Of divers Countries and of marvellous Beasts ANd sithence I have spoken before of the holy land and Countries thereabout and many ways thither and to Mount Sinai and to Babylon and divers other places which I have spoken of Now will I speak of strange Beasts of divers People Countries and Isles that are parted by the Rivers which run through Paradise terrestre For Mesopotamia and the Kingdom of Chalde and Araby are between two Rivers Tigris and Euphrates and the Kingdom of Media and Persia are between two Rivers Tigris and Indus and the Kingdom of Sury Palestine and Femines are between Euphrates and the Mediterranian Sea It is of length from Moroch on the Sea of Spain unto the great Sea and so it lasteth beyond Constantinople three hundred and twenty miles of Lumbardy and to the Oceon Sea In Inde is the Kingdom of Sichem which is all closed among Hills and beside Sichem is the Land of Amazony wherein dwell none but Women And thereby is the Kingdom of Albany which is a great Land and it is so called because that men are more white there than in other places In this Country are great Hounds and strong so that they overcome Lyons and slay them And ye shall understand that in those Countries are many Isles and Lands of all which it were too long to tell but of some I will speak more plainly afterward CHAP. XLVIII Of the Haven of Gene for to go by Sea into divers Countries NOw he that will go to Tartary Persia Chalde or Inde he taketh Ship of Gene or at Venice or at any other Haven and so he passeth by the Sea and arriveth at Topasond that is a good City that sometime was called the Haven of Briga and thereby is the Haven of Persia of Media and of other Marches In this City lyeth Saint Athanasius that was Bishop of Alexandria and made the Psalm Quicunque vult This man was a great Doctor of Divinity and of the God-head he was accused unto the Pope of Rome that he was an Heretick and the Pope sent for him and put him in Prison and while he was in that Prison he made this Psalm and sent it unto the Pope and said if that he were an Heretick then was that Heresie for that was his Faith and his Belief and when the Pope saw that what he had said therein was all our Faith he anon delivered him out of Prison and commanded that Psalm to be said every day at the beginning of Service and so he held Athanasius for a good Christian but he would never after go to his Bishoprick hecause they accused him of Heresie Topasond was sometime holden of the Emperor of Constantinople but a great man that he sent to help the Country against the Turks did hold it to himself and called himself Emperor of Topasond Also a poor mans son who watched on a time asked of the Lady that he might grow rich and happy by Merchandise and the Lady granted him but she said to him that he had asked his undoing for great pride that he should have thereof And this man became so great a Merchant both by Sea and Land that he was so rich that he knew not the thousand part of his goods Also a Knight of the Templers watched likewise and when he had done he desired to have a Purse full of Gold and whatsoever he took thereof it should ever be full again and she granted it him but she told him that he had desired his destruction by the great mispending that he should have of the same Purse and so it befell But he that shall watch hath great néed to kéep him from sléep for if he sléep he is lost so that he shall never be séen after But this is not the right way but for a marvel From Topasond men go to great Armony to the City Artyron which aforetime was a fair City but the Turks have so destroyed it that there neither groweth Wine nor Fruit. From Artyron men go to the Hill Sabissocal and there near is another Hill called Arah but the Jews call it Thano where the Ark of Noah rested after the Deluge and on that Hill a man may sée very far in clear weather for the Hill is full seven miles of height and some say they have been there and put their fingers in the holes where the Fiend went out when Noah said in this manner Benedicite But I judg that for Snow that is alwaies upon that Hill both Winter and Summer no man hath ever gone up since Noah was there but only one is said to have been there who brought a Plank that yet is in the Abbey at the Hills foot for he had great desire to go up that Hill and when he was at the third part upward he was so weary that he might not go further and he rested him and slept and when he was awake he was down at the Hill foot and then prayed he to God devoutly that he would suffer him to go to the upper part of the Hill and an Angel said that he should have his desire and so he did and since that time no man did ever come there but a man ought not to believe all things that are spoken of it CHAP. XLIX Of the Country of Job and of the Kingdom of Chalde ON the other side of the City of Carnaa men enter into the land of Job that is a good land surnished with plenty of all fruits and it is also called Swere In this land is the City of Thomar This Job was a Painim and also he was Cofraas Son and he held that land as the Prince thereof and he was so rich that he knew not the hundred part of his goods and after his poverty God made him richer then ever he was before so that he was King of Idumea after the death of King Esau and when he was King he was called Joab and in that Kingdom he lived an hundred thréescore and ten years so that when he died he was two hundred forty and eight years old And in the land of Job is no want of any thing that is needfull for mans body There are Hills where men find Manna which Manna is called Angels Bread it is white of colour and much sweeter than Sugar or Honey and it cometh of the dew of Heaven that falleth on the Herbs and there it congealeth and waxeth white and it is used in medicines for rich men This land boundeth on the land of Chalde which is a great land and there the men are very fair and well apparelled as with Cloth of Gold beset with costly Pearls and many other precious Stones The woman are but hard favoured and go bare-foot and meanly clad with a wide and coarse Coat but so short that it scarce covers their knees their sleeves are long down to the foot they have long black hair hanging about their shoulders and are nothing lovely to look upon but I had best say no more
for I am afraid I shall get small thanks for my praising of them In this land of Chalde aforesaid is a City called Hur and in that City was Abraham the Patriarch born CHAP. L. Of the Kingdom of Amazony where dwell none but Women NEar the land of Chalde is the land of Amazony wherein dwell no men but all women as men say for they will suffer no man to live among them nor to have rule over them For aforetime there was a King and men dwelling in that land and they had wives as in other Countries Now it befell that the King had great War with the men of Scithy this King was called Colopius and he was slain in Battel and all the Nobles of his Land When the Queen and the other Ladies of the Land heard that the King and the Lords were slain they gathered them together and killed all the men that were left in their Land among them And when they will have any men to lie by them they send for them into a country that is near their land and the men come and stay there eight days or as the woman liketh and then go they again and if they have men-children they send them to their Fathers when they can eat and go if they have maid-children they keep them and if they be of Noble blood they burn the left Pap away for bearing of a Shield and if they be of base degree they burn the right Pap away for shooting For the women of that Country are good Warriours and are often in pay with other Lords and the Queen of that Land governeth well the land this Land is â—nvironed with Water Beside Amazony is the land of Termagute that is a good Land and profitable and for the goodness of that Land King Alexander did make a City there and called it Alexandria CHAP. XXXIII Of the Land Ethiope ON the other side of Chalde toward the South is Ethiope which is a great Land and ye shall understand that the Land of Ethiope reacheth Eastward to the great Wilderness Westward to the land of Nuby Southward to the land Maritane and Northward to the Red Sea and then is a Maretim that lasteth from the Hills of Ethiope unto Lidy the high and the low that lasteth to the great Sea of Spain In this Land on the South are the folk very black In this land is a Well that in the day the water is so cold that no Man may drink thereof and in the night it is so hot that no man may abide to put his hand in it In this land the Rivers and all the Waters are troubled and some yield salt for the great heat and men of that land are soon drunken and have little appetite to meat They have commonly the Flux of the Body and live not long In Ethiope are such men as have but one foot and they go so fast that it is a great marvel and that is a large foot for the shadow thereof covereth the body from Sun or Rain when they lie upon their backs and when their children are first born they look like russet but when they wax old then they be all black In Ethiope is the land of Suba of which one of the Kings that sought our Lord at Bethlehem was King CHAP. LII Of Inde the more and the less of Diamonds and of their great vertues FRom Ethiope men go through many and divers Countries before they come into Inde and it is parted into thrée parts that is to say Inde the more which is a hot Land and Inde the less which is a temperate Land and the third part is toward the North and there it is very cold so that with great cold frost and ice the water becomes Chrystal and upon that groweth the rich Diamonds that are of a troubled colour which Diamond is so hard that no man may break it Other Diamonds men find in Araby that are not so good for they are more soft and there be some in Cypress In Macedonia men find Diamonds likewise but the best are in Inde and some are many times found in a masse in the Mines where gold is gotten when men break the masse in pieces sometimes men find some as great as a Pease and some less and those are as hard as those of Inde sometime there are good Diamonds found in Inde upon the Rock of Chrystal and also upon the Rock of Adament in the Sea And upon other Hills are