Selected quad for the lemma: country_n

Word A Word B Word C Word D Occurrence Frequency Band MI MI Band Prominent
country_n call_v river_n soil_n 1,442 5 10.3487 5 false
View all documents for the selected quad

Text snippets containing the quad

ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A61855 The perillous and most unhappy voyages of John Struys Through Italy, Greece, Lifeland, Muscovia, Tartary, Media, Persia, East-India, Japan, and other places in Europe, Africa and Asia. Containing, I. Most accurate remarks and observations of the distinct qualities, religion, politie, customs, laws and properties of the inhabitants: II. A due description of the several cities, towns, forts, and places of trust, as to their site and strength, fortifications by nature, or art, &c. with other things worthy of note: and, III. An exact memorial of the most disastrous calamities which befell the author in those parts (viz) by ship-wrack, robberies, slavery, hunger, tortures, with other incommodities and hardships. To which are added 2 narrativs sent from Capt. D. Butler, relating to the taking in of Astrachan by the Cosacs. Illustrated with divers curious plates, first designed and taken from the life by the author himself. Rendered out of Nether-dutch by John MorrisonĀ·; Reysen door Moscovien, Tartarijen, Oost-Indien. English Struys, Jan Janszoon, d. 1694.; Morrison, John, 17th cent.; Butler, David, Captain. 1684 (1684) Wing S6019; ESTC R216963 334,708 398

There are 15 snippets containing the selected quad. | View lemmatised text

very good and of a low Price From hence we loosed and sailed by many pleasant Islands Towns and an Excellent prospect from Land which was stored with Cattel fruitful Dales Woods Meadows Currents and whatsoever natural Delights that may content the heart of Man On the 29 dito we came to VVasili-gorod a litle Town on the West side of the Wolga and because it was here a level Countrey we tooke the heighth of the Arctic Pole which we found 55 degr and 50 min. above the Horizon This said Town was then without Gates or Walls and is built mostly of wood save only Public Edifices and Religious Houses which are there but few since it has not been long in possession and subject to the Czar or great Duke of Moscovy On the South-side of VVasiligorod is a litle River called the Soura which here gushes out with a violent rushing and buzzing into the VVolga Above VVasiligorod begins the Land of the Ceremish Tartars which extends it self out as far as Casan Those again are divided into two sorts of People The one sort is called Nagorni which are those that inhabit the hilly Countrey and the other Lugowy who dwell mostly in the Valleys The former follow altogether Pasturage the latter Agriculture for which they have a happy Land blessed with a fertile Soil The Inhabitants are a rude and barbarous People utter strangers to good Manners and Learning They speak for the most part the Russian Language but some places there are where they speak Tartarian and in other places they have a peculiar Tongue of their own They are the most stupid Heathens that I have yet seen in all my 3 Voyages have neither Sence nor light of a Divine Power Houses of Worship and Priests Resurrection Heaven and Hell are things they never heard of nor nor will ever learn to know what they are However I may not be so general but that I may except some who have some light and knowledge of an immortal God and such an one as has the direction of all but only rules them as a King upon Earth does his Subjects They are further of Opinion that there are Devils or evil Spirits whose power is limited and circumscribed and that they cannot do any mischief save only in this Life for these doubt much about the Resurrection and for this end they do Sacrifices to them as do the Madagascars that they should do them no harm They tell you of a strange Water by the means whereof the Prince of the Devils comes in horrible and most ugly shapes for which they dread as Children do Bugbears they never saw To that Immortal Deity and divine Essence they offer up all manner of Beasts as Oxen Horses and Sheep which when they do they take the Hide and stretch it out upon a Rack made on purpose making thereby a Fire over which they hang the Flesh to boil When it has seethed long enough they take out a Bowl of the Pottage in the one hand and a Bowl of Metheglin in the other and throw them both upon the Hide upon which it falls into the Fire saying Accept O God this Offering at my Hands and be pleased to hear my Praiers which Praiers do commonly import their own Health or the increase of their Cattel So that their main Opinion about that God is only that he is a good-natur'd and benevolent-Lord and the Devil malevolent which is all that may be gathered from them Others I have seen who worship the Sun Fire and Water Ceremonies about the Dead I could never perceive any save only that when any eminent Man among them comes to dy they make a Feast of Horse-flesh at which all the nearest Relations are present and the Corps given to a ravenous Beast called Briggachol which I have not elsewhere seen That done they hang up his Vestments upon a Tree in memory of him as we do Escutcheons and this was all I could learn of my self or from the Observations of others that had been longer and further within Land Their Habit is as course as their Breeding mostly of Skins or a kind of Canvas Their Upper-coat comes down only to the Thighs and their Breeches and Stockings all one Those that are married shave their Heads but whilst single they let their hair grow but all in one Tuft which they commonly ty up in a ball above their head or plate it as our Jockies do their Horse-tails The Women wear also course Garments having their faces muffled up to the eies but more quaint is the Habit of a Young-woman ready to marry who besides other od accoutrements wears a piece of Wood shaped like a horn directly upon her Fore-head about an Ell in length and at the small end a litle Bell. Circumcision they have not yet learn'd from the Turks or Iews nor yet Baptism from the Christians but have some few Ceremonies about the naming of their Children which is done when they are about half a year old Polygamy is in use among them and that without any order or regard to nearness in Blood for it has been well known that the Father takes the Daughter and so procreates Issue and the Son the Mother after the manner of the Cingaleezes in Ceylon where the Father about marrying his daughter out bereaves her of her Virginity saying Should I plant a Tree and not enjoy the First-fruits my self CHAP. X. The Ship set fast upon a Foord The great Vtility of the Linden-tree Some of the Company drowned Fertility and excellent Soil of the Banks of the Wolga Arrival at Casan Casan taken in by the Russes The Casan-Tartars fight the Russes The Russian Army flee Moscou taken in The Czar becomes Tributary to the Tartars The good Conduct and valour of the Governour of Resan who restores the Czar and the Empire to it 's former Freedom ON the 30 dito we set out again and suddenly were run aground upon a Shallow place where we were very hardly put to it to get off and besides our great Labour we lost an Anchor and a Dragg We were no sooner got clear but we ran immediately upon another Bank and so from one to another that we were almost out of hopes of ever coming through for we saw danger on every side and our Pilot very unskilfull of the River which detarded our Voyage very much The next day we gain'd the Deeps and came before Cusmademianski where we cast anchor and provided our selves with Victualling and Refreshment This City is founded upon a rising ground having on the one side high and steep Mountains and on the other side a level Countrey The Land round about as well the montanous as the flat affoard many Woods and Groves of Linden on Teile-tree The Bark of this tree is good for many uses and therefore pilled and sold by the Inhabitants the Body they hollow and make Tubs Troughs Pales and other Vessels thereof which is the only Traffic and Work I know of in use
another for the Calmuc-Tartars which 2 last-named may not come together altho they be both Mahometans and under the Jurisdiction of the great Duke The Calmuks dwell not in Towns as other People do but travail all over the Countrey pitching their Tents where they find a fertile fat Soil which when their Horses Camels Cows and small Cattel have eaten bare they break up and march forward to find out some other place as Historie records of the Scythians who without dispute were the same People Their chief and choice Diet is Horse-flesh which they eat raw after they have rode a litle upon it thrusting it between the Sadle and the Horse Upon the 15 of August we sailed past 2 Islands to wit Criusna and Saponoufka as also by the Hill Solottogory which is as much as to say Gold-hill so called from a rich booty of Gold the Tartarians had once taken in a Caravan which they divided among themselves by cap-fulls On the 16 ditto we came before the River Ruslan on the left hand right over against a round Hill called Vrak-ofskarul from one Vrak a Tartarian Prince who lies there buried This Beck comes from the famous River Don upon which River those that are called the Don-Cosaks have their being which also is the Countrey and Residence of Stenko Radzin In the year 1668 the Russes had build a new City at the Mouth of the River Ruslan to give a check to the Don-Cosacks who much annoyed the VVolga with their small Boats comming down the said River dayly in great Troops and committed many insolencies However it seems not much available for they have devised a new mean to shun the Fort and come into the VVolga by drawing their Boats over land upon Wheels which they do for 7 Dutch Leagues together for the Countrey there is flat and even The next day it began to blow very hard for which reason we were fain to remain that day at anchor and on the 18 th to set sail having a gentle Gale which brought us before the City Czaritza which is as much to say Caesarea or rather Empress lying on the Right hand at the foot of a Hill The City is in it self not great but very strong munited with 6 Ramparts or Bulwarks besides other Fortifications The Garrison is well maintained with Recruits of Strelitzers being a Place of great Trust and Importance especially for that it lies upon the Tartarian Continent On the 19 we came before the Place where Czares-gorod of old had stood by the Ruins thereof we could observe that City had been built of Brick It was demolished besides many others by Tamerlan the Great The stones have been of good use to those of Astrachan wherewith they built their Walls Towers Churches and Monasteries On the 20 we haled over several Riffs and shallow Foords and at last ran our selves aground upon a sand where we stuck 3 hours before we could yet clear From this place where we were fast all along the Banks to Astrachan grows great plenty of Liquirice but all the Land to the Caspian Sea wast and not fitt for Tillage On the 21 we got the Island VVesaway which we left on the Starboard-side and that Evening came before Tzornogar or Tzornojar being in regard of any requisite occasion in such a place considerably strong it is environed with Palizados and about an English mile without the Town On each side are several Watch-houses with Towers from whence they can see the Enemy at a distance the Countrey being level and not Woody The first occasion of the building of this City was said to be from a party of 400 Cosacks which had spoiled a Russian Caravan intercepting it between the Land and the Boats where the Strelitzers were that were appointed to Convoy it and by reason that the stream was so strong that the Boats could not row against it the said Robbers made their escape with a very rich Booty At that same time there was at Tzornogar a Persian Ambassadour arrived with all his Moveables and a great Retinue intending for Moscou The said Ambassadour came aboard our Ship and received Presents from our Officers which although he willingly accepted yet remunerated them with things of greater value and worth On the 22 we set sail and saw the Mountain Polowna where the Russian Fablers say the Moon goes every night to bed because that over that Hill is always a great mist About 2 in the afternoon we got the Island Kitzier in sight and speeded our course so that we gain'd the sight of Astrachan before the Sun set The 24 before noon by the grace of the Everlasting GOD we arrived at the long-wish'd-for