaf-can He had so gained them by his Civilities and Promises that they were more devoted to him than to their own Prince and they being perfectly well acquainted with the streights and avenues of the Mountains introduced the Moguls into the Kingdom Cachmirian Officers introduce the Moguls some through Places that belong to them and others by By-ways that could not possibly have been found without the conduct of those who knew the Countrey exactly They succeeded in their Design the more easily that King Jacob thought of nothing but guarding the most dangerous places and especially the Pass of Bamber which is the easiest way for entring into Cachmir The Moguls having left part of their Army at Bamber Bamber to amuse Prince Jacob and his Forces marched towards the highest Mountains whither the Omras of Cachmir led them There they found small passages amongst the Rocks that were not at all to be mistrusted By these places they entred one after another and at length meeting in a place where the Rendez-vous was appointed they had Men enough to make a Body sufficiently able to surprize as they did in the Night-time the Capital City which wanted Walls where Jacob Can was taken Nevertheless Ecbar pardoned him and allowed Him and his Father each of them a Pension for their subsistence But he made sure of the Kingdom which he reduced into a Province He annexed it to the Empire of Mogolistan and his Successours have enjoyed it to this present as the pleasantest Country in all their Empire The yearly Revenue of Cachmir It yields not the Great Mogul yearly above five or six hundred thousand French Livres CHAP. XXXVI Of the Province of Lahors and of the Vartias IT is about forty eight or fifty Leagues from Lahors to the borders of Cachmir which is to the North of it The Province of Lahors as
is the same all over the Indies A Cow of Paste There is another day of rejoycing whereon they make a Cow of Paste which they fill full of Honey and then make a fashion of killing it and break it to pieces the Honey which distills on all sides represents the Blood of the Cow and they eat the Paste instead of the Flesh I could not learn the Original of that Ceremony as for the Catris or Raspoutes except that they eat no Pullets they as the rest of the inferiour Castes do make use of all kinds of Fish and Flesh unless it be the Cow which they all have in veneration The Gentiles Fasting The Gentiles generally are great Fasters and none of them let a fortnight pass over without mortifying themselves by Abstinence and then they Fast four and twenty hours but that is but the ordinary Fast for there are a great many Gentiles and especially Women who will Fast six or seven days and they say there are some that will Fast a whole month without eating any more than a handful of Rice a day and others that will eat nothing at all Criata a Root only drink Water in which they boyl a Root called Criata which grows towards Cambaye and is good against many distempers it makes the Water bitter and strengthens the Stomach When a Woman is at the end of one of these long Fasts the Bramen her director goes with his companions to the House of the penitent beats a Drum there and having permitted her to eat returns home again There are such Fasts many times among the Vartias the Sogues and other religious Gentiles of that Province and they accompany them with several other mortifications Religious Communities Now I have mentioned these Religious Gentiles I would have it observed that in all the Indies there is no religious Community amongst the Gentiles belonging particularly to one Caste or Tribe For Example There is not any whereinto none are admitted but Bramens or Raspoutes if there be a convent of Sogues any where the Community will consist of Bramens Raspoutes Comris Banians and other Gentiles and it is the same in a convent of Vartias or a company of Faquirs I have already treated of both these as occasion offered CHAP. XLVIII Of the Province of Baglana and of the Marriages of the Gentiles The yearly Revenue of Baglana THe Province of Baglana is neither so large nor do's it yield so great a Revenue as the other nineteen for it pays the Great Mogul a year but Seven hundred and fifty thousand French Livres it is bordered by the Countrey of Telenga Guzerat Balagate and the Mountains of Sivagi the Capital Town of it is called Mouler Mouler The Portuguese border on the Moguls Countrey Daman Before the Moguls this Province was also of Decan and at present it belongs to Mogolistan by it the Portuguese border upon the Moguls Countrey and their Territories begin in the Countrey of Daman The Town of Daman that belongs to them is one and twenty Leagues from Surrat which is commonly Travelled in three days It is indifferently big fortified with good Walls and an excellent Citadel the Streets of it are fair and large and the Churches and Houses built of a white Stone which makes it a pleasant Town There are several Convents of Religious Christians in it it depends on Goa as the other Portuguese Towns do especially as to Spirituals and the Bishop keeps a Vicar General there It lies at the entry of the Gulf of Cambaye and the Portuguese have Slave there of both Sexes Portuguese Slaves which work and procreate only for their Masters to whom the Children belong to be disposed of at their pleasure from Daman to Bassaim it is eighteen Leagues Bassaim This last Town lies in the height of about nineteen Degrees and a half upon the Sea being Walled round and almost as big as Daman it hath Churches and a College of Jesuits as Daman hath From Bassaim to Bombaim it is six Leagues Bombaim made over to the English this last Town hath a good Port and was by the Portuguese made over to the English upon the Marriage of the Infanta of Portugal with the King of England in the year 1662 it is six Leagues more from Bombaim to Chaoul Chaoul The Port of Chaoul is difficult to enter but very safe and secure from all foul weather it is a good Town and defended by a strong Citadel upon the top of a Hill called by the Europeans Il Morro di Ciaul it was taken by the Portuguese Il Morro di Ciaul in the year One thousand five hundred and seven From Chaoul to Dabul it is eighteen good Leagues Dabul Dabul is an ancient Town in the Latitude of seventeen degrees and a half it has its Water from a Hill hard by and the Houses of it are low it being but weakly fortified I am told Sivagi hath seized it notwithstanding its Castle as also Rajapour Vingourla Rasigar Rajapour Vingourlâ— Rasigar Towns. and some other places upon that coast of Decan It is almost fifty Leagues from Dabul to Goa which is in Viziapour As all the People