Diamonds found that are as great as Hazel Nuts which are square and pointed of their own kind and they grow two together male and female and are nourished with the Dew of Heaven and they engender commonly and bring forth other small ones which encrease and grow all the year I have many times tryed that if a man keep them with a little of the Rock and wet them often with the Dew they will grow every year and the small will wax great and if a man do bear that Diamond on his left side then it is of more vertue for the strength of their growing is toward the North that is on the left side as men of those Countries say To him that beareth the Diamond with him it giveth hardiness it keepeth the limbs of the body it also giveth a man victory over his Enemies if his cause be right and it keepeth him that beareth it in good temper free from strife riot ill dreams sorceries and enchantments Moreover no wild beast shall assail or any way hurt them This Diamond should be neither bought nor sold but given freely for then it is of most vertue It healeth the Lunatick and him that is possessed with a Devil and as soon as any Venome or Poyson is brought near to the Diamond it moistneth and begins to sweat And men may easily pollish them though some think they may not be pollished and men may assay them well in this manner First cut them on prceious Stones Saphirs or upon Christal and then take a Stone that is called Adamant and lay a Néedle before that Adamant and if the Diamond be good and of vertue the Adamant draweth not the Néedle to it whiles the Diamond is there And this is the proof that they make beyond the Sea But it chanceth sometime that the good Diamond loseth the vertue through him that beareth it and therefore it is néedfull for to make it recover the vertue again or else it is of little value CHAP. LIII Of divers Kingdomes and Isles in the Land of Inde and of people that are of a yellow and green colour and of many strange things Also they have their reasons for other Planets and for Fire also for it is profitable néedfull And of Idols they say that the Ox is the holiest that they may find on Earth and more profitable than any other for he doth much good and none ill and they know well that it may not be without the special grace of God and therefore they make
them that have medled with them Also the land is all common for every man taketh what he will for that one man hath now this year another man hath the next year And all the goods as Corn Beasts and all manner of things in that country are common For there is nothing under lock and as rich is one man as another but they have an evil custome to eating of flesh for they eat mans flesh more gladly than other Nevertheless in that land is abundance of Corn of Flesh of Fich of Gold of Silver and of all manner of good And thither do Marchants bring children for to sell and those that are fat they eat but those that be lean they keep till they be fat and then are they eaten And besides this Isle of Lamory is another called Somober the which is a good Isle and there both men and women that are of the Nobility are marked in the Visage with a hot Iron that they may be known from other for they think themselves the worthiest of the world and they have evermore War with those men that are naked of whom I spake before And there are many other Isles and People of the which it where overmuch for to speak here CHAP. LVI Of the Country and Isle called Java which is a mighty Land ANd there is also a great Isle that is called Iava and the King of that country hath under him seven Kings for he is a very mighty Prince In this Isle groweth all manner of Spices more plenteous then in any other place as Ginger Cloves Nutmegs and other And ye shall understand that the Nutme g beareth the Mace Also in that Isle is great plenty of all things save wine The King of this land hath a rich Palace and the best that is in the world for all the Stairs of his Hall and Chambers are made one of Gold and another of Silver and all the Walls are plated with fine Gold and Silver and in those places are written Stories of Knights and Battels and the Floors of the Hall and Chambers are of Gold and Silver so that no man would belive the great riches that are there except he had seen it and the King of this Isle is so mighty that he hath many times overcome the great Caane of Cathay which is the mightiest Emperor that is in the world there is often war between them for the great Caane would make him hold his land Tributary of him CHAP. LVII Of the Kingdom of Pathen or Salmasse which is a goodly land ANd for to go forth by the Sea there is an Isle that is called Pathen and some call it Salmasse for it is a great Kingdom with many fair Cities In this land grow Trees that bear Meal of which men make fair Bread and white and of good savour and it seemeth like as it were Wheat And there be other Trees which bear venim against the which is no medicine but only to take of the leaves of the same Trees and stamp them and temper them with water and drink it or else he shall die suddenly for nothing else may help him And if ye will know how these Trees bear Meal I shall tell you men hew with an Hatchet about the root of the Tree by the Earth and they pierce it in many places and then cometh out a Liquor the which they take into vessels and set it in the Sun and dry it and when it is dry they carry it unto the Mill to grind and thereof is fair Meal and White Also Honey Wine and Venim are drawn out of other Trees in the same manner and they put it into vessels to keep In that Isle is a dead Sea which is a water that hath no bottom and if any man fall therein he can never be found beside that Sea groweth great Canes and under their Roots men find precious Stones of a great vertue for he that beareth one of those Stones about him there may no Iron wound him nor draw blood of him and therefore they that have those Stones fight full hardy for there may no weapon that is of Iron wound them therefore they that know the manner make their weapons without Iron and so they slay them CHAP. LVIII Of the Kingdom of Talonach the King Whereof hath many Wives ANother Isle there is that men call Talonach the same is a great land and therein is great plenty of fish and other goods as you shall hereafter hear And the King of that Land hath as many Wives as he will a thousand and more and he never lieth but once by any one of them And also in that Land is a great marvel for all manner of Fishes of the Sea come thither once a year one after another and they lye near the land sometime on the land and so lye three days and men of that land come thither and take of them what they will and then go those Fishes away and another sort cometh end lyeth also three days and men take of them and thus do all manner of Fishes till all have been there and men have taken what they will But no man can tell the cause why it is so But they of that country say that those Fishes come so thither to do worship to their King for they say he is the worthiest King of all the world for he hath so many Wives and getteth so many children of them And that same King hath fourteen thousand of Elephants or more which be tame and they be kept for his pleasure by the men of that country so that he may have them ready at his hand when he hath any War against any King or Prince and then he doth put upon their back Castles and men of War as the use of that land is as other Kings and Princes do thereabout CHAP. LIX Of the Island called Raso Where people be hanged if they be sick past hope of recovery ANd from this Isle men go to another Isle call'd Raso and the men of this Isle when their friends are sick and that they believe surely that they shall die they take them and hang them up quick on a tree and say it is better that Birds that are Angels of God eat them then Worms of the earth From thence men go to an Isle where the men are of an ill kind for they nourish Hounds for to strangle men And when their friends are sick that they think they shall die then do those Hounds strangle them for they will not that they die a kindly death for then should they suffer too great pain as they say and when they are thus dead they eat theiâ— flesh for Venison CHAP. LX Of the Island of Melk wherein dwelleth evil people FRom thence men go by sea through many Isles into an Isle called Melk and there be full ill people for they have none other delight but for to fight and slay men for they drink gladly mans-blood which blood they call good and
that it hath no light that no man may see there and no man dare go in that country for darkness And nevertheless men of that country thereby say that they may sometime bear therein the voices of Men and Horses crying and Cocks crow and they know well that men dwell there but they know not what manner of men and they say this darkness came through the work of God that he did for Christian men there For there was a wicked Emperor that was of Poy and was called Saures and he pursued sometime the Christian men to destroy them and did make them do sacrifice to his false gods for in that country dwelled many Christian men the which left all their goods and cattel and riches and went to Gréece and when they were all in a great Plain that is called Mécon the Emperor and his men came to slay the Christian men and then the Christian men knéeled down and prayed to God and anon came a thick cloud and covered the Emperor and all his Beasts so that he might not go away and so they dwelt in darkness and they never came out after and the Christian men went forward as they would and therefore they say thus A Domino factum est istud est mirabile in oculis nostris that is to say Of our Lord is this done and it is marvellous in our eyes Out of this land cometh a River whereby men may see by good tokens that men dwell therein CHAP. LXXXIII Of the Land of Turky and divers other Countries and of the Land of Mesopotamia THen next is the land of Turky that reacheth to great Armony and therein are many countries as Capeâ—doce Saure Bryke Nuecion Patyn and Geneth in each one of these countries are many good cities and it is a plain land with few Hills and Rivers And then is the Kingdom of Mesopotamy that beginneth westward at the River of Tyger at the city