Astrachan where we for Joy fired all our Guns to the Astonishment of the Inhabitants who had never seen a Ship of that Burthen and Force before From the day of our Arrival here we lay off in the stream till the first of September and then came up close to the Kay with our Ship and Yacht thanking the Almighty for his special Bounty in delivering us through so many perils and bringing us at last to our desired Port. CHAP. XII Situation of Astrachan The Inhabitants How Astrachan became subject to the Czaar Strange manner of Tents or Cottages Provision very cheap and Brandy dear A Desart affoarding good Salt and a strange kind of Fruit. The Form and Nature of the Nagayan Tartars Their Habit manner of Life and House-keeping Their Trades and way of earning money Horseflesh Mares-milk and Blood in great esteem by them A Strachan lies upon the Dividing of Europe from Asia upon the Island Delgoy in the Countrey of the Nagayan Tartars where the Northern Pole is elevated 46 degr and 22 min. above the Horizon and is about 50 Dutch Leagues from the Caspian or Hyrcan Sea It is environed with a thick stone wall and that time I was there furnished with 500 great Brass Cannon besides a very strong Garrison with Ammunition proportionable to defend it against the Tartars and Cosaks who have often had a design to retake it It gives a very noble prospect from abroad with it 's many Towers and Lofty Piles of Buildings as well what appertain to the Fortifications as to the Churches and Religious Houses It is a famous Town for Traffic frequented not only by all the Regions of Tartary adjoyning to the Caspian Sea but also by Persians Armenians and Indians who bring their Goods and Merchandises in a certain sort of Shipping which they call Boeses being about 80 Tun burthen a piece But these Vessels cannot Sail by traverse but alwaies before the Wind. Of all the several kinds of Merchandise which those of Astrachan deal in Silk is the chief so that this seems to be the sole Magazin of that Comodity whence it is re-exported up the Wolga and consequently through the whole Russian Empire Astrachan has been formerly the Royal Seat of the Nagayan Tartars but making a League with the Crim-and
or ornament The Town it self gives a noble Prospect if you view it from without by reason of the many Parish-Churches and Towers it has but when you come within it appears very ugly the streets are irregular without Uniformity and the Houses built after multifarious manners so that the poorest Village in the Low-Countreys is a Paradice in comparison of Pletskou 'T is true they have some Houses of stone but the most eminent and wealthy Citizens chuse rather to live in Wooden-Houses than in those for that they say The latter are more wholsom Here I happened to meet with a Hamburger and after we had exchanged a few words together concerning our journey from Riga I told him of my rouzing the Bear He replyed that I was happy to make my escape so since not only men are sometimes devoured by them but also Horses and Kine and withal told me how that they dig up the Graves for the Bodies of the Dead when they are hungry But more lamentable was a story he told me of a She-Bear that in the year 1656. broke by night into a House in the Country not far from thence where she had found the Woman of the house with a sucking Infant in the bed with her The woman she devoured leaving only a part of her left leg and a litle of the Scalp but the Infant was altogether mist whence it was concluded that the Bear had eaten it up as being young and consequently more delicate Not long after this dismal hap the Peasant took his Musquet with him into the Woods not far from his House with intent to shoot an Otter which haunted his Fish-pond and by the way espies a Bear at which he levels his Musquet and hits him directly on the skull The Bear as the custom is when shot rolls himself in a heap the Peasant runs to her and finding it a Female and her Duggs full of Milk resolves the next day to make search for her Seat for then he thought that her VVhelps would be hungry and yell out The day following he went out to seek the Cave taking 2 or 3 other Peasants with him who being about the Middle of the VVood on the side of a hill heard a young child cry and following the direction of the sound found his own Infant in the cleft of a great Rock which he took and brought to Pletskou to be nurs'd up by his VVives Sister where out of curiosity I went to see it In the Suburbs of Pletskou was to be seen a shank-bone of a Giant 5 foot long which together with the whole Skeleton was found in a Tomb of stone by the Boors when they were digging up the roots of Trees that they had burn'd up On the 26 th it began to freeze hard and afterwards to snow which made us uneasy for our delay being constrained to wait here so long till we received the Poddowodda which is an Order given by his Imperial Majesty that every Town we came at should furnish us with Horses Wagons Bedding and defray our other Charges On the 28 towards night came an Express from Moscou and the next day we set forward intending first for Novogorod This part of our Journey was much more easy and delightfull than that through Lifeland which was altogether desert and Marshy this on the contrary inhabited and till'd On the 31 th we came at a great Lake before Novogorod where we left the Sledges and were fetch'd over in a kind of a Cymb or Boat which is made of a hollow tree and by them called Knoos of these they had two sorts the one for Passengers who may sit 4 or 5 at a time the other broader and every way larger fit to transport Goods This Lake is very broad but shallow not having above 5 foot Water in most places When we were set over our Goods were put into Sledges and brought after us into the Town In passing through the Town we found the Suburbs far greater than the City it self which as appears by the Ruins of the Walls has been formerly a well fortified Place In times past it was neither subject to the Russian Swede nor Polander but had a Prince who coined Money and ruled as absolute Soveraign with an independent and arbitrary Power Yea to so high a state was it once advanced that it was grown to a Proverb GOD and Novogorod who is able to withstand Their Puissance I need not dispute since it is well known to those that are acquainted with Geography what Sway the Princes of Novogorod have born and what a name this City has had abroad for her Wealthy Merchants and great commerce with other Places About the year 1477 it was besieged and storm'd by Ivan Vasilowitz Great Duke of Moscovia who took away all the Priviledges and Immunities of the Citizens since which time their Wealth and Traffic began to decline and decay However by reason of it's commodious Situation it retains the footsteps of its former Trade and is especially frequented by Swedes Danes Hamburgers and Lubeckers who come up the River Nerva with their small Shipping The chief Commodities they deal in are Wheat Ry Lin-and Rapeseed Furrs Hemp and Flax. The Countrey is blessed with a good Soil and produces sufficiently enough of what is requisite to human sustenance which is here very cheap This is reckoned the best place in all Moscovia for River-fish especially Pikes and Perch Salmon they have in great abundance as also Carp Bream and Sturgeon with other kinds not commonly found in the Low-Countreys Novogorod which is as much as to say New-town or Newton being compounded of the Latin word Novus and the substantive Gorod in the Moscovian Tongue a City is at this present strengthned only with a Wall of Timber but well provided with Ammunition and Brass Ordnance On the one side is a strong Castle with a high stone-wall which as then was the Residing place of the Primate or Arch-bishop of the West-Province and some other Temporal Lords The greatest Decorum and Ornament of this City is the Pomp and stateliness of the Churches and some Public Edifices as at Pletskou but the Houses and Private Dwellings of the Inhabitants without any Order or neatness of Structure Between the Castle and the Town is a long wooden Bridge where the beforenamcd Ivan Basilowitz a great Tyrant threw in some Thousands of the Inhabitants When you enter the Town by that way you come within view of a famous Cloyster dedicate to Saint Anthony which Saint they beleeve and will perswade you came driving on from Rome out at the Tyber through the Aegean Sea the Propontis the Negropont the Mare Caspium and so up the Wolga to Novogorod upon a Milstone where he met with a company of Fishers with whom he covenanted for a certain some of Money that the first thing they took should be his The Fishers drew their Net and brought up a Chest which was full of Money besides a Ghostly Attire
Muskettos and other Vermin against which there is no way to defend ones Face The Pestilence is seldom ever known there but in lieu there of another Epidemy which so torments them in their Bowels that those that are taken with it rarely recover or live above 3 days Some I have heard say that in times past it was far more frequent and rigorous than at this day for before they had not the use of Physic nor would admitt of any that professed it to practise as of late finding the great benefit thereof they have done Moscovia is a Countrey of a fat and fertile Soil far beyond that of Lifeland Their Wheat Ry Barley and Oats they sow about St. Iohns day at Midsummer which within 7 or 8 Weeks is fit for the Sickle or Sithe for they use both and that by reason of the constant heat They have besides the beforementioned fruments good store of Pulse as Pease Beans and Lentils Cucumbers Pompions and Melons are more common there than with us of which last I have seen some weighing above 40 pound The Fruits they have are Pears Apples Quinces Medlars Cherries Plumbs and of these several kinds There grows in the Countrey lying upon the River Mosequa a kind of an Apple so transparent that you may discern the Seeds as Grapes The Shell or Rind thereof is very thin and subtile and the Fruit it self very delicate but too juycy and after a long Rain so watrish that they grow insipid 'T is generally known abroad that Moscovia affoards Flax and Hemp to that exuperancy that they supply almost all Europe with Rope-work The next Staple-Commoditie of Moscovia is Wax and Honey which the Russians take wild and make a vast profit thereof In short there is no Vegetable of general use with us but what likes there save only the Vine which the Extremity of the Winter will not suffer to like or come to perfection but that defect is sufficiently supplied from abroad by the English Dutch and others who bring the Products of every Vintage from France and else where They have no Mines save only of Steel and Iron Russia if taken in general is better stored with tame Cattel and Wild-beasts than any Countrey in Europe or as some beleeve in the whole World Kine is without doubt in greater abundance there than in Tartary agreeable to the opinion of all Travailers and Geographers who have given an account of either The rich Furs which are yearly exported hence to most places of the World sufficiently testify the superabundancy of Foxes Sables Martens c. But most dangerous it is to travel alone for the many Beasts of prey which run together in vast and innumerable Troops and those when the Earth is covered with Snow very bold and daring insomuch that the Inhabitants are in continual danger and are fain to keep their gates barricado'd from those cruel Animals to secure themselves and their Cattel nay it has been often known that they have undermined Houses in some parts and devoured whole Families at a time Wild-Fowl I have seen of several kinds as chiefly Heath-hens Herns Wildgeese and Cranes by Millions in a flock together As for smallbirds by which I mean Larks Finches and the like which we hold for great delicacies they have them in litle or no esteem and that by reason of the vast swarms for they fly together as thick as Gnats or Infects over a Pond These are havock'd by the Hawks Faulcons and Merlins which are there in a proportionable plenty to the prey The Rivers and standing Lakes are stored with Fish of all kinds which are throughout the whole Land incredibly cheap in sum Moscovia has whatsoever is necessary for Food and Rayment as good and at as easy rates as any other Land in the World none excluded altho I do not say but that one Province differs much from another and that every particular Province and Region has something or other as proper or peculiar to it's self