of that coast are much given to Sea-faring so the Gentiles offer many times Sacrifices to the Sea Sacrifice to the Sea. especially when any of their Kindred or Friends are abroad upon a Voyage Once I saw that kind of Sacricrifice a Woman carried in her hands a Vessel made of Straw about three Foot long it was covered with a Vail three Men playing upon the Pipe and Drum accompanied her and two others had each on their head a Basket full of Meat and Fruits being come to the Sea-side they threw into the Sea the Vessel of Straw after they had made some Prayers and left the Meat they brought with them upon the Shoar that the poor and others might come and eat it I have seen the same Sacrifice performed by Mahometans The Gentiles offer another at the end of September Opening of the Sea. and that they call to open the Sea because no body can Sail upon their Seas from May till that time but that Sacrifice is performed with no great Ceremonies they only throw Coco's into the Sea and every one throws one The only thing in that Action that is pleasant is to see all the young Boys leap into the Water to catch the Coco's and whilst they strive to have and keep them shew a hundred tricks and feats of Agility In this Province as in the rest of Decan the Indians Marry their Children very young The Marriage of Children and make them Cohabit much sooner than they do in many places of the Indies they Celebrate Matrimony at the Age of four five or six Years and suffer them to Bed together when the Husband is ten Years old and the Wife eight but the Women who have Children so young soon leave off Child-bearing and commonly do not conceive
these little Kingdoms terminate Malabar to the South as Cananor begins it to the North. There is a good Harbour at Cananor which is a large Town Cananor the little King who is called King of Cananor lives not there he holds his Court towards a streight farther from the Sea his Countrey affords all things necessary for life the Portuguese have been always his Friends and many of them live in his Countrey Indian Pirats Bergare Cougnales Montongue The punishment of Malabar Robbers The Malabars of Bergare Cougnales and Montongue near Cananor are the chief Pirats of the Indian Sea and there are many Robbers also in the Countrey though the Magistrates do all they can to root them out The truth is They 'll put a Man to death for a single Leaf of Betlie stolen they tye his hands and having stretched him out upon his belly run him through with a Javelin of Areco then they turn him upon his back and the Javelin being quite through his Body they fasten it in the ground and bind the Criminal so fast to it that he cannot stir but dies in that posture The Leaf of the Palm-Tree on which Men write All the Malabars write as we do from the left to the right upon the leaves of Palmeras-Bravas and for making their Characters they use a Stiletto a Foot long at least the Letters which they write to their Friends on these leaves are made up round like a roll of Ribbons they make their Books of several of these leaves which they file upon a String and enclose them betwixt two Boards of the same bigness they have many Ancient Books and all almost in Verse which they are great lovers of I believe the Reader will be glad to see their Characters and I have hereto subjoyned the Alphabet The Bramens much esteemed in Malabar The Bramens are held in greater honour here than elsewhere what War soever there may be amongst the Princes of Malabar Enemies do them no hurt and nevertheless there are many Hypocrites among them who are very Rogues There are certain Festival days in Malabar on which the Young People fight like mad-men and many times kill one another and they are perswaded that such as die in those Combats are certainly saved Banguel Olala Mangalor The Kings of Banguel and Olala are to the North of that Countrey and Mangalor which lies with in ten degrees and some minutes of the Line belongs to the King of Banguel This is a little ill built Town twelve Leagues from Barcelor Barcelor as Barcelor is twelve Leagues from Onor and the Countrey where these Towns lie is called Canara all the rest of the coast as far as Goa signifies but very little Onor except the Town of Onor which is about eighteen Leagues from Goa it hath a large and safe Harbour made of two Rivers that fall into the Sea by one and the same mouth below the Fort which stands upon a pretty high Rock The Town is far worse than the Fort the most considerable People live there with the Governour and many Portuguese have their Residence in it it lies in the Latitude of fourteen degrees The rest of Decan Northwards within a little of Surrat belongs to the King of Viziapour or to the Portuguese the English as I have said hold Bombaym there and Raja Sivagy some other places The Kings of that coast have hardly so much yearly Revenue a piece as a Governour of a Province in France and yet they hold out still notwithstanding the Changes that have happened in the other Countreys of Decan CHAP. II. Of the Revolutions of Decan Tcher-Can HE who may be called last King of Decan or at least the last but one was a Raja of the Mountains of Bengale called Tcher-Can who rendered himself so powerful that having taken to himself the haughty Title of Chahalem Chahalem which signifies King of the World he made all the Kings of the Indies to tremble that Captain having raised a great Revolt in the Kingdom of Bengala put the King of it to death and not only usurped the Kingdom and all Patan but also all the Neighbouring Dominions he even forced the first Mogul King Humayon to flie from Dehly Humayon Selim. which he had seized from an Indian King called Selim and all that which at present is called the Kingdoms of Viziapour Bisnagar or Cornates and Golconda fell under his THE Malabar Alphabet FIGURES NAMES The VOWELS POWERS Aana a breve Auena a longum Iinà i breve Iena i longum Ououna ou Gallicum breve Ouuena ou Gallicum longum Eena e breve Eena e longum Ayena ay Gallicum Oona o breve Ouena o longum Auuena aou Gallicum    Akena Non est vocalis sed solummodo est signum quietis sicut quando pronuntiamus per litera est quiescens quia pronuntiatur cum vocali praecedente non habet vocalem sequentem signum hujus quietis est punctum superpositum literae Insert this between Pag. 90 and 91. of the Third Part. The CONSONANTS FIGURES NAMES POWERS Naana nostrum n. Paana nostrum p. Maana nostrum m. Jaana J consonans Raana nostrum r simplex ut in verbo gallico pere mere Laana nostrum l. Vaana V consonans Raana pronuntiatio blaesorum qui non possunt pronuntiare r. Laana l in medio palati tangendo cum extremitate