that men call Mosel and it lasteth Westward to the River of Euphrate to a city that men call Rochaim and westward from high Armony unto the Wilderness of Inde the less and it is a good land and plain but there is few Rivers and there is but two Hills in that land the one is call Siniar and the other Lison and it reacheth unto the land of Chalde CHAP. LXXXIV Of divers Countries Kingdoms and Isles and Marvels beyond the Land of Cathay NOw have I said and spoken of many things on this side of the great Kingdom of Cathay of whom many are obeysant to the great Caane Now I shall tell of some land countries and Isles that are beyond the land of Cathay whoso goeth from Cathay to Inde the High and the Low he shall go through a Kingdom that men call Cadissen and it is a great land there groweth a manner of Fruit as it were Gourds and when it is ripe men cut it asunder and they find therein a Beast as it were of flesh bone and bloud as it were a little Lamb without wooll and men eat the beast and Fruit also and sure it seemeth very strange Nevertheless I said to them that I held that for no marvel for I said that in my country are Trees that bear Fruit that become Birds flying and they are good to eat and that that falleth on the water liveth and that that falleth on the earth dieth and they marvelled much thereat In this land and many other thereabout are Trees that bear Cloves and Nutmegs and Mace and many other Spices and there be Vines that bear so great Grapes that a strong man shall have enough to bear a Cluster of Grapes In that same Land are the Hills of Caspy that men call Vber and inclosed within these Hills are the Iews of the. x. kinds that men call Gog and Magog and they may come out on no side There were inclosed xxii Kings with their Folk that dwelled between the Hills of Syche and King Alexander chased them thither among those Hills for he trusted to have inclosed them there through the working men but he might not and when he saw be might not he prayed to God that he would fulfill that which he had begun God heard his Prayer and inclosed the Hills all about them but at one side and there is the sea of Caspy Here some men might ask if there be a sea on one side why go they not out there thereto answer I That although it be called a sea it is not a sea but a Pool standing among Hills and it is tho greatest Pool of all the world and though they go over that pool yet they wot not where to arrive for they can speak no speech but their own and ye shall understand that those Iews which dwell among the Hills have no Law among them and yet they pay tribute for these land to the Kings of Armony and sometime it is so that some of those Iews go over the Hills but many may not pass there together for the Hills are so great and high Nevertheless men say in that country thereby that in the time of Antichrist they shall do much harm to Christian men and therefore all the Iews that dwell in divers parts of the World learn for to speak Hebrew for they hope that these Iews that dwell among the Hills aforesaid shall come out of the Hills and speak all Hebrew and nothing else and then shall these Iews speak Hebrew to them and lead them into Christendom for to destroy Christian men For these Iews say they know by their Prophesies that those Iews that are among those Hills of Caspy shall come out and Christian men shall be in their subjection as they be under Christian men now And if ye will know how they shall find the Passage out as I have understood I shall tell you In the time of Antichrist a Fox shall make his Den in the same place where King Alexander did make his Gates and he shall dig in the earth so long till he pierceit through and come among the Iews and when they see the Fox thry shall have great marvels of him for they never saw such a Beast but other Beasts they have among them many and they shall chase this Fox and pursue him until that he be fled again into his Hole that he come from and then shall they dig after him until they come to the Gates that Alexander did make of great Stones well laid with Morter then shall they break those Gates and they shall find the way forth CHAP. LXXXV Of the land of Bactrie and of many Griffons and other Beasts FRom this land men shall go unto the land of Bactrie where are many wicked men and cruel In this land are Trees that bear Wool as it were Sheep of which they make Cloth In this land are Ypotains that dwell sometime on land and sometime on Water and are half a man and half a Horse and they feed on men when they may get them In
Duke nor Earl ANd from this place men go ten dayes journy through the land of the great Caane which is a very good Isle and a great Kingdom and the King is very mighty And in this Isle is a rich man which is neither King Prince Duke nor Earl but he hath each year four thousand Horses charged with Rice and Corn and he liveth Nobly and richly after the manner of the country for he hath fifty Damesels that serve him every day at his meat and bed and do what he will And when he sitteth at the Table they bring him meat and at each time five Messes together and they sing in the bringing in a Song and they cut his meat and put it into his mouth and he hath very long Nails on his hands for that is great Nobility in that country and therefore they let their Nails grow as long as they may and some let them grow so long that they come about their hands and that is great Honour and gentry and the gentry of a woman is to have small feet and therefore so soon as they are born they bind their feet so straight that they cannot wax half as they should And he hath a very fair Palace and rich where he dwelleth of which the Wall is two mile about and therein is many fair Gardens and all the Pavements of the Hall and Chambers is of Gold and Silver and in the midest of one of his Gardens is a little Hill whereon is a place made with Towers and Pinacles all of Gold and there he will sit often to take the air and disport for it is made for nothing else From this Land men may go to the Land of Caane CHAP. CVII How all the Lands Isles and Kingdoms before rehearsed have some Articles of our Faith ANd ye shall understand that all these men and folk that have reason that I have spoken of have some Articles of our Faith and though they be of divers Laws and Beliefs yet they have some good points of our Faith and they believe in God as the Prophesie saith Et meruent eum omnes fines terrae that is to say And all the Ends of the Earth shall fear him And in another place Omnes gentes servient ei That is to say all Nations shall serve him But they cannot speak perfectly but as their natural wit teacheth them netther of the Son nor of the holy Ghost but they can well speak of the Bible and especially of Genesis and the Books of Moses And they say that those Creatures which they worship are no Gods but they worship them for the great vertue that is in them which may not be without the special grace of God and of Simulacres and Idols they say that all men have Simulacres whereby they mean the papists who have Images of our Lady and others but they think that they worship the Images of Stone and of Wood and not the Saints whom they do represent for as the Letter teacheth Clerks how they shall believe so Images and Pictures teach Lay-men they say also that the Angel of God speaketh to them in their Idols and doth Miracles and they say thus but it is the evil Angel that doth Miracles to maintain them in their Idolatry CHAP. CVIII How Sir John Mandevile leaveth many marvels unwritten and the causes wherefore THere are many other countries where I have not yet been nor seen and therefore I cannot speak properly of them Also in countries where I have been are many marvels that I speak not of for it were to long a Tale and therefore hold you apaid at this time with that I have said for I will say no more of marvels that are there so that other men that go thither may find enough for to say that I have not told CHAP. CIX What time Sir John Mandevile departed out of Engeland ANd I John Mandevile Knight was born in England in the Town of Saint Albans went out of my Country and passed the sea in the year of our Lord 1332 on St. Michaels day and have passed through many lands Isles and Countries and now come to rest I have compiled this Book and write it the year of our Lord 1364 thirty two years after my departing from my Country The rather for the pleasure of all such as delight to read the strange and wonderful marvels of other forraign countries as also for a direction to all such as shall desire to see either all or some of these countries herein specified and because some things herein spoken of may seem strange and scarcely credible therefore I have thought good to make known unto all that will see more proof hereof in the Book called Mappa mundi there they shall find the most part of the same ratified and confirmed And I pray all that shall read this Book and look for no further proof to judge favourable thereof since they shall in conceipt see as much at home without much paine as I did after many weary and dangerous steps passed and I pray to God of whom all grace cometh that he will fullfil with his grace the Readers and Hearers hereof and save them body and soul and bring them to his Ioy that ever shall last Amen FINIS THE TABLE THe way toward to Hierusalem on Horse on Foot or by Sea Chap. 1. Of the Land of Greece Chap. 2. To come again to Constantinople to go to the holy Land Ch. 3. Of a terrible Dâ—agon Chap. 4. Of a young Man and his Lemman Chap. 5. Of the manner of hunting in Cypres Chap. 6. Of the Haven named Jaffe Chap. 7. Of the Haven Tyre Chap. 8. Of the Hill of Carme Chap. 9. How Sampson slew the King and his Enemies Chap. 10. The way to Babylon where the Souldan dwelleth Chap. 11. Yet here followeth of the Souldan and Kingdoms that he hath conquered which he holdeth strongly by force Chap. 12. For to return from Sinay to Hierusalem Chap. 13. As men are passed the Wilderness again coming to Hierusalem Chap. 14. Here followeth a little of Adam and Eve and other things Chap. 15. Of the dry Tree Chap. 16. From Ebron to Bethlem Chap. 17. Of a fair Maiden that should be put to death wrongfully Chap. 18. Of the City of Jerusalem Chap. 19. Yet of the holy City of Jerusalem Chap. 20. Of the Church and of the old Sepulchre Chap. 21. Of the Temple of God Chap. 22. Yet of the Temple of God Chap. 23. Of King Herod Chap. 24. Of Saint Salvatorâ— Church Chap. 25. The Field of Acheldemack which was bought with the thirty pence Chap. 26. Of the Mount Jov. Chap. 27. Of the Castle of Bethania Chap. 28. Of Jericho and of other things Chap. 29. Of the holy place between Bethania and the River Jordan with other things Chap. 30. Of Abraham and his Generation Chap. 31. Of the River Jordan Chap. 32. Of many other marvels Chap. 33. Of the Samaritans Chap. 34. Of Galile Chap. 35. Of