Wolodomir is reputed to be of so good a Soil that from one Bushel of pure Grain sown is sometimes 20 or 25 produced in Harvest and yet Rhesan is reckoned far more fertile than the other for from every single Seed ariseth 3 stalks and sometimes more which is not commonly found in any other Province in all Russia This Province affoards likewise the best and most Beavers The Dutchy of Syberia is the most woody of all other Provinces within the Empire of the great Czaar especially towards the Northeast where at Braquin there is a Wood which takes it's beginning the end whereof none ever yet was known to find out This Wood is the main place whence the Moscovians fetch their richest Pelure and Furs as Ermins Sables and Black Fox which is one of the richest Pelts in the World Volske Smolensko and Beleasor deliver vast quantities of Skins and Furs which the Inhabitants bring up yearly to Moscou and other eminent Marts Ustioga is a Province that yields great store of Cattel and many sorts of Fish yet very Barren as to grain Rostof is the only Province for Salt Dwino is a barren and dry land but the Inhabitants obtain great Riches of the Furs which is the Principal Trading of that Province These they barter with what Commodities and Necessaries they find themselves destitute of In this Province are many white Bears which seem to live as well by Sea as Land Viatke has great want of Grain yet store of Fish Honey Wax and also Pelts Petzora is very montanous in which Principality I have heard it averr'd That there are some mountains that require 10 days work to ascend The Valleys of this Province are fertile enough and very good pasturage yet Corn will not take kindly there What may be further said of Astrachan and the Tartarian Regions now in subjection to the Great Duke I shall wave till I come to make mention of things as I found them upon our Arrival there CHAP. V. The Form Nature and Propertie of the Russes Their ordinary Diet. Their great esteem of Brandy Their litigious humors and inclinations to Quarrelling Their ordinary Habit. Women use painting of their Faces Their manner of their Marriages and nuptial Solemnities THe right Moscovians or Russians for the Tartars now under Protection of the Czar we shall speak of in their due place are mostly able corpulent and big especially of Head Arms and Legs The Common sort are very hard by Nature and patient in extremity seldom pamper their Bodies with soft lying when they rest or delicat Diet when they eat In summer they lie upon boards or at best upon straw and in Winter on the tops of their Ovens or Cackels where Man and Wife Children and Servants lie all down together without any distinction at all Utensils they have not many but so many as themselves judge needfull which are Earthen or Iron Pots Wooden Dishes Brandy-and Metheglin-Cups which
which had been made wast by Tamarlan While we lay here it began to blow very hard and the next day we were fain to keep at anchor In the mean time I went with some of our Ships Company to the Hill Arbuchin where we found the Ruins of another City bearing one name with the said Hill In ascending the Hill we found a great stone with this Inscription in old Russian Words and Letters IF THOU WILT REMOVE THOU SHALT NOT LOSE THY PAINS Some Russians had a mind to see what would come of it and after long digging and much struggling at last got it turn'd over but instead of finding a Treasure met with another Motto which was THOU ASS GO SHAKE THY EARS This vexed them so that they rather willed to let it stand in that posture than take the pains to set it as it was before to deceive others The Land round about is very fair and withall of a fat Soil yet not cultivated for there are no Inhabitants but the Relicts of several Towns and Villages formerly depopulated by the famous Tamerlan On the 17 we sailed past the River and City of Adrobe lying in the heighth of 54 degr and 48 min. At the mouth of this River we were again set fast and after much labour and all the means we could imagine to be any way helpfull we gave the Ship and Yacht both over for lost but in the Evening it began to Thunder and abundance of Rain fell that the River began to swell and so set us adrift again On the 29 we came before Calmaka where were many Salt-pits and two new Towns We found there several Pans where the Russes made their Salt which they fetch out of great hollows and cavernal Rocks this being boiled is sent up the Wolga in Stroughs and so dispersed over the whole Countrey of Moscovia These Salt-pits keep abundance of Men in imployment and is no small profit to the Overseers On the 30 th we set sail again and after half an hours sailing ran aground upon a sand where after much ado we gott off but with the Loss of an Anchor and 80 fathom of our Cable The next day it began to storm very hard wherefore we thought good to come to anchor for the River was here about very perillous and so we were fain to continue till the 4 of August On the 5 th of August we came to Morrakzy where we saw abundance of Fishers of whom we bought some Cavear and Sturgeon having as much of that Fish as 20 Men could eat for the value of 11 stivers or one shilling sterl Here we were forced to tarry for the space of 24 Hours by reason of the hard Wind lying near the Island Kistowato where is a very shoaring or slanting strand on both sides which makes the stream of the Wolga at that place very narrow and deep Here we saw the River Ussa which encompassing Samara almost round empties it self into the Wolga On each side this River is a fair and pleasant Countrey so far as one can view but we were informed by the Russes that it was there very dangerous to travail by reason of Robbers and the vagabond Cosaks who kept themselves in the Woods whence they sometimes salley out in whole bands and surprize Passengers The Cosaks also haunt the River having Boats which are made long and small with which they row admirably swift On one side of the Ussa are some Mountains and amongst those one of an incredible heighth called Sariol Kurgan where they say an Emperor of the Tartars with 70 Kings ly buried when they came up the Wolga with intent to invade Russia which Mountain being bare and rocky they say that the Soldiers carried up so much Earth and Mold as was sufficient Some of those Mountains are woody and other some bare stone and cliffs On the 8 th we sailed forward and came to Samara which is so called from a certain River that runs through it where it runs into the VVolga The City is built four Square and mostly of Wood only the Churches and Cloysters are built of stone The day following we saw the Mountain Cosak-krim so called from the Cosaks which were there beat by the Moscovian Army having sadly molested all the Countrey under the subjection of the Czaar by a continual Plundering but having at that time received such an overthrow could never since complete so great a Body as might be any way obnoxious to the Russians Behind Samara the Mountains are very high but Cosak-krim surpasses all the rest for heighth About the going down of the Sun we sailed past the Island Pantzina and the next morning found our selves as far as Sagenisko On the 11 we sailed past the Island Zagra where we met divers Fishers-boats and supplied our selves with fresh Fish Here we had news that a great number of Cosac-Rebells were entred the Island Satyry-Boggere at the mouth of the VVolga on the Caspian Sea and annoyed the River On the 12 we sailed by several Islands namely Sasnow Ossino Schipnamago Koltof and other not inhabited The next day we saw the Mountain Smiowa which in their Language is as much as to say a Snake or Dragon having it's name as I conjecture from its similitude of a Snake rising up into hillocks and falling down again into gaps like a serpent when he creeps Although the Russes as also the Inhabitants tell us a Fable of a famous Cavalier who went out to kill a monstrous Animal like a Snake that wasted all the Countrey round about and devoured every day 50 Men for a Break-fast The Knight having killed the serpent it was metamorphosed into a Rock which is now this Mountain The day following we came before Saratof where we cast anchor This City lies in 52 degr 12 min. in a valley upon a Branch of the VVolga on the larboard side in sailing down and is only inhabited by a Military Officer and a Garrison of Soldiers to free the River and Countrey of the Cosacks and Calmuc-Tartars whose Countrey is bounded here These Calmucks are the most ougly and mishapen People in the World worse favoured by far than the Hotentots or Moors which are Angels in Comparison of those Their Faces are broad and almost four square their noses flat their mouths reaching almost from one ear to the other their Eies long and small upon their Heads they wear a Quoif the rest of their Habit is sufficiently denoted in the following Plate They seldom go afoot but mostly on Horseback as if they were Centaurs for some of them do not only eat and drink but also sleep upon their Horses Their only weapons is the Long-bow which they use with an admirable Dexterity There is a continual enmity between those and the Nagayans for they perpetually steal one anothers Children and Cattel which they bring to Astrachan to Market for there they have 3 several market days one for the Russians themselves another for the Nagayans and
that were willing for we saw the Vessel jogg too and again very lightly that we easily suspected some bad design as afterward it appeared for when they saw us wind about they made all the Sail they could and pursued us till finding that we were very well armed they gave over their chace The men aboard were Cosacks and as we beleeved of Radzins Folk Finding that they left us we consulted which way to steer and resolved to let drive before the Wind. We sounded and found 4 fathom and came in a short time close by Zierlan which we found to ly in 43 degr 7 min. From hence we saw the famous Ararat mounting his head far above the Caucasus which was nearer us The Land of the Island Zierlan is all covered with shells which seem to be wash'd over with high Floods and Inundations whence I presume none will Inhabit it About evening we put off and after an hours failing sounded and found we had 6 fathom and a sandy ground When night came we were surprized with a great Tempest and the Sea rose mountains high insomuch that we expected every moment to go to bottom and so we were thrown to and again on the tops of the billows In the morning it began to clear up and the Winds abated something so that we made a litle sail and indeavoured to steer towards the High-lands on the Circas coast After much labour in beating through the Waves and danger of our lives we got that heighth We sailed by a Tartarian City Seated near the Water between two Hills and by the way met with a Moscovian Boes where the Men aboard had acquaintance with us having lay with their Vessel aboard our Ship at Astrachan The said Men invited us all to dinner of Fresh Mutton and Rice which they first parboiled and afterward stewed with Butter of which we made a hearty meal After we had taken our leaves of them we steered away by the Coast and saw many pleasant Valleys and a fruitfull Countrey When the Evening came on and we seeing it good weather resolved that night to take our rest which we had not done for 3 nights together and to that end dropped anchor On the 20 we came within 15 Leagues of Derbent which is the land of the Dagestan Tartars who are so called for that they inhabit the hilly Countrey the word Dag in their tongue signifying a Mountain That part of the Countrey which lies toward the Sea is dry and heathy but within land very fruitfull as afterward to our sorrow we found it The men are very robust and able of Body of a deep swarthy complexion and terrible to look at Their Habit is much at one with the Circas-Tartars Their shoes are onely made of an Horses hide undrest and of one piece drawn together above the foot with Thongs Their Arms are only Bow Arrows and a Scimmatar although some have also Spears and Launces when they ride out or go upon any expedition they put themselves in Harnass to wit a Helmet and a Target They are great Men-stealers not sticking if they find oppo●tunity to sell their own Relations or Children of their nearest Friends which they bring to the Turks and Persians They are very bold and not easily daunted at any forreign Power trusting to the steep cragg● and Mountains which are to others inaccessible They are Mahometans by profession but sorry