linguae medium palati Raana nostrum r duplex ut in verbo gallico terre ῥ Graecorum aspiratum Naana parva differentia pronuntiationis hujus literae à pronuntiatione nostra n non potest benè adverti illa differentia nisi ab ipsis naturalibus Caana x graecorum quando est simplex pronuntiatur ut g cum a ga vel go gue gui gou Naana ista litera est propria Indorum nec in ullâ aliâ linguâ nobis cognitâ reperitur talis pronuntiatio Chaana sicut ch Gallorum in verbo gallico cherté Gnaana sicut gn Gallorum in verbo gallico compagnie Daana quasi dad Arabum pronuntiatur in medio palati tangendo cum extremitate linguae medium palati Naana etiam pronuntiatur in medio palati tangendo cum extremitate linguae medium palati Taana nostrum t quando est simplex multoties pronuntiatur ut nostrum d. THE Malabar Cyphers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20   21 100 30  31 1000 40  41  50  51  60  61  power with the Title of the Kingdom of Decan but what is most surprizing of all at the very time when he was most dreaded all over the Indies he grew weary of Royalty and gave his Dominions to a Cousin German of his own called as I think Daquem whom he made King Daquem and then retired to a private life in Bengala But seeing he had been
served in his Conquests by some Mahometan Captains whom he much esteemed for their Valour he contracted with his Successour that he should leave them in the Governments of the Countries where he had placed them The truth is The new King not only confirmed them therein but that he might please Chahalem the more augmented their Governments and honoured them with a particular confidence These Captains maintained splendidly the power of their Master as long as Chahalem lived but after his death which happened in the Year One thousand five hundred and fifty his Successour having been defeated by the Mogul Humayon who returned into the Indies with the assistance that Chah-Tahmas King of Persia gave him at the Sollicitation of his Sister these Traitors instead of owning their Benefactor as they ought to have done by their Loyalty combined against him and killed all his faithful Friends A great Treason they seized his own person and having shut him up in the Castle of Beder kept him there till he died under the strickt Guard of one of the Conspirators they next invaded his Countreys divided amongst themselves his Provinces and formed them into Kingdoms The three chief Conspirators were Nizam-Cha Coth-Cha and Adil-Cha these three Usurpers made themselves Kings The Usurpers of Decan The settlement of three Kingdoms and established the Kingdoms of Viziapour Bisnagar or Carnates and Golconda Viziapour fell to the share of Nizam-Cha who is said to have been an Indian and of the Royal Blood Bisnagar to Adil-Cha and Golconda to Cobt-cha and the Successours of these several Kings have since continued to take the name of their Founders As many other Captains were concerned in the Conspiracy so were other Principalities erected in Decan but most of them fell under the power of the first three or of their Successours These three Princes possessed their Kingdoms without trouble so long as they lived together in good Intelligence and they defeated the Army of the Mogul in a famous Battel but they fell a clashing amongst themselves about the end of their Reigns and their Children succeeded to their Misunderstandings as well as to their Dominions to which the cunning of the Moguls did not a little contribute These have by degrees taken from them the Provinces of Balagate Telenga and Baglana or at least the greatest part of them Auran-Zeb and Auran-Zeb seized of a great many good Towns in Viziapour when he was no more as yet but the Governour of a Province which would not have happened if the King of Bisnagar had assisted his Neighbour as he ought to have done The want of assistance on that Kings part so exasperated the King of Viziapour that he no sooner made peace with the Mogul in the year One thousand six hundred and fifty but he made a League with the King of Golconda against the King of Bisnagar and entered into a War with him they handled him so very roughly that at length they stript him of his Dominions The King of Golconda seized those of the coast of Coromandel which lay conveniently for him and the King of Viziapour having taken what lay next to him pursued his Conquest as far as the Cape of Negapatan so that Adil-Cha was left without a Kingdom and constrained to flie into the Mountains where he still lives deprived of his Territories His chief Town was Velour Velour five days Journey from St. Thomas but that Town at present belongs to the King of Viziapour as well as Gengi and several others of Carnates Gengi Carnates Bisnagar This Kingdom of Carnates or Bisnagar which was formerly called Narsingue began three days Journey from Golconda towards the South it had many Towns and the Provinces thereof crossed from the coast of Coromandel to the coast of Malabar reaching a great way towards the Cape of Comory it had Viziapour and the Sea of Cambaye to the West and the Sea of Bengala to the East what of it belongs to the King of Viziapour is at present governed by an Enuch of Threescore and ten years of Age Raja Couli called Raja-Couli who conquered it with extraordinary expedition That Raja to whom the King gave the surname of Niecnam-Can which is as much as to say Lord of good renown is the richest Subject of the Indies Whil'st I was in Carnate the Kings of Viziapour and Golconda attacked a certain Raja who had a Fort whither he retreated betwixt the two Kingdoms there he committed an infinite number of Robberies and in the last War that the Great Mogul made in Viziapour that Raja set on by the Mogul made considerable incursions into the Countreys of the two Kings which made them force him to the utmost extremity so that they took his Fort made him Prisoner and seized all his Riches Viziapour The Kingdom of Viziapour is bounded to the East by Carnates and the Mountain of Balagate to the West by the Lands of the Portuguese to the North by Guzerat and the Province of Balagate and to the South by the Countrey of the Naique of Madura whose Territories reach to the Cape Comory This Naique is tributary to the King of Viziapour as well as the Naique of Tanjahor to whom belonged the Towns of Negapatan Trangabar and some others towards the coast of Coromandel when the King of Viziapour took them Negapatan fell since into the hands of the Portuguese but the Dutch took it from them and are at present Masters of it The Danes have also seized a place where they have built a Fort towards Trangabar which is distant from St. Thomas five