THE Voyages Travels OF Sir John Mandevile Knight Wherein is set down the Way to the Holy Land and to Hierusalem As also to the Lands of the Great Caan and of Prestor John to Inde and divers other Countries Together with many and strange Marvels therein LONDON Printed for R. Scott T. Basset J. Wright and R. Chiswel 1677. THE PREFACE Here beginneth a short Treatise of Sir John Mandevile Knight who was born in England in the Town of Saint Albans that speaketh of the Ways to Hierusalem to Inde and to the great Caan and Prestor John's Land and to many other Countries and also of many marvels that are in the Holy Land FOrasmuch as the Land beyond the Sea that is the Holy Land which some call the Land of Behest or Promise among all other Lands is most worthy In that Land it pleased our Lord to take flesh and blood of the Virgin Mary and to traverse that Land with his own feet and there he did many Miracles Preach and Teach the Faith and the Law of Christian men as unto his Children and there did suffer many reproofs and scorns for us and he that was King of Heaven and Earth and of all things that are contained in them would only be called King of that Land when he said I am King of the Jews For at that time it was the Land of the Jews and that Land he chose before all other Lands as the most worthy part of all the World And as the Philosopher saith Virtus rerum in medio consistet that is the vertue of things is in the midst In that Land he led his life and suffered death of the Jews for us to save and deliver us from the pains of Hell and from death without end the which was ordained to us for the sin of our Father Adam and our own sins also For he that will do any thing to have it known openly will proclaim it in the middle place of a Town or City so that it may be known to all parties of the City So he that was King of Glory and of all the World would suffer death for us at Hierusalem which is the midst of the World that it might be known to all Nations of the World how dear he bought man Ah dear God! what love had He to his Subjects that when he had done no trespass would for his Trespassors suffer death Right well ought men to love worship and serve such a Lord and praise such an Holy Land that brought forth a Lord of such Fruit through the which each man is saved if it be not his own fault This is that Land prepared for in Heritage to us and in that Land would he die as â—â—â—fed to leave it to his Children For the which each good Christian man that may and hath wherewith should strengthen him for to conquer his right Heritage and purchase it out of evil peoples hands for we are called Christian men of Christ our Father and if we be the right Children of Christ we ought to challenge the Heritage that our Father left us and take it out of strange mens hands But now Pride Covetousness and Envy have so enflamed the hearts of the Lords of the World that they are more busie to disinherit their Neighbours than to challenge or conquer their right Heritage aforesaid And the common people that would put their bodies for to conquer this Heritage they may not do it without Lords for assembling of the people without a chief Lord is as a Flock of Sheep without a Shepherd the which depart asunder and wot not whether they do go But would God the worldly Lords were at a good accord and with other of their common people would take this Holy Voyage over Sea I trust well that within a little time our right Heritage beforesaid would be recovered and put into the hands of the right Heirs of Jesus Christ. Now forasmuch as it is a long time since there was any general Passage thither and that many men desire to hear the description of the Holy Land I will declare it I John Mandevile Knight who was born in England in the Town of St. Albanes passed the Sea in the year One thousand three hundred thirty two on Saint Michaels day and there remained long time and went through many Lands and many Provinces Kingdoms and Isles and have passed through Turkie and through Armony the Little and Great through Tartary Sury Araby Egypt the High and the Low through Liby Chalde and a great part of AEthiope through Amazony through Inde the Less and the More and through many other Isles which are about Inde where many people dwell of divers shapes Of the men of which Lands and Isles I shall speak plainly and shall declare part of the the things I have seen For them that will visit the holy City of Hierusalem and the places that are thereabout I will tell the right way that they shall hold thither for I have ridden it and passed it with good observation Farewell THE VOYAGES and TRAVELS OF Sir John Mandevile Knight CHAP. 1 A Description of the Way to Hierusalem on Horse on Foot or by Sea HE that will travel to Hierusalem may go many ways both by Sea and Land after the Country that he cometh from And think not kind Reader that I will tell all the Towns Cities and Castles that men shall pass by going for then should I make too long a Tale but only the most principal Countries Cities and Towns that men shall go by and through to go the right way Likewise at Constantinople is the Cross of our Lord and his Coat without seam the Spunge and the Reed with the which the Iews gave our Lord Gall to drink on the Cross and there is one of the Nails that our Lord was nailed with to the Cross. Some men think that half the Cross of Christ is in Cypress in an Abbey of Monks that men call the Hill of the holy Cross but it is not so for the Cross that is in Cypress is the Cross on the which Dismas the good Thief was hanged but all men know not that yet for the getting of the offering they say that it is the Cross of our Lord. For ye shall understand that the Cross of our Lord Iesus Christ was made of four manner of trees as is apparent by the Verse following In Cruce fit Palma Cedrus Cypressus Oliva For the piece that went up right from the Earth unto the head was of Cypress and the piece that went overthwart to which his hands were nailed were Palm the stock that stood within the Earth in which they made a Morteis was of Cedar and the Table above his Head on which the Title was written was of Olive The Iews made this Cross of these four Woods for they thought our Lord should have hanged as long as the Cross would last therefore made they the foot of Cedar for Cedar will not rot in the
Manners and diversities of countries and because this is the first Country discordant from the Faith and opposeth the Faith on this side the sea therefore have I set it here that ye may see the diversity between our Faith and theirs for many men have great liking to hear Report of strange things CHAP. III. To come again to Constantinople for to go towards to the Holy Land NOw come we again for to know the way from Constantinople He that will go through Turkey he goeth through the City Nika and passeth through the Gate of Chevitot which is very high and it is a mile and a half from Nika and whoso will may go by the Breach of Saint George and by the Greek sea where Saint Nicholas lyeth First men come to the Isle of Silo and in that Isle groweth Mastick upon as small·Trees as Palm-trees or Cherry-trees Thence men go through the Isle of Pathmos where Saint John the Evangelist wrote the Apocalyps You shall also understand that when our Lord Iesus Christ dyed St. John the Evangelist was of the age of thirty two years and he lived after the Passion of Christ forty thrée years and then died From Pathmos men go to Ephesim which is a fair city and near to the sea and there died St. John and he was buried behind the Altar in a Tomb and there is a fair Church for Christians were wont to hold that place But in the Tomb of Saint John is nothing but Manna for his body was translated into Paradise and the Turks hold now the City and the Church and all Asia the less therefore is Asia the less called Turky and you shall understand that Saint John did make his Grave there in his life and laid himself there being alive and therefore some say he died not but that he resteth there untill the day of Iudgment and therefore truly there is a great marvel for men may sée there apparently the Earth of the Tomb many times stir and move as if there were a quick thing under And from Ephesim men go through many Isles near the sea unto the city of Paâ—â—ran where St. Nicholas was born and so to Marca where he by the Grace of God was chosen Bishop and there is made right good Wine and strong that men call wine of Marca From thence men go to the Isle of Creet which the Emperor gave sometime to Jonais And then men pass through the Isles of Cophas and Lango of the which Isles Ipocras was Lord and some say that in the Isle of Lango is Ipocras his Daughter in the manner of a Dragon who is an hundred foot long as men say for I have not séen her and they of the Isles call her the Lady of the Country and she lyeth in an old Castle and sheweth her self thrice in the year and she doth no man harm and she is thus changed from a Damsel to a Dragon through a Goddess that men call Dina and some say that she shall dwell so unto the time that a Knight come that is so hardy as to go to her and kiss her mouth and then she shall turn again to her own kind and be a woman and after that she shall not live long And it is not long since a Knight of the Rhodes that was hardy and valiant said that he would kiss her and when the Dragon began to lift up her head against him and he saw she was so hideous he fled away and the Dragon in her anger bare the Knight to a Rock and from thence cast him into the Sea CHAP. IV. Yet of the Dragon There was a young man that wift not of the Dragon he went out of a ship and passed through the Isle till