Zealots for their Religion The Wome● feed and keep cattel but their men go out a Robbing These Mountains are very barren and sandy except where it is chalky The next day we weighed anchor and came before the Tartari● town Boynak which when we had just passed by it began to blow very hard from the Sea ward we having then about 16 fathom Water In the mean time the Sea began to grow very rough and hollow that we were forced to run the Shallop immediately a strand for fear of overturning being then but 5 leagues from Derbent which was the nearest Land Directly before the coast lay a long Rif or Bank and round about us was rocks which we by the grace of GOD escaped tho very narrowly for indeavoring to get our selves afloa● again we ran into a Circle of Rocks about 3 or 4 foot under Water and had much labour to get clear Having now wrought our selves out we gave our selves over to the mercy of Heaven letting the Boat drive what way it would till at last by a great Sea we were thrown upon the strand without either loss of men or Goods every man packing up what they thought fit to carry along with them The Goods which belonged to Capt. Butler and Mr. Termund we buried in the Sand thinking to send for them upon occasion by the Persians But most unhappy proved this our landing here for no sooner were we come ashoar but we were espied by the Tartars who came and delved up the Goods we had so hidden and carried it away upon their Horses to a litle Village hard by and brought the news of such an accidental Booty to Aly Sultan their Prince who came on Horse back with a guard of Troopers to seek us Altho by day we hid our selves in the Woods and by night went forward on our Journey Having remained one night in the Woods where we took our rest Our Company consulted what was best to do whether to march forward on our journey or to tarry It was advised by the major part to go but I was rather desirous to tarry 3 or 4 days longer till the heat of the pursuit was over that so thinking when the Tartars should have sought for us a while in vain they would give us over for lost However they were very forward to be going and rejected my Council In the mean while C. Brak slept with his wife and child at a litle distance from us and the rest of the Company would that we should leave them there because that the Woman and Child were but a cumber to us So soon as I understood their intent was to leave them so I insisted on the contrary with words to this effect Pray Gentlemen remember your selves to what end should you do such an unworthy act and leave those poor souls behind us who have neither Money nor means to subsist and must in all apparency perish in a strange place and then what guilt must we have upon our Consciences But know this if you indeed resolve to go and leav'em it is also my resolution to cry out and make our Fates equal When they saw me so zealous and in a hot passion they were contented to take them with us I was the more concerned at it for his Fathers sake who when we left our Native Countrey show'd us all imaginable Friendship and therefore indeared him the more to me About half a day we marched with Muskets and other heavy Armor upon our shoulders besides our baggage along the sides of the Mountains till at last we came into a
better be understood he called for some Russian Slaves who assured him that we were no Cosaks but real Dutch for that we had nothing of the Cosac-Dialect Upon this the Prince turned about and told us our Life was granted us This news was very welcom to us but had been more welcom if we had with one been set at liberty for we were chained severally and sent away to Mahemet Sultan the Princes Son whose Residing place was near mount Ararath CHAP. XVIII The Captives take their leavs of each other The great Orchard near Tzurbag Their Arrival at Urwan Situation of Mount Ararat An accidental meeting with some Carmelito Friars The Author insisted upon to undertake a Cure of a Rupture which with much perswasion he promises to do His ascent up the Mountain Ararat to the Hermites Cell who was his Patient which he performs in 5 days time He undertakes and Cures the Rupture The Copy of an Attestation given him by the said Hermite in barbarous Latin His return down ON the 21 dito my Companion and I took our leaves of each other but not without great sadness for so soon as we were brought out and understood that we were to go two several ways I observed Tears run down his cheeks which also moved me to weep for that we were out of hopes ever to see one anothers face again in this World neither that our Wives or Friends should ever hear from us or that we ever were like to be redeemed by our Friends or Countrey men being in a remote Land Having thus taken our last Farewell of each other I was set upon a Mule and committed to the Charge of some Slaves and Renegados who were to bring me to the Court of Prince Mahomet being about 3 Dutch miles from Urwan About Evening we came to a Village called Tzurbag seated upon a high Mountain where we took up our lodging for that night While we stayed here there came abundance of Women to see me who wondred that I wore such long hair for the Inhabitants of these Countreys being Mahometans always shave their Heads bare On the 22 betimes in the morning we set forward and went through a great Grove of Fruit-trees where we saw abundance of wild Swine masting of the shaken Fruit. These Fruit trees do not grow naturally of themselves here for they have an Ordinance among them in that Countrey That none of whether Sex it be shall marry till they can prove that they have planted a Hundred Trees with their own Hands so that they begin when they are Children to plant which having been observed for some Ages is the reason that this Wood is grown so wide There are divers sorts of Fruits as Apples Pears Cherries Figgs Almonds Wallnuts and others and that in such abundance that the hundreth part is not consumed or us'd for none are prohibited to pluck and carry away There is also very fair Medow and Arable Ground the Fields full of Corn affoarding many delicate and rich Plants both for Kitchin use and Medicinal Cattel is there both good and plentifull far surpassing ours in Europe for fatness especially Kine Sheep Goats and Swine both wild and tame run together in innumerable Flocks but incredible is the Plenty of Hens and Pidgeons which are brought in and sold for trifles On the 30th we arrived at Urwan or Ervan a City situated under Mount Ararat in the Countrey of the Medes about 65 Leagues from the Caspian Sea The Town is not very wide but sufficiently munited with strong walls of stone being about the greatness of Alcmaar in North-Holland There are in it some Persian Mosquees and Churches as also a Cloyster of Carmelite Friars They use no kind of Commerce or Merchandise save that of Slaves which the Dagestan Tartars come to buy there and are there so cheap that a lusty well-bodied youngman is ordinarily sold for ten Crowns as some of our Company were sold for the same price The City Urwan is mostly inhabited by the poorer sort of Armenians but Mount Ararat by those of the Romish Faith and other Christians Mount Ararat is seated just in the parting of Armenia from Media and is reckoned under the rank of the Dagestan and Caspian Mountains The Armenians call it Messina and the Persians Agri It is much higher than either Caucasus or the famous Taurus or any other Mountain in all Media Armenia or Persia so far as one can view It is a blew and dark-coloured Rock I have found there a kind of a dark yellow Mineral very ponderous and sparkling but could never learn what mettal it would have produced if melted nor that of a sparkling Sand and Dust which I also found here although I brought a proof of each which I lost when we were taken at Sea by the English and plundered as herafter shall be said at large This Mountain is for the most part barren and without Earth and what may be further said by way of Description the Reader will find in the Relation of my Ascent towards the Top of it Going into the Hermites Cell I took a view of the Rupture which I saw was shut forth about the bulk of a henns-egg and with one asked him How long he had had it he answered A Moneth which gave me good encouragement since I was sure that the Fissure was fresh and therefore the Cure with greater facility to be effected Thus I undertook the work and taking 200 fresh Hen-eggs I boyled them hard and made thereof an Unguent I made also a Truss and anointed him 4 times a day with the Oyntment causing him to ly still for a fortnight together which done I let him rise up to see how he was and found that it was sufficiently bettered for the Rupture which he with his own hands had indeavoured to stop by thrusting it in and as often broke out was now stay'd and he told me that he could every day perceiv that it grew better I gave him advice to keep himself a whole year in the Truss and continue anoynting himself after the manner I did myself which he also promised to observ When I took my leav of him he gave me a piece of hard wood of a dark-red colour with a Cross and a silver Chain which he wore about his neck as also a Stone which he told me he had taken from under the Ark These Relicts he adjured me to be very carefull of saying the real value and esteem thereof would be such that if ever I came to Rome and bestowed them on St. Peters Church that they would reward me with a Gift which should serve me for a maintenance so long as I lived The Wood and the Cross I brought with me but the stone with some sparkling Oar were taken from me when the English took our Ship The Hermite was born at Rome and of very good Parentage his Father being one of the most eminent Citizens there who upon his Death-bed charged his Son To retire
his Head with his Body our Countreyment at Astrachan call Dickkop Thickpate But by the Persians Nachay that is Devourer This Fish is of a more than ordinary strength and somtimes will overturn a small Boat with a stroak of his Tail CHAP. XX. A Description of Derbent it's Walls The Sultans Court. Very old Ruins Divers Watch-towers Multiplicity of Sepulchrets without Derbent Their Slave-Market The Author sold again His Patron married with a Polish Woman and runs into Danger of his Life The Intention of his Patroness in running away from her Husband and taking the Author with her Two of Mr. Struys's Companions come to Derbent How they made their escape from the Tartars The great Inclination of the Sultan of Derbent to the Hollanders A Device put in practise to set one of the Authors Companions at Liberty The Prince takes the Wife of Brak for his own Brak makes his escape DErbent the first City under the Jurisdiction of the King of Persia on the Caspian Sea lies in 41 degr 50 min. northerly Latitude This City lies longwise East and West from the Sea side to the Land and is according to computation about 2 English miles long One side thereof lies so near to the Sea that the Waves beat against the Walls and in a Storm or tempestuous Weather the Surges rise over the Walls This is also reckoned as a Barrier against the Irruption of the Tartars and other Savages being the only place on all that Coast for many miles together where they can come ashoar for the Shoar is there naturally secured with a steep Bank and wholly inaccessible Wherefore this City is not improperly called Derbent which in their Language imports as much as The Kingdoms Key Der signifying a Key and Bent a Kingdom or Countrey and so the City Gammeron on the Indian Coast is called Bender which is the same Word with transposition of the Syllables and a little variation of the Dialect This Town is very strongly munited with a Stone-Wall and as some say was built by Alexander the Great who had here his Residence for som time althô there doth not any Building remain of his save only the Wall on the South side and the Fortress but all the Fortifications on the North were built by the famous Nauschirwan King of the Medes having no other Foundation than a solid Rock The Walls both on the North and the South side are so broad that Horses and Waggons may ride all along and the Stones are of a hard rock brought hither from a Hill not far distant from the Town being all equally 6 foot Square On the Wall of Alexander for it still bears his name is an oblong Stone having an ancient Inscription in old Syriac and Arabic Characters which none now a days can read The City Derbent is divided into 3 parts The uppermost Ward or Quarter stands on a rising Ground and has