days Journey of a Foot-post which they call Patamar The Pagod of Trapety As to the famous Pagod of Trapety which is not far from Cape Comory it depends on the Naique of Madura it consists of a great Temple and of many little Pagods about it and there are so many Lodgings for the Bramens and the Servants of the Temple that it looks like a Town There is a great deal of Riches in that Pagod The King of Viziapour The King of Viziapour is the most potent Prince of all those of Decan and therefore he is often called King of Decan His chief City is Viziapour which hath given the name to the Kingdom and he hath many other considerable Towns in his Provinces with three or four Ports to wit Carapatan Dabul Raja-pour and Vingourla but I am informed that Raja Sivagy hath seized some of them not long since The Town of Viziapour The Town of Viziapour is above four or five Leagues in circumference it is fortified with a double Wall with many great Guns mounted and a flat bottomed Ditch The Kings Palace is in the middle of the Town and is likewise encompassed with a Ditch full of water wherein there are some Crocodiles This Town hath several large Suburbs full of Goldsmiths and Jewellers Shops yet after all there is but little Trade and not many things remarkable in it
An Orphan adopted and made King of Viziapour The King who Reigns in Viziapour at present was an Orphan whom the late King and the Queen adopted for their Son and after the death of the King the Queen had so much interest as to settle him upon the Throne but he being as yet very young the Queen was declared Regent of the Kingdom Nevertheless there has been a great deal of weakness during her Government and Raja Sivagy hath made the best on 't for his own Elevation CHAP. III. Of Goa Goa THe Town of Goa with its Isle of the same name which is likewise called Tilsoar borders upon Viziapour directly Southward it lies in the Latitude of fifteen degrees and about forty minutes upon the River of Mandona which discharges it self into the Sea two Leagues from Goa and gives it one of the fairest Harbours in the World some would have this Countrey to be part of Viziapour but it is not and when the Portuguese came there it belonged to a Prince called Zabaim who gave them trouble enough nevertheless Zabaim Prince of Goa Albuquerque made himself Master of it in February One thousand five hundred and ten through the cowardize of the Inhabitants who put him into possession of the Town and Fort and took an Oath of Allegiance to the King of Portugal This Town hath good Walls with Towers and great Guns and the Isle it self is Walled round with Gates towards the Land to hinder the Slaves from running away which they do not fear towards the Sea because all the little Isles and Peninsules that are there belong to the Portuguese and are full of their Subjects This Isle is plentiful in Corn Beasts and Fruit and hath a great deal of good water The City of Goa is the Capital of all those which the Portuguese are Masters of in the Indies The Arch-Bishop Vice-Roy and Inquisitor General have their Residence there and all the Governours and Ecclesiastick and secular Officers of the other Countries subject to the Portuguese Nation in the Indies depend on it The death of Albuquerque The death of St. Francis of Xavier Albuquerque was buried there in the year One thousand five hundred and sixteen and St. Francis of Xavier in One thousand five hundred fifty two The River of Mendoua is held in no less veneration by the Bramens and other Idolaters than Ganges is elsewhere and at certain times and upon certain Festival days they flock thither from a far to perform their Purifications It is a great Town and full of fair Churches lovely Convents and Palaces well beautified there are several Orders of Religious both Men and Women there and the Jesuits alone have five publick Houses few Nations in the World were so rich in the Indies as the Portuguese were before their Commerce was ruined by the Dutch but their vanity is the cause of their loss and if they had feared the Dutch more than they did they might have been still in a condition to give them the Law there from which they are far enough at present There are a great many Gentiles about Goa some of them worship Apes and I observed elsewhere that in some places they have built Pagods to these Beasts Most part of the Gentiles Heads of Families in Viziapour The way of the Banians dressing their Victuals dress their own Victuals themselves he that do's it having swept the place where he is to dress any thing draws a Circle and confines himself within it with all that he is to make use of if he stand in need of any thing else it is given him at a distance because no body is to enter within that Circle and if any chanced to enter it all would be prophaned and the Cook would throw away what he had dressed and be obliged to begin again When the Victuals are ready they are divided into three parts The first part is for the Poor the second for the Cow of the House and the third Portion for the Familie and of this third they make as many Commons as there are Persons and seeing they think it not civil to give their leavings to the poor they give them likewise to the Cow. CHAP. IV. Of the Kingdom of Golconde Of Bagnagar THe most powerful of the Kings of Decan next to Viziapour is the King of Golconda His Kingdom borders on the East side Golconda upon the Sea of Bengala to the North upon the Mountains of the Countrey of Orixa to the South upon many Countries of Bisuagar or Ancient Narsingue which belongs to the King of Viziapour and to the West upon the Empire of the Great Mogul by the province of Balagate where the Village of Calvar is which is the last place of Mogolistan on that side There are very insolent collectors of Tolls at Calvar Calvar and when they have not what they demand Li li li. they cry with all their force their Li li li striking their Mouth with the palm of their Hand and at that kind of alarm-bell which is heard at a great distance naked Men come running from all parts carrying Staves Lances Swords Bows Arrows and some Musquets who make Travellers pay by force what they have demanded and when all is payed it is no easie matter still to get rid of them The bounds of Mogulistan Mahoua The boundaries of Mogulistan and Golconda are planted about a League and a half from Calvar They are Trees which the call Mahoua these mark the outmost Land of the Mogul and immediately after on this side of a Rivulet there are Cadjours or wild Palm-trees planted only in that place to denote the beginning of the Kingdom of Golconda wherein the insolence of collectors is far more