he came to the Castle and entred into a Cave and went so long till he found a Chamber and then he saw a Damsel combing her Head and looking in a glass and she had much Treasure about her and he thought her to be a common Woman that dwelled there to Lodge men and as he stood by the Damsel the Damsel saw the shadow of him in the glass and she turned towards him and asked him what he would and he said He would be her Paramour or Lemman and she asked him if he were a Knight and he said No and she said then he might not be her Lemman but she bade him go again to his Fellows and be made a Knight and come again on the morrow and she would come out of the Cave and then he should kiss her mouth and she bade him have no bread for she would do him no harm although shée seemed hideous to him she said It was done by enchantment for she said She was not such as he saw her then Moreover she said That if he kissed her he should have all the Treasure and be her Lord and Lord of all those Isles Then departed he from her and went to his Fellows to the ship and they made him Knight and he came again on the morrow to kiss the Damsel but when he saw her come out of the Cave in form of a Dragon he had so great dread that he flew to the ship and she followed him and when she saw that he returned not again she began to cry as one that had much sorrow and returned again and soon after the Knight died and since might no Knight sée her but he died presently But when a Knight cometh that is so hardy as to kiss he shall not die but he shall turn that Damsel into her right shape and shall be Lord of the Country aforesaid From thence men go to the Isle of Rhodes which Isle the Hospitallers held and governed and that they took before time from the Emperor and it was wont to be called Colsos and yet the Turks call it Collos And saint Paul in his Epistle writeth to them of the Isle Collossenses This Isle is near one hundred and fourscore miles from Constantinople And from the Isle of Rhodes men go into Cypress where are many Vines that first are red and after a year they wax all white and those Vines that are most white are most pleasant and as men pass that way is a place where was wont to be a great City that was called Salathy for all that country was lost through the folly of a young man who had a fair Damsel whom he loved well and she died suddenly and was buried in a Tomb of Marble and for the great love he had to her he went in a night to her Tomb and opened it and went and lay by her and a while afterward returned home again and when it came to the end of nine moneths a Voice came to him and said in this manner as in the next Chapter followeth CHAP. V. Of a young man and his Lemman GO unto the Tomb of the same woman that thou hast lyen by open it and behold well that which thou hast begotten on her and if thou let her go thou
shalt have much harm and he went and opened the Tomb and there flew out a Monster right hideous for to see the which Monster flew about the city and country and soon after the city and country sunk down From Rhodes to Cypress is five hundred miles and more but men may go to Cypress and not come to Rhodes Cypress is a good Isle and a great and there are many good cities There is an Archbishop at Nicholie and four other Bishops in the Land And at Famagost is one of the best Havens on the sea that is in the World and there dwell both Christians and Sarazins and men of all Nations In Cypress is the Hill of the holy cross and there is the cross of the good Thief Dismas as I said before and some think there is hall of the Cross of our Lord but it is not so and they do wrong that make men believe so In Cypress lyeth Saint Simeon for whom the men of the Country make great solemnity And in the castle of Amours lyeth the body of Saint Hillarion and they carefully keep it and near Famagost was Saint Bernard born CHAP. VI. Of the manner of hunting in Cypress IN Cypress men hunt with Pampeons that be like to Leopards and they hunt wild Beasts right well and they are somewhat bigger than Lyons and they take wild Beasts more quickly than Hounds In Cypress the custom is that Lords and other men eat upon the Earth for they make Ditches within the earth all about the Hall deep to the knée and they Pave them and when they will eat they go thereinto and sit there This they do to be more fresh for that Land is hotter than it is here But at great feasts and for Strangers they set Forms and Boards as they do in this country yet they had rather sit on the Earth From Cypress men may go by land or by sea to Hierusalem and in a day and a night he that hath a good wind may come to the haven of Tyre that now is called Sur for it is at the entrance of Sury There was sometimes a fair city of Christians but the Sarasins have destroyed the most part thereof and they kéep the haven very carefully for dread that they have of Christians Men might go right to that haven and not come to Cypress but they are glad to go to Cypress to rest them on the Land or else to buy things needful for their Voyage Vpon the sea-side are many Rubies found and there is the Well that holy Writ speaketh of fons hortorum puteus aquarum viventium that is the Well of Gardens and Ditch of waters living In this city of Tyre the woman said to our Lord Beatus venter qui te portavit ubera quae sugisti that is Blessed be the body that bare thée and the paps which gave thée suck And there our Lord forgave the woman of Canaan her sins and there also in that place was the Stone on which our Lord sat and preached and on the same Stone was founded the Church of St. Saviour Vpon the sea is the city of Saphen Sarop or Sidon and there was the dwelling of Jonas the Prophet and there by Elias the Prophet raised the Widows Son Five miles from Saphon is the city of Sidon of which city Dido that was Aeneas wife after the destruction of Troy was Quéen she founded the city of Carthage in Africk which now is called Didonâ—art And in the city of Tyre reigned Achilles the Father of Dido and a mile from Sidon is Beruth and from Beruth to Sardena is thrée days journey and from Sardena is five miles to Damasse CHAP. VII Of the Haven called Jaffe WHoso will go longer en the sea and come near to Hierusalem he must go from Cypress by sea to the Port called Iaffe for that is the next Haven to Hierusalem for from that Haven is but one days journey and a half to Hierusalem and that Haven is called Iaffe and the Town Affe after one of Noes Sons that was called Japhath who founded it but now it is called Iopa And ye shall understand that it is the oldest Town of the World for it was made before Noahs Floud and there be the bones of a Gyants side that be forty foot long CHAP. VIII Of the Haven of Tyre AND who arriveth at the first Haven of Tyre or of Sury beforesaid may go by Land if he will to Ierusalem and then he goeth to the city of Acon in one day that was called Tholomada and was before time inhabited by Christians It stands in the sea and is from Venice by sea two thousand and fourscore miles of Lumbardy and from Calabre or Cicil is to Acon one thousand three hundred miles of Lumbardy CHAP. IX Of the Hill Carme AND the Isle of Creet is right in the thid-way and beside the city of Acon toward the sea some eight hundred furlongs on the right hand towards the South is the Hill Carme where Elias the Prophet dwelt and there was the Order of Carmes first founded This Hill is neither great nor high and at the foot thereof hath formerly béen a Christian city called Caiaphas for Caiphas founded it but it is now wholly wasted At the West side of the Hill is a Town that men call Saffre and it is built upon another Hill There Saint James and Saint John were born in memory of whom is a fair Church built And from Tholomada now called Acon to a great Hill that men call Ekelt de Tyrees is an hundred furlongs and besides the City of Acon runneth a little River that men call Belion and there near is the Fosse of Minor all round that is an hundred cubits or shastments broad and it is all full of Gravel clear shining whereof men make clear white Glass and men come from far countries by ship and by land with carts to take of the gravel and if there be never so much taken thereof one day on the morrow it is as full again as ever it was which is as great marvel and there is always a wind in the Iosse that stirs up the gravel And if a man put therein in any metal as soon as it is therein it wareth glass the glass that is made of this gravel if it be put into gravel turneth again into gravel as it was before Some say it is a gulf of the sea of gravel CHAP. X. How sampson slew the King and his Enemies ALso from Acon before-said men go thrée days journey to the city of Philistin that now is called Gaza which is a rich city fair and full of folk and it is a little from the sea and from that city brought the strong Sampson the gates of the city to an high Hill and was taken in the said City and there he slew the King in his seat and many thousand more with him for he made an house to fall on them From thence men go to the City of Cesarien and