a Fortress furnished with Brass-Cannon and at that time when I was there and since the Uproar of the Cosacs it has bin Strengthned with a Garrison of 1000 or 1200 Soldiers and in this Quarter is the Sultans Court. The Midle Ward is inhabited by Persians but the Buildings go mostly to decay The Lowest Ward is about 2000 paces long but this part is only tilled and used for Gardens and as they say has been heretofore inhabited by Greeks bearing still the name of Schaher Iunan or City of the Greeks Above Derbent appear the Ruins of a Wall which reached from thence to the Necropont or Euxin Sea which has been a work of an incredible Charge and Labour In som places the said Wall appears very plain and is about four Foot thick Round about this City are also divers stone Redoubts whereof Four are furnished with Ammunition and a Garrison of Soldiers suitable to the Occasion of the Times In the Countrey round about are also the Ruins of many strong Castles insomuch that it plainly appears in what esteem this Place has bin with the Median and Persian Monarchs in times past Not far from this City are also som Watch-towers of Wood which are raised exceeding high so that they can with ease descry the approachment of an Enemy in time of War On that side of the Town which faces the Countrey are many Sepulchrets or Tombs som of an oblong form and others semicircular being in breadth about a mans length and hollowed so that a Man may easily ly in them In this great Sepulchre was in times past a famous Battel fought between Cassan King of the Medes and the Dagestan Tartars where the former had a notable overthrow with the loss of several Thousand men and the principal Heros and Leaders were buried in those Tombs Between this place and the Sea is also another Plat of Ground environed with a high wall wherein are 40 Tombs under which are so many Persian and Median Princes interred and made sacred to Memory Upon the Walls are several Flags pitched and by each an old Man to beg an Alms of such as out of Devotion and a Religious Zeal come to visit this place as it is throughout all Persia held very meritorious to visit the Sepulchres and Graves of the Deceased This Superstition besides that of Bathing is all the Ceremonies and Rules which their Religion prescribes the Women who receiv their Directions and are injoined by their Parents and Husbands what to do being secluded out of the Mosquees Within Derbent live no Christians but altogether Mahometans except a few Iews who boast themselvs to be descended from the house of Benjamin these commonly follow base and dishonorable Traffic as buying of Prize-goods and Booty taken at Sea which the Dagestan Tartars bring thither to market The rest of the Inhabitants likewise trade in buying and selling of Slaves that being the main and almost only Merchandize they deal in which they buy of the Dagestan Plagiaries and send all over Persia making an incredible gain thereof Those that are brought hither for Slaves are very unhappy for they are no more looked upon than an unreasonable Animal or Bruit and when they are about buying they pull of their Cloaths and grope them all over as if it were a Swine or a Calf Besides their low esteem they have for Slaves as to their Persons they are very unkind and void of Mercy so that were it not for the Loss of so much money very few of those wretched caitiffs would die a natural Death Those people being by nature very prone to Anger and besides that too jealous to live upon Earth thinking that if a Slave do but smile or cast a friendly look toward one of their Wives that something extraordinary must be in the case althô I had never reason to complain of my Patron for any such thing but one that lived in the neighbourhood was much addicted to that inquietude and restless humour The bed where I lay was upon the Top of the house for coolness sake
take a Journey for Scamachy there to repair his Houses which were thrown down with an Earth-quake in the year 1667. On the first of September we were ready and set forward with a Caravan of 1800 Horses and a great number of Camels Dromedaries Asses and other Beasts of Carriage having in Company several Thousands of Men. The first day we passed over three Rivers to wit Kurgani Kostar and Sambur whereof the second is the greatest running thrô the Mountains of Elbur This River divides it self into 5 branches or arms broad but shallow and runs over a stony Ground The next day we travailed 8 Dutch miles further and came to Koctep a large village where we took our rest for that night By the way we saw a goodly Tomb erected to the memory of a Persian Saint The Inhabitants of this Town and the Countrey about it are called Padar in their Language They are much addicted to stealth and Robbery so that we were fain to keep a narrow watch over them the time we lay in the Town which was not above 8 hours Their Houses are but little built square and covered on the Top with Earth not exceeding 6 or 7 foot high above ground but are as deep below as they are high On the 3 of the same moneth we set forward and travailed through many great villages amongst which was a very fair one called Nisabath or Naysabath which I guess lies about 41 degr and a quart It is seated in a very pleasant Countrey of Old Media now called Surwan or Schirwan This is the Place where som time agon the Holsteyn Ambassadours suffered Shipwrack At night we set down at Muskar being a Town without Walls or any other Fortification but seems to have bin in times past a place of trust as well from its Situation as the Ruins of the Walls and Bulwarks which yet appear By the way we saw abundance of Robbers in the Woods but they knowing us to be too strong would not adventure the Attempt On the 4 we broke up and that day came to Scabaran a little City where the whitest and best Rice in all Persia is brought to market and grows in the Countrey round about It is also in such plenty that the Hundred weight is sold for 13 Ochbas being about 4 Shil 2 Pence Sterl or a halfpenny per Pound The Walls of this City are now demolished so that it is no more than an open village The only Remarkable I found here was the Ruins of the Ovens wherein they averr Alexander the Great had Bread baked for his Army On the 5 th we came to the mountain Par or Barmach which lies close to the Sea and is very famous for it's many veins of Naphte The word Barmach is an Appellativ word and betokens in their Language a Finger so called from it's similitude to a Finger pointing out Above at Top it is very cold and has snow on the North side all the year long at top there grows som grass but not much and that all hung with Iceicles On this Hill appear the Ruins of som Watch-Towers and below have been several Fortlets to check the Tartars and secure the Medians from the Invasion of the Scythian Robbers Amidst those Ruins is a huge deep Pit digged and laid in with stone Naphta otherwise called Petroleum or Petrelaeum is an Oil coming naturally out of the veins of the Rock which veins do run thro the whole stones as in Marble There are 40 Pits digged as Receptacles to hold the said Oil being convey'd thither by several Pipes or Conduits But there are three of those whence it naturally flows or springs where you may see it buble up like boiling pitch Of this Oil there be two sorts the one tending to a brown or black which has a very strong smell but the other which is white is of a lovely smell when fresh and held in far more esteem than the other On the 6 dito we set forward again and went over very high Hills coming at night to Bachal a village seated in a low but fruitfull Valley Here grows much Rice and that very good it being a marshy Ground where that Grain likes best Barley also grows there in good plenty The Inhabitants have an excellent way of making Cakes the main stuff thereof being Honey and Oil whereof for the rareness and novelties sake my Master bought certain to use on our Journey On the 7 dito we left Bachal and after a good Days Journey came into Cothany which is a very pleasant Place and here we took up our Lodging This Village lies in a low Valley which is full of Woods of Hasles and other small Trees in which Woods are the greatest plenty of Hares that ever I have seen in all my Life On the 8 dito we arrived at the famous Scamachy called also Sumahi and Samachy It is a very famous Mart and lies in 40 degr 30 min. In the Province of Schirwan or Media It is handsomly seated in a Vally so that one cannot see it till he be within Cannon Shot of the Town The distance between Derbent and Scamachy is computed a Weeks Journey excluding Sunday to wit following the High-way which is crooked and Winding for by reason of Hills and Rivers they are fain to travel far about or otherwise one might go it in 2 days there is also another way which Passengers take when they go not with the Caravan the Caravan would also go that way but the Tolls about the Mountains of Lahatz are very great and oftentimes long a clearing so that they rather chuse to go the other way In former times this was a Town of some consideration as to matter of strength but in the Wars of Abas the Scach or King of Persia against the Turks it was by him dismantled and made an open village which was ever by him a Maxim of Military Policy by reason the Turks were wont to retire into fortified Places under pretext of Refuge and after a few Moneths proving strong and numerous would surrender up the Town to their own Nation in time of War or upon an Uproar so that all the Walls toward the South were demolished and only those on the North-side left standing which will not much avail upon such sudden Occasions And now was none more happy than my self in imagination not thinking otherwise than suddenly to have my Freedom On the 1 of November I was sent for by the Ambassadour where being introduced into the Parlor he speedily bad me sit down and fell to asking many Questions about my Nation and my coming to be a Slave I told him all from the Beginning to the End He then called for a Bowl of Wine and bade me drink Whilst I sat there were two young Georgian Girls brought to the Door who being stole by the Dagestan Tartars of handsom Bodies and tolerable Beauties as also the Ambassadours own Countrey Women he had compassion of them and
Assailed and Plundered A famous stone Bridge The sepulchre of Zeyde Tzeybrail Arrival at Ardebil The Situation of that Town The bitter Cold. Great and raging Whirl-winds Extraordinary good Wheat The great Toll and Duty paid for Sheep Seven and Fifty Towns within the Jurisdiction of Ardebil A Description of the City of it's Streets and of the Street of Strumpets who are Poëtesses and ordained to compose Hymns of Praise to the name of the Great Aly. Free Places within the City The Markets and Shops Sumptuous Mezids and Chappels ON the 30 dito by Gods good Conduct we set forward with the whole Caravan which consisted of 2000 Men or upwards and about 1000 Camels and Horses of Carriage My Master also had 20 Horses of his own in particular loaden with Chestnuts for a Present to the King of Persia for one having any Matter or Affair at Court never appears before either the Scach or any subordinat Prince empty handed Our way was over very high and steep hills amongst which we found the Sepulchre of a great Persian Saint called Pyr Mardechan being at the foot of the Mountains of Faherlu The Countrey here about lies waste and desart there being neither Inhabitant nor Provision to be had by the way so that we made all the hast we could to get the Carawansera This hard travailing was not very unwelcom to us because that the weather was cold althô som of the Horses being heavy loaden and tired were left behind About the Evening we came to Kasily where we took up our nights lodging The Countrey round about Casily is altogether barren and dry except here and there some good pasturage so that the manner of Living with the Inhabitants is like that of the Tartars moving to and again over the face of the Countrey with their Wives Children Utensils Cattel and what else they have and when they set down pitch their Tents all in Rows which they call Ostak During our travailing thrô this Countrey we could get litle else but Milk to refresh our selves however my Patron out of his Bounty would not suffer me to want for any thing but imparted to me what he had as well Victuals to eat as Wine to drink which served me for a good Breast-plate against the Cold. Having staid one night at Kasily we set forward and about 8 a clock the next evening came