like Lacqueys by their Master They have also besides their Court as well as the Emperour himself peculiar Lodgings for their Concubines which they either have pick'd up here and there out of Towns and Countries or else taken in time of War by Sea and Land from Christians and other Nations wherefore they keep many Eunuchs to attend them constantly They take great delight in Hunting and go often several Days Journeys after it If they take Wild Boars they give them because they are by their Laws forbid to eat them to the Christians which maketh the Turks often to mock them in the Streets crying out and calling them Chansir quibir that is great Boars or Hog-eaters Although the Bashaws are great Persons that Command over Cities and Countries yet they are rckoned to be like others but Slaves to their Master that have nothing of their own that they can bequeath to their Heirs or Posterity after their decease as our Princes can because the Emperour after their decease taketh Possession of all their visible Estates and allows only to their Children an Annuity Nay if their Sultan Commands them to go from one place to an Inferiour one or to leave their Dignity quite and clean they must obey immediately if they will not run themselves into greater Inconveniencies or Dangers This is the Reason that such Persons although Rich seldom build great Buildings so that you see none in all the Country except it be a Chappel or a Champ which they build to be remembred by They rather keep their Riches in Gold and Silver which can be hid and so secretly given to their Posterity They bestow but very little upon Jacks for they are too Covetous neither have they many Work-men that are able to set them These Bashaws being altogether for their own Advantage that strive to get Wealth their Subjects must needs suffer very much under them but chiefly Strangers that live there to Traffick as Italians Frenchmen c. whereby between them and the Bashaws that mind their own and not the Publick Good arise often great Differences and they must have suffered great damage if their Soveraigns to prevent these things and that their Subjects may deal securely had not taken care to send them discreet and prudent Men which are called Consuls endued with great Priviledges from the Grand Signior to hear their Complaints and to protect them against any Assaulters It happened in my time while I staid there that great Differences arose between the Consul of Venice and the new Bashaw who was sent thither instead of the deceased one in the Year 75. the 6 th day of March who came in to take Possession with a great number of Horse and Foot At his Arrival the Consul of Venice went accompanied with a great number of Merchants in great State to meet him to bid him Welcom and presented him with Fourteen Cloaths Richly wrought of Silk desiring him to take his Country-men into his Protection that they might Trade and deal safely under him The Bashaw looking upon the Cloaths behaved himself very unkindly and looking upon them to be very inconsiderable he not only refused them but answered the Consul very scornfully So it often happens that these great Persons come to differ and pursue their Differences so far that at last it must be brought before the Emperour and his Court. If they find that the Bashaw is in the wrong he is immediately punished not regarding his great Authority according to the default either in Money or else if it be a great Crime he must lose his Life for it which is the oftner done because they depend very much upon Traffick which bringeth the Emperour in yearly a very great Revenue Yet notwithstanding they are punished so severely sometimes the Pride and Ambition of the Bashaws is so great that to uphold their Greatness they will not cease to strive by any means after Riches and great Wealth which their Subjects not to speak of Strangers find daily whom they squeeze and press chiefly if they find them Rich to that degree that they cannot come to any thing nor thrive under them Moreover they draw after the decease of their Rich Subjects for the most part the greatest share of what they leave into their own Purses so that such Persons do not take Pains nor bestow any great Cost to build their Houses or to till their Grounds as we do in our Country They have commonly in Market-Towns and Villages low Houses or Halls whereof many are so covered with Hills that you cannot see them before you are quite at them When you come into them you find neither Chairs nor Stools nor Tables only a couple of pieces of Tapestry spread whereon they sit after their fashion and instead of Feather-Beds whereof they make no use at all they have Mats and Quilts which they fold together in the Day and hang them up in a corner at Night they spread them out again to sleep on them They have no occasion for Sheets to cover themselves as we do nor for any Towels neither for instead of them they use long pieces of Rags which they hang about their naked Necks or hang them at their Girdles We see sometimes in their Houses above all in the Country several strange-shaped Earthen Vessels which cover whole sides of the Wall in their Rooms which their Relations use to Present them with at their Wedding which to please them they use to put up and to keep there rather for their Remembrance than to make any other use of them In their Kitchen they have very few Utensils perhaps a few Pipkins Pans and Trenchers for they boyl all their Victuals in one Pot together that their Maids may not have many to cleanse or to put up Concerning their Cloaths they bestow not very much upon them although they be well to pass for they love Money so well that they will rather spend a whole day in contending for a Penny than pay it willingly Wherefore a Man that will Travel through these Countries must have his Purse well stored and keep it very close that no body may know its worth but chiefly he must have a care of the Jews which are not to be trusted if you will escape great danger They will not only do nothing for you without Reward but if they suspect you to have any Money they will endeavour to get it from you Wherefore those that take a Pilgrimage into the Holy Land and go in pitiful Cloaths are not much troubled by them The Courtiers of the Bashaws and amongst the rest chiefly the Eunuchs and Dwarfs c. whereof they have several go in their Taffety and Sattin Cloaths which are long and very well trimmed wherewith their Master furnisheth them being Gifts from others which he distributeth among them The Souldiers Spahees Janisaries c. commonly have blew woollen Cloaths from the Court and they live of their Pay that is 4 5 6 7 or 8 Medins which
also great plenty They are also very well provided with Horse-raddishes Garlick and Onions which the Inhabitants still call Bassal Of Pumpions Citruls and Cucumis anguinus which they call Gette they plant as many as they have occasion for but many more Angurien an Indian Muskmillion Water-mellons which they call Batiechas but Serap Dullaha they are large of greenish colour sweet and pleasant to eat and very cooling wherefore they esteem them to be their best Fruits but chiefly those which have more red than white within they are very innocent and harmless and keep so long good that they sell them in their Batzars all the Winter long Moreover there are three sorts of those Plants which the Arabians call Melanzana Melongena and Beudengian as Ash coloured Yellow and Flesh coloured which are very like one another in their Crookedness and Length and like unto the long Gourds There are two other sorts which are called Bathleschain viz. oblong and round ones which are much bigger of a black colour and so smooth and glazed that they give a Reflection They eat these oftener boiled chiefly after the way which Averrhöes mentioned than raw Without their Gardens are two other strange Plants which also being they eat them commonly with others may be reckoned among the Kitchin-Herbs whereof one is called by them Secacul which I found about the Town in shady places and among Trees and in the Corn its Roots are of an Ashen colour without and white within smooth mellow or tender of one Inch thick and one and a half long it hath instead of Fibers little knobs like unto Warts and a sweet taste not unlike to our Carrots in Stalk Herb or Head saving only the Flowers which are yellow the Herb-women carry them strung upon Strings about the Streets to sell them The other sort is also very plentiful and is found in dry and rough places which the Inhabitants to this day with Serapio called Hacub whereof he maketh mention in his 295 Chapter under the Name of Hacub Alcardeg whereof they cut in the Spring the young Shoots or Sprouts that grow round about it boil and eat it as we do Sparagus corruptly called Sparrowgrass the whole Plant is very like to our Carlina only this hath bigger higher and more prickly Heads whereon appear Flesh-coloured Flowers It being that it is every way like it and that also the Root hath the same Vertue for if you steep it in Water and drink of it it maketh you vomit and fling up therefore I am of opinion that without doubt it must be the true Silybum Dioscoridis Besides this there grow also in the Road and on old Walls such plenty of Capers that they are not at all esteemed they take these Flowers before they open and pickle them and eat them for Sauce with their Meat I had almost forgot another Herb which I found in their Gardens that beareth roundish smooth Stalks about two Foot high the Leaves are two and two equally distant from one another and one above the other they are long crenated at the sides like unto our Mercurialis between them sprout out in harvest time yellow Flowers which produce long aculeated Cods which open themselves when they are ripe within them are six distinctions and in each of them little black Seeds placed in very good order the Herb is of a sower taste like Sorrel wherefore it is to every body chiefly the Jews known which boil the Leaves thereof with their Meat to eat them Wherefore some take it to be Olus Judaicum Avicennae and others take it for Corchorum Plinii whether it be or no I suspend my Judgment They have abundance of Pulses in these Countries which they feed upon so that you see several in their Batzars which sell nothing else but them Among the rest you will find abundance of Phaseoli or Kidney Beans little and great ones very white and many sorts of Cicer which they call Cotane and with Avicenna Hamos Whereof they have as many as we have Pease in our Country and boil them for their daily Food and oftentimes they eat them raw chiefly if they be roasted till the outward Shell falls off they often call for them thus dressed when they are a drinking in their Coffee-houses and have them brought to Table with Cheese after their Meals instead of Preserves or Fruit as Cibebs Hasel-nuts and the like for they eat very mellow and have a fine saltish Taste They dress the Orobus after the same manner which they call now Ades and Hades but whether right or no I leave to the Learned they are somewhat less and rounder and not unlike the Cicers in their colour only that these are reddish and white and the other white and yellow These put me still in mind of another strange Plant by the Arabians called Mas whose Leaves and Cods are prety like our Phaseolus and the Cods contain little round Seeds something less than our Pease of a dark green colour and are so smooth and shining that they reflect again Serapio maketh mention of them in his 116 Chapter under the Name of Mes. And Avicennas in his 488 Chapter under the Name Meisce and the very learned and experienced Botanist Carolus Clusius calleth it in his Epitome of the Indian Plants by the Name of Mungo The Turks love these Pulses very well chiefly to eat them among their Rice So much I thought convenient to mention here of their Kitchin-Herbs and Fruits that grow in Gardens and about Halepo of others that belong not to the Kitchin I shall make mention hereafter In this City of Aleppo the Merchants buy great store of Drugs brought from several parts by the Caravans as Rheubarb Galbanum Opoponax Styrax Laser Sagapenum Scammony c. CHAP. VII Of the high Places and Authority of Bashaws what great Courts they keep and how they administer their Offices as also of their way of living of their Priviledges of their Manners and Conversation THE City of Halepo which some considering the Name and Situation believe to be the Town Chalibon of Ptolomaeus situated in Chalibonitis is subject unto the Turkish Emperor together with all the adjacent places wherefore he keepeth a Bashaw in it which is to rule it and the whole Province according to his Will and Pleasure Now as the Bashaws are almost the chiefest and highest under the Emperor so they keep according to their Station and Dignity their Courts as great as the Princes do in our Country according as they have great or small Provinces So they have under them their chief Commanders as Sangiacks Bolucs-bashaws and others which are continually with them go with them to their Temples or any other place where-ever they have a mind to go in great flocks both on Foot and on Horse-back which by their several Habits are to be distinguished but chiefly the Bolucsbashaw which as Captains have an Hundred Janisaries under them which in costly Cloaths and high Heads with Feathers run on Foot
whereof he maketh mention in his Index where he interpreteth the Arabian words For a kind of this may also be taken because it affords a delicate purple colour that Alga that is found in the Seas near Candia and is described by Theophrastus in his Fourth Book and Seventh Chapter Lastly Among the rest I did also enquire after the Amomum and thought because they were near unto the Confines of Armenia that therefore they might easily have it by the Caravans which come daily from those parts yet I was forced to run a great while after it till at length I got a little Stalk thereof in one Shop They call it by the name of Hamama But of the other so called by Dioscor which is like unto it and therefore may easily be taken for the right one they had a great deal These two small Shrubs although they are very like to one another yet for all that they may be distinguish'd by their Stalks and different colours Wherefore Dioscorid bids us if we will not be imposed upon to pick out the bigger and smoother with its noble Seed and to leave the small This Stalk which I found about the length of a Finger is almost of the colour of the Bark of the Cinnamon-tree and also in its acrimony and good odour although it was old still very strong At the top had been several woody Stalks close to one another whereon I believe had been the Flowers and Seeds But the Twigs of the other sort which are crack'd and bended are of a brown colour which at the top divide themselves into other less ones like a Tree whereon grow several Stalks with little Heads like unto the Masaron or Marum Syriacum from Crete wherein is no great strength nor odour Thus much I thought convenient to mention of strange Plants chiefly of these the ancients make mention of and so I conclude the first part of my TRAVELS Here endeth the First Part. THE SECOND PART OF THE TRAVELS OF Dr. Leonhart Rauwolff INTO The Eastern Countries Wherein is treated of his Journey from Halepo through the famous Town of Babylonia to Badgee what he saw by the way and what did befal him in going and coming by Water and by Land With a brief account of the high Mount of Libanus of the strange Plants and Inhabitants thereof THE SECOND PART OF THE TRAVELS OF Dr. Leonhart Rauwolff INTO THE Eastern Countries Wherein is treated of his Journey from Halepo through the Famous Town of Babylonia to Bagdet what he saw by the way and what did befal him in going and coming by Water and by Land VVith a brief Account of the high Mount of Libanus of the strange Plants and Inhabitants thereof CHAP. I. How I departed from Halepo to the Famous City of Bi r and how I sailed from thence on the Euphrates to old Babylon AFter I had stay'd a good while in Halepo and had seen and understood the Trade and Merchandices of the Inhabitants together with that of all the other Nations viz. Grecians Armenians Georgians Arabians Persians and Indians which come and go daily with their Caravans and very well observed and understood their Manners and Customs and had also Collected a fine parcel of foreign and undescribed Plants I resolved to go farther Eastward into Mesopotamia Assyria and Babylonia c. as the ancientest and most fruitful Countries that ever were where the ancientest People and the most Potent Monarchs did inhabit But these Countries lying far off and the Way that leadeth thither passing through vast Desarts and Wildernesses and therefore the Voyage being so much the more difficult and dangerous to attempt and accomplish I first look'd out for a trusty Companion to take as my Assistant and met presently with an experienced Dutchman that had lived a great while in Halepo who granted my request being as desirous to go this Voyage as my self to go along with me We agreed presently and began to consider which was our best Way to take But that we being Strangers might not be taken to be Vagabonds or Spies they being very suspicious from whence they might presently take occasion as the Turks use to do to lay great Avarias or unjust Taxes upon us which the Christians that deal to these Parts have often to their great Loss and Damage experienced we did consider and found that the Trading here was very great so that they did not only deal from hence into Armenia Egypt and Constantinople for from thence come the Caravans through Natolia in about a Months time but also very much into Persia and India Wherefore we thought best to profess our selves Merchants that so we might Travel the more safely with other Merchants in order thereto to buy some Merchandices that would Sell in those Places and to carry them along with us That we might put this in execution my formerly mentioned Friend Hans Vlrich Raft from Vlm took great Pains to furnish me at my Desire and Request with several fit Commodities for those Places upon account of my Patron Mr. Melchior Manlich which I got pack'd up immediately to go with them to the Famous City Bagdet situated upon the Tigris where is a great Staple and Deposition of Merchandices that are to go farther for Persia and India But seeing that seldom any Merchants go from Halepo further into these Countries so that our Habits are very rarely seen there we cloathed our selves as is usual in the common Turkish Habit that every body might not presently look upon us as Strangers first we had long blue Cabans which are button'd before quite down and cut out about the Neck not unlike to those of the Armenians and white Drawers made of Cotton that hung down to our Ankles and were drawn in and tied about our Bodies and also Shirts after the same Fashion and without Collars We also fitted our selves with white Turbants with a blue Brim such as Christians usually wear and put on yellow Shooes which were painted before guarded with Nails and with Horse Shooes behind Besides this we put on a kind of a Frock made of a certain course Stuff called Meska in their Language which is common among the Moors They are generally made of Goats and Asses Hair pretty narrow without Sleeves and short reaching only to our Knees But these Stuffs being not all alike the finest thereof chiefly that which is striped white and black is taken for Cloaths and the courser for Tents and Portmantles wherein they carry their Provision through the Desarts and also keep their Camels and Mules meat hanging it about their Necks This puts me in mind of the plain cloathing which the ancient Inhabitants of these Countries chiefly the Israelites when they mourned for their deceased Relations or when they repented of their committed Iniquities and turned from them and prayed God to forgive them their accumulated Transgressions used to put on as we read in the 37th Chapter of Genesis where Jacob lamented the Death of his Son Joseph