so by the Bastle of Pallerins then to Askalon and to Iaphet and so to the holy City of Ierusalem CHAP. XI The way by Babylon where the Soldan dwelleth AND whoso will go through the Land of Babylon where the Soldan dwelleth he may go more securely through these Countries but must go up to Mount Sinai before he come to Ierusalem and then return by Ierusalem and then by Jerusalem and he shall go from Gaza to the Castle Dayre And after a man cometh out of Sury and goeth on the way is very sandy and the Wilderness lasteth eight days journey wherefore men must provide them of necessary victuals and that Wilderness is called Archellek When a man cometh out of this Desart he entreth into Egypt and they call Eygpt Canopat and in another Language men call it Mersine and the first good Town that men come to is called Beleth which is at the end of the Kingdom of Alap and from thence men come to Babylon and to Kayre and in Kayre is a fair Church of our Lady where she dwelt seven years when she was out of the Land of the Jews for dread of King Herod And there lyeth the body of Saint Babara Virgin and there dwelt Joseph when he was sold of his Brethren And in Babylon Nebuchodonosor put the Children into the Fire because they worshipped the true God these Children were called Ananias Azarias and Misael as the Psalm of Benedicite saith but Nebuchodonosor called them thus Sadrak Misak and Abednego that is God glorious and victorious God over all Kingdoms and that was for Miracle that he made God's Son as he said go with those Children through the Fire There dwelleth the Soldan for there is a fair City and a strong Castle which standeth upon a Rock In that Castle are always dwelling to keep the Castle and to serve the Soldan above eight thousand persons that take all their provision at the Soldans Court. This I well know for I dwelt with him a great while a Soldier in the Wars against the Bedians or Arabins and he would have marryed me unto a great Princess If I would have forsaken my Faith CHAP. XII Here followeth of the Soldan and of his Kingdoms that he hath Conquered which he holdeth still by force AND ye shall understand that the Soldan is Lord of seven Kingdoms which he hath Conquered and gotten to him by strength and these be they the Kingdom of Canopat the Kingdom of Egypt the Kingdom of Jerusalem whereof David and Solomon were Kings the Kingdom of Sury whose chief City is Damasse or Damascus the Kingdom of Alape in the Land of Dameth and the Kingdom of Arabia which was one of the three Kings that made Offering to our Lord when he was born Many other Isles he holds in his hand He holdeth Calupgas that is a great benefit unto him being among them of Royes Isle and that Vale is cold And then men go up to the Mount of St. Katharine and that is much higher than the Mount of Moses And this St. Katharine hath no Image in any Church or Castle nor other dwelling place but there is a Hill of Stones gathered together about the place where she was buryed There was wont to be a Chappel which now is wholly cast down but a great part of the Stones is there left And under the foot of Mount Sinai is a Monastery of Monks and there is the Church of Saint Katharine wherein be many Lamps burning and they have oyle-Olive enough to eat and to burn and that they have by Miracle for they say there come certain of all manner of Birds every year once like Pilgrims and each of them bringeth a Branch of Olive in token of offering whereof they make much Oyl CHAP. XIII For to return from Sinai to Jerusalem NOw when a man hath visited the holy place of St. Katharine and he will turn to Jerusalem if he shall first take leave of the Monks and recommend him especially to their prayers then those Monks will freely give to Pilgrims Victuals to pass through the Wilderness to Sury so much as shall last thirtéen days journey And in that Wilderness dwell many Arabians that men call Bedions and Ascopards These are Folks that are still of all manner of ill conditions and they have no Houses but Tents which they make of Beasts skins as of Camels and other Beasts which they eat and thereunder they lie and they seek to dwell in places where they may find water near the Red Sea for in that Wilderness is great want of water and it falleth out that where a man findeth water one time he findeth it not another time And therefore make they no Houses in those Countreys These men that I speak of Till not the Land for they eat no bread except it be those that dwell near a good Town and they rost their Fish and Flesh upon hot stones against the Sun and they are strong men and warlike but they do little but hunt wild Beasts for their sustenance and they set not by their lives therefore they dread not the Soldan nor any Prince of the World And they had great War with the Soldan at the same time that I was with the Soldan They bear but a Shield and a Spear to defend them with and they use no other Armour but they wind their Heads with a Linnen Cloth CHAP. XIV When men are passed this Wilderness then to come again to Jerusalem AND when men have passed this Wilderness to come to Jerusalem they pass by Bersheba that was sometime a fair and a rich Town of Christians and yet is there some of the Churches left and in that Town dwelt Abraham the Patriarch This Town of Bersheba was founded by Vrias on whose Wife David begat Solomon the wise that was King of Jerusalem and of the Twelve Tribes of Israel and he reigned forty years and from thence men go to the Vale of Ebron that is from thence near twelve miles and some call it the Vale of Mambre and it is called the Vale of Tears forasmuch as Adam in that Vale bewailed an hundred years the Death of his Son Abel whom Cain slew And this Ebron was sometime the principal City of the Philistims and there dwelt Byants and it was frée so that all that had done evil in other places were there saved In Ebron Joshua and Caleb and their Company came first to espy how they might win the Land of Promise In Ebron David reigned first seven years and a half and in Jerusalem he reigned two and thirty years and a half and there be the Graves of the Patriarchs Adam Abraham Isaac and Jacob and of their Wives Eve Sara Rebekah and Leah and they Ise in the side of the Hill And beside this Hill is a right fair Church builded after the fashion and manner of a Castle which the Sarasins kéep right well and they have the place in great Worship for the Holy Patriarchs sake that
sometime Moryach but after it'was called Belet and there is the Ark of God with some Reliques of the Iews This Ark did Titus carry with him to Rome when he had discomfitted the Iews In that same Ark were the Ten Commandments and Aarons Rod and Moses Rod with which he parted the Red sea when the people of Israel passed through on dry foot and there was the Vessel of Hanna the Clothing and Ornaments and the Tabernacle of Aaron and a square Table of Gold with twelve precious Stones and a Fox of Iasper graven with four fingers and eight Names of our Lord within and seven Candlesticks of Gold and four Censors of Gold and an Altar also of fine Gold and four Lions of Gold unto the which they had a Cherubim of Gold twelve spans long and a Tabernacle of Gold and also twelve Trumpets of Silver and a Table of Silver and seven Earley Loaves and many other Reliques that were before the Nativity of Christ. Vpon the Rock slept Jacob when he saw Angels go up and said Vere locus iste sanctus est ego ignorabam that is Surely this place is holy and I wist not And there the Angel changed Jacobs Name and called him Israel In that same place also David saw the Angel that slew the People with a Sword and put it all bloody into the Sheath And on this Reck was S. Simeon when he received our Lord into the Temple and on this Rock set he him when the Iews would have stoned him and the Rock rent in two and in that Cleft he hid him and after came down and gave him Light And on this Rock sat our Lady and learned her Psalter There likewise our Lord forgave the sins of the woman that was taken and found in Adultery And there was our Lord Iesus Circumcised and there the Angel denounced to Zachary the Nativity of S. John Baptist. And there first offered Melchisedech Bread and Wine and Water to our Lord in token of the Sacrament that was to come and there David prayed to our Lord for mercy for him and for his people when he saw the Angel slay his people and our Lord anon heard his prayer and therefore he would have made the Temple in the place but our Lord Iesus Christ forbade him by an Angel for he had committed murther in consenting to the slaying of the good Knight Vriah for to have his wife therefore all that he had prepared for the building of the Temple he left to Solomon his Son and he built it and prayed to the Lord that all those that prayed in that place deboutly and with good heart that he would hear their prayer and grant that they servently asked and the Lord granted it wherefore Solomon his Son called it the Temple of Counsel and help of God Without the doors of that Temple is an Altar where the Iews were wont to offer Doves and Turtles and in that Temple was Zichary slain and on the Pinacle the Iews set St. James that was the first Bishop of Hierusalem And a little from this Temple on the right side is a Church covered with Lead that is called the School of Solomon Towards the South is the Temple of Salon which is a great place and they were the Founders thereof and of their Order and in that Templum Domini dwell Canons From this Temple toward the East six and twenty paces in a corner of the City is the Path of our Lord and this Path was wont to go to Paradise and not far thence is our Ladies Bed and near that is S. Simeons Tomb. Without the Cloyster of the Temple toward the North is a fair Church of St. Anne our Ladies Mother and there was our Lady conceived and before that Church is a great Trée which began to grow that same night And as men go down from that Church two and twenty steps lyeth Joachim our Ladies Father in a Tomb of stone and there near was laid sometime St. Anne but St. Elena did translate her to Constantinople In this Church is a Well in manner of a Cistern that is called Probatica piscina that hath five Enterings and into that Cistern an Angel was wont to descend and stir the water and what man had bathed first therein after the stirring was made whole what disease soever he had There was the man of the Palsie made whole who had béen sick eight and thirty years and there beside was the House of Pilate and a little from that the House of King Herod who slew the Innocents CHAP. XXIV Of Herod the King THis King Herod was a very wicked man and a Tyrant for he did first and formost slay his Wife whom he loved full well and for the great love of her he went out of his wits and so was he a long time and afterward he came again to himself And after he slew his own Children that he had gotten of the said wife and commanded likewise his second wife to be slain and a son that he had begotten of her and after that he slew his own Mother and he would also have slain his own Brother but his Brother dyed suddenly and thus he did all the ill that he might And then he fell sick and when he saw that he should die he sent for his Sister and all the great Lords of the Country and when they were there he did put all the Lords into a Tower and said to his Sister he wist well that the men of the Country would make no sorrow for him when he was dead and therefore he made her to swear unto him that she would smite off the Heads of the Lords every one after his death and then would men of the Country make sorrow for his death in regard of the Noble mens deaths and then he made his last Testament But his Sister fulfilled it not as pertaining unto the death of the Lords for as soon as he was dead she delivered the Lords out of the Tower and sent every one home to their houses and told them what her Brother commanded her to do unto them And ye shall understand that in that time were thrée Herods of great name This of whom I speak was called Herod Ascolonite and he that did smite off St. John Baptists Head was called Herod Antipa and the third was called Herod Agrippa and he did slay St. James and put St. Peter in Prison CHAP. XXV Of Saint Salvators Church A Little within the City is St. Salvators Church and therein is Saint John Chrysostomes Arm and the most part of Saint Stephens Head And at the entering of Mount Sion is a Chappel and in that Chappel is that great and large Stone with which the Sepulcre was covered when Christ was laid therein the which Stone as it is written the thrée Maries saw turned upward when they came to the Sepulcre and they found an Angel that told them that Christ was Risen from Death to Life and there is a