to a fair Village called Tzawaar or Tzawat as some call it which is so much as to say a Thorow-fare because that here is the Passage which brings over the grand River Araxes and here every one is to show his Pasport out of fear that some Turks should slip over with the Caravan of whom the Persian is alwaies jealous and are constrained to take sharp notice of every particular Person At this place is a long Bridge made of Keels and thwarted with massy Planks that are fastned together with great Bolt and Chains which for better security is guarded with a good number of Soldiery When we were transported over the said River we took our Nights-rest in the Open-fields The River Araxes takes its head about the high Mountains between Schirwan and Mokan behind Mount Ararat running North-east till it finds the River Kur or Cyrus where it disgorgeth it self about 39 degr 54 min. Northerly latitude where these two Rivers are incorporated Kur as it is vulgarly called rises in the Mountains of Georgia or Gurgistan Araxes is reckoned to be one of the swiftest Rivers in all Asia very deep and good Water Araxes also receives several other noble Rivers to wit Carasu Senki and Kerni Arpa About the Mouth of Carasu it is at the deepest but about a league from Ordabath it makes a horrisonant roaring and a most hideous murmur where it receives the floods of the famous Mochan which River as well as the Araxes abounds with various kinds of Fish The Banks which in most Places mount very high are all grown ore with the shrub Gli●yrrhiza a kind of Liquirice as also Liquirice of the common kind but far thicker than either the Spanish German or that which is brought from Moscovia for I have seen som of it that was thicker than my Arm. On the 3 of November we travailed 5 leagues over the Heath of Mochan and saw by the way many Hurdles and Boors Cottages but durst not call at any to provide our selvs with Refreshments being sensible of the perils for hither are all those sent to Exile whom the Scach thinks good to banish and hither resort all the Mutineers so that these like the Banditti in the Alps render the way very unsafe and incommodous to travel somtimes surprizing and assailing the Caravans when they find themselves of Force enough or the Caravan too weak to withstand'em On the 4 th dito we set forward and in the way found the River Baltharu which for Greatness gives place to all the before named but for the Multitudes of Tortoises that are taken here about no less famous nor inferiour to any other in all the surface of the Countrey All along the Banks we saw holes and caves which those Animals had made in the Sand the shoar appearing like a Coney-borrough These Caves have their mouth or entrance alwaies to the Southward where they lay their Eggs. On the Countrey through which this River softly glides we saw several Cottages or Tents as we did the day before but found the Inhabitants harmless and very poor yet merry and jocund the Children were stark naked and the Men and Woman had hardly cloaths enough to cover their middle They received us in very friendly manner according to their ability bringing us Milk for our selvs and Provender for the Camels and Horses which they sold at a very mean and inconsiderable Price considering under what necessity we were then This day we travailed 6 Dutch Leagues On the 5 we travailed about as far as we did the day before but were fain to take up our Lodging under the great Canopy of Heaven setting down with the whole Caravan near som Water-pitts where we found good pasturage for the Beasts considering the season of the year The next day we found an end of the Heath Mokan and had High-land to travail over as the Mountains of Bethzyrvan or Bethzyrum This day we crossed a small River if I well remember 12 times having a crooked or serpentine Course which the Merchants of Scamachy for their Conveniency had promised a considerable Sum of Money to som Ingenieurs to to make streight yet by reason of many intervening Hills and those mostly of a hard rock could not be effected At night we got the Village Schechmurat where my Patron sent me out to fetch som Spring-Water but being about half an English mile without the Town was assail'd by 3 Robbers who suddenly came running out upon me having their Eies fixed my Armor so that in all probability that which I had for my Defence would have been my
Death if som belonging to the Caravan and sent upon the same Errand had not com in time to assist me for I was almost out of breath with defending my self having my Back against the Ruins of an old Wall which seemed to be the Relicts of som Watch-Tower One of the 3 I had wounded very sore on the Arm but the other two breaking in proved too strong for me yet when they say the rest com in and close up with them thought it better to make use of their Heels than their Hands On the 7 th we travailed over very hilly and montanous Ground encamping that night in a Valley which was wast and destitute of Inhabitants On the 8 th we came to a very fair and commodious Caerawansera built at the Charges of the Indian Traders for the conveniency of their Caraevans Here we intended to remain over night but beginning to take our Rest were alarm'd upon a sudden assault of a great Troop of Robbers who fell upon the Caravan on every side and plundered all they came at that was of any value and portable and althô we had timely notice to defend our selvs yet they had got a considerable Booty and made their escape without the loss of any Person or the lest damage We therefore fearing that the incouragement and success they had met with might embolden them to make up a stronger Troop and consequently our tarrying there might be very unsafe it was unanimously concluded that we should break up and being fair Weather pursue our Journey by travailing the night as we did and about 12 a clock came to Tzanle which is a beautiful Town but not fortified where it was thought fit that we should stay till the next morning Tzanle is a Paradise in regard of it's pleasant Situation round about which is nothing to be seen but Orchards Gardens and Houses of Recreation Here we supplied our selvs with all necessarys refreshments which we had for a very mean price On the 9 th we found very bad travailing way and with great Difficulty went over the Mountains of Trizetlu out of which Mountains ariseth the River Carasu and after it has encompassed many Mountains glides with a soft and gentle stream thrô the Valleys till it finds the great Araxes into which it disgorgeth it's self with an incredible noise Near the Village Samian is a very famous Bridge all of Stone computed to be 450 Foot long and withall very broad This Bridge we passed over and towards night came to Trabedar a Village seated in a pleasant Landship where we took up our Nights-lodging but not our Nights-rest for we were horribly tormented with Fleas and Lice that being as in Scotland the Countrey-Plague which I presume comes from the Heat of the Cows-dung that the Inhabitants dry and stow up in their Houses to use for Fewel The next day we broke up and went thrô the Town Kelchera which is about half an hours walking from Ardebil where is the noble Mausoleum or Sepulchre of Zide Tzaybrail the Father of Scech Sephy This Tzaybrail was in his life time a man of a mean and slender Fortune as well in Substance as Parts but Sedredin his Grandchild willing to make him coëqual with his Father in the Calender caused all his Bones to be gathered together and brought to this Shrine which was erected to his perpetual Memory The same Sedredin also built that most sumptuous Meschaich or Sepulchre within Ardebil for Scech Sephy his Father Certainly those Bones of his Grandfather must have bin very emphatical and notedly eminent above all the Boors and Pesants Bones that had lay there a hundred years that could now almost reduced to Dust be distinguished from the rest otherwise thrice happy were his Neighbours who had kept him company so long a time for it was hard if some Joynt or other was not canonized with the Anatomy of this Holy Tzerbail However the Persians very devoutly pay their Devotions at this sacred Tomb without much respect to the Matter But in what manner those Bones appear I could not see althô I was shorn after the Persian fashion and in my conversation with Hadsi Byram my quondam Master used more like a Companion than a Servant much less as a Slave and was in general looked upon as an upright Musulman After we had rested a litle at Kelcheran we marched forward and about 2 in the Afternoon came to Ardebil where my Master Hadsi Byram took up his Lodging in a Street called Kumbalum being a very fair and well-provided Inn. Ardebil called also Ardevil lies in 38 degr and 50 min. in the Countrey of Adrilegizan being seated in a round Plain or Valley environed on each side with very high Mountains the greatest where of is called Zebelahu and much talked of in Persia for its height Those Mountains as they told me which ly to the Westward are all the Summer covered with Snow but on the other side those that lie toward the Countrey of Kielan the Air is more moderate and not altogether so cold And by reason that these cold seasons do not come gradually a● when the Winter Solstice approaches but casually and all on a sudden so that there is no ordinal Vicissitude nor can be any fast Calculation made it renders the Place very unhealthy especially to Strangers who are not used to such sudden Changes However I would not be so far misconstr'd as to signify that there is no sensible difference between the Summer and Winter for the Course of the Sun makes a noted alteration and yet the Summer Colds seemingly more penetrating than those in the Winter for Now the Body is shut and The● it is open at what time they hold it more dangerous but in the Approachment of the Winter more tolerable and better to be endured My Patron told me that som years before he took this Journey abou● April taking with him 4 Slaves whereof 3 were Strangers and unnacustomed to the aforesaid Changes died in this Place but the other which had been brought up there abouts ail'd nothing at all But above all this are the Whirl-winds which come every day about noon very remarkable being as constant as the Suns comming to South or as the Tides that are regulated according to the Course of the Moon This said Wind alwaies rises at 12 a clock and continues somwhat more than an hour during which time it is not safe to hold either Eies or Mouth open by reason of the Sand which is hurried about with that Violence and Thickness that the Air is darkned that very much annoy the Inhabitants who are not only fain to keep within Doors all the while it continues but must take care to cover all that may be damnify'd and make every thing fast which is light or apt to be carried away and besides that 3 or four times a year bea● away all the sand and dust which lies about the Houses By reason of this