insupportable than in the confines of Mogolistan for the duties not being exacted there in the Name of the King but in the Name of private Lords to whom the Villages have been given the Collectors make Travellers pay what they please We found some Officers where they made us give fifty Roupies in stead of twenty which was their due and to shew that it was an Extortion of the Exactors they refused to give us a note for what they had received 16 Officers in 23 Leagues and in the space of three and twenty Leagues betwixt Calvar and Bagnagar we were obliged with extream rigour to pay to sixteen Officers Bramens are the Collectors of these Tolls and are a much ruggeder sort of People to have to do with than the Banians The Road from Calvar to Bagnagar Malaredpet 3 or 4 Leag from Calvar Bouquenour a Town Mellinar 6 Leag from Malaredpet Dgelpeli 6 Leag from Mellinar Marcel 3 Leag from Degelpeli Bagnagar 4 Leag from Marcel In our way from Calvar to Bagnager we found no other Town but Buquenour but there are others to the right and left we passed by eighteen Villages The Nadab or Governour of the Province lives in the little Town of Marcel and we
made that Journey in six days of Caravan In short there are few or no Countries that delight Travellers with their verdure more than the Fields of this Kingdom because of the Rice and Corn that is to be seen every where and the many lovely Reservatories that are to be found in it Bagnagar Aider-abad The Capital City of this Kingdom is called Bagnagar the Persians call it Aider-abad it is fourteen or fifteen Leagues from Viziapour situated in the Latitude of seventeen Degrees ten Minutes in a very long plain hemmed in with little Hills some Coffes distant from the Town which makes the Air of that place very wholesome besides that the Countrey of Golconda lies very high The Houses of the Suburbs where we arrived are only built of Earth and thatched with Straw they are so low and ill contrived that they can be reckoned no more than Huts We went from one end to the other of that Suburbs which is very long and stopt near the Bridge which is at the farther end of it There we stayed for a note from the Cotoual to enter the Town because of the Merchants Goods of the Caravan which were to be carried to the Cotouals House to be searched But a Persian named Ak-Nazar a favorite of the Kings who knew the chief of the Caravan being informed of its arrival sent immediately a Man with orders to let us enter with all the Goods and so we past the Bridge which is only three Arches over It is about three Fathom broad Nerva and is paved with large flat Stones The River of Nerva runs under that Bridge which then seemed to be but a Brook though in time of the Rains it be as broad as the Seine before the Louvre at Paris At the end of the Bridge we found the Gates of the City which are no more but Barriers Being entered we marched a quarter of an hour through a long Street with Houses on both sides but as low as those of the Suburbs and built of the same materials though they have very lovely Gardens We went to a Carvanseray called Nimet-ulla which has its entry from the same Street Every one took his lodging there and I hired two little Chambers at two Roupies a Month. The Town makes a kind of Cross much longer than broad and extends in a streight line from the Bridge to the four Towers but beyond these Towers the Street is no longer streight and whil'st in walking I measured the length of the Town being come to the four Towers I was obliged to turn to the left and entered into a Meidan where there is another Street that led me to the Town-Gate which I looked for Having adjusted my measures I found that Bagnagar was five thousand six hundred and fifty Paces in length to wit two thousand four hundred and fifty from the Bridge to the Towers and from thence through the Meidan to the Gate which leads to Masulipatan three thousand two hundred Paces There is also beyond that Gate a Suburbs eleven hundred Paces long There are several Meidans or Publick places in this Town The Meidan of Bagnagar but the fairest is that before the Kings Palace It hath to the East and West two great Divans very deep in the Ground the Roof whereof being of Carpenters work is raised five Fathom high upon four Wooden Pillars this Roof is flat and hath Balisters of Stone cast over Arch-ways with Turrets at the corners These two Divans serve for Tribunals to the Cotoual whose Prisons are at the bottom of these Divans each of them having a Bason of Water before them The like Balisters go round the Terrass-walks of the place The Royal Palace is to the North of it and there is a Portico over against it where the Musicians come several times a day to play upon their Instruments when the King is in Town In the middle of this place and in sight of the Royal Palace there is a Wall built three Foot thick and six Fathom in height and length Fightings of Elephants for the fighting of Elephants and that Wall is betwixt them when they excite them to fight but so soon as they are wrought up to a rage they quickly throw down the Wall. The ordinary Houses there are not above two Fathom high they raise them no higher that they may have the fresh Air during the heats and most part of them are only of Earth but the Houses of Persons of Quality are pretty enough The Palace which is three hundred and fourscore Paces in length takes up not only one of the sides of the Place The Palace of Bagnagar but is continued to the four Towers where it terminates in a very loftly Pavillion The Walls of it which are built of great Stones have at certain distances half Towers and there are many Windows towards the place with an open Gallery to see the shews They say it is very pleasant within and that the Water rises to the highest Appartments The Reservatory of that Water which is brought a great way off is in the top of the four Towers from whence it is conveyed into the House by Pipes No Man enters into this Palace but by an express Order from the King who grants it but seldom nay commonly no body comes near it and in the place there is a circuit staked out that must not be passed over There is another square Meidan in this Town where many great Men have well built Houses The Carvanseras are generally all handsome and the most esteemed is that which is called Nimet-ulla in the great Street opposite to the Kings Garden It is a spacious square and the Court of it is adorned with several Trees of different kinds and a large Bason where the Mahometans performe their Ablutions That which is called the four Towers is a square building The four Towers of which each face is ten Fathom broad and about seven high It is opened in the four sides by four Arches four or five Fathom high and four Fathom wide and every one of these Arches fronts a Street of the same breadth as the Arch. There are two Galleries in it one over another and over all a Terrass that serves for a Roof bordered with a Stone-Balcony and at each corner of that Building a Decagone Tower about ten Fathom high and each Tower hath four Galleries with little Arches on the outside the whole Building being adorned with Roses and Festons pretty well cut It is vaulted underneath and appears like a Dome which has in the inside all round Balisters of Stone pierced and open as the Galleries in the outside and there are several Doors in the Walls to enter at Under this Dome there is a large Table placed upon a Divan raised seven or eight Foot from the Ground with steps to go up to it All the Galleries of that Building serve to make the Water mount up that so being afterwards conveyed to the Kings