and sometime there was a Church but it is all wasted and it is a fair Vale and plenteous and there is a good City that men call Neople and so from thence it is a daies journey unto Hierusalem and there is the Well where our Lord spoke to the woman of Samaria and Sychem is ten miles from Hierusalem and it is called Neople that is the new Town and there is the Temple of Joseph Jacobs Son that governed Egypt from thence were his bones brought and laid in the Tomb and thither came Iews often in Pilgrimage with great Devotion and in that City was Dinah Jacobs Daughter ravished for whom her Brethren slew many men and thereby is the City of Corasin where the Samaritans make their Sacrifice CHAP. XXXIV Of the Samaritans FRom Sabasten or Samary to Hierusalem is twelve miles and among the Hills of this country is a Well that men call Fons Jacob that is Jacobs Well that changeth his colour four times in a year for sometime it is red sometime cléer sometime gréen and sometime thick and the men that dwell there are called Samaritans and they were converted by the Apostles yet their Law varieth from the Law of Christians as also from Iews and Painims They believe well in one God that shall judge all and believe the Bible after the Letter and they lay their heads in red linnen cloth that they may be known from others for Sarasins wrap their heads in White cloth the Christians that dwell there in Blew and the Iews in Yellow and in this country dwell many Iews paying Tribute as Christians do And if ye will know the Letters of the Iews they are these following and are thus called Aleph beth gimel daleth he vau zain heth teth jod caph lamed mem nun samech ain pe zade koph resh schin tau CHAP. XXXV Of Galile FRom this Country that I have spoken of men go to the Plain of Galile and leave the Hill on the one side for Galile is a Province of the land of Promise and in that Province is the City of Naim of Capernaum and Bethsaida where Saint Peter and Saint Andrew were born Some men say that Antichrist should be born at Corasim and nourished at Bethsaida but he shall reign at Corasim therefore saith holy Writ Vae tibi Corasim Vae tibi Bethsaida that is Wo be to thée Corasim wo be to thée Bethsaida But others say he shall be born in Babylon therefore said the Prophet De Babylonia Coluber exit qui totum mundum devorabit that is Out of Babylon shall come a Serpent that shall devour all the World Cana a chief City of Galile is four miles from Nazareth of which City was the woman of Canaan of whom the Gospel speaketh and there our Lord did his first Miracle when at the Marriage of the Architriâ—line he turned water into wine From thence men go to Nazareth which hath béen a great City but now there is but a little Town and that unwalled There was our Lady born and of this City our Lord took his Name At Nazareth also Joseph took our Lady to wife when she was fourtéen years of age There the Angel saluted her saying Ave gratia plena Dominus tecum that is Hail full of grace the Lord is with thée And there was sometime a great Church but now there is but a little Room to receive the offerings of Pilgrims There is the Well of Gabriel where our Lord was wont to bath him when he was little At Nazareth was our Lord nourished and Nazareth is called the flower of Gardens and it may well be so called for there was nourished the Flower of Life even our Lord Iesus Christ. About half a mile from Nazareth is the bloud of our Lord for the Iews led him upon a high Rock to cast him down and slay him but Iesus escaped them and leapt to another Rock where steps be yet séen which they say are the steps of our Lord therefore some when they are in danger of Thieves or Enemies say thus Jesus autem transiens per medium illorum ibat and they say these Verses of the Psalter thrée times Irruat super eos formido pavor in magnitudine brachii Domine fiant immobiles quasi lapis donec pertranseat populus tuus Domine populus iste quem redimisti And so when this is said a man may go without any letting Ye shall understand and know that our blessed Lady bare her Child when she was fiftéen years of age and she lived with him thirty thrée years and thrée Months and after his Passion she lived two and twenty years CHAP. XXXVI The way from Nazareth to the Mount or Hill of Tabor ANd from Nazareth the Mount Tabor is thrée miles and there our Lord was transfigured before Saint Peter Saint John and Saint James And there they saw spiritually our Lord Moses and Elias the Prophet For which cause Saint Peter said bonum est nobis hic esse c. that is It is good for us to be here let us make thrée Tabernacles And our Lord Iesus Christ bade them that they should tell no man until the time that he was risen from death to life From Mount Tabor a mile distance is Mount Hermon and there was the City of Naim before the gates of this City our Lord raised the Son of the Widow that had no more Children CHAP. XXVII Of the Sea of Galile ANd from thence men go to a City that is called Tiberias that butteth on the Sea of Galile and though it be called the Sea of Galile it is no Sea nor arm of the Sea for it is but a stream of fresh water and it is more then a hundred furlongs long and fifty broad and therein are many good Fishes and by that same sea stand many good Cities therefore this Sea changeth often his name after the Cities that stand thereupon but it is all one water or sea and upon this sea our Lord walked and said to Peter when he came on the water and was near drowned O exigua fide predite quid qubitasti that is O thou of little faith why didst thou doubt CHAP. XXXVIII Of the Table whereon Christ eat after his Resurrection IN this City of Tiberias is the Table that Christ eat on with his Disciples after his Resurrection and they knew him by breaking of bread as holy Writ saith Et cognoverunt eum in fractione panis that is they knew him in breaking of bread And about the Hill of Tiberias is a city where our Lord fed five thousand people with five Barley Loaves and two Fishes In that city also did men cast in anger a firebrand or burning stick after our Lord but that same burning stick did fall on the Earth and people say out of the same stick grew presently a Tree which is waxen a big Tree and there groweth yet and the seales of the Tree be all black Ye shall understand that the Riber Jordan beginneth
under the Hill of Lybany and there beginneth the land of Promise and it lasteth unto Bersebe of length and from the North part to the South is ninescore mile and of breadth from Jericho to Jaffe it is forty mile And ye shall understand that the Land of Promise beginneth at the Kingdom of Sury and lasteth unto the Wilderness of Araby CHAP. XXXIX Of strange Manners and divers For there is a manner of sin that is grievouser to one man then it is to another and therefore it is needfull that a man know and understand the kind of sin And there be also other men that are called Surreyens and they hold half our Faith and half the Faith of the Greeks and they have long Beards as the Greeks have CHAP. XL. For to return again on this side Galile NOw seeing I have told you of many manners of men that dwell in the Countres aforesaid now will I return again to my way for he that will turn from the Land of Galile that I spake of to come on this side he must go through Damas or Damascus that is a fair City and full of good Merchandizes and it is three days journey from the Sea and five from Hierusalem they carry their Merchandizes upon Camels Mules Horses Dromedaries and other manner of Beasts This City of Damas was founded by Helizeus Abrahams servant who before Isaac was born should have been his Heir and there he named that City Damas. And in that place Cain slew his Brother Abel and beside Damas is the Mount of Syer in this City be many Physicians and that holy man Saint Paul was a Physician there to heal mens bodies before he was converted and after he was a Physician of Souls And from Damas men go to a place called our Lady of Sardmarch that is five miles from Damas and it is on a Rock and there is a fair Church and there dwell Christian Monks and Nuns in that Church between the City of Darky and the City of Raphano is a River called Sabatory which some say on the Saturday it runneth fast and all the week else it standeth still and runneth not or but a little And there is another River that on the night freezeth fast and upon the day no frost is seen And so men go by a City that men call Berugh and there those that will go to Cypress take Ship and they arrive at the Haven of Sur or of Tyre and then go on to Cypress also men may go right from the Haven of Tyre and not come at Cypress but arrive at some Haven of Greece and by these ways men come into the Countries before spoken of CHAP. XLI How a man may go the shortest way to Hierusalem NOw have I told you the furthest and longest ways by the which men go to Hierusalem as by Babylon in Egypt which is also called Kayre and Mount Sinai and many other places through the which