and Villages and we could speak better with the People for they understood the Armenian Turkish or Arabian Languages which are generally used in these Countries So our Travels went on with great speed so that we reached on the 21st late the Town of Hochan where the Jews rested and kept their Sabbath Here we received the News that Solyman the Turkish Emperour was Deceased The 23d we got up early again and went the next way to Orpha another Town to which we had Five Days Journey From thence the nearer we came to the Mount Tauri which separateth Armenia from Mesopotamia towards the South the worse grew the Roads which we found very sufficiently the next Day for when we came further into the Mountains the ways were so full of Stones that we were hindered very much Going thus on after it had snowed a little which I have never seen but twice in these Countries it happened that one of the Jew's Horses which was empty was frightened at something and flung it self over and over The Jew hearing this noise looked back and seeing me stand by it he grew angry with me as if I had done it and began to handle his Bow and Arrows to shoot at me when I found him in earnest and remembred how I lost my Wine in the Ship when we went down the River I did not delay but went to hinder him took him by his Leg and flung him off his Horse before he could take his aim at me so we fell a boxing one another so long until at length I tripped up his Heels When the other two saw that we spoiled thus the Figure of the Snow and that I was too hard for him and had given him several hard blows they came immediately to separate us and to make Peace again between us I seeing that they did not come to wrong me and also considering that we were to Travel together still further took their Counsel and was friends with him again and so we went on in our way At Night we came to another Village again in a narrow Valley lying at the bottom of a great ascent near which we found a great Stable wherein we went this was quite cut into the Hill and so was that wherein we lodged the Night before so that you could see nothing of it but only the entrance for they are commonly so in these hilly Countries under Ground that the Caravans may safely rest there and defend themselves from Cold in the Winter This Stable being 25 Paces long and 20 broad and all through equally high was cut out of a Rock About midnight when we were in our first Sleep one of the Grand Signior's Chiaus or Chamber-Messengers knocked at the door of the Stable who was come back from Bagdet in Six Days to this place to look about for some fresh Horses because he had tired his own and could not have others by the way as in our Country where Posts are ordered So he went in took away from one Mockeri or Carrier three Pack-Horses and two more from the Jew that I had had Contention with before for these Messengers of the Chamber have great Privileges and in case of necessity where-ever they see Horses in City or Country they may take them leaving theirs in the room thereof They value one no more than another except Merchants and Strangers which they excuse before others to encourage Trade those that they come to must deliver up their Horses without any reluctancy except they have a mind to be soundly bang'd as one of our Friends was that did not open the Gates immediately or else to fare worse When this Chiaus believed he had got very good Horses he soon found his mistake for the Jew's Horses had galled Backs wherefore he let him have them again for a small recompence which was a Child's Coat made of delicate Indian Stuff When our Journey was thus stopt chiefly because of the Mockeri or Carrier until he could procure himself other Horses in the room thereof at least for that Day we rose the earlier the next Day and traversed several rough Mountains and went through narrow Vallies that Day until at Night we came to a Village inhabited by Armenians These are good-hearted Christians which have great Compassion on their Fellow-Christians and love to entertain and to be kind to Strangers which I have very often experienced but chiefly in this Village where one of the Armenians took me and the Jews into his House and would fain have kept us also the next Day Being at leisure I would fain have conferred and discoursed with him concerning our Christian Faith and so was he willing but being that we could not understand one another and the Jews were in this case by no means proper Interpreters we were forced to have patience by silence and to look at one another About that time they kept Lent which I could perceive by their small sort of Diet for they did eat nothing but leguminous Food and Bread and Water After he had set before us some boiled Eggs at Night and I being hungry fell on them not imagining that they kept such strictness and difference in their Diet he admired that I did not refuse to eat the Eggs and asked me by one of the Jews whether I did not know that it was not allowed to Chistians to eat Eggs and the like Victuals in Lent at this I would fain have answered him that it became Christians to keep Lent rather with Soberness and Abstinency than with Distinctions and Differences of Foods But I not understanding the Language only answered him briefly that our Lent was not yet begun nor would until three Weeks hence begin which did content him presently The 28th we went on our Journey again and came right among the high Mountains which were very rough and full of Bushes we got out of them before Night and lodged our selves in the next Village which lieth on an ascent in the Plain where we also stayed the next Day being the Sabbath By the way when the Jews were in fear of having their Horses taken away as was done some Days before they often gave them to me to lead them as if they were mine hoping to carry them off the easier so that although they were my Guides yet I was their Safeguard After we had past the great and rough Mountains and were come into a very fruitful Valley which extendeth it self for a small Day 's Journey to Orpha there appeared presently on each side several Villages and afterwards the Costly City against us with the Castle situated on the Hill very pleasantly Into this we got on the 30th at Night very early and went to lodge in the large and very well built Camp and stayed there for four Days This Town is very pleasant pretty big and with Fortifications well provided It was formerly together with the whole Country belonging to the Kings of Persia but now it is as well as the greatest part
Maronites that have lived long before in these Mountains with whom he hath lately renewed the old Confederacy again as I know very well and their Patriarch himself was with him before I was called to cure him of his Distemper He also leaveth no Stone unturned to get in with others and to make them his Confederates so he hath already secured to himself the Syrians which are also Christians yet not without gross Errors by paying to them a yearly Pension These speak also Arabick and are very like unto them in Shape Manners Fashion and Cloaths and I sound two of them among our Seamen that confirmed this to me After we had gone on a great while and were passed by the Point of the Promontory of Baruti which extendeth it self far into the Sea our Ship-Master who was a Turk and understood the Arabian Language shewed me a Village lying beyond it called Burgi and told me that that was also inhabited altogether by Harani Quibir that is great Robbers and Murtherers as they always call these People But I being better informed before-hand I prayed by my self that God would be pleased to let the poor Slaves that live in hard Servitude under the Turks who were these they call Harani and I do not at all question but they would soon take their Refuge to them to make themselves free of their Servitude as those might easily do that live about these Countries in Syria We saw also upon the Shoar some ancient Towers and among them chiefly two which are renewed again wherein the Trusci keep Watches to observe the Pirates but the others whereof there are a great many not above a League distant from one another are for the greatest part by Age decayed Some say that they were formerly built by the potent Emperors that if any Nation should rise up in Rebellion they might immediately give notice thereof to Constantinople These gave notice before Guns were invented in the Night by a flaming Fire and by Day-time by a great Smoak And they still keep to this in many places altho Guns are now invented In the Afternoon we were becalmed and so our Journey went on but slowly we saw late at Night a small Village called Carniola upon the height and soon after at the Foot of the high Mount of Libanus Southward of the City of Sidon by the Inhabitants still called Scida which is not very great but as far as I could see very well built and defended by two Castles one whereof is situated towards the North on a high Rock the other on a little Hill Those that are going to Saphet which is a Days Journey distant from it land there Before we could reach it Night befel us and brought contrary Winds which hindered us so much that we could hardly reach the glorious and rich Town of Tyrus now by the Inhabitants called Sur which lieth in a manner close to it until the next Morning This is still pretty large and lieth on a Rock in the Sea about Five hundred Paces distant from the Shoar of Phenicia In former Ages Alexander the Great did besiege it for Seven Months and during the Siege he filled up the Streight of the Sea and did join it to the Continent and after he had taken it he laid it into Ashes so that Punishment was inflicted on the Inhabitants which the Prophet Esaias denounced against them Four hundred years before On the Confines of Tirus and Sidon that Cananean Woman came to Christ on behalf of her Daughter that was possessed of an unclean Spirit whereof the Lord seeing her Faith did deliver her immediately Just before it we heard a great noise of large running Springs which rise within the Country with so great a vehemency that they drive several Mills Within a large distance from thence we saw a very fine new House called Nacora Two Miles farther near Mount Saron within Southward we saw a large Village called Sib without it in the Sea round about were several Banks and Rocks behind which we hid our selves the Wind being contrary and staid for a more favourable one in the mean while some of our Men got out among the Rocks to catch Fish and to find Oisters where they also gathered so much Sea-salt that they filled up a great Sack with it Between this and Mount Carmelo which are Eight Leagues distant and run out a great way into the Seas lieth almost in the middle thereof as it were in a Half Moon the famous Town of Acon anciently called Ptolemais on a high Rocky Shoar which some years ago when Baldewin the Brother of Gotefrid first and Guidon after him did possess themselves of the Holy Land was not without great Loss of many Men taken by them from Saladine King of the Saracens in Aegypt which had after some obtained Victories surrendered it self again a second time after a long Siege This Town hath very good Fields of a fertil Soil about it and is at this time together with the Land of Promise and others to the great grief of the Christians subjected under the Yoak and Slavery of the Turkish Emperor The next Day the Wind favouring us we hoisted up our Sails and got out at Sea with less danger to get before the Point of the Mountain but our Design was frustrated for about Noon a contrary Wind arose which did not only hinder us in our Course but violently drove us back again so that we were forced to have recourse to our old Shelter behind the Rocks again After Midnight when it began to be calm and another Wind arose we put out two hours before Break of Day and went all along the Shoar towards the Town Hayphe formerly called Caypha or Porphyria Four Leagues beyond Acon lying just within Mount Carmel where on the Evening when we came very near it several Frigats came out of all sides to surround us As soon as the Master of our Ship perceived them he did not like it wherefore he let fall his Sails and exhorted his Men to ply their Oars warmly to get clear of them When they saw they could not reach us they left their Design and went back but we landed without on that Mount Carmelo to put out again in the Night This Mountain is very high and famous in Scripture for we read in the Third Book of the Kings and the Eighteenth Chapter that the holy Prophet Elias called before him upon the Hill the People of Israel the Four hundred and Fifty of Baal's Priests and and the Four hundred of Hayns to chide them for their Idolatry where also God heard him and consumed his Sacrifice by Fire that came down from Heaven but the Priests of Baal were not only not heard by their Idols but kill'd as Idolaters near the River Kison and also in the Fifth of the Epistle of James that after the Heavens had been lock'd up for the space of three years and a half Elias did pray to God on this same Mount and the
Mountains and good Castles Damoud Tegre and Barnegas Besides there are several Provinces governed by Princes who are Vassals to the King of Ethiopia In short the Kingdom of Ethiopia comprehends twenty four Tambours or Vice Roys The capital City is called Gonthar and is in the Province of Dambia Ethiopia as the Ambassador told me is as cold as Aleppo or Damascus only the Countries near the Red-Sea and the Country of Sennar are hot The King of Ethiopia has above an hundred Wives and keeps no Eunuchs to look after them because they look upon it as a Sin to geld a man so that the Women have the same liberty there as in Christendom He is a King of very easie access and the poorest have the freedom â—o come and speak to him when they please He keeps all his Children on a Mountain called Ouhhni in the Province of Oinadaga which is a Mountain two days Journey distant from Gonthar there is a place like a Cistern on the top of the Mountain into which they are let down every night and taken up again in the day-time and suffered to play and walk about When the King dyes they chuse out one of the wittiest of them and make him King without any regard to Birth-right and when he comes to have Children he sends his Brothers Prisoners to some other place and places his Children at Ouhhni The place where the Kings are buried is called Ayesus and is a kind of Grott where the Aged are laid in one side and the young in the other Heretofore there was a Church there of the same name in time of the Jesuites and in the same place there is a Library The Ambassador assured me that he had been in that Library and I fancy it is the old Library of the Ancient Ethiopians Ethiopia is a good and fertile Country producing Wheat Barley c. The greatest Desarts of it are not above three or four days Journey over and nevertheless when the King makes any progress he lodges in Tents The Houses of the great Lords are like those of Caire that is to say very mean in respect of the Houses of Europe and the rest are only of Mud. The Country affords men of all Trades except Watch-makers They have no Camels there but Mules Asses Oxen and Horses All the People of this Country eat raw Flesh except the King who has it dress'd and drinks Wine of Grapes the rest drink only Wine made of Millet or Sarasin Wheat but as strong as ours and Brandy made of the same Grain They are cloathed after the fashion of the Franks and wear Cloath Velvet and other Stuffs imported to them by the Red-Sea They have Harquebusses from the Turks and of those People there are not above three or four hundred who serve in the Wars with Harquebusses In Trading they make no use of coyned Money as the Europeans do but their Money are pieces of fifteen or twenty Pies of Cloth Gold which they give by weight and a kind of Salt which they reduce into little square pieces like pieces of Soap and these pass for Money They cut out that Salt upon the side of the Red-Sea five or six days Journey from Dangala as you go from Caire and the places where they make it are called Arho Among them is the Nation of the Gauls whom in Ethiopick they call Chava and are a Vagabond people in Ethiopia as the Arabs are in Egygt These Gauls are rich in Cattel and are alwaies at wars with the Ethiopians They have no Harquebusses nor other Fire-Arms but make use of Lances and Targets After all they speak so mâ—ny different Languages in Ethiopia that the Ambassador said to me If God hath made seventy two Languages they are all spoken in Ethiopia I asked his Excellency if he knew any thing of the Source of the Nile and this he told me concerning it The Head of Nile is a Well that springs out of the Ground in a large Plain where many Trees grow this Fountain is called Ouembromma and is in a Province called Ago It makes that a very delightful place casting up Water very high in several places And this Ambassadour of Ethiopia assured me that he had been above twelve times with the King of Ethiopia to spend several days about that Fountain which is twelve days Journey from Gonthar More Observations of Ethiopia by Father Lobo Father Alvarez Father Tellez and others extracted from their Portuguese Voyages THE Rains begin to fall in June and continue July August and part of September which make the Nile swell and overflow in those Months Father Tellez says the Mountains of Habessinia are much higher than our Alps and Pyrenean Hills these render the Country more temperate and healthful and make that torrid Climate tolerable to the European Bodies There is plenty of good Springs and Herbage In the midst of the Plains there rise up many steep Rocks of wonderful Figures and Shapes on the tops whereof are Woods Meadows Fountains Fish-ponds and other conveniencies of Life The Natives get up to them by Ropes and crane up their Cattel These are like so many Fortresses which defend the Natives against the sudden Incursions of barbarous Nations on all sides This Kingdom abounds with Metals but they neglect to work them lest Turkish or other Invasions should follow if such Baits were discover'd Their Winter is from May to September the Sun then passing and repassing perpendicular over their Heads During this Season once every day it rains Torrents and thunders most violently which are accompanied sometimes with sudden and furious Hurricanes The Jesuits residing in the Province of Zambea observ'd both the Poles the Antarctick higher with his cross Stars In this tract of Heaven there is as it were a Cloud or Blot full of little Stars as our Via Laclea The Animals of this vast Kingdom are the Hippopotamus or River-horse which makes great devastation in their Plantations Crocodiles Rhinocerots Elephants Lyons Tygers Panthers Camelopardalus Gazels Zembra's Civet-Cats great varieties of Monkeys Apes and Baboons Ostriches Cassowars Turtles Locusts in prodigious numbers The ordinary Trees are the Date Coco Tamarind Câ—ssia Oranges Musa or Plantane Cotton-Trees with many others peculiar to the Climate and Region In one year they will have three several crops of Rice Millet Tef-Seed their common Food ten times less than Mustard-Seed of Wheat and other European Grain yet the Locusts often devour all and bring on Famines They make a Drink of Honey burnt Rice Water and a Wood call'd Sardo They have no Mills but grind all their Grain with the Hand Great Caravans pass up and down the Country to and from the Sea-Ports with Merchandise In many places the Towns and Villages are extreamly thick and very populous Snow sometimes lies on the high Mountains of Ethiopia especially those called Semam and Salleat or the Jews Hills This part of Africk called Habessinia is much the highest of that Quarter of the World the great Rivers