Looking-glass that another holds to you you have no more to do but to pay and be gone The common price of the Bagnio is two Aspres to the Master and they who would be well served give as much to the Man. These Bagnios are very commodious and I believe the frequent use they make of them preserves them from many diseases The poorest person that is Man or Woman goes at least once a week to the Bagnio There are Bagnios whither the Men go one day and the Women another others whither the Men go in the morning and the Women afternoon and others again solely for Women When the Women are there they are served by Women and it is a capital crime for any Man of whatsoever religion or quality he be to enter into the Bagnio where the Women are The modesty of the Turks It is also a great crime but punishable only by shame or some Bastonadoes at most to show ones privy Parts or to look upon another Person 's These Bagnios are heated underneath and Lords of high quality have them in their houses for their own and Wives uses CHAP. XXIV Of the Turks way of Eating Drinking and Lying THe Turks make no sumptuous Feasts and it is never heard in Turkie that a man hath undone himself by House-keeping a small matter contents them and a good Cook in that Country would have but a very bad Trade of it The Turkish food What Pilau is for indeed they are all Cooks there and they have no Sauces but what one may learn to make at first sight Their most usual food is that which they call Pilau This Pilau is Rice put into a Pot with a Pullet a piece of Mutton and Beef or only one of these and for want of Meat with Butter and when the Rice has boyl'd a little they take it off putting it into a large dish with a great deal of Pepper upon it and sometimes Saffron to make it look yellow When it is eating time Soffra the Turks Table they spread upon the ground a Carpet of Turky Leather which they call Soffra upon which they set the Pilau and Meat and breaking the Bread into pieces they distribute it all round then they squat down upon their heels like Taylors about the Soffra and all make use of one blew Napkin that is long enough to go round the Soffra then having said Bismillah that is to say In the name of God Bismillah which to them is instead of Benedicite they eat their Pilau with wooden Spoons a foot long making a scruple to eat in Gold or Silver and nevertheless the Grand Signior has Dishes of Gold Plate as we shall shew hereafter When they have no Spoons they make an easie shift without them putting the Pilau with one hand into the other and so carrying it to their mouth When they come to the Meat one of the company with his Hands tears it to pieces using no Knife for that and then every one takes what they have a mind to They are at no trouble for the Beef and Mutton for before it be drest they cut it into small pieces whether for roasting or boyling They drink not commonly in time of meal but when they have eaten they rise and fill their bellies full of Water then they give God Thanks by a Handillah that is to say God be praised Having thus made an end of their meal they wash their hands for they wash not before they sit down to eat but only when they rise from it Their usual Drink is Water many of them also drink Wine The Turks Drink The Turks are not forbid to drink Wine and though Wine seems to be Prohibited by the Alcoran yet the good-fellows say that it is no more but an advice or council and not a precept However they drink it not publickly unless it be the Janizaries and other Desperadoes that stand in awe of no Man when they fall to drinking they drink a great deal and if they can have it for nothing they 'll drink till they fall a sleep again if they be let alone saying that it is no greater sin to drink ten quarts than one cup full they never mingle Water with it and laugh at Christians for doing so as a thing that seems altogether ridiculous to them In the Countrey about Constantinople and all over the Archipelago they have plenty of good Wine They have besides another Liquor which they call Boza Boza made of Barley or Millet and tasts somewhat like our Beer but not so pleasantly I tasted of it once but found it to be very bad and none but the meaner sort of people drink it because it is very cheap This Drink makes them drunk but they have another which they use very commonly they call it Coffee Coffee and drink of it all hours in the day This Liquor is made of a Berry that we shall mention hereafter They roast or parch it in a Fire-shovel or such like iron instrument then they peel it and beat it into powder and when they have a mind to drink of it they take a copper Pot made purposely which they call Ibrick Ibrick and having filled it with Water make it boyl when it boyls they put in this Powder to the proportion of a good spoonful for three Dishes or Cups full of Water and having let all boyl together they snatch it quickly off of the fire or stir it else it would run all over for it rises very fast Having thus boyl'd ten or twelve wambles they pour it out into China Dishes which they set upon a Trencher of painted Wood and so bring it to you scalding hot and so you must drink it but at several sips else it is not good This Liquor is bitter and black and has a kind of a burnt taste They all drink it sipping for fear of scalding themselves Coffee-bane so that being in a Coffee-hane so they call the place where they sell it ready made one hears a pretty pleasant kind of sippling musick The virtues of Coffee This Liquor is good to hinder vapours from rising up from the stomach to the head and by consequence to cure the Head-ach and for the same reason it keeps one from sleeping When Merchants have many Letters to write and intend to do it in the night-time in the Evening they take a dish or two of Coffee It is good also to comfort the Stomach and helps Digestion In short in the Turks opinion it is good against all Maladies and certainly it hath at least as much virtue as is attributed to Tea As to its taste by that time a man hath drank twice he is accustomed to it and finds it no longer unpleasant Some put Cloves to it some Cardamom-seed called in Latine Cardamomum minus which they call Cacoule and others Sugar but that mixture which renders it more agreeable to the palate makes it less wholsom and useful There