men go to the Land of Promise Now will I tell you the shortest way to Hierusalem for many will go the long way some for want of Company and many other reasonable causes and therefore I shall tell you shortly how a man may go with little cost and short time A man that cometh from the Land of the West he goeth through France Burgony Lumbardy and to Venice or to Gene or some other Haven of those Marches and taketh there Ship and goeth to the Isle Grisse and so arriveth he in Greece or else in Port Myroch or Valon or Duras or some other Haven of those Marches and arriveth to Cypress and cometh not in the Isle of Rhodes but arriveth at Famagust that is the chief Haven of Cypress or else at Lamaton and then taking Ship again he passeth beside the Haven of Tyre and cometh not to Land and so passeth by all the Havens to the Coast till he come to Jaffe that is the next Haven to Hierusalem for it is but twenty eight miles between And from Jaffe men go to the City of Ramos and that it is but little thence and it is a fair City and beside Ramos is a fair Church of our Lady where our Lord shewed himself unto her in three shadows betokening the Trinity and there near is a Church of S. George where his Head was smitten off and then to the Castle of Emaus and then to the Mount Joy and from thence Pilgrims see Hierusalem and then to Mount Modin and then to Hierusalem At Mount Modin lyeth the Prophet Malachy and over against Ramatha is the Town of Douke whereof the Prophet Amos was CHAP. XLII Of other ways for to go by Land to Hierusalem FOrasmuch as many men cannot endure the trouble of the Sea and better it is to go by Land although it be more pain then a man shall go to one of the Havens of Lumbardy as Venice or another and ye shall pass into Greece or Port Myroch or another and ye shall go to Constantinople and shall pass the Water that is called the Breach of Saint George that is an arm of the Sea And from thence ye shall come to Pulveral and then to the Castle of Synople and so to Cappadocia which is a great Countrey wherein are many great Hills and ye shall go through Turky and to the City of Nike the which they won from the Emperour of Constantinople and it is a fair City and well walled and there is a River that is called the Lay and then men go by the Alpes of Mormount and through the Vales of Malebrines and the Vale Ernax and so more easily to Antioch which standeth richly on the River And he that will go another way he goeth by the Roman Ceast and the Roman Sea on that Ceast is a fair Castle that is called Florage and when a man hath passed the Hills he cometh to the city of Moriach and to Artose where is a great Bridge upon the River of Ferne that men call Fassor and it is a great River bearing Ships and beside the City of Dimas is a River that cometh from the Mount of Libany which is called Alban at the passage of this River Saint Eustace lost his two Sons when he had lost his Wife and it runneth through the Plain of Chalcides and to the great Sea Then men go to the City of Fermine and so to the City of Ferne and then to Antioch and that is a fair City and well walled and it is two miles long and there is a Bridge over the River that hath at each Pillar a good Tower and it is the best City of the Kingdom of Sury From Antioch men go to the City of Locuth and so to Geble and to Tortouse and thereby is the Land of Lambre and a strong Castle that men call Mambeke And from Tortouse men go to Tripoly on the Sea and by this Sea men go to Dicres and there is two wayes to Hierusalem by the way on the left hand men come first unto Damas by
the River of Jordan and on the right side men go through the Land of Flagme and so to the City Caiaphas in which City Caiphas was Lord and some call it the Castle Pellerius and from thence is four days iourney to Hierusalem and they go through Cesary Philippi Jaffe Ramas and Emaus and so to Hierusalem CHAP. XLIII Yet another way by Land toward the Land of Promise NOw have I told you some ways by land and by water how men may go to Hierusalem And there be many other ways that men go by after the Countries that they come from nevertheless they come all to one end Yet is there a way all by Land to Hierusalem and pass no Sea but to France or Flanders but that way is very long and perilous and of great travel wherefore few go that way but he that will go that way must go by Almaine and Pruse and so to Tartary This Tartary is holden by the great Caane of whom I shall speak afterward for thither reacheth his Lordship and all the Lords of Tartary yield to him Tribute Tartary is a barren Country and very sandy for there groweth little either Corn or other Fruit but there is a great plenty of Beasts and therefore they eat flesh without bread and they sup the broth and they drink the milk of all manner of Beasts And because they have great scarcity of Wood they dry the dung of Horses and of other Beasts and burn it for to dress their meat by Princes and other Lords eat but once in the day and that is very little and they be foul folk and of ill liking In Summer there are many great Tempests and Thunders that slay many men and beasts sometime on the sudden it is very cold and again on the sudden it is very hot The Prince of the Land they call Roco and he dwelleth at a City that is called Orda but very few Strangers do desire to dwell in that Land for it is good to sow Thorns and Weeds in but other good there is none as I heard say for I was not that way but I have been in other Countries marching thereon as in the Land of Russia and Nisland and the Kingdom of Grecon and Lectow and the Kingdom Grasten and in many other places but I never went that way to Hierusalem and therefore I cannot well tell it for I have understood that men may not well go that way but in Winter when the waters and mires that be in that Land be frozen and covered with Snow so that men may pass thereon for were not that Snow there might no man go in that Land but he were loss And ye shall understand that a man must go three days iourney from Pruse to pass this way before he can come to the Land of Sarasins And if by chance any Christians pass that way as once a year they do they carry their victuals with them for they should find nothing there but a manner of food that they call Syles and they carry their Victuals upon the Ice on Steds and Chariots without Wheeles and as long as their Victuals last they may dwell there but no longer And when the Spies of the Countries see Christians come they run to the Towns and Castles and cry aloud Kara Kara Kara and as soon as they have cryed then do the people arm them And ye shall understand that the Ice there is harder then it is here and every man hath a Stove in his House and therein they eat and do all things that them needeth and that is at the North part of the World where it is commonly cold for the Sun appeareth not nor shineth but little in that Countrey and that Land is in some places so cold that there may no man dwell therein and on the South side of the World it is in some places so hot that there can no man dwell the Sun giveth so great heat in those Countries CHAP. XLIV Of the Faith of the Sarasins and of the Book of their Law named Alkaron FOrasmuch as I have told you of the Sarasins and of otherLands I purpose to set down a part of their Law and of their Belief as their Book saith that they call Alkaron and some call that Book Mysap and some call it Harme in divers Languages of Countries which Book Mahomet gave them in the which Book he wrote among other things as I have often read and seen that they that are good shall go to Paradise and the evil folks to Hell and so believe all Sarasins And if a man ask of what Paradise they mean they say it is a place of Delights where a man shall find all manner of Fruits at all times and Waters and Rivers running with Milk and Honey Wine and fresh water and they shall all have fair Houses and good as they have deserved and those Houses are made of precious stones gold and silver and every man shall have ten Wives and Maidens and he shall every day once have to do with them and yet shall they still be maidens And they speak often of the blessed Virgin Mary and tell of the Incarnation that Mary was learned of Angels and that Gabriel said to her that she was chosen before all other from the Beginning of the World and that witnesseth well their Book and Gabriel told her the Incarnation of Iesus Christ and that she should conceive and bear a Child and they say that Christ was a holy Prophet in word and deed and also meek and right wise to all men and one not any way blame-worthy and they say that when the Angel told her of the Incarnation she had great dread for she was very young and there was one in that Country that practised Sorcery who was called Takina that with Enchantments could make him like an Angel and went often and lay with Maidens and therefore was Mary the more afraid of the Angel and thought in her mind that it had been Takina who went to Maidens and she charged him in the Name of God to tell her if he were the same Takina and the Angel bade her have no dread for he was for certain a true Messenger of Iesus Christ. Also their Book Alkaron saith that she had a Child under a Palm-Trée then was she greatly ashamed and wished her self dead but as soon as her Child was born he spake and comforted her saying Netimeas Maria that is Be not afraid Mary And in many other places saith their Book Alkaron that Iesus Christ spake as soon as he was born and the Book saith that Iesus Christ was sent of Almighty God to be an ensample to all men and that God shall Iudge all men the good to Heaven and the wicked to Hell and that Iesus Christ is the best Prophet of all other and next to God and that he was a holy Prophet for he gave the blind their sight and healed all Diseases he raised men that were dead and was taken quick into
Heaven And if they may find a Book with Gospels such as Missus est Angelus they do it great Worship and they fast one Moneth in the year and eat only a night and they keep them from their Wives but they that are sick are not constrained to it And their Book Alkaron speaketh of Jews and saith they are wicked people for they will not believe that Iesus Christ is of God Further they say that the Jews