that althô he was a Musulman I would give him a Christian Token With this he began to howl out and I seeing the Coast clear thought good to get out of the way betimes being fain to abscond till such times as the Caravan was to set forward which was 24 Hours after On the 1 of Ianuary we left Khom and came that night to Carawansera Kosmabath where we set down That night it began to freez harder than is usual in those Countreys but was by day very fair and lovly weather The next day we got the Village Sensen lying about 5 Dutch Miles distant from Kaschan where on the 3 day of Ianuary we arrived towards the Evening taking up our Quarters at a very noble and commodious Carawansera seeming rather a Palace than an Inn. Kaschan lies in 33 degr 51 min. It is built long wise and points East and West being munited with strong Walls and round Redoubts after the old manner of Fortification on the South side of the Tow● is a place where they exercise the Spear in Tilt and Tournament where are also several Pillars set up for Butts or Marks to shoot at O● the other side of the Town are several Royal Gardens and Summe● Houses and amongst the rest one of a stately Fabric having a Thousand Windows Kaschan is at this day the most populous and emine● Marts in all Persia having also a very famous Basar and Maydan wit● Piazzas and stately Galleries wherein are many rich Shops It i● the staple for the most part of the Silk stuffs that are made in Persi● They have also many that work in Velvets and Sattins but not altogether so good as those in Europe so that the King has sent often to Venice expresly for Workmen to come and reside there which nevertheless he cannot accomplish The Carawanseras which are here very numerous do surpass all others that ever I have seen elsewhere tha● where we took up our Quarters being more like a Palace than an In● as I have said before having 65 spacious Rooms besides many Conveniences which others want Below it was all Arched and mad● into stable use and above with Galleries to entertain the common so● of People Hither resort many Indian and other Merchants coming very far and bringing with them many rich Wares and precious Commodities There are abundance of Looms for Cloth of Gold and Silver as also many that make Tapestry and no less is the number of Idle Persons who swarm hither from all Parts and like Drone● are maintained by the sedulous Labours of those that take Pains and here have I seen more Beggars than ever I have seen in any Town in all my Travels As for the Countrey of Kaschan it is very fertile and of an excellent Soil producing vast Quantities of Wine Fruit Corn and is very rich of Cattel insomuch that it is very cheap living there But this is also concomitated with other Annoyances to wit the Extreme Heat of the Climat and the Multitudes of Scorpions which haunt the Town those being both great and dangerous yet both in shape and colour differing from those in Italy The Inhabitants for fear of that venemous Animal dare not ly upon the Floor as in other Places where they only throw a Quilt upon the Tapestry but have high Couches hanging from the Roofs of the Rooms like Hammocks and althô this Creature be very venemous and many are stung by it yet few die they having found out a ready Medicin against it which is made of the Filings of Copper tempered with Vinegar and Honey which is a very speedy remedy yet if neglected the Party stung is in danger of his Life This I presume has bin first found out by an Antipathetical quality which seems to be between those Scorpions and Copper for not far from the City is the Copper-mint where if one of these be brought it dies immediatly Besides these Scorpions they are pesterd with another venemous Creature which they call Enkurekan being very much like a Spider but bigger than a Mouse som of these are speckled and som have long streaks over the Back These keep most in stony Places and haunt the Herb Tremne almost like our Wormwood The venemous Matter which they have in them they spit out as som say Toads do which wheresoever it lights whether on man or Beast it immediatly penetrates and incorporates with the Blood and so proceeds to the Head and Heart So soon as the Patient is touched he falls immediately into a deep sleep in such sort that all the calling and beating him will not avail or awake him or if by chance it do he remains still senceless The best and speediest Remedy for this is the Enkurekan it's self pounded into a Cataplasm and applied but when these are not to be had they use another mean which is thus The Patient is laid upon his Back and his Mouth set open into which they pour much Milk as they can make him digest which done they put him in a square Chest having on each side a Ring through which are four Cords put and made fast at one Ring on the Cieling This Chest thus hanging they whirl it about for a quarter of an Hour together till the Patient breaks up and vomits all he has within him This commonly lucks if the Patient can be brought to swallow the Potion yet they feel the vigorous force of the Poyson for a long time after These nevertheless do not much annoy the Town unless when they are brought in with the Faggots which they use for Fewel But wha● is most worthy of Remark is that Sheep covet them more than an● thing else and if they chance to spy one run in at a hole will not lea● throwing up Earth till she gets it and so snapp it up yet ail nothing at all After we had lay Eight days in Kaschan and bought Wares and Pr●vision we broke up and on the 13 at night came to Carawanser● Chotza Cassim which stands in the middle of a Grove of Cypres● and other Trees which Winter and Summer grow always green In the said Carawansera we found very good Accommodation Her● my Patron was taken with a sudden Fit of the Cholic which hel● him so hard that we very much doubted of his Recovery althô at last to my unfeigned Joy it went over On the 14 th we had very bad travailing way thrô dry and sand Ground and found no Villages nor Towns to refresh our selvs a● till we came at Natens which is a very pleasant little City Here w● set down and took up our Carawansera for that night The Countre● close by Natens is very fertile and affords great plenty of good Wine The Inhabitants being diligent Propagaters of the Vineyards Nea● this City is a Hill upon which is erected a very high Tower of squar● and polished stone which was built by Schach Abas as a Monumen● of a Battail between an Eagle and a
Hawk where the last after a long Encounter came off with Victory It began now to freez harder and harder as also to snow so that we were fain to stay 3 Day at Natens during which time we made good Cheer and spared not our Proviands which we had taken up by the way having now got sight of the Royal City Ispahan On the 17 th we left Natens and that Day had very rocky ground to drive over and by the way stop'd at a famous Carawansera called Dombi where we rested and refreshed our selvs and at night were fain to set down at Ruk a Village not far from Ispahan by reason of the snow remaining there also the most part of the next day CHAP. XXXI Arrival at Ispahan Their Reception with the Dutch Resident A Rélation of the Stability of Anthony Munster who was urged to imbrace Mahometanism his Death and Burial The Manner and Situation of the Dutch Lodge The Situation of Ispahan it 's Greatness Rivers running thrô the same The Aqueduct a mighty work of Schach Abas The Streets of Ispahan Maydan and Basar Fair Arches and Galleries The Sumptuous Mestzid of Schach Abas Dowlet or Schach-Chane the Royal Pallace The Divan-Chane or Court of Justice The Hiram-Chane or Palace of the Kings Concubines Allycarpi a Sanctuary or place of Refuge Carawanseras Taverns Cahwae-Chane Coffee-Houses Persian Saints and Philosophers Remal and Falkil two sorts of Sooth-sayers Their strange and ridiculous way of presaging The Kaysery or Gallerie of Shops HAving stay'd the most part of 2 Days at Ruk we set forward again and on the 19 we came to the long-wishd-for Ispahan Where being arrived I longed greedily to see my Countrey-men and went to my good Master Hadsi Byram to take my leav of him with a Thousand Thanks for his many Favours I desired him also to let som go with me to show me the Dutch Lodge which he with great willingness assented to and sent one of his Slaves with me Thus I went with Monsr Lewis Fabritius and Christian Brandt to the Lodge where for that time the Heer Frederic Bent of Enkhuysen was Chief Factor for the East India Company Monsr Kasenbroot of Rheenen Second or Under-Factor and Mr. Hubert Balde of Amsterdam Assistant When we came at the Gate we found a Black who was the Porter and spoke very good Nether-Dutch whom we desired to make our coming known which when he had don we were admitted in and very friendly received by the said Gentlemen who invited us to stay there which without much refusal we accepted with many Thanks They brought us forthwith into a very stately Room hung with Tapestry and furnished with Beds where we lay and had also Victuals and Firing provided us with what else was necessary Besides that they show'd us all imaginable Friendship and Divertisements taking great delight to hear our many Evasions and Deliverances from such hard Adventures I have elswhere advised how that being at Scamachi we had a Letter from one of our Company to which was set no name yet praesumed that it was from Anthony Munster the Jeweller The certainty thereof I understood here as also how he was brought to Ispahan Being com to Ispahan his Patron wrought very hard upon him to renounce Christianity and embrace the Mahometan Faith promising him upon his so doing to esteem him for his Son to giv him one of his Daughters in Marriage and a considerable Dowry beyond what was customary in those Lands All these the young Man declined saying that neither Promises nor Threats should ever praevail with him and therefore begg'd of him to rest contented His Patron finally marking that he was not flexible to espouse that Religion he began to pester and oppress him with all manner of Cruelty that he could invent insomuch that he became very Melancholic and at last lost his Sences in which condition he made his Escape into the Dutch Lodge whic● he took up for his Sanctuary and was kindly received by the Hee● Bent who held him so long in private till he had obtained his Freedom from the King Yet still continued this Frenzy with him till he died only som say that by certain Expressions he made about the Eternity of the Soul he was sensible of himself a little before his Death He was buried with a more than ordinary Pomp considering the meanness of his Person as to outward Estate but was highly set by for his perseverance and constancy in the Christian Faith His outward Qualities were very commendable being of a handsom stature fair Complexion and in every Way and Gesture very taking nor was he less to be praised for the internal Faculties of the Mind and Soul being very conscientious and just in all his dealings and withall pious His sweet Manners and Conversation was such that those who had the left converse with him were very sorry for his untimely or to speak more properly his early Death he not being fully 26 years of Age. The Dutch Lodge is a very fair Building not far from the Kings Palace having many fair Appartments Ware-houses and other Conveniences for reposing Merchandizes The many fair Rooms it has are furnished with all necessary Moveables beyond those of the Persians and far more costly Behind the House is a fair and spacious Garden having all sorts of Fruit-trees proper to that and other Climats as also a great Vineyard and an Arboret or Nursery for young Trees In the middle is to be seen a very noble Fountain dispersing it's water in various Figures in the Air to an admirable height surpassing most Water-works that I have seen in Europe The Hollanders live there very splendidly to uphold the Honour of the East India Company and go in the Persian Habit as also their Waiters and Attendants who are mostly Turks and Moors and because I was to go for Gameron they gave me a new Persian Suit which I was to take with me In the mean while I had work enough to satisfy their curiositie with frequent rehearsals of what had befallen me in my foregoing Voyages to the Indies and the Levant Ispahan called also Isphahan lies in 32 degr and 26 min. in the Countrey of Erak formerly called Parthia It is situated in a level and plain Landship environed on every side with Mountains at a considerable distance as the Mountains of Demawend on the South and South-west Masanderan and Jeylak Persan on the North-east This is the greatest City that I have seen in all Persia being with it's Suburbs and all 16 hours going in circuit about 48 English Miles It is but very weakly fortified the Walls being only of Earth and sloaping inward so that at Top they are not above 6 Foot thick the Trench or Ditch is also very narrow and in the Summer so shallow that the Children wade through it and somtimes it is wholly dry so that this City seems to ●ear no Enemy or forreign Invasion trusting to the potency and number of