is a great deal of it drank in the Turkish Countries for there is no Man Rich nor Poor who drinks not at least two or three Dishes of it a day and it is one of the things which the Husband is obliged to provide his Wife with There are many publick Coffee-houses where it is boyl'd in great Kettles All Men are free to go to these Houses without any distinction of Religion or Quality and it is no shame to go thither many resorting to them for Conversation There is even without doors stone Seats covered with Mats where those who would see those that pass by and take the Air sit In these Coffee-houses there are commonly several Violins Players upon Flutes and Musicians hired by the Master of the Coffee-house to play and sing a good part of the day to draw in Customers When one is in a Coffee-house and sees any of his acquaintance come in if he be civil a la mode he 'll order the Master to take no money from them and that with a single word for when they present Coffee to them he need say no more to them but Giaba that is to say Gratis Sorbet They have also Sorbet which is a very good Drink made in Aegypt of Sugar Limon-juice Musk Ambergrease and Rose-water When they would regale any Friend that comes to see them they cause a dish of Coffee to be brought to him afterwards Sorbet and then the Perfume They give it in this manner The way of giving Perfume to such as the Turks would regale a Slave or Servant comes with a silk Napkin which he spreads over the Guest's head and another brings a large sweet Box which he puts under his chin and beard the first keeping in the steam with the Napkin He to whom the Regale is made takes of it as much as he pleases When they give all the three they pretend to have shew'd a great deal of civility I have many times seen all three given to Monsieur de la Hay the French Ambassadour both at the Moufti's and Grand Vizier's and sometimes one of these three only sometimes two As for the Perfume whenever they brought it to the Ambassadour they gave it afterwards to those of his retinue and indeed it cost them not a farthing the more If the Turks take no great pains in their Diet they take as little about their Beds The Turks lying When it is time to go to rest they bring Quilts and spread them upon the ground and every one lies upon his own The Masters have them commonly upon a Divan where one or two Quilts are spread and at one end a Cushion then a Sheet and then a quilted Coverlet to which another Sheet is sewed that way of sewing the upper Sheet methinks is more commodious than our way In the morning they pack up all this baggage so that in a trice it would seem there had been no Bed there CHAP. XXV Of the Recreations and Exercises of the Turks I Have said enough of the Turks way of Eating Drinking and Sleeping but since they spend not their whole life-time in Eating Drinking and Resting The Turks walk not we must see what their Recreations and Exercises are In the first place the Turks never walk in a Room or Court as we do and laugh at the Franks for so doing calling them Fools and asking them what business they have to doe at that side they go so often to and then back again When they are at home you 'll find them commonly sitting on the Divans I have already described what Divans are If they be alone they either sleep smoak a Pipe of Tobacco Tambour or play upon a kind of a Lute which they call Tambour and they 'll play upon that a whole day without being weary though the Melody be not very pleasant or otherwise if they be Scholars they read in some Book or write If they have company with them they either spend their time in Discourse Turkish Games or play at some Game they never play at Cards or Dice nor any Game of hazard but only at Chess Draughts or such like plays and that not for money nor any thing of value neither Poor nor Rich which is the reason they have not so many quarels among them nevertheless though they play for nothing yet they take great pleasure at play and will spend whole Afternoons playing hand to hand and never say a word but so soon as one has lost they dryly begin again without speaking They play also very much at Mancala which is a Box about two foot long The play of Mancala and about half a foot broad wherein there are six holes on each side to wit six in the Box and six on the Cover that is fastened to the Box and opens like a pair of Tables every one plays with six and thirty Shells putting at the beginning six in every hole But the most usual Recreations of Soldiers Turks skilful at their Arms are Military Exercises in which they are very expert they shoot at a mark very true with a Bow and Arrow and in the City there are several Butts where for a little money they shoot But they are very dextrous at the Zagaye The way of darting the Zagaye and it is a great pleasure to see in a large place or open field a great many of them on Horse-back some running away and others at full speed following after with a Zagaye in hand That Zagaye is commonly a square Baton made of a Palm-tree branch about three foot long and two or three times thicker than one's thumb When the Pursuer is got pretty near him that he pursues and as it were within the length of his stick he darts his Zagaye at his back so dextrously with a turn of hand that doubles the force of it that sometimes the end of it makes very considerable wounds and that often enough in the head too I saw a Man at Caire who having received a wound on his head by a Zagaye was fain to have a piece of his skull taken out Now he that is before and pursued looks behind as he flies both that he may stoop with his head if there be occasion and endeavour to catch hold of the Zagaye and avoid the blow if he can for which end he holds his hand ready behind him and when he catches hold of the Zagaye which happens pretty often he turns and pursues the other so that they presently change their parts They perform this Exercise often as also that of shooting at a mark with a Harquebuse running Thus you 'l see many of them in a field who having put an Earthen Pot or some such thing upon the ground or a mark upon a wall will run at full speed and when they are at a pretty good distance from the mark fire the Piece with one hand at arms length I have often seen that in ten or twelve shot