Chap. IX Which way I came in my return from Bagdet through Assyria the Confines of Persia and the Province of the Curters to the Town Carcuch Capril c. and at length to the River Tigris to Mossel that Famous Town which was formerly called Nineveh p. 197 Chap. X. Which way we went through Mesopotamia by the way of Zibin and Orpha to Bi r not without a great deal of danger and afterwards how we passed the great River the Euphrates and came at last into Syria by Nisib to the famous Town of Aleppo p. 206 Chap. XI Of the Turkish Physicians and Apothecaries of my Comrade Hans Ulrich Krafft of Ulm's hard Imprisonment of the great Danger that I was in in the 2 Towns of Aleppo and Tripoli of the murdering of some Merchants and what else did happen when I was there p. 218 Chap. XII Of the large and high Mount of Libanus its Inhabitants and strange Plants that are found there p. 224 Chap. XIII Cunning and deceitful Stratagems of the Grand Turk against the Inhabitants of Mount Libanus the Trusci and Maronites And how he made War with them and what damage they sustained by it p. 236 PART III. Chap. I. A Short Description of his Departure from Tripoli a Town of Phenicia in Syria and how he went from thence to Joppa p. 257 Chap. II. A short Relation of my Travels by Land from the Harbour of Joppe to the City of Jerusalem p. 266 Chap. III. A plain Description of the City of Jerusalem as it was to be seen in our time And of the adjacent Countries p. 274 Chap. IV. Of Mount Sion and its Holy Places p. 283 Chap. V. Of the Mount Moria and the glorious Temple of Solomon p. 293 Chap. VI. Of the Saracens and Turkish Religion Ceremonies and Hypocritical Life with a short hint how long time their Reign shall last after Mahomet's Decease p. 301 Chap. VII Of Mount Bethzetha and the two Houses of Pilate and Herod p. 312 Chap. VIII Of the Mount Calvaria and the holy Grave of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ p. 315 Chap. IX Here follow some Epitaphs of the Christian Kings of Jerusalem together with a short Relation of their Reigns and mighty Deeds p. 326 Chap. X. A common Account of several sorts of Christians but chiefly of them that are always to be found in the Temple of Mount Calvaria And also how these and many other Strangers are treated by the Turkish Emperor as by their chief Head to whom they are generally subjected and his Officers p. 331 Chap. XI Of the Greeks p. 343 Chap. XII Of the Surians that esteem themselves to be Christians p. 346 Chap. XIII Of the Gregorians p. 347 Chap. XIV Of the Armenians and their Religion p. 348 Chap. XV. Of the Nestorians p. 350 Chap. XVI Of the Jacobites called Golti p. 352 Chap. XVII Of the Abyssins Priest John called Lederwick Subject unto the King of the Moors p. 353 Chap. XVIII Of the Maronites p. 356 Chap. XIX Of the Latinists or Papists 357 Chap. XX. Of the Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem the Order of the Johannites p. 360 Chap. XXI A short description of some Places Hills Valleys c. that lye near and about Jerusalem Of the Mount of Olives and its Holy Places p. 365 Chap. XXII Of Bethlehem the Mountains of Judea and their famous places Where also is made mention of my returning back from Jerusalem to Tripoli p. 373 Chap. XXIII How I took Ship at Tripolis in Syria and sailed back from thence to Venice and travelled home again to my own Relations at Augspurg p. 384 TOME II. Chap. I. MR. Belon's Remarks in the Island of Crete or Candy p. 3 Chap. II. A Description of Mount Athos commonly called Monte Santo by Mr. Belon p. 7 Chap. III. An Account of a Journey by Land from Mount Athos to Constantinople wherein the Gold and Silver Mines of Macedonia together with many Antiquities and Natural Rarities are describ'd p. 12 Chap. IV. The ways of Fishing on the Propontis the Bosphorus and Hellespont as also of the Fishes taken By M. Belon p. 17 Chap. V. Of some Beasts and mechanick Trades at Constantinople p. 18 Mr. Francis Vernon's Letter written to Mr. Oldenburg Jan. 10. 1675 0 p. 19 Some Plants observed by Sir George Wheeler in his Voyage to Greece and Asia minor p. 30 Historical Observations relating to Constantinople By the Reverend and Learned Tho. Smith D.D. Fellow of Magd. College Oxon. and of the Royal Society p. 35 An Account of the City of Prusa in Bithynia and a continuation of the Historical Observations relating to Constantinople p. 50 An Account of the Latitude of Constantinople and Rhodes by the learned Mr. John Greaves p. 84 Chap. VI. Some Observations made in a Voyage to Aegypt By Mr. Belon p. 90 More Observations made in Egypt by Guilandinus Alpinus and others And Chap. I. Of the Weather and Seasons in Egypt p. 92 Chap. II. Of the meats and drinks of Egypt p. 94 Chap. III. Of the Diseases and Physick p. 95 Of the Pyramids of Egypt by Mr. Greaves Professor of Astronomy in the University of Oxford A description of the First Pyramid p. 98 A description of the Second Pyramid p. 121 A description of the Third Pyramid out of Mr. Belon and Mr. Greaves p. 124 Of the rest of the Pyramids in the Lybian Desart p. 127 In whâ— manner the Pyramids were built p. 129 Of the 〈◊〉 Sphynx Mummies c. by Father Va◠〈◊〉 â—hers p. 134 Of the Sphynx p. 139 Of the Wells where the Mummies are p. 140 A description of an entire Body of a Mummy p. 144 A Letter from Dublin concerning the Porphyry Pillars in Egypt by Dr. Huntingdon p. 149 A Journey from Grand Caire to Mecha p. 156 Of the Aga sent to meet the Caravan upon their Return p. 159 Of Mecha and Medina p. 162 An Extract of a Journey through part of Arabia Felix from the Copy in Ramusio's Collection p. 167 Some Observations made by Sir Henry Middleton and other English-men in Arabia Felix c. p. 169 Of the Ways and Roads between Egypt and Ethiopia p. 172 Of Ethiopia by Michael of Tripoly Ambassador from the Habessine Emperor to the Grand Signior p. 175 More Observations of Ethiopia by Father Lobo Father Alvarez Father Tellez and others extracted from their Portuguese Voyages p. 183 THE FIRST PART OF Doctor Leonhart Rauwolff's Travels into the Eastern Countries In which is chiefly Treated how he got into Syria and what strange things he there saw and observed CHAP. I. Which way I went first of all from Augspurg to Marseilles and from thence Shipped over the Seas towards Tripoli of Syria situated in Phoenicia I Having always had a natural Inclination almost from my Infancy to Travel into Foreign Countries but chiefly into the Eastern ones which have been of old celebrated for fertility which were cultivated by the most ancient People and whose Princes in former Ages have
been the most potent Monarchs of the World not only to observe their Lives Manners and Customs but chiefly to gain a clear and distinct knowledge of those delicate Herbs described by Theophrastus Dioscorides Avicennas Serapio c. by viewing them in their proper and native Places partly that I might more exactly describe them especially the most strange and rare partly also to provoke the Apothecaries to endeavour to procure those that are necessary for them to have in their Shops I strove always to put this my desire into execution but was forced to defer until in the Year of our Lord 1573. I found an opportunity by my honoured Brother-in-Law Mr. Melchior Manlick Senior which was very convenient He received me presently having before a design to increase the number of them that were employed in his Trade and fitted me out for my Voyage that I might go with the first Company that should Travel for Marseilles and then from thence further in one of their Ships to Tripoli situated in that part of Syria which is called Phoenicia After that my honoured Friend Mr. Frederick Rentzen of that same City was come to me we set out the 18 th of May Anno 1573. from Augspurg towards Lindaw designing to go through Piedmont to Milan and Nissa and so further the same day we came to Mindelheim a very pleasant Town with a princely Castle situated upon the Mindel then belonging to the Baron of Frundsberg The 19 th at Noon we came to Memmingen a very pleasant City of the Empire and at Night to Leutkirch The 20 th we rode thorough Wangen another Imperial City situated in Algaw where they drove a very good Trade with fine Ticking and Linnen Cloth about Noon we arrived at Lindaw an Imperial City situated in the Boden sea where there is a very great Depository or Staple of all sorts of Commodities or Merchandises some have called this the German Venice because it is in like manner situated in Water and hath also a great Trade After Dinner we crossed the Lake towards Fuzach a Village not far from Bregentz towards the Rhine The 21 st about breakfast-time we came to Veldkirch a very pleasant Town situated upon the Yll belonging now to the House of Austria but formerly to the Counts of Montfort By the way I saw several fine Plants viz. Saxifraga Aurea Caryophyllata Alpina a fine sort of Bellis-major Crista galli with white Flowers and Auricula Ursi with brown Flowers c. At Night we came to Mayenfeld belonging to the Grawpunters upon the Rhine which runs by the Town and there runs into it a River called Camingen which slides down between high Rocks where the Famous warm Bath from an adjacent Abby called Pfeffers riseth which may be numbered amongst the Wonderful Waters in regard of its Admirable Operation in strengthening lame and contracted Members and hath this Property beyond other Baths that it loseth its self from October till May and then it cometh on again powerfully The 22 d. we came at Night to Chur a very Ancient City where also is a deposition of Goods that are brought thither from Germany by Pack-horses over the Mountains A Seat of that Bishop lyeth half an hours going from the Rhine wherefore this Bishoprick is accounted the Chief of all the Bishopricks of the Rhine or the Pfaffen gaste called by others because it is situated near the first beginning of the Rhine according to the Ancient Proverb Costentz the biggest Basil the pleasantest Strasburg the noblest Spires the devoutest Worms the poorest Mentz the worthiest Trier the ancientest and Collen the richest The 23 d. we rode to Tusis an Ancient Village belonging to the Grawpunters the Name whereof shews its Original for the Rhetians are descended from the Tuscans who under the Conduct of one Rhaetus of old took Possession of those Countries not far off upon a high Mountain is still situated a ruined Castle called Realt or which is righter Rhoetia alta derived also from the Rhetians The 24 th at Noon we came by the Splewerhill into a Village called Splugi not far from the beginning head or source of the Rhine Thence we passed over the Hill and came at Night to a little Village called Gampolschin situate in a Valley of the same Name where we rested Monday the 25 th at Noon we came to Claeven or Clavenna a very Ancient Town belonging to the Bunts which had Anciently a strong Castle which was demolished by the Grawpunters themselves Anno 1524 after it was cunningly taken from them by Castel de Maess and John Jacob de Medicis in which bustle the Town was also ruined for the Gates and Walls were beaten down that no Enemy might after that lodge himself there again From Claeven we went to Riva upon the Lago di Como where the Water Addua runs into the Lake and yet notwithstanding adds no Water to it nor taketh any from it but only runs strait through it and so doth the Rhine through the Lake called the Boden-Sea From thence we travelled to Gera upon the same Lake where we lay all Night on the Bank I saw some purple-coloured Lillies a sort of Lilium Saracenicum with small Leaves and in the old Walls the Cymbalaria The 26 th about Noon we came to Como a very glorious and pleasant City from whence the Lake hath its Name to this day From thence we rode the same Night to Milan the Metropolis of that Dukedom What strange passages have been committed in this Town before it was possessed by the Emperour Charles the Fifth after the Decease of the last Duke Francis Sfortia is related sufficiently in History The 27 th we rode through Binasco a pleasant Village where the very learned and famous Andreas Alciatus Doctor in Law and Professor of several Universities in France and Italy hath built a very Glorious Palace And in the Evening passing by the great Park in which in the Year 1525. was fought that bloody Battel between Francis King of France and the Emperour Charles the Fifth's Officers in which the King himself was made Prisoner and many of his Men kill'd the same Night arrived at Pavia an Ancient Glorious City situated on the River Tesin where the Kings of the Longobards did formerly keep their Courts and afterwards Charles the Great the first German Emperour did institute an University which hath brought up many Eminent and Learned Men since The 28 th departing from Pavia we passed the River Padus or Eridanus which is believed to be the biggest River in Italy to Vogera a pleasant Village situated on the River Stafora there we began to take Post and had Eighteen Stages to Nissa By Noon we arrived at Dertona a pretty Town yet not very full of People by reason of the many Wars and intestine Quarrels in which it was engaged belonging to the Duke of Milan In this Country I found whole Acres sown with Woad and there
make a red Powder to excite the Appetite of the Stomach These and more strange and unknown Simples I did find at Tripolis But because it would be too tedious to describe them all therefore I have only made mention of those that Authors have described CHAP. V. Which way I travelled from Tripolis further to the two Famous Cities of Damant and Halepo AFter I had rested for several Weeks in Tripolis and had observed that City its Building and pleasant Situation and moreover the Manners Customs and Habits as well of the low as high ones I propounded to my self to Travel to Aleppo which is almost the biggest and the most Famous Trading City of Syria which lies five or six days Journey towards the North-east of Tripolis And when I met with some Companions to Travel with me we stored our selves with Provisions viz. Bread Cheese Eggs c. for our Journey and so set out of Tripolis the 9 th of November Anno 73. By the way we met with a great deal of Rain which commonly begins at that time of the Year and continueth almost all the Winter long This kept us so much back that we reached not to Damant which is in the mid-way from Tripolis to Aleppo before the fourth day There we lodged in one of their great Champs called Carvatscharas where we had a Chamber assigned us in which we found neither Table nor Chairs nor Bench nor Bed only upon the Floor was laid a Stromatzo twisted of Canes which was to serve us instead of them all There we bought in their Bazar some Victuals according to our pleasure and staid there all Night long The Town which some take to be the Old Apamia is pretty big and pretty well built it lies in a Valley between Hills so that you can see nothing of it the Castle only excepted which lyeth on the Hill and guardeth it very well before you are just come to it Round about it there is many Orchards and Kitchen-Gardens which they Water out of the River Hasce which is pretty large and runs through the Town The Water they lift up with Wheels for that purpose fixed in the River that pour it into Channels that carry it into the Gardens and so Water them in the great heat of the Sun to refresh them These Gardens had been worth my seeing but my Fellow-Travellers were in hast and so we put on the next Morning for Aleppo By the way we saw very good Corn-Fields Vineyards and Fields planted with Cotton which is brought from thence and sold to us under the Name of the place where it grew and also Silks and other Goods that are bought there at the first hand In these Countries are a great many Wild Asses called Onagri the Skins of them are very strong to wear and as they prepare them finely frockt on the outside as Strawberries are or like the Skin of the Sepia or Cuttle-Fish wherefore they commonly make their Scabbards for their Scymitars and Sheaths of their Knives thereof Their Blades are watered on both sides very subtilly they are made of good Metal well hardened and so sharp chiefly these that are made in Damascus that you may cut with them a very strong Nail in pieces without any hurt to the Blade They wear rather Knives than Daggers which they tye to their Girdles with finely wrought Tapes by their backs When we went on and came to the Promontory of Mount Libanus we saw abundance of Villages by the way which for the most part are inhabited by Christians viz. Syrians Maronites c. with whom we did Lodge sometimes over-night these entertained us very civilly and gave us such Wine to drink as grew on the Mountains than which I hardly remember I ever drank better Amongst the rest of the Villages we came to one called Hanal lying high in a Fruitful Country where as I am informed in former days a very fine City stood which is so desolated and in process of time decayed to that degree that in our days there is almost nothing of it left but a small Village and here and there in the Fields some small Ruins of Old Houses We went on further between the Mountains where we spied a little Town upon the Hills and above it a strong Castle which it 's said the French did formerly build that lyeth in a very convenient place between the Mountains so that you must go just by it but because it is haunted with Evil Spirits and Hobgoblins it remaineth unrepaired and uninhabited We left it on our left hand and came out into a spacious Corn-Field well tilled where on our left we saw the Town Sermin at a great distance and near to it and about it great Woods of Pistacio-Trees which are gathered there and sent to Tripolis and so by the Merchants to us Some of them grow also near the High-ways chiefly in the Village of Basilo where we stayed all Night In our way we found nine or ten Champs called Caravatscharas these are open Inns where the Caravans and Travellers go in commonly towards Evening to stay there all Night they are free to any body but you find neither Meat nor Drink there if you will have it you must bring it along with you and must be contented to lye upon Straw if you can have it upon the lower Wall which goes round about the sides on purpose to give to Horses Asses and Camels their Food upon it They are generally three Miles distant from one another they are large and stately and as strong in Walls as Castles commonly built four-square and have within a large Yard and round about it are Stables which are quite open just like Cloisters Some of them have a Garrison of Nine or Twelve Janisaries to keep the Roads clean and to protect the Travellers from Assaults of the Inhabitants and Arabians When we had travelled over several rough Mountains and came almost near to Halepo we saw at last the City just like Damand of the bigness of Strasbourg at the Gates we dismounted because in Turky no Outlandish Man hath liberty to Ride through a City and so we went into it and I went into the French Fundique to take my Lodgings as all Germans use to do CHAP. VI. Of the Situation of the Potent City of Halepo of the Buildings thereof and also of the delicate Fruits and fine Plants that grow there within and without Gardens THE Town of Halepo which is the greatest and most Potent in Syria anciently called Nerea is in some places well Fortified with Ditches and Walls only they are not quite round it so that one may the same it is with Tripolis at any time of Night go in and out Neither are the Gates as used in our Country chiefly in Cities of Account beset with Souldiers but you will only see two or three waiting at the Head-Gates where the High-ways go through which are rather there to take Custom than to keep the Gates neither have they