commodities This Market consists in a certain number of Streets that are mostly arched over Hither repair Merchants of all Nations except Persians alone as Indians Tartars Turks Armenians Georgians as also English French Italians Hollanders and other Europeans Their way of Dealing is altogether for Money nothing by Barter Abas is the most plentifull coin in use among them valuing somthing less than an English Shilling and the Schach Abas which is half the value of the other the latter is also mostly called Choddabende They do not use much Gold but abundance of Copper which they call Pull 40 of which Pieces make an Abas The Europeans who com thither bring commonly Rix-dollars which the Persians once getting into their Hands will by no means part with them for they are diligently sought up by the Money-changers who bring them to the Serab-Chane or Mint and make a considerable profit of them CHAP. XXXII Taberik Kale the Treasurie of the Kingdom The Suburbs of Ispahan Tziulfa a place where the Armenian Christians have their Residence Tabrisabath Hassenabath Kebrabath so called from Kebber Persians that are still Pagans Tzarbag The Nature of the Persians Property of the Land Celebration of the Epiphany by the Armenian Christians ISpahan as it is a Royal City of so considerable a Monarchy and one of the first magnitude so it has a great concourse of Strangers from all Countreys in the World so that above all other Vocations the Inn-keepers generally thrive the best and by their great doings accommodate all Persons to their full Content The Carawanseras here are more sumptuous by far than either those of Caswin or any other City in Persia They are for the most part square som of them having 4 or 5 Galleries abov one another and those furnished with very commodious Appartments and for their better Security for Theeves are surrounded with high Stone Walls In Ispahan are also many fair Buildings besides what are already remembred amongst which the Taberik Kale or Fort Royal where the Kings Tresury is is one of the most eminent situated between the Palace and the Mestzid Mehedi which is both munited with strong Walls guarded continually with a sufficient Body of Soldiery and has plenty of Brass Cannon The same also serves for a Magazin or Repository of Armory There are also two fair Christian Monasteries the one for the Carmelites and the other for Augustin Monks These with many other fair Buildings too taedious to recount are within the Walls There are also many splendid Piles of Buildings without in the Suburbs which they call the Rhabath In the Suburbs are two eminent Wards to wit Tzulfa and Ciulfa mostly or altogether inhabited by the Armenian Christians who are reputed the ablest Merchants in Ispahan being transported hither by Schach Abas from their own Countrey and have since injoyed sundry Immunities and have a Governour of their own which they call Daruga who must bring up 200 Tumain yearly contribution to the King which is taken out of their Public Stock The private Dwelling-Houses of those Armenians do equal or rather surpass those within Walls for splendid structure On the one side of the River Senderut is another Place called Tabri or Abas-Sabath for that Schach Abas had allotted the People of Tabris this Part of the Town to dwell in Another Ward or Quarter of the Suburbs is called Hassenabath which is mostly inhabited by the Georgian Christians commonly called Trurtzi These as well as the Armenians are great Merchants being also highly in favour with the King not only for the vast Tribute which they pay but aswel for their Loyalty and good deportment and these are the only Christians who are tolerated to live within the Walls and have a Quarter of the Town allotted them near the Mestzid Mehedi althô they rather chuse to dwell in the Suburbs that they may be retire from the Calumny of the Mahometans and the better enjoy the Benefits of a Christian Society The Kebrabath is a District of the Suburbs lying on the West side of the City so called from the Kebbers which are a sort of ancient Persian Pagans who following the old opinion of the Persians when they were yet Heathens will not embrace Mahometanism These differ from the rest in Habit as well as in Customs and Religion wearing loose Drawers with a long Coat only fastned at the Collar open at the shoulders Their Hair they let grow all over their Head and Face The Women are attired as the Men only with this difference that they wear a long Silk or Cotton Scarf which trails on the Ground The Language they speak is still the ancient Lingua Persica for they are very curious in preserving their ancient Tongue without any Innovation insomuch that the Persians who speak the modern Language cannot understand them as the English cannot understand the old Brittish or Welsh yet these can both understand and speak the present Persian Tongue They retain also the Ancient Characters and adore the Sun and the Elements for Deïties performing Monethly Sacrifices Besides the veneration they have for the Sun they do worship to the Starrs but have little or no Judgement in the course of the same Snakes and all other venemous Animals they hold for unclean so that whosoever touches any of those whether voluntarily or by accident must not enter into their Temples till he be purified Their Dead they do not burn as most Pagans do but when any Person dies whether it be an Infant or one com to full growth and Maturity they wash the Body very clean and carry it to a Place far distant from any Houses and there set it upright against a Post where they wait till the Ravens com and pick out the one Eie which if it be the right Eie they are of opinion that the Soul of the Departed is in Paradise and therefore interr him very decently but if the Bird pull out his left Eie first then they hold it for a sure Token that he is damned and for his wicked Life to suffer perpetual Torments and therefore esteem him not worthy of such solemn Exequies but cast him head-long into a deep Pit Without the City of Ispahan are many fair Gardens and Summer-houses belonging to the King and divers great Personages The most eminent of all these is the Tzarbag not far from the great Bridge being 4 square and about 2 English Miles in circuit This as was said before is watered with an Aquaeduct that is conveyed under Ground by several small leaden Pipes from the Main and here and there vented by Fountains which force the Water somtimes 36 or 40 foot high On each corner stands a noble Summer House of an admirable rare Fabric The Garden it's self has the most and greatest varieties of Fruit-Trees and Vegetables that ever I have seen althô it was then Winter when I was there And indeed the Persians are great Lovers of Planting Gardening and all manner of Tillage so that there is hardly
283. Biloege the Fish whereof Cavear is made 199. Boa Vista insul Situation and Description 5. Bocharen a Place affoarding great plenty of Furrs 223. Bochdan the Ambassad●ur for the King of Poland his ill deportment at Scamachi desires to become Turk c. 244 seqq His churlishness to the Author ibid. Asks his advice if he might go for Holland by the consent of the East-India Company their Directors 246. Boghze Dome a Place appointed for Burial of unsanctified Russes 150. Boldea the Haven of Riga 115. Bologne a City in Italy resembling a Ship 72. Bonzi of Syam their Office Habit c. 35. Bottarge a delicate Dish prepared at Corfu made of the Roes of Sturgeon 97. Also at Xante 99. Bouchadde Tenedos so called by the Turks 91. Bouchourt see Trachana Boynak a Town in Tartary 108. Brak the Authors Companion sold by the Semkal-Tartars for 3 years and then by Reversion to return to his first Patron 234. His Wife ravished by the Tartars in presence of the Company 210. She becomes the Prince of Scemkals Concubine 234. She hinders her husband for going away ibid. He goes away privately and was never heard of since ibid. Butriato a famous place for Fishing 97. C. CAback vide Kaback Cabo Verdo Islands 5. seqq Caffers th' Inhabitants of Sierra Liones so called 9. Calmuc Tartars an ougly People 174. described ibid. Cambodiers several of them taken in a Junk freighted with prohibited Goods and by the Loving Kindness of the Hollanders turned adrift in a Boat without Rudder Sail Oars or Provision being but 40. Dutch Leagues from Land 45. The same Junk perishes upon the Rocks before the Fort Zelandia 55. Candia described 100. seqq Caspian Sea described 122 224. Caswin a famous Town formerly the Royal Seat of the Kings of Persia 304. Cavear whereof made 199. Vsed in stead of Butter during the Fast in Moscovia ibid. Casan a City and Countrey in Russia described 177 seqq 166. Cephalonia Insul 98. Cerigo an Island lying about 13 Dutch leagues from Candia 99 100. Chalse Schuran or Dipping of the Cross a Ceremony used by the Armenians 248. Children put to death at Madagascar and why 19. Chioggio a City in Italy opposite to Venice famous for Fishing and Gardens 73. Chrysolodos his Tomb in the Isle of Pathmos 79. Churches in the City Moscou computed to be in number above 1700. 135. Circas Tartars the Bounds of their Countrey 204. Their Persons described ibid. The Women great beauties ibid. Go with naked Brests 205. Their emulation in Habit and freedom to converse with Strangers ibid. The Religion of the Circas Tartars and their Idolatry ibid. Their Funerals 206. Circumcision used at Madagascar 21. Cochino formerly called Ephestias and then the chief Town of Lemnos 91. Colomna a beautiful Village in Moscovia 125 158. Communion in the Russian Church how 154. Condea a Town in Lemnos 91. Congo a good Corps du Garde and Lanthorn for the Christians to enter the Archipelago 100. Corfu an Island of great strength 96. Cosac Krim an exceeding high Mountain 173. Cosacks their Division and Limits 183. Cothany a Town in Media 238. Crap a Root used in Dying 222. Crim or Cerem Tartars their Customs Nature and Idolatry 163. Ceremonies about the Dead usual Habits and Marriages 164. Crocodiles used for Medicine at Syam 29. Cusmademianski a City upon the Wolga Czar of Moscovy sends to Amsterdam for Seamen 114. Whence and Why he is called Czaar 155. His Power and Soveraignty ibid. His Title ibid. His Revenues and strictness of Justice 156. D. DAgestan a Countrey of the Tartars subject to several Princes and Lords 210. Dagestan Tartars why so called 2●7 The nature form and way of Living of the Inhabitants ibid seqq More mercifull than the Calmucs 234. Date-Trees how procreated 341. Delos an Island in the Aegean Sea famous for the many Temples and Relicts of Heathenish Antiquities 110. Den Duyvel van TAYOVAN an Animal in Formosa so called by the Hollanders 56. Derbent the Key of Persia on the Hyrcan Sea 225. The Ruins and Relicts of the Walls thereof built by Alexander the Great 226. Watch Towers and great Slave-market at Derbent 227. Slaves unkindly used at Derbent 228. Dian Manans an imagined Deity among the Madagascars Dick Kop A small Fish of a wonderfull strength 225. Don a River formerly Tanais whence the Don Cosacks runs not into the Wolga according to the vulgar opinion 194. Dwino 136. Dydenof a Town and Wharf on the Volga 158. E. EArth-quakes frequent at Xante 99. Zantotini 107. 2 great Earth-quakes at Zantorini ibid. Several Earth-quakes at Scamachi where by one 80000 Men were destroyed Mountains and Villages removed c. 240. Easter how celebrated by the Moscovians 158. Elephants used for Executioners at Syam 47. Served in Gold 32. Wars about the white Elephant 33. A merry passage about an Elephant 63. Embro insul The English take Saint Helena 355. And the Ship Europa a Dutch East-India Ship ibid. Also the Admiral and Vice-Admiral 358. Enkurekan a venemous creature like a spider but bigger than a mouse 311. Epiphany celebrated by the Armenian Christians at Ispahan 325. Ervan or Urwan a City under Mount Ararat in Armenia 213. F. FAsts four solemn Fasts in the year in Russia and the great Prophaneness therein committed 154. Ferrara a Town in Italy 73. Firando in Japon 59. Flax a great Commodity in Moscovia 135. Formosa Insul it's Situation Clime and Circumference 55. Fertility and Products ibid. Form and complexion of the Inhabitants 56.57 A Man with a Tail burn'd at Formosa ibid. Habit of Men and Women there 58. Furrs a great Profit to the Great Duke of Moscovia 138. G. GAmeron or Bendar in Persia described 349. Garlick and Onions much used in Russia 137. Garrisenda a Tower in Bologne built crooked for a Proof of Art 72. Genua described 3. Gilan an eminent place for Silk 223. The Bay of Gilan it's compass 224. Greece described 92. Custome and usual Attire of the Inhabitants 92 93. Grotta Sybilla 70. H. HAdzi Biram Aly a rich Merchant in Persia buys the Author 229. The Author saves him from drowning ibid. His great kindness to the Author 230. Hardiness of the Russians in extremities 137 138. Hares in great abundance about Cothany 238 St. Helena Insul 63. Hemp a main Product and the staple Commodity in Moscovia 301. Het Hups te Gennip the Ship on board of which the Author was in great danger 66. Honey found in great plenty at Milo 111. And in Moscovia 135. Hosleyn a Persian Saint and Second Son to Aly a Feast celebrated to the memory of him 263 Hunting a main exercise in Formosa 59. I. St JAge Insul Situation 6. and Description 7. Japoneezes their Form Nature Habit and Customs c. 62. Ilha del Fuego 7. Ilha de Brava 8. Indrapoura Insul 24. Ispahan described 315. Judia the chief City of Syam described 27. K. Kabacks ' Alehouses or Taverns in Moscovia farmed of the