is very good Soil and if Cultivated would produce any thing but is is neglected through the Laziness of the Inhabitants who content themselves with their Dates there being in that Country vast Woods of Palm-Trees We parted from Koutmian Thursday the fifteenth of October half an hour after eight in the Morning and at first put over to the other side of the River where our Men went a shoar to Towe us our course being due North-West At that place the River grows pretty broad and I think is as broad as the River of Seine at Paris and yet is very deep and makes many Islands About Eleven a Clock we stopt at a Village to the Left Hand on the water side from whence we parted at one of the Clock About half an hour after nine at night we saw to our Right Hand the end of the Isle Dorghestan Dorghestan Koutschemal which from thence reaches to the Sea. We stopped before a Castle called Koutschemal which stands on the main Land near the end of that Island and on the same Hand This is a very large Castle and the Basha of Bassora has a Palace in it which as I was told is very beautiful and as some say he keeps his Treasure there Over against this Castle but a little higher on the other side of the water there is another square Castle with a Tower at each Angle We parted from that place Friday the sixteenth of October at six of the Clock and having the Wind at South we made Sail and stood away North-West A quarter after eleven Kout-Muethel we passed by a square Castle called Kout-Muethel which was on our Left Hand and is flanked with eight Towers one at every corner and one in the middle of each side and near to it there is a little Canal A little farther we saw a Straw-House where Officers of the Customs live who did not visit us but only ordered our Master to carry us to the Custom House of Bassora Leaving then the River of Caron we entered into a Canal called Haffar Haffar which was to our Left Hand or to the South-West of us at that place it is not two Fathom over in other places it is less but towards the middle is very broad it hath been made for a Communication betwixt the River of Schat-El-Aarab and the Caron there is good Land on each side of that Canal but it is not Cultivated and bears only plenty of Date-Trees The Canal makes many turnings it is very deep and our Men shoved the Bark forwards with Poles Three quarters of an hour after Noon we saw a Canal to the Right Hand which loses it self in the Fields and a little after another to the Left that runs into the Caron near to Kout-Mnuethel as I said before and then our Men went on shoar to Towe us There the Canal of Haffar grows very broad and at the end is above seven or eight Fathom over About four a Clock we saw a Canal that spends it self in the Fields Half an hour after we passed betwixt two square Castles each of which have a Tower at every Angle and one in the middle of each side they are called Kout-Haffar Kout-Haffar because they lye at the end of the Canal Haffar that has its mouth to the South it is about six French Leagues from thence to Bassora and about twelve to the Sea. We then entered into the River made up of the Tygris and Euphrates joyned into one the Arabs call it Schat-El Aarab that is to say the River of Aarabs We turned then to the Right Hand and stood away North-West having to our Left the Isle Dgezirak-Chader Dgezirak-Chader and seeing we had a breeze of Wind from the South we spread our Sail. Half an hour after five in the Evening we saw to our Left the end of the Isle called Dgezirak-Chader which reaches from the Canal by which they go to Bahrem to the mouth of Schat-El-Aarab there are Palm-Trees yet their Soil is not good but from the Canal of Bahrem till over against or a little above the Canal Haffar for from thence to the Sea the Land is barren perhaps because it being very low the Sea overflows it at high water Next to the Islle Chader we saw on our Left Hand the Canal by which they go to Port Calif and Bahrem it runs towards the South and passes betwixt the Isle Chader and the main Land of Bassora it is very broad and has above eight Fathom water but there are great stones in some places of it From thence to Bassora the River is above twice and a half as broad as the Seine is at Paris and yet is very deep all over Three quarters after six we saw on our Right Hand the beginning of a long Island called Dgezirat-el-Bouarin and a little after we had on the same hand the Isle El-Bochasi Dgezirat-el-Bouarin El-Bochasi El-Fayadi and not long after the Isle El-Fayadi to the Left Hand These are all great Islands full of Palm-Trees and nevertheless the Channel is every where very deep and broad The Wind slackened so at this place that we scarcely made any way at all however we drew near to the shoar on the Left Hand or West side and about half an hour after eight our Men took their Oars and Rowed till three quarters after ten at night when we stopt close by the shoar before a Castle of the Bashas that seems to be very lovely it has many Pavillions all made into Windows and Porticos for taking the fresh Air in the Summer-time and indeed these Castles are only for pleasure for they could make no great defence We parted from that place Saturday the seventeenth of October at six a Clock in the Morning half an hour after we entered into a Canal to the Left Hand which runs South-West we had on our Left Hand a very spacious Castle pretty entire on the side of the Canal but all ruinous towards the Sea-side This Canal at high water is as broad as one half of the Seine but when the Tide is out it is but a sorry Brook full of Mud. The Town of Bassora lies on the two sides of this Canal though along the sides of it there be nothing to be seen but Gardens the Houses being backwards We came along that Canal till eight a Clock in the Morning when we arrived at the Custom-House which is almost at the bottom of it and having had our Goods viewed we went to Lodge with the Reverend Fathers the bare-footed Carmelites which is not far distant at that time there was but one Religious Italian there Arrival at Bassora called Father Severin With a good Wind they come often from Bender-Rik to Bassora in a days time From Bender-Rik to Bassora in a day though sometimes it makes a Voyage of three weeks We found no preparations for War at Bassora only the Basha of the place finding that the Basha of Bagdad suffered