and in the Book of the Prophet Jonas of the Ninevites who believing the Prophet's Words denouncing their Destruction within Forty Days and repenting of their Sins put on Sackcloth and prayed to God for forgiveness The like we read of the King and Prophet David after he had numbred his People Item in the 10th Chapter of Luke and other places c. that they put on Sackcloth and did repent in Ashes It is therefore very probable that those were very like unto them that are still in use When we had thus accoutred our selves for the Voyage and provided us with all Necessaries viz. Cloths Merchandices Provision of Biskets and Drink and did stay only for some Fellow-travellers we were still doubtful whether it were more convenient for us to go by Land with Caravans which go from hence and Damascus very strong to Bagdet through great Sands and Desarts in Fifty Days more or less according as the Weather proveth Or whether we should go by Water either upon the Tigris or the Euphrates there being good Opportunity to go in Company with others But it happening that we met with some Armenian Merchants Servants that did live at Halepo who were also provided with Goods and had a mind to go into the same Countries we did readily embrace this Opportunity partly because they understood the Turkish and Arabian Languages which two are chiefly spoken in Syria and partly because some of them had been four times already in the Indies wherefore we put our Goods to theirs and loaded a great many Camels together to deliver them to us at Bi r to ship them there upon the Euphrates And that we might pass every where in the Turkish Dominions we took a Pass from the Bashaw and Cadi and so we began our Travels to Bi r distant Three Days Journey the 13th of August Anno 74. By the way we were so strange to one another that in our new Fashioned Cloaths we did hardly know one another among them all After we had the first Day a rough Road and travelled through many Desarts and uninhabited Places we reached at Night a little Village where we encamped and pitched our Tents We put all our Packs in a circle round about us and without them our Beasts as it is usual in great Caravans to defend us from the Assaults of the Moors in the Night A little after Midnight we heard a great Caravan of many Camels and Asses to go by very near to us which after it was passed we broke also up and followed them when the Day Light appeared we saw several plow'd Fields more than the Day before and also here and there in some pleasant Places many Tents of the Arabians which were fixed together as it were in a Camp ranged very orderly into Streets After we had that Morning travelled very hard so that our Beasts under their heavy Loads began to be tired in the great Heat we rested behind a little Chapel to refresh our selves and to feed our Camels in the mean time some poor Women came down from the High-lands to us to gather the Dung of our Camels to burn it instead of Wood whereof they were in great want When the great Heat was over and we had staid there for two Hours we went on again and came before it was Night to a little Village lying in a Valley near which upon the Height the Arabians had formed a great Camp We went up to them and pitched our Tents in the Plain by them and kept as abovesaid a good Watch. They came quickly to us spoke kindly to us and their Wives brought us Water and good Milk but after we saw that they were very naked and hungry and in their shape like to our Gypsies we did not trust them at all but kept a very good Watch all that Night These are Vagabond People that are used to Idleness from their Infancy and will rather endure Hunger Heat and Cold than get any thing by their Handy-work or Till the Fields or Plant Garden-herbs for their Maintenance although they might do it in several fruitful Places in their own possession So you find here a great Number of them by the sides of these sandy Desarts that have no where any Habitation but live in their Tents like as the Beasts do in Caves and go like unto the Gypsies from place to place until they light on one where they may live a great while with their Cattle and when all is eat up want driveth them from thence to look out for another On the 15th early before break of Day we were up in the cool of the Day with an intention to reach to Bi r that Night but our Camels were grown so faint by reason of the excessive Heat and the great Burthens that they fell down several times wherefore we looked out for a convenient place where we might stay all Night and found at last a Village near which we pitched our Tents eat some Gourds and Biskets and so went to rest Two Hours before break of the Day we began our Journey again and came early in the Morning to the great River called Euphrates we went over with our Goods and Chattel and fixed our Tents before the Town near the River on the other side to stay for a Barge that was to come from Armenia to go from thence to Babylon which is now called Felugo By the way I saw no Herbs of any worth except the Galega in our Language called Goats-rue which grew plentifully on the dry Heaths and near to the Road the first sort of Apocynum by us called Dogs-bane very like unto the great Celandine in its Leaves and Pods I also saw whole acres of Turkish Corn called Sesamo and others all sown with Cotton and also a kind of Esula very full of Milk wherewith the fallow Grounds were so filled up that at a distance you would have taken it for good Corn. Seeing that the Scammony that uses to be brought to Halepo is wont sometime to be very sharp therefore it may very well be that they adulterate it with this Esula Near the Town grew abundance of Acacia called Schack and Schamuck as is above mentioned which are here in Stem and Fruit greater and larger than ever I saw any any where The Town Bi r is situated on the other side of the great River Euphrates in Mesopotamia near the high Hill Taurus just like Tripolis near the Libanus or our Losanna on our Alps It is neither big nor strong but pretty well defended by a Castle that lyeth on a high Rock above the River not easily to be taken There is a very pleasant Country round about it and very fruitful which chiefly on this side of the River where it is plain is very well Tilled and Sown with Corn which they did just thrash out when we came with little Waggons drawn by Oxen and here and there are very good Villages But beyond the River it is more hilly which kind
one may conjecture that it hath perhaps been formerly the Seat and Habitation of their Kings or Magistrates Between the New and Old City lieth a Castle which is also Old and pretty strong where is kept a Turkish Garrison it being on the Confines or Limits of Arabia and Persia c. to defend them and all the Country from Danger and Incursions The Old Town is besides this quite demolished and even with the Ground so that here is no convenient place where the Turks can exercise themselves in Running Cudgel-playing c. but this where I have often sate upon the ruined Walls and looked upon them when they were a Playing To the Desolation of this Town have very much contributed the Tartars under their King Haalono who took it in the Year of our Lord 1260 and not long after the Town and Castle of Halepo with the help of Ayton King of Armenia Some will have this to be the Town of Rhages which is also called Edessa whither the Ancient and Pious Tobias did send his Son from Nineve to his Friend Gabel to fetch the Money from him which he had lent him But because this lies a Day 's Journey further from the River Euphrates therefore it cannot be the same After we had landed there the Receiver of the Custom came on Horse-back to the shoar and desired the Master of the Turkish Ship to deliver his Arms Lances and Bows who absolutely denied it seeing that it never had been a Custom before whereupon they fell about this into such a hot Dispute that they began to draw upon one another and had not we timely put in between them it would have caused a great Tumult The reason why this Man behaved himself so strangely was because we did not go with our Goods to Carahemit which Town is distant four Days Journey and situated on the rapid River Tigris to have laid there upon that River where he would have received a great deal more Custom that also belonging to him But the Turk not mattering him having nothing in but Corn which he would not carry he let him alone and came to us as Strangers thinking to make up his Loss from us and to frighten us out of it He staid all Night in the Ship and lay between us fearing that we should hide some Goods from him and sometimes he came upon us with big Words saying Seeing that it was not allowed to us Out-landish Men to travel in these Parts therefore he could not but take us to be Spies that came to discover rather than for any thing else wherefore he had reason enough to take our Goods in Arrest and to send us two as Spies to Constantinople to make us Slaves to his Master the Great Sultan After we had heard this his unreasonable Discourse and were also sensible of his Intention to cheat us we were not presently frightned but drew out our Pass we had from the Bashaw and Cadi of Halepo and shewed it to him He looked it over and after he understood that he durst not very well act against it he went away from us with a deal of Indignation and immediately he began to quarrel with all the Merchants of the two Ships and desired of them an unreasonable Sum to pay him as Toll whereof they complained heavily but he went on and would accept of no reasonable Conditions but took away our Rowers from our Ships to hinder us from going away to squeeze us the more But the Merchants although they saw his earnestness they did not matter it but sent on the 11th of September one of them with a Moor to Carahemit to the Great Bashaw which was the Son of Mahomet Bassa to complain to him of these Impositions and Extortions When the Toll-keeper did understand this he followed them with his Son immediately But because he did not find the Bashaw which was then in another place called Giselet whither our Friend was forced to follow him three Days Journey from thence he returned again immediately Although he did not speak with the Bashaw yet he falsly told us that it was the Bashaw's Order that we should pay him Ten Ducats per cent Notwithstanding that ours did not know any thing yet they would not trust him but had carried the best and greatest Part of their Goods out before he came into the Ships to search and also some thereof they buried in the Sand by Night where the Turks and Moors went over by Day Light and yet they could find none of these hidden Goods The next morning early the Publican came with his Crue and searched every thing with a great deal of Care as if he had a peculiar Command for it but did not find any thing near as you may think what he expected When he was thus very busy in exercising his Office our Friend came in at last and told us that the Bashaw was very much displeased that the Publican did deal so unjustly with us contrary to the Orders and Law of his Master the Grand Signior and did keep us so long and hinder us in our Navigation Wherefore he had writ to the Sangiack in our behalf and ordered him on pain of Death to take all Care that we might not be detained any longer but to take the Publican Prisoner and to send him to Constantinople to have him tried at the Court kept for that purpose every 15th Day and that he feared very much that he would pay for this his Misdemeanour with his Life In the mean time we were thus detained Prisoners on the Rivers of Babylon expecting with a deal of Patience the time of our Deliverance it happened that the King of Arabia broke up with his Retinue from here-about on the 21st Day of September and travelled towards the South in great Numbers to find better Pastures for his Beasts as Horses Asses and Camels that they might the better subsist for in these Places there are not so many Villages Towns and Market-Towns where they might have their continual abode Neither do they love Farming nor Trading but are contented if they have a great Stock of Cattle and good store of Grass for them that they may keep them So if they come to a Rivolet where a little Herbage or Grass groweth they immediately erect their Tents there to stay there till want forceth them to remove and to look out for another Place When they break up they take along with them Man Maid Beasts and all their whole Substance as I did see them remove at this very time and come towards this Town in great Numbers so that the Turks kept their Gates shut up for four Days until they were all pass'd by On Horse-back they are armed with Darts and Bows c. and also if they ride on Camels whereof they have a very great Number chiefly when the King is moving from one place to another as some of them did relate to me where generally are imployed 150000. I my own self have once
Honey c. and to take any of these with some Bread for a good Entertainment The Honey in these Parts is very good and of a whitish colour whereof they take in their Caravans and Navigations great Leathern Bottles-full along with them this they bring you in small Cups and put a little Butter to it and so you eat it with Biskets By this Dish I often remembred St. John the Baptist the fore-runner of our Lord how he also did eat Honey in the Desarts together with other Food Besides this when we had a mind to Feast our selves some ran as soon as our Master had landed at Night to fetch some Wood and others in the mean time made a hole in the Ground on the Shoar in the nature of a Furnace to boil our Meat So every Company dressed accordingly what they had a mind to or what they had laid up in Store some boil'd Rice others ground Corn c. And when they had a mind to eat New Bread instead or for want of Biskets they made a paste of Flower and Water and wrought it into broad Cakes about the thickness of a Finger and put them in a hot place on the ground heated on purpose by Fire and covered it with Ashes and Coals and turned it several times until it was enough These Cakes were very savory and good to eat Some of the Arabians have in their Tents Stones or Copper-Plates made on purpose to bake them On the 4th Day being the last of September about Noon we came to the end of the Mountains before which without on this side lieth a very strong Citadel on a high Hill built three square by the Inhabitants called Seleby whereof two Points go downwards towards the River and the third upward a great way on the Mountain so that in its situation it is very like unto Baden in Switzerland Although it is demolished yet it is still very strong in its Walls that are to be seen at the top and on the sides chiefly towards the Hills and the River side to hinder the Passage both by Water and Land There are also still standing some Watch-houses without as you come towards it near the Mountains which may hold three or four Souldiers yet it lieth still to this Day in ruins and so desolated that nothing but Birds and Beasts inhabit it whereof a great many appeared on the Rivers side as Herns Ducks that were very large and of a delicate Colour and others among which were some of a white Colour called Pelicans by Aristotle and Onocrotali by others which are as big as Swans the Prophet Zephaniah maketh also mention of them in his second Chapter when he prognosticated the punishment that was to come to the Ninevites Assyrians and Moors there also appeared some quite black with long Necks whereof I did see abundance in my Travels into the Land of Promise and especially near Acon among the Rocks and Crags of the Sea as far as I could discern them at a distance they seemed to be a kind of a Sea-Eagle that feed more upon Fish than any thing else Six Miles lower and at the other side of the Euphrates lieth still another Fortification which is called Subian Seleby that is lower Seleby on a very high Bank and seeing that we sailed very near it I could not well discover it Of these two which way they were besieged and taken and also of the way of Government or ruling of the Kings of Arabia c. I should have been very glad to have been a little better informed but the Language wherewith I was not well acquainted did hinder me And suppose I should have understood it very well or enough to have made an enquiry after those Particulars yet I could not have done it without great Danger to have been taken for a Spy for they soon suspect Outlandish Men on every little occasion which those that Trade in these Parts have often experienced not without great Loss and Danger Beyond the Mountains in the low Country we saw more tilled Grounds and Habitations of the Arabians than we had done before wherefore our Master landed sooner than he used to do near a Village to take in Provision for our further Journey where the People brought Flesh and Indian Melons to us to sell Here it happened that about Midnight one of the Turkish Souldiers went out to ease himself to the River side and when he was busy about it a Moor came creeping along to him and thrust him into the River before he was aware of it and run away The Turk finding himself in the Euphrates fell a crying out for help I hearing him standing Sentinel that Night did not fail him but made what haste I could with my Scymeter in my Hand followed his Voice and came to the place although it was very dark drew him out and brought him into the Ship which was so kindly taken by the rest of the Turks that I got mightily into their Favour and received many Kindnesses of them all the way until we came to Bagdet the Garrison which they went to reinforce The first of October when our Voyage went on again there came early in the Morning a Post of six Arabians on Horse back to the River side to enquire of us whither their King was gone or where we thought they might find him they had received Letters for him from the Sultan wherefore they must follow him until they found him The Master of our Ship told 'em and so he did to every body that asked him that we had seen him in Mesopotamia which Province he called Amanachar that he was broken up with his Men to go back into Arabia where they would find him After this relation they departed and we went on our way and soon saw below a Town to our right at a distance called Seccard very well situated on an ascent belonging to the King of Arabia wherefore some of the Turks said that none but Haramiquiber that is great Thieves lived in it which they do out of spite to all them that are subject to any other Master than their Sultan This Town we passed by and went directly towards Deer another Town whence we were then three Leagues distant yet they do not accompt their distances by Leagues for they know little or nothing of it but rather reckon by Days Journeys for their Towns are so situated at such a distance that they have sometimes to go through divers Wildernesses several Days more or less before they arrive there Before we came thither one of the Ships in our Company did go too much toward one side toward a Branch of the River that runs by the Town for it divideth it self into several Branches where it got into the Mud and stuck Our Master seeing this landed immediately and did send his Men to help them So I got time to look after the strange Plants and found there about the River many great Tamarisk-Trees and also a
peculiar sort of Willow which the Inbitants still call by its ancient Arabian Name Garb. These Trees do not grow high but spread very much the Twigs thereof are stronger and not so tough as to make Bands or Wit hs as ours will the Bark is of a pale yellow Colour and so are the Leaves which are long and about two Fingers broad and at the edges round about crenated so that they are very much differing from the rest of this kind I found them to be of a pretty drying and astringent quality Of their Flowers and Fruit whereof Avicen maketh mention in his 126 and 686 Chap. I can say nothing because I saw none Hereabout the Turk that would not stay until we were cleared but went away before us did suffer Shipwrack and so lost a great deal of his Corn that he intended to carry to Bagdet called Baldac to sell it in the great Scarcity which was occasioned for want of Rain for there fell none in the space of two Years and a half And yet as they say if it raineth but twice or thrice a Year they have enough to supply themselves After our Men had wrought longer than an hour together with theirs until they had emptied the Ships they came to us again to go that Night to Deer But there being several Rocks before it which were very dangerous to pass some of their Pilots that understood the depths came out to meet and did help us so that we got safe there The Town of Deer which is not very big and belongs to the Sultan is situated on this side of the River on an ascent and is pretty well built with Houses whereon stood great Numbers of People when we went into it to see us but as for the Walls and Ditches they are but very slight At our first arrival we thought we should soon get clear for the Custom with the Armin and so Ship off again but he was not in Town so that we were forced to stay three Days for his coming In the mean time we got acquaintance with the Inhabitants which were handsome lusty and well-set and white and more mannerly than the rest they visited us frequently and spoke kindly to us so that we found a vast Difference between those and the former The Armin also who was no less civil we presented at his return with a great dish fill'd up with Cibebs and several sorts of Confectures and laid round about with Soap balls as is the Fashion in these Countries but to them that were with him and of his Family we gave some Sheets of white Paper which they willingly received and were so well pleased with it that some of them as the Children do in our Country when we give them something that is strange or pleasing to them smiled at it as often as they looked on it The Country there about is pretty fertile and plentiful of Corn Indian Millet Cotton c. and they have also between the Rivers very good Gardens for the Kitchin with all sorts of Plants and Fruits in them viz. Colliflowers Citruls Pumpions Cucumbers Anguriens or Water-Melons which they call Bathiecae whereof they have so many that you may buy forty great ones for one Asper whereof three make a Medin much about the value of our Penny There were also some Date Trees Limon and Citron and other Trees which I could not distinguish at a distance CHAP. V. Of our Voyage to the Famous Town Ana in which we passed again through great sandy Wildernesses for the performance whereof we must provide our selves with Victuals and be very careful in our Navigation Some relation of the Inhabitants of their Cloaths and other things we did observe and see by the way and what else did happen unto us AFter we had paid the Custom to the Armin who was a great deal more civil than he at Racka and provided our selves with all Necessaries we did but half load our Ships to draw them out of the branch again into the River and then we carried the rest to them by Boats and small Ships for the Water was very low and full of Mud so that we went from thence on the 4th Day of October in the Evening and so staid all Night a little below Deer The next Morning our Navigation proceeded very well till Noon when we came to a very broad and shallow place of the River that our Master did not know which way to get through When he was thus troubled and considering there appeared on the Height on the Shoar some Arabians and shewed us the Course we must take but we durst not trust them for we had heard before that they had sunk some great Stones there and that a Month before they had perswaded a Ship to go that way which did not discover their Cheat until their Ship after several hard knocks did split in pieces and sink The same they would have served others which although they did not follow their Counsel yet they came into such Danger that they could not deliver themselves out of it in a whole Days-time We Thanks be to God got sooner through than in an Hour after we had drawn our Ship a little back into the deep Stream to the great Admiration of the Arabians But the other in our Company did not stick much longer yet we had more to do to get her off because she was shorter with a hollow Bottom wherefore she was sooner turned but could not be got out so well as ours which was flat-bottom'd In the Evening very early we saw at a great distance on the other side in Mesopotamia a Castle in the Plain called Sere which the Arabians as they say have many Years ago demolished which the River Chabu which is pretty large runs by which beginneth not much above the Castle which one may guess by its Fresh-Water like unto Fountain-Water and runs a little way below into the River Euphrates From thence we thought to have reached Errachaby a Town belonging to the King of Arabia but being hindred in our Navigation as is above-mentioned we landed a little above this before the Night befell us and went the next Morning early to the before-mentioned Town which was pretty large and lay about half a League from the River in a very fruitful Country where we stayed until the next Day to sell some Goods there Wherefore two of ours went into the Town to call out some of their Merchants to trade with them After they had spent that whole Day with them we went off the next Morning early toward Schara a little Village which lieth on the Right-Hand half a League distant from the River belonging to the King of Arabia where we landed to pay the usual Custom All about the Sides and the River I saw a great many Bushes and Trees I would fain have been at them to discern what they were that I might have viewed them exactly but I was forced to stay in the Ship and
was almost like unto the Sea so that at Night pretty late we arrived at Juppe a pleasant and well built Town belonging to the Turks and it is also divided into two Parts whereof one lieth in the middle of the River on a high Ground at the Top whereof is a Fortress so the Town is pretty well defended The other which is rather bigger lieth on the lest in Mesopotamia wherein are many fine Orchards belonging to the Houses full of high Date-Trees c. wherefore the Merchants spent half a Day there to buy Dates Almonds and Figs to carry with them into the Inns the same they did at Idt another great Town of the Turks on the Right-hand of the Euphrates situate on a high Ground where we arrived on the 20th of October at Night in very good Time and gave them instead thereof Soap-balls Knives and Paper c. After which goods they have often enquired of us and we have given them sometimes some Sheets of white Paper which they received with great Joy and returned us many thanks for them After our Merchants had sufficiently stored themselves with these Goods and our Master had pay'd the Duty for his two Ships he put off about Noon on the 21st of October and went away About the Evening we saw at this Side of the River a Mill and also the next Day another whereby were several old Walls Doors and Arches c. Whereby I conjecture that formerly there stood a Town These two Mills as I was informed were two Powder-Mills that make Gun-powder for the Turkish Emperour and send it to him in Caravans together with other Merchandizes through the Dominions of the King of Arabia wherefore he must as well as other Merchants pay Duty for that Liberty and Toll or Custom The Gun-powder is not made from Salt-Peter as ours is but out of another Juice which they take from a Tree that is reckon'd to be a kind of Willow known to the Persians by the Name of Fer and to the Arabians by Garb as I have mentioned above Besides this they take the small Twigs of these Trees together with the Leaves and burn them to Powder which they put into Water to separate the Salt from it and so make Gun-powder thereof yet this is nothing near so strong as ours Pliny chiefly testifieth this in his 31st Book and 10th Chapter where he saith that in former Days they have made Niter of Oak-Trees which certainly he hath taken these to be for they are pretty like Oaks but that it hath been given over long before now Which is very probable chiefly because the Consumption thereof was not so great before they found out Guns as it is now since they have been found out Further on the Water-side on the high Banks I saw an innumerable many Coloquints grow and hang down which at a distance I could not well know until they called them by their ancient Arabick Name Handbel whereby they still to this Day are known to the Inhabitants After we had navigated a great way several Days one after another through even Grounds and in a good Road we arrived at length on the 24th Day of October at Night near to Felugo or Elugo a little Village called so and with it the whole Province CHAP. VII Of Old Babylon the Metropolis of Chaldee and its Situation and how it is still to this Day after its terrible Desolation to be seen with the Tower or Turret and the old ruined Walls lying in the Dust THE Village Elugo lyeth on the place where formerly Old Babylon the Metropolis of Chaldee did stand the Harbour lyeth a quarter of a League off whereinto those use to go that intend to travel by Land to the Famous trading City of Bagdet which is situated further to the East on the River Tigris at a Day and a half 's distance At this Harbour is the place where the Old Town of Babylon did stand but at this time there is not a House to be seen whereinto we could go with our Goods and stay till our departure We were also forced to unload our Merchandises into an open Place as if we had been in the midst of the Desarts and to pay Toll under the open Sky which belongeth to the Turks This Country is so dry and barren that it cannot be tilled and so bare that I should have doubted very much whether this Potent and Powerful City which once was the most Stately and Famous one of the World situated in the pleasant and fruitful Country of Sinar did stand there if I should not have known it by its Situation and several ancient and Delicate Antiquities that still are standing hereabout in great Desolation First by the Old Bridge which was laid over the Euphrates which also is called Sud by the Prophet Baruch in his first Chapter whereof there are some Pieces and Arches still remaining and to be seen at this very Day a little above where we landed These Arches are built of burnt Brick and so strong that it is admirable and that so much the more because all along the River as we came from Bi r where the River is a great deal smaller we saw never a Bridge wherefore I say it is admirable which way they could build a Bridge here where the River is at least half a League broad and very deep besides Near the Bridge are several heaps of Babylonian Pitch to pitch Ships withal which is in some places grown so hard that you may walk over it but in others that which hath been lately brought thither is so soft that you may see every step you make in it Something farther just before the Village Elugo is the Hill whereon the Castle did stand in a Plain whereon you may still see some Ruines of the Fortification which is quite demolished and uninhabited behind it pretty near to it did stand the Tower of Babylon which the Children of Noah who first inhabited these Countries after the Deluge began to build up unto Heaven this we see still and it is half a League in Diameter but it is so mightily ruined and low and so full of Vermin that have bored holes through it that one may not come near it within half a Mile but only in two Months in the Winter when they come not out of their holes Among these Insects there are chiefly some in the Persian Language called Eglo by the Inhabitants that are very poysonous they are as others told me bigger than our Lizards and have three Heads and on their Back several Spots of several Colours which have not only taken Possession of the Tower but also of the Castle which is not very high and the Spring-well that is just underneath it so that they cannot live upon the Hill nor dare not drink of the Water which is wholesome for the Lambs This is Romance From this Tower at two Leagues distance Eastward lieth the strong Town Traxt which was formerly called Apamia mentioned
to sprout we had by the way several Villages and so we had better opportunity to buy Provision The Three and Twentieth at Night we came to one where we could buy near one hundred Eggs for Two pence The next Day we got up early again and saw before us the high Mountain Tauri all covered with Snow which extendeth its self a great way from North and West to the Eastward at a great Distance We went on apace and advanced to Tauk early in good time and before their Sabbath began again This Town is not very strong and lieth on a Plain We went into a Camp without it and rested there all the Sabbath After Sun-set when it began to grow dark they desired of me to light a Candle I remembred then immediately that they could not do it themselves being forbid by Law as you may find in the 35th Chapter of Exodus where you may see that they must kindle no Fire in any of their Habitations wherefore they furnish themselves the Day before with all sorts of Provisions and Necessaries that they may not need to do any Labour on the Sabbath and yet may not want When these Jews say their Prayers they use the same Ceremonies as the Christians and Heathens in the Eastern Parts do For first they lift up their Hands then they bow down forwards with their whole Body and at last they kneel down and kiss the Ground These Jews bragg'd continually of their Patriarchs and made mention of the Laws but of the Ten Commandments they knew nothing wherefore I took an Occasion to repeat them before them in the Portugal Language which is very much spoke in the Indies as well as I could and they did admire when they heard them how I came to know them But when I began to speak of Christ and his Office they bursted out into such Blasphemies that I was glad to say no more but hold my Tongue Not far off from Tauk we saw a very strong Castle near unto a Wood that is guarded by a Turkish Garrison This is situated in the Province of the Curters which beginneth there and lieth between Media and Mesopotamia all along the River Tigris and reacheth to Armenia These Curters which are almost all Nestorians speak a peculiar Language which was unknown to my Fellow Travellers wherefore they could not speak to them in the Persian nor Turkish Language which is spoke all along from Bagdet through Assyria in the Confines of two potent Monarchs to that place We were therefore forced to desire others that understood both Languages to be our Interpreters through the Country of the Curters But whether this Language did run upon that of their Neighbours the Medians or no I could not certainly learn but yet I was informed that the Parthians Medes and Persians as peculiar Nations had their peculiar Languages as Histories tell us and we may also perfectly see in the Acts of the Apostles the 2d Chapter and the 8th Verse where it is thus written And how hear we every Man in our own Tongue wherein we were born Parthians and Medes and Elamites and the Dwellers in Mesopotamia c. all which People almost are Subject unto the Sophi the mighty King of Persia The before mentioned Curters were formerly called Carduchi and afterwards also Cardueni as chiefly Xenophon testifieth have had their peculiar Policy and Government But after many Changes and Wars they are at length subdued and brought under the Dominion of the Turkish Emperour to whom they are still subject to this Day and he hath every where his Garrisons in opposition to the Sophi But what is further to be said of them chiefly concerning their Religion shall be hereafter mentioned when I shall give you an account among other Christians of those that live in the Temple of Mount Calvaria in Jerusalem After the Sabbath of the Jews my Companions was over we went on again and came the 26th of December to Carcuck a glorious fine City lying in a Plain in a very fertile Country at four Miles distance is another that lieth on an ascent whither we also travelled my Companions having Business in both of them and so we spent two Days in them before we were ready to go on again The 29th we travelled through large and dry Heaths and came at Night to some Tents which were made of Hair or Hair-cloth wrought out of Goats and Asses Hair and fixed in such an Order that they made Streets and Allies like unto a Market-Town In one of these we went to lodge with these poor People that are white Moors and like unto the Gypsuns in their shape and figure and to stay there all night long But whether these People are subject to the Turkish Emperour or to the King of Persia or any other I could not find out by their Cloths because they all wear the same hereabout nor could I discern any thing by their Language To us came a little after some more Travellers so that we had hardly room to lie down in These People were very diligent and busy to get us some Meat and Drink for the Husband went soon out of Doors to gather dry Boughs and Stalks of Herbs which I could not at that time discern what they were and brought them to us to boil or dress some Meat with them The Woman was not idle neither but brought us Milk and Eggs to eat so that we wanted for nothing she made also some Dough for Cakes which were about a Finger thick and about the bigness of a Trencher as is usual to do in the Wildernesses and sometimes in Towns also she laid them on hot Stones and kept them a turning and at length she flung the Ashes and Embers over them and so baked them thoroughly They were very good to eat and very savory This way of baking Cakes is not new but hath been very usual among the ancients so we find in Scripture mention made of Bread baked among the Ashes the Romans called it Panes Subcineritios and so we read in Genesis the 18th Chapter of Cakes made upon the Hearth which Sarah made in haste when the three Men came to see Abraham The 30th we went from thence and about Noon we came to a Town called Presta which is chiefly towards the River whereon it lieth very well fortified but what the Inhabitants call that River I do not remember but according to its Situation it must be that which Ptolomy calleth Gorgus which runs below into the Tiger In this place they make Floats which although they are not very big nor have much Wood in them yet they have abundance of Bucks and Goats Skins blown up hung or fixt underneath the bottom without doubt by reason that they may load the more upon them and also because the River is rapid that they may have the less fear or danger On these Floats they carry several sorts of Merchandices but chiefly Fruit viz. Figs Almonds Cibebs Nuts Corn Wine Soap
c. a great part whereof goeth further into the Indies The last Day of December we travelled on and came through well tilled Fields about Night into the Town Harpel which is pretty large but very pitifully built and miserably surrounded with Walls so that it might easily be taken without any great Strength or Loss there we rested again the next Day being the Sabbath and on the same Day fell New-Years-Day In the mean time I understood that the Turkish Sangiack did a few Days ago condemn and put to execution eight great Malefactors which made it their Business to Rob and to commit Murder up and down on the High-way for there are a great many of these Rogues in this Province chiefly on the borders of Armenia which are very Mountainous which maketh travelling very dangerous The Relations and Friends of these Murderers and Robbers did take this very ill that the Sangiack should execute them and were resolved to be revenged of him one way or other In order thereunto they combined and agreed all together and had every thing ready and only staid for the word to fall upon him which would have been done accordingly if he had not had good Intelligence of this their Intention wherefore he went away incognito for Constantinople to complain to the Turkish Emperour of this their unjust Proceedings and what they must expect for this they will know in a short time This Sangiack when he found necessity of making his escape and found that he wanted Money which is very seldom he took up from an Armenian Merchant that was very rich and was arrived there to buy several Merchandices chiefly Gauls whereof grow many in these Parts 300 Duckets which put the Merchant into great danger for when these rebellious People came to understand it they took it very ill of him and threatned him very much so that he was forced to stay some Days longer for more Company that so he might go the safer After we had joined him we went from thence on the 5th of January in a very handsome Number for the Merchant alone had about Fifty Camels and Asses which were only loaden with Gauls with him to carry to Carahemit where he lived and to send from thence to Aleppo where they are bought by our Merchants to be sent into our Country So we travelled all Day long and also half the Night without eating or drinking very fast and began to rest about Midnight After we had for the remaining part of the Night hardly refreshed our Beasts and our selves with eating and drinking a little we broke up again before Day-light to go on in our way When we were gone a good way through fruitful and pleasant Vallies we came betimes to another River by Ptolomy called Caprus which although it is not very broad yet it is very deep so that we had much to do to get through which I found not without a great detriment to my Plants which I carried on Horse-back before me Soon after Noon a great way off before us appeared a great Market-Town Carcuschey where we arrived by Night and fixed our Camp without and pretty near to it This is quite inhabited by Armenians which we could presently find by the alteration of the Language and their Habit. They received us very willingly and let us want for nothing After we had staid with them till Night and refreshed our selves and our Beasts we broke up again immediately and travelled all Night which was so dark that we heard several Caravans that met us but we could not see them much less know how strong they were or from whence they came At break of Day we came to another much larger River by the Inhabitants called Kling if I do not mistake and by Ptolomy Licus which hindered us very much in our Day 's Journey for the River being very broad at least a long Mile it was very hard to hit exactly the right Ford and not without great Danger which the Curters knew very well so that we were also in great fear of them But after some were found in our Company that had often forded that River formerly we ventured it went in and got over thanks be to God very safe only one Ass which went over below us where the Stream went stronger was drowned so that we arrived very early on the 7th of January to the Tigris again and went into the Famous City Mossel that lieth on this side of the River over a Bridge made of Boats This is situated in the Country of the Curters and so we were forced still to keep our Interpreter It belongeth to the Turkish Emperour as all the rest hereabout There are some very good Buildings and Streets in it and it is pretty large but very ill provided with Walls and Ditches as I did observe from the top of our Camp which extended to it Besides this I also saw just without the Town a little Hill that was almost quite dug through and inhabited by poor People where I saw them several times creep in and out as Pismires do in Ant-hills In this place and thereabout stood formerly the Potent Town of Nineve built by Ashur which was the Metropolis of Assyria under the Monarch of the first Monarchy to the time of Sennacherib and his Sons and was about three Days Journey in length So we read that the Prophet Jonas when at the Command of God he preached Repentance to them did go into it one Day 's Journey which the People did hearken willingly unto and did amend their Lives but they did not long remain penitent but turned to their former Iniquity again wherefore their Destruction and Ruine was prognosticated to them by the Prophets Nahum and Zephaniah and also by the pious Tobias that did live there again which did also not long after follow Yet was it rebuilt again afterwards and did suffer very much upon changes of Governments until at length Tamerlan came and took it by Storm burnt it and reduced it into Ashes to that degree that afterwards in the same place grew Beans and Colocasia c. So that at this time there is nothing of any Antiquities to be seen as in Old Babylon save only the Fort that lieth upon the Hill and some few Villages which as the Inhabitants say did also belong to it in former Days This Town lieth on the Confines of Armenia in a large Plain where they sow the greatest part of their Corn on the other side of the River for on this side in Mesopotamia it is so sandy and dry that you would think you were in the middle of the Desarts of Arabia Yet there is a very large Deposition of Merchandices because of the River wherefore several Goods and Fruits are brought thither from the adjacent Countries both by Land and Water to Ship them for Bagdet Among the rest I saw abundance of small and great Turpentine-Nuts by the Inhabitants called as above-said Bont-quiber and Sougier and also another
Lord heard him and let Rain fall down upon the dry and barren Earth From this Mountain the presumed holy Order of the Carmelites taketh its Name which was first there endu'd with several Priviledges by Pope Innocent the Third and Albert the Patriarch of Jerusalem in the Year 1205 and afterwards when they were encreased to a great number under pretence of greater Holiness confirmed by the Name of the Brothers of our Lady by Pope Honorius the Third in the Year 1226. These pretend to be Followers of the Doctrine of Cyrillus wear daily black girded Coats and over it when they say Mass white Monks Habit. Some years ago without doubt have a great many of this Order lived here about as still to this day doth appear by their Cloisters and Churches which by Age are so mightily decay'd that they are left deserted and uninhabited This Mountain is also round about towards the Sea Coast very bare and rough that we may very well say with the holy Prophet Amos That the Pastures of the Herdsmen shall look miserably and the top of the Mountain dry up The Town Hayphe lieth at the bottom of the Mount Carmelo is pretty large but very ill Built and the Houses are so decay'd that half of it is not fit to be Inhabited Salidinus King of the Saracens who in his time carried on long and heavy Wars against the Christians and was almost hardly able to resist them caused the Walls of it and also that of Caesarea in Palestina and others of less strength to be pull'd down that his Enemies might not find any place of Reception against him Out of this Port as we are afterwards informed was a little time before taken away a pretty large and richly Loaden Ship by some Pirates which vexed the Inhabitants very much and being that the Christians chiefly were suspected by them they had a great desire to revenge it upon them again so that we had not our Master been very honest should have suffer'd for the loss they had sustained After we had lain there at Anchor till after Midnight not without danger as you must imagine our Master made haste to get out to Sea although it was very calm in hopes to get good Weather After they had wrought very hard a good Wind arose behind us towards the Morning and drove us along so that we got soon about and passed the Point of the Mountain and saw the Country of the other side which was above on the height so Pleasant Green and Shady that there in a Village resides a Turkish Sangiach for Pleasure sake Not far from thence lieth the Castle of the Pilgrims in the Sea by the Inhabitants call'd Altlit where most of them touch that take their way through Galilaea and Nazareth to Jerusalem This hath been in former Ages so well Fortify'd with Walls and Bastions that it was thought to be Impregnable but now it is on two sides towards the Sea so demolish'd and destroy'd that one may very reasonably guess that it hath been formerly taken by Storm The Wind still increasing more and more we went on with such a swiftness that although two little Ships persued us towards Morning yet they were forced to leave us and so we soon passed the Castle and came towards Dor three Leagues distance from thence it lieth near Mount Carmel in the Country of Phoenicia as Josephus testifieth and it is so decay'd that there is nothing more extant than a large and high Tower which the Inhabitants still call Dortaite In this Country when the Jews took Canaan the Land of Promise they let the Inhabitants remain as you may read in the first Chapter of the Judges At a League distance from thence you see the Ancient and Famous Town Caesarea of Palestine situated on the Sea on a high Bank which King Herod did renew and call'd it after the Emperor Caesarea which still to this day among the Turks and Moors retaineth its ancient Name Kaesarie In this Town did live the Pious Centurion Cornelius who was Baptiz'd there with his whole Family by Peter the Apostle who was called thither from the Town Joppe There did also live Philip the Evangelist one of the seven Deacons into whose House the Holy Apostle Paul did go and staid there some days where also the Prophet Agabus did foretel him That he was to be made a Prisoner at Jerusalem Now although this Town in those days was very well built as one may still see by the important and stately Antiquities that are still remaining there yet now in our times it is in Walls and Buildings so mightily decay'd that it is hardly fit to be Inhabited much less to be Defended or to make any Resistance And for all that it is still pretty large but so lonesom and depopulated that we could hardly see any body in the large and broad Streets thereof as we passed by For some Leagues before or about it I saw nothing remarkable only a Turkish Mosque or Church in the height upon a hilly shore where tbey meet to Worship their Mahumet When the Evening broke in we had still 10 Leagues to Sail to the Port or Harbor of Joppe where the Pilgrims use to go ashore to Travel by Land to Jerusalem yet the Wind drove us on with such a force that we got into it two hours after Sun-set CHAP. II. A short Relation of my Travels by Land from the Harbor of Joppe to the City of Jerusalem IN the Morning early as soon as the day did appear which was the 13th day of September 1575 we got on shore and dispatched immediately some to the Town of Rama two Leagues distant from thence to get us a safe Conduct or Pass from the Sangiach and to bring along with them some Mockeri or Ass-driving Carriers to provide us Carriage to Jerusalem In the mean while we stay'd upon the high Rocky shore where the Town Joppe did stand formerly which at this time was so Demolish'd that there was not one House to be found where the Pilgrims at their arrival could shelter themselves save only three large Vaults which went very deep into the Hill and extended themselves towards the Sea Into these are sometimes the Pilgrims let in but being that at that time a great deal of Corn was laid up there whereunto they still daily added on purpose to supply Constantinople during the scarcity it was forbidden that any Body should be let in The Town Joppe by the Inhabitants call'd Japha is by its old Name very well known to us by the Books of the Prophets and Apostles c. where we Read That the Prophet Jonas when the Lord bid him to Preach to the Ninevites Desolation and Destruction for fear did retire thither and there took Ship where he was thrown out into the Seas in the great Storm and Tempest and swallow'd up by a great Fish and after he had been there for three Days and Nights he was vomited out again And we
at it and full of Trouble that they should be under his Holiness's Excommunication before they were aware of it wherefore they began to excuse themselves and said That they did not know any thing of it neither had they had any opportunity in their Travels to come to Rome But although this had been omitted before their Arrival yet they would certainly do it as they went back Notwithstanding all this the Guardian seemed to be very earnest and made shew as if he could not absolve them yet at last after he had long enough kept them in this fear he began to declare that he had also received full power from his Holiness and the whole Roman Catholic Church to absolve all those that did not bring any Certificates And so at last absolved us in the Cloisters of his Monastery in Latin with these Words I absolve you of all your Sins in the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost And with this he concluded his Speech CHAP. III. A Plain Description of the City of Jerusalem as it was to be seen in our time and of the adjacent Countries THE Glorious and Kingly City of Jerusalem which formerly the Saracens called Kurzitadon but now is named Chutz by the Inhabitants is still situated in the old Place in the middle of Judea on the high Mountains and as the Head is extolled above the rest which may be concluded partly because from thence you may see all the the Country as from a Center partly also because the Springs rise here and so run down as from a higher place every way and to every part thereof as the holy Prophet Ezekiel doth testifie in his Fourteenth Capter where he saith That at that time fresh Streams shall flow from Jerusalem half thereof to the Sea toward the East and the other half towards the furthest Sea There are also many other places of Scripture that testifie the high Situation of Jerusalem as in the Eighth Chapter of the Acts Verse 26. where the Angel of the Lord spake unto Philip saying Arise and go towards the South unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza c. And in the Tenth Chapter of St. Mark and the Thirty second Verse And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem And the Tenth Chapter of St. Luke Verse 30. A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho And Verse 31. And by chance there came down a certain Priest that way c. The Situation of Jericho together with the great Plains thereabout through which the Jordan runs from the North towards the South together with the Dead Sea where formerly Sodom and Gomorrah stood you see from the Town over a barren Hill below so plainly that one would think we might go thither with ease in three Hours and yet it would require a whole Days Journey Beyond the River that separateth Arabia from Judea lie the high Hills Abarim and Nebo over against Jericho whence Moses as is said Deuteronomy the 32d and 34th Chapters had a full Prospect of the Land of Canaan promised to Abraham Isaac and Jacob one may see them thence so plainly as also the Mount Seir which toucheth them beyond the Dead Sea in the Land of the Moabites and Ammonites that one would also think they were very near They bring yearly a vast quantity of Sheep to Jerusalem from off the Mountains which feeding upon the fragrant delicate and hearty Herbs that grow there have Meat that tastes very pleasantly the Tails thereof are very fat above half a span thick and one and a half broad and long The Levitical Priest as we read in Leviticus the Ninth Chapter and other places used to burn this together with all the Fat of the Entrails and the two Kidneys for a Sin-Offering There are also Goats with hanging Ears almost Two Foot long And therefore some Arabians called Balduini keep in the Deserts that have no certain Abode but lie continually in the Fields and go from Country to Country in great numbers wheresoever they find good Pasture for their Beasts and Camels I have met with many of them in my Travels and have some time stayed with them all Night in their Tents they are commonly Soldiers armed usually with Bows and Long-Pikes made of Cane as the other Arabians and because of their Nimbleness and Courage they are very much preferred before the rest This holy Land which according to the Promise made to the Patriarchs was for many years in the possession of the Israelites was as you read in Deuteronomy Chap. 8. a most fruitful and rich Country abounding with Corn Fruits Wine and all that is required to the maintenance of Man's Life So the Lord himself saith That he will give them a Land that still floweth with Milk and Honey For it hath rich Valleys Hills Fields and Gardens richly adorned with Fountains and Trees so that it was very well chosen to be the worldly Paradise wherein Adam and Eve did live honor and serve God Now as the Land in its Goodness surpassed other Lands so did Jerusalem excel all other Cities in Building Glory Fortification and Number of Inhabitants Moreover God visited the Israelites from the beginning and had a House built in this City for himself which he chose before all others to sanctifie his Name there And above all this he provided them with High Priests Kings and Prophets until God the Father did send his only Begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ in the Flesh to reveal to them his Will with Teaching and Miracles But when they would not acknowledge his merciful Visitation nor receive his Messengers but did rather abuse ridicule and kill them rejected the Lord of Glory himself and adhered to and adored strange Gods and served them God did reject and disperse them among the Heathens burnt and destroyed their City and Temple and reduced their fruitful Country into barren Desarts and a desolate Wilderness and so the Punishment came upon them which the holy Prophet Esaiah did foretel them in the Thirteenth Chapter and 9th Verse saying Behold the day of the Lord cometh cruel both with wrath and fierce anger to lay the land desolate and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it And further in the Twenty fifth Chapter and Second Verse Thou hast made of a City a heap of a defenced City a ruine a place of Strangers to be no City it shall never be built And Daniel also maketh mention of this in his Ninth Chapter c. This ought to serve us and all Men as an Example of the fervent Anger of God to be a warning to us for ever For if of the Glorious City of Jerusalem which God had chosen before others and of its vast Buildings that made her famous before her Desolation there is at this Day nothing at all to be seen so that one might very well doubt whether it ever stood there were it not for some holy places and its situation that
hours walking distant from it 2. The Old-Gate 3. The Prison Gate whereof Nehemiah maketh mention in his 12th Chapter through which our Saviour Christ carried his Cross 4. Rayn-Gate 5. The Gate of Ephraim before which St. Stephen was Stoned to Death as you may read in the 2d Book of the Ecclesiastical History in the 1st Chapter 6. The Gate of Benjamin where the holy Prophet Jeremiah was taken and Imprisoned as he saith himself in the 37th Chapter 7. Corner Gate 8. Horse-Gate 9. Valley-Gate through which they went into the Valley of Josaphat 10. Dung Gate through which the Water carried out all the Soil into the Valley of Josaphat and about this River is still to this day a great stink 11. Sheep-Gate 12. Fountain-Gate which is now Walled up The Prophet Nehemiah maketh mention of them in his 3d 8th and 12th Chapter so that it is not needful to say any more These Gates are so mightily decayed that there is not to be seen the least of the old Buildings The Turks have instead of them built others in the New raised Wall but yet not half so many in number whereof some according as the Town is enlarged in some places and contracted in others are displaced others are erected again in the same places according to the Old Streets viz. 1. The Fish-Gate which is still standing towards the West behind Mount Sion and over against Mount Gihon as you may conclude out of the words of the 2d Book of Chronicles in the 33d Chapter and 14th Verse Manasses built a Wall without the City of David on the West-side of Gihon in the Valley even to the entring in at the Fish-Gate This Gate hath its Name because they brought many Fishes from the Sea-side through this Gate into the City So is also still standing on the outside of the Valley Tiropaeon which distinguished the two Mounts Sion and the Temple Mount called Moriah the Gate of the Fountain which hath its Name because it leadeth towards the Fountain of Siloha which Nehemiah in his 2d Chapter Verse 14 calleth the Kings Pool Through this was our dear Lord Christ the true promised Siloha brought a Prisoner bound from the Mount of Olives over the Brook Kidron into the House of Hannas and Caiphas in the upper Town as we read in the 12th Chapter Verse 37. that by the Fountain-Gate they went up to the City of David The same way also the two Disciples Peter and John were sent to bespeak the Paschal Lamb by Christ where they met the Man with the Pitcher of Water The Sheep or Beast-Gate is also still standing by Moriah the Mountain of the Temple which the Turks have taken to themselves and have built on it a Turkish Mosque or Temple because that God Almighty hath done many and great Miracles on this Mount and besides Mahumet did find himself again on this Mount after he had been carried up as his lying Writings tell us through the Heavens before God by the Angel Gabriel Wherefore they take this Mount to be Holy so that none that is not Circumcised and so Unclean dare approach or come near it nor take the nearest way without over the height of the Mount as Nehemiah did as you may see in the before quoted place so that the Christians must take a further way about and from the Gate Siloha go below through the Valley of the Brook Cedron between this and the Mount of Olives to the Beast-Gate which hath its Name because the Beasts that were to be offer'd in the Temple were driven through it Near the Gate you see still the Sheep-pond which is large and deep yet hath but little Water in it wherein the Nathineens used to wash the Beasts and then to give them to the Priests And also immediately within towards the North a Conduit which was the Pool by St. John the Evangelist in the 2d Verse of his 5th Chapter called Bathesda erected by King Ezechia that had five Porches wherein lay a great multitude of impotent folk that waited for the moving of the Water Through this Gate is the straight way over the Brook Cedron by the Mount of Olives toward Bethania down to Jericho on the River Jordan into the Valley of Josaphat wherefore this also being nearer now in these days is called the Valley-gate There is also still the Corner-gate in its old place where the North and East Walls meet on large and high Rocks and 〈◊〉 called still by some the Gate of Naphthali This I thougâ— convenient to say of the City of Jerusalem in the gâ—nerâ— of its Buildings Fruitfulness and adjacent Countries what Famous and Holy Places are within and without the City thereof I intend to treat in particular CHAP. IV. Of Mount Sion and its Holy Places MOunt Sion very famous in holy Scripture hath round about it steep sides high Rocks deep Ditches and Valleys so that it is not easie to climb up to it only on one side towards the North where it buts upon the lower Town so that the Castle and Town of David situated on it was very strong and almost Invincible as you may read in the 48 Psalm vers 2. The joy of the whole earth is Mount Sion on the sides of the north the City of the great King God is known in her places for a refuge for the Kings were assembled c. Seeing then that the Castle and the upper Town Millo vvas so vvell fortified vvith Tovvers and Walls that it vvas not easily to be taken the Jebusites after that Canaan the vvhole Land of Promise together vvith the Tovvn of Jerusalem vvas taken did defend themselves in it against the vvhole force of Israel for a long time although they often attempted to take it and called the Tovvn of Jerusalem after their Name Jebus until the Kingly Prophet David came vvho took it by force and after he had rebuilt the upper Tovvn and joined the Castle vvith it into one Building and surrounded it vvith Walls he called it after his ovvn Name The City of David and kept his Court there and gave also Lodgings to his Hero's and Officers vvhereof Vriah vvas one vvho had his Lodgings near to the Kings Palace vvherein the King vvalking on the Roof of his House savv the fair Bathsheba his Wife and committed Adultery vvith her These their Habitations as they are still built in these Days have instead of Thatch or Tiles plaister'd Roofs so that one may walk on them as you may see here that King David walked on it And also in the Second Chapter of the Book of Joshua where is said That when the Two Spies sent into the Land of Promise to Jericho came into Rahab's House and the King sent to search after them they went at her request up to the Roof of the House where she hid them with the Stalks of Flax which she had laid in order upon the Roof But seeing there is nothing so strong in in this World that is not transitory
the Germans French and Italians and praise them saying That they are stout and courageous Soldiers they call them all by the same Name Franci because the Divisions of our Country are unknown to most of them In former Ages they had here and there in large and eminent Towns instead of the Pope whom they will not obey nor be subject unto their Patriarch Archbishops and Bishops whereof some are still kept up but after the Turks did take and possess themselves of their Country there is fewer of them in number and they have smaller Revenues Without their Country they have in great trading Cities as Cayro Alepo Antiochia of Syria Venice c. their peculiar Churches and chiefly in some holy places in the Land of Promise As at Jerusalem the Temple of Mount Calvaria the place of Sculls whereon Christ was Crucified and also the beautiful Chancel that is in the middle of the Church wherein is a round hole about a span over in a stone which is as they pretend the middle of the Earth according to the Words of the Kingly Prophet David when he says God who now is my King from the beginning has wrought our selves on the middle of the Earth Besides these they have another called the Holy Cross about an English Mile out of Town which as they pretend is built on the same place where the Tree did grow whereof they made the Cross of Christ Besides this they have a great many more which I reckon unnecessary to mention here Some of their Church-Doors are so low that you must stoop when you will go through them They believe that the Holy Ghost doth proceed only from the Father and not from the Son They keep yearly two great Fasts and they eat Flesh upon the Sabbath or Saturday at pleasure they sing the Mass in their own Language that every Body may understand it In their Churches they suffer no embossed Work nor carved Images but have plain Pictures on Boards or on the Walls They do not believe a Purgatory as the Papists there called Latini nor that our Praying Fasting or Offering for the Dead can do them any good And they are mightily displeased that the Roman Priests do not according to the plain words of St. Paul marry as well as they nor give the Lords Holy Supper in both kinds as our Lord himself did institute it Wherefore they condemn such Errors of the Popish Church and excommunicate the Pope and his Adherents on the holy Friday yearly And because they reckon them to be superstitious they will not permit them to say Mass upon their Altars but if they should do it they accuse them before the Turkish Magistrates So it happened when I first came over that they were very angry with a Papist that had said Mass upon their Altar and so had profaned it wherefore they did immediately consecrate the Altar again and had the Priest before the Cadi and they brought it so far that he was mulcted Five hundred Ducats to pay in a short time When he thought that the Punishmenr was greater than the Trespass or Transgression he did seek for help at Alepo and Tripoli by the French and Italian Consul but did obtain no great matter so that he was still in election to pay the Forfeiture CHAP XII Of the SURIANS that esteem themselves to be Christians AMong the Eastern Christians we also find them that are called Surians whereof there is a great many but chiefly in Syria They have like unto the Jews in several Towns their peculiar Churches In Jerusalem they live in the Church of St. Mark which stands in the place where the House stood formerly at the Door whereof St. Peter the Apostle did knock when the Angel had delivered him out of Prison In their Religion they follow for the greatest part the Greeks they Administer the Sacrament in Leavened Bread and they say their Masses like unto them in the vulgar Arabian Tongue They are a sort of poor naked covetous and helpless People their Gowns reach only to their Knees as those of the Maronites some whereof are wrought of course Goats Hair striped black and white such as the Arabians make use of commonly and almost alike unto their Mescha which they use for Sacks and Tents and they wear nothing underneath them but Shirts without Neck-bands as is usual in all the Eastern Countries they wear High Shoes which serve them for Stockings and Breeches also being tied up with Straps They are subject unto the Turks who make use of them as Labourers both by Water and Land They also mind their Trade more than their Religion wherefore having lived so long among the Turks they have already assumed their Customs and Manners in Temporal and Spiritual Affairs and are thereby become so confident and secure that now adays the Difference between these two Religions are esteemed by them to be small and frivolous If a Christian hath to deal with them and desireth to buy something of them either Opium Scammony or any other the like Drug which they commonly falsifie he must look to himself as if he had to deal with Jews CHAP. XIII Of the GEORGIANS NEar unto the glorious City of Trapozinta situated on the Euxine Sea beginneth the Country of the Georgians and butts toward the South upon Armenia These are very civil and simple People but yet strong and brave Warriors they esteem and honor among other Saints but chiefly for warlike Businesses as their Patron the Knight St. George from whom they take their Denomination Their Merchants come very often in great Caravans to Alepo and are according to all appearance in their shape and posture like unto the Persians only that these are more whitish and the others more tawny and browner they wear also like them short flying Coats and long and wide Drawers c. They have as the rest their Patriarchs and Bishops who altho they are differing and dissenting in some points yet for the most part they follow the Doctrine and Errors of the Grecians and so they have and use the same Writings and Offices Their Priests are as well as those of the Armenians allowed to be married but yet if either of them should happen to die they must not marry again In Jerusalem they are also possessed of their peculiar places wherein they sing and exercise the Offices and chiefly of one in the Church of Mount Calvaria in the place near the Sepulchre of our Lord Christ where he did first appear unto Mary Magdalen in the similitude of a Gardener after his Resurrection CHAP. XIV Of the ARMENIANS and their Religion THE Armenians possess a large Countrey which is chiefly divided into two parts viz. The Lesser Armenia which is now subject to the Turks and the Greater now called Turco-Mannia by some which is partly belonging to the Sophy King of Persia In it arise two great Rivers the Euphrates and the Tigris which run a great way toward the South mix together
Journey to Mandragorai and Courougouli Scordium lanuginosum sive Creticum Alsine Lotoides seu Anthylloides sive spergulae facie C.B. Gingidum Hispanicum Leucoium Alyssoides Clypeatum maj C.B. Origanum Spicatum Moâ—is Sipyli foliis giabris Near Thyatira Spartium alterum Monospermum Pseudospartium Hispanicum Aphyllon A Thapsus minor longifolia or rather a Sideritis or Stachys foliis Salviae argenteis pilosis mollibus which is the Panacea of the Country People Scabiosa argentea min. About Smyrna Two kinds of Jujubes or Zizyphus Turpentine-trees and Mastick-trees Smyrnion Creticum Origanum perenne lignosum odoratissimum Several sorts of Olive-trees Tamarisk and Ricinus or Palma Christi Near the Gulf of Lepanto Tithymalus Spinosus The Fust or yellow Wood used to dye with called by the Greeks Chrysoxulo Cedrus Lyciae Arisarum angustifolium Lamium moschatum foliorum margine argentato About Mount Parnassus Athens and other places of Attica or Acbaja Stachys viscoso flore luteo odore Narcisii juncifolii Petromarula Cretica or Rapunculus Pyramidalis altera Sabina Crocus Albus Luteus Poterion Plinii smaller than Tragacanth Polium Gnapholoides Ilex Chermifera Acacia Secunda Matthioli Anemones of all colours Many Asters and Arisarums Aristolochia Clematitis Two Asphodils Brassica frutescens Borago variegata Cretica Cneoron Matth. Clusii sive Thymelaeae affinis facie externâ Several Cisti Jacea Moschata with other Knapweeds Leontopetalum all over the Plain of Athens Oleander Scilla Scotzonera Cretica Asphodeli fistulosi facie Galocorta Graecorum 't is the Womens Cosmetick and Milk-plant Siliqua Edulis or Carob Two Thymelaea's argentea tomentosa Tithymalus Spinosus Equisetum frutescens Aphyllon perhaps a sort of Tithymal Lychnis frutescens With many more which we have either mentioned in other places or else were doubtful of as a kind of small Silver-leav'd Scabious and a Dandelyon or Hieracium with Pilewort or small Colts foot-leaves with a Root like so many Scorpions following one another A sort of Medica lunatâ siliqua or Loto affinis siliquis hirsutis circinatis Astragalus argenteus or Syriacus Near Corinth and the Isthmus Pinùs Maritima with small Cones Cedrus Lycia vel Sabina baccifera Ceratia or Siliqua Arbor Lentiscus Olea Sylv. Scabiosa argentea petraea Aristolochiae Clematitis species Linaria latifolia valentina Clusii the flowers beautiful with three colours Androsaemum umbelliferum Scorzonera bulbosa Arbutus folio non serrato Comarea Dioscoridis Adrachne Theophrasti For these the Reader may consult Mr. Ray's Collection of Exotick Catalogues especially the Oriental one where the synonymous Names are added Historical Observations relating to Constantinople By the Reverend and Learned Tho. Smith D.D. Fellow of Magd. Coll. Oxon and of the Royal Society COnstantinople formerly Byzantium was by Constantine the Great called so after his own Name who being mightily pleased with the beautiful and advantagious situation of the place between two Seas and defended by narrow streights on both sides removed the Seat of the Empire hither and laid the foundation of its future splendor and greatness It was also by a special Edict or Law of the same Emperor which he caused to be engraven on a Marble Pillar placed near his own Statue on Horseback in one of the Piazza's of his new-built City called Strategium where the Souldiers used to muster as in the Campus Martius called Second or New Rome in emulation of old Rome which he designed and endeavoured this should equal in all things Accordingly he endowed it with the same Privileges and Immunities and establish'd the same number of Magistrates and Orders of People and divided the whole extent of it into fourteen Precincts or Regions according to the division of Rome And the Greek Writers were as elegant and extravagant in their commendations of it but the usual Title in their ordinary Discourses and Writings when they had occasion to mention it without any flourish was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the Imperial City to the same sense with that of Sidonius Apollinaris Salve sceptrorum columen Regina orientis Orbis Roma tui The Country about it was afterwards called Romania in a limited and restrained sense for that Romania was anciently the same with Orbis Romanus seems clear from Epiphanius and the People 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But I suppose this was not done till about the middle times of the Empire when it began to decline The Greeks still retain this name For if you ask any of the Greeks born upon the Continent of Thrace what Countryman he is he answers forthwith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Romios for so they pronounce it The Turks in like manner call a Greek Christian Urum Gaour or the Roman Infidel as they will call sometimes the Emperour of Germany Urumler Padisha or Emperor of the Romans Hence it was that the latter Graecian Emperors stiled themselves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Kings of the Romans that is such as were born in Romania and the other Countries which made up the Eastern Division of the Empire Though perchance by this flourishing Title they pretended a right to the Government of the West upon which vain presumption they assumed also the Title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Emperors of the World as if they had been true Successors of Augustus and the Western Emperors Usurpers whom they called by way of contempt and indignation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Reges as Luitprandus informs us in the accompt of his Ambassy to Nicephorus Phocas and afforded the People of Italy no other Title than that of Longobards or Lombards The present Greeks call all the Western Christians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Latins or Franks the Turks only making use of the latter when they speak civilly of us and calling Christendom Phrenkistan in the present Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Turks now as proudly call Constantinople Alempena or the Refuge of the World where indeed seems to be a medly of all or most Nations of three parts of it and of all Religions which are allowed to be publickly profest and exercised every where throughout the Empire except the Persian For they look upon it as a corruption of and deviation from the Rules and Doctrine of Mahomet their great false Prophet and therefore absolutely forbid it as repugnant to and destructive of the Doctrine of Life and Salvation as they speak And accordingly they condemn with all imaginable fury the Professors of it who pretend to follow Ali as Sectaries and Apostates and entertain worse Opinions of them than of Christians or Jews or Infidels The Persians are not behind-hand with them in their Hatred and Disrespect deriding them as gross and stupid and looking upon them as little less than barbarous Interest and Zeal for their several Tenents heightening their Differences so much that in time of War they destroy one anothers Moschs I remember that there was a great Discourse in Constantinople among the
near the bottom of the Hill Norad the second the Father of Mahomet the Great lies buried near whereunto was formerly the Metropolitical Church of the Holy Apostles The Bezesten or Exchange seems to be much better and larger than the great one at Constantinople as are the several Caravanserais built for the use and accommodation of Merchants and Travellers in one of which the Rice Chane I took up my quarters Without the City toward the East is the Mosch and Sepulchre of the Emperor Bajazid the first whom the Turks call Jilderim or Lightning and the Greek Writers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Not far from hence is the Mosch of Mahomet the first and his Sepulchre Toward the West upon the side of the Hill is the Mosch of Morad the first whom they call Gazi or the Conqueror near which he lies buried There are in the whole about 124 Moschs several of which were formerly Christian Churches and between fifty and sixty Chanes The Castles built by Osman when he besieged the City are slighted and altogether unfortified the one to the North the other to the South-west At Checkerghe about a mile and a half out of Town are the hot Baths much frequented both by Christians and Turks They are made very convenient to bath in and are covered over that they may be used in all weathers Among others there is a large round Basin where they usually divert themselves by swimming What Opinions the Turks have of our B. Saviour and the Christian Religion I shall briefly shew as they lye dispersed in several Chapters of the Alcoran according to which they frame their Discourse whensoever either Zeal or Curiosity puts them upon this Topick for Mahomet upon his setting up to be the Author of a new Religion finding such a considerable part of the World professing the Doctrine of Christ with all the Mysteries of Faith therein contained was cast upon a necessity of saying something both concerning him and it By which it will appear how great the power of Truth is above Imposture and Subtilty and that as the Devils in the possessed confess'd though against their wills Christ to be the Son of God so this Daemoniack in the midst of all his Forgeries and Lyes and ridiculous and childish Narratives not being able to contradict the universal Belief of the Christians of that and the preceeding Ages founded on the History of the Gospel hath been forced to give testimony to several particulars of it They confess then that Christ was born of a pure spotless Virgin the Virgin Mary chosen by God and sanctified above all the Women in the World and that the Angel Gabriel was dispatched out of Heaven to acquaint her with the news of it That such a kind of miraculous and supernatural Birth never hapned to any besides and that Christ was conceived by the Holy Ghost and that he wrought mighty Miracles for instance that he cleansed Lepers gave Sight to the Blind restored Sick persons to their Health and raised the Dead That he is a great Prophet sent by God to convert men from the vanity and error of their false worship to the knowledge of the true God to preach Righteousness and to correct and restore the imperfection and miscarriages of human Nature that he was of a most holy and exemplary life that he was the true Word of God the Apostle or Ambassador of God that his Gospel was revealed to him from Heaven and that he is in Heaven standing nigh to the Throne of God They blaspheme indeed with a brutishness and stupidity only befitting Turks the Mysteries of the Holy Trinity and of the Divinity of our B. Saviour and deny that he was put to death and say that another in his shape was crucified by the Jews and that he himself was assumed into Heaven in his body without dying at all and consequently they will not own that he satisfied Divine Justice for the Sins of the World so great an affinity is there between the Heresie of Socinus and profess'd Mahometanism I could never yet see any Turkish Translation of the Alcoran they cry up the elegance of the style which being Enthusiastick and high-flown by reason also of the tinkling of the periods is very delightful to their Ears who seem to be affected with Rythme mightily Though I suppose it is upon a more politick account that they are so averse as to the translating it into their vulgar Language not out of respect to the sacredness of the Original only whose full commanding Expressions they think cannot be translated without a great diminution to the sence but to keep it in greater veneration among the People who might be apt to slight and disesteem it should it become thus common among them It is enough that the Priests and Learned men explain the difficult passages of it to the people and write Commentaries for the use of the more curious and inquisitive The Persians on the contrary think it no disparagement to the Arabick or profanation of the sence to translate this cursed Book into their own Language and Copies are frequent among them The Grand Signior's Women are usually the choicest Beauties of the Christian Spoiles presented by the Bassa's or Tartars The present Sultana the Mother of the young Prince Mustapha is a Candiot the Valide or Emperors Mother a Russian the Daughter of a poor Priest who with her Relations were seized upon by the Tartars in an Incursion which they made into the Muscovites Country She being received into the Seraglio by her beautiful Complexion and cunning Behaviour gain'd the Heart and the Affection of Sultan Ibrahim a man wholly addicted to soft Pleasures and who seldom cared to be long absent from the Womens Apartment but chose to spend his time among them Having the good Fortune to be the Mother of the Prince Mahomet the eldest Son of his Father who now reigns she had all the Honours that could possibly be done her and was the beloved Hazaki or chief Concubine During this height of Splendour and Glory the Court removing from Constantinople to Adrianople distant about an hundred and twenty miles as she was passing in great state attended with her Guards through the Streets of the City in a Coach much like our Carriage-wagons but that they are latticed to let in the Air for no one must presume to stare or scarce look upon the Women much less must they themselves suffer their Faces to be seen in this jealous Country she out of curiosity looking through the holes saw a poor Christian Slave in a Shop where Sugar and such-like Wares were sold Upon her return she sent one of her Eunuchs to enquire for the person and to ask him several Questions about his Country Relations Friends and the time when and how long he had been a Slave His Answers were so particular and satisfactory that she was soon convinc'd of the truth and certainty of her apprehensions when she first cast her Eyes
People about in the Plain The Pilgrims being returned to Mecha divide themselves in several Caravans because of the different Countries they come from and are to go back to them again The Caravan that met at Damascus upon their return pass by Medina and visit Mahomet's Tomb seeing it is upon their Road Of the rest those who are prompted by Devotion go thither but a great part return back to their several Countries without turning out of their way to visit the said Sepulchre their Law not obliging them to that as it does to visit the other places above mentioned So that they are grosly mistaken who have affirmed that the Pilgrimage of the Turks is to the Sepulchre of Mahomet who obliged them to it For that false Prophet told his Followers when he drew near his death that if any one returning from Mecha had the curiosity to come and see his Sepulchre he should say a Fatha for his Soul which is a Prayer taken out of the Alcoran resembling in some manner our Pater Noster and be gone Mecha is the place of Mahomet's Birth Medina of his Burial An Extract of a Journey through part of Arabia Felix from the Copy in Ramusio's Collection WE travell'd in most places of Arabia by the help of a Compass and were forty days and forty nights in going between Damascus and Mecha Port Ziden is forty miles distant from Mecha from whence it receives the greatest part of its Provisions by the Red Sea from Aegypt Aethiopia and Arabia Felix the numbers of Pilgrims and Camels being incredible and fresh Water very scarce and as dear as Wine in Europe I stole away secretly from Mecha in the disguise of a Mammaluke to Ziden in order to pass round Arabia by Sea into Persia Ziden contains about 500 Houses there lay at Anchor in the Haven almost 100 Brigantines and Foysts with divers Barks of sundry sorts both with and without Oars After six days sailing we came to Gezan a fair commodious Port full of Vessels the Soil is very fruitful and delicious abounding with many rare Fruits and Flowers The Inhabitants for the most part go naked Leaving Gezan in the space of five or six days we reach'd an Island named Camaran ten miles in circuit In it is a Town of 200 Houses the Inhabitants are Mahometans it hath great store of Flesh and fresh Water The Haven is eight miles from the Continent and is subject to the Sultan of Arabia Felix In two days sailing we came to the mouth of the Red Sea The day after our arrival at Aden I being suspected for a Portuguese Spy was cast into heavy Chains and thrown into Prison After fifty five days Imprisonment I was set upon a Camel with my Shackles and in eight days Journey came to Rhada a City where the Sultan then lay with 30000 men to make War against the Sultan of Sana three days distant from Rhada The Sultan's Guard were Aethiopians with short broad Swords painted Targets and Darts Slings and Ropes made of Cotton Having obtain'd â—y Liberty I pass'd through Almacaran and Laghâ— to Aden where I embark'd for Persia In this Journey I observ'd many Monkeys Lyons Sheep with prodigious great Tails variety of Spices Sugars and a sort of Grape without Stones very delicious Many strange Gum Trees as the Balsam the Myrrhe Frankincense Coffee Coco's c. Some Observations made by Sir Henry Middleton and other English-men in Arabia Felix when they were most treacherously seized and led Prisoners from Moha and Aden up to Zenan Also Capt. Payton's and Capt. Heyn's Observations in some parts of Arabia Felix WE were fifteen days in going from Moha to Zenan which is about 180 miles distant N. N. W. it lies in 16 degrees and 15. min. Lat. We were carried about our Christmas time and were almost starved with cold there being hoary Frosts and Ice at Zenan Some of our men got Furrs this was wonderful in such a Latitude We fed much upon Dates and Plantanes Zenan appeared to me bigger than Bristol its situation is in a Stony Valley encompass'd with high Hills with many Gardens and places of Pleasure The Buildings are of good Stone and Lime February the 17 th we obtained our Liberty and began on the 18 th our Journey from Zenan to Moha That night we came to Siam 16 miles some on Asses others on Camels On the 19 th to Surage 18 miles On the 20 th to the City Damare in a plentiful Country 20 miles from Surage On the 21 st we arrived at Ermin 15 miles here we staid the 22 d. On the 23 d we came to Nagual Samare The 24 th to Mohader 13 miles from Nackelsamar On the 25 th to Rabattamain 16 miles from Mohader Here they make Opium of a Poppy but it is not good The 26 th we came to Coughe called Meifadine 16 miles from Rabattamain On the 27 th we were at Tayes half as large as Zenan here they make Indigo out of an Herb. March the 1 st we travelled from Tays to Eufras 16 miles distant March the 2 d to Assambine 11 miles On the 3 d to Accomoth The 4 th to Mousa 17 miles Here we observ'd them steeping the Indigo Plant. On the 5 th we got to Moha Moha is less than Tayes but very populous it stands close by the Sea in a Salt and Sandy Soil unwalled yet it hath Platforms and Forts Abundance of Shipping resort thither from India and great Caravans by land from Syria and Mecha to trade and exchange Commodities Aden is the greatest Port of Arabia Felix 't is situated at the foot of vast high Mountains which rise up with Pikes and run with great Promontories into the Sea These Hills were called Cababarre according to the Journal of Don John of Castro the Portuguese Capt. Dunton of Sir Henry Middleton's Fleet observ'd Aden to lye in 12 deg 35 min. of N. Lat. The variation Westerly was 12 degrees and 40 minutes It flows upright between 6 and 7 foot Water on the change day The Canoos came about the English Ships with Indigo Olibanum and Myrrhe but no trade with them by reason of their treachery Aden has been a great City of above 6000 Houses but Capt. Dounton found the Buildings much decay'd and many of them sunk Capt. Sharpeigh was the first Englishman that ever landed at Aden he had been there 16 months before in the year 1610. The aforementioned parts of Arabia Felix were at that time under the subjection of the Turks who had got possession of them from the Arabians by tricks and treachery whom they kept in awe by many Castles built on Hills and Passes and by the many Captives they always kept as Pledges Sir Henry Middleton observ'd many of the mountainous parts to be under the Dominion of the Arabians who are very populous in all the places where he passed and are at frequent Wars with the insolent Turks who pretended secret Orders from the Grand Signior to destroy all
the Christians that came ashore lest they should go up to Mecha and Medina to ransack and burn them Cap. Walter Payton in the year 1613 found great Hospitality and Ingenuity in some Ports of Arabia Felix nearer the Persian Gulf especially at Doffar a very good Road for Ships and a fair City where the Arabians presented his Crew with Bullocks Sheep Hens Goats Sugar-Canes Plantans and Coco's This Cape stands in 16 degrees 38 min. of N. Lat. and is free from the Turkish Yoke Capt. Edward Heyns anchored before Moha or Mocha in Arabia Felix An. Dom. 1618. the Governour sent him as Presents a young Bullock two Goats Mangoes Limes Cucumbers Water Melons Quinces Rack made of Rice c. He went freely ashore and found it a very neat populous and flourishing Town built of Brick and Stone curiously plaister'd over like Paris two Stories high with flat Roofs and Terrasses on the top whereon they build Summer-houses with Canes and Matts wherein they sleep and receive the fresh Breefes in the great heats They excus'd the Cruelty to Sir H. Middleton laying it on the cruel Governor at that time Of the Ways and Roads between Egypt and Ethiopia IN the month of October an Ambassador of Ethiopia came to Caire with several Presents for the Grand Signior and among others an Ass that had a most delicate Skin if it was natural for I will not vouch for that since I did not examine it This Ass had a black List down the Back and the rest of its Body was all begirt with white and tawny streaks a finger broad a piece The Head of it was extraordinarily long striped and partly coloured as the rest of the Body Its Ears like a Buffles were very wide at the end and black yellow and white Its Legs streaked just like the Body not long ways but round the Leg in fashion of a Garter down to the Foot and all in so good proportion and symetry that no Lynx could be more exactly spotted nor any Skin of a Tyger so pretty this may be the Zembra The Ambassador had two more such Asses which dyed by the way but he brought their Skins with him to be presented to the Grand Signior with the live one He had also several little black Slaves of Nubia and other Countries confining on Ethiopia Civet and other costly things for his Present These little Blacks serve to look after the Women in the Seraglio after that they are gelded The Ambassador was an old man and had the end of his Nose part of the upper and under Lip cut off but was otherwise a shapely man and of a very good presence He was cloathed after the Cophtish fashion wearing a Turban like them and spoke very good Italian which gave me the opportunity of conversing with him He told me his name was Michael that he was a Native of Tripoly in Syria and that he had made three or four Voyages into Christendom That eighteen months before he had parted from Gontar the Capital City of Ethiopia and was so long retarded by the way because of the contrary Winds he met with on the Red Sea by which he came That of an hundred Persons whom he had brought with him of his own Servants and the Slaves he was to present to the Grand Signior thirty or forty were dead If he had come by Land he had not been so long by the way for from Gontar to Schouaquen it is about six weeks Journey and from Schouaquen to Caire forty or fifty days by Camels but he could not take that way because of his Train He told me many things relating to the Kingdom of Ethiopia which I shall here give the Reader an account of But first of the ways of passing out of Egypt into Ethiopia The Merchants setting out from Grand Caire are carried up the Nile against the Stream as far as Monfallot and thence travelling in Caravans first come to Siint and so in order to the following Towns Wack three days Journey Meks two days Scheb three Sellim three Moschu five Dungala five accounted the Metropolis of Nubia then they come into the Kingdom of Sennar From Dungala they travel to Kshabi three days Journey Korti three more Trere three Gerry one Helfage one Arbatg three Sennar four From Sennar in fourteen days they arrive at the Confines of Habessinia the Entrance is called Tshelga The passage by Sea is various for the Merchants embark in several Ports on the Red Sea as Suesso Gidda Alcossir and so coast it to Suaquena and Matzua The safest way of travelling into the Kingdom of Prester John is with some Metropolitan or Ambassador Some land at Baylar a Port belonging to the King of Dengala in amity with the Habessins but the Journey thence by Land is tedious and infested by the Gallons 'T is but three months travel by Land from Grand Caire to Gontar the chief City of Ethiopia Of Ethiopia By Michael of Tripoly Ambassador from the Habessine Emperor to the Grand Signior EThiopia or the Country of the Abyssins called in Arabick Abesch from whence comes the word Abyssin is a great Empire being above seven months travel in circuit On the East side it is bordered by the Red Sea and Zanguebar on the South with Zeila Avousa Naria c. On the West by the Country of the Negros and Nubia and on the North with the Country of Nubia and Bugia because to come from Ethiopia into Egypt one must cross Nubia down the Nile About an hundred years ago Greyu Mahomet King of Zeila of which the Inhabitants are all Moors invaded Ethiopia and forced the King to save himself on a Mountain from whence he sent to demand assistance of the King of Portugal who immediately sent it him but hardly was he who commanded these Auxiliaries enter'd the Country when he resolved to return back again finding that they ate raw Flesh there However his Brother Don Christopher had more Courage and would not return without doing some Exploit He marched up into the Country with about Three hundred Musqueteers fought vanquished and killed the Moorish King and then re-established the lawful King of Ethiopia For reward of which Service the King of Ethiopia gave Lands and Estates to all the Portuguese that stayed within his Dominions and their Offspring are still in that Country The Father of this present King was a Catholick but he dying some thirty odd years ago the Queen his Wife who was a great Enemy to the Jesuits and no Catholick and who suffer'd impatiently that they should govern as they pleased the late King her Husband wrought upon her Son that succeeded him to persecute all the Roman Catholicks in such a manner that the Jesuits were obliged to make their escape and he put to death all the Capucins whom he found Since that time three Capucins more were put to death at Schouaken for the King of Ethiopia knowing that they had a mind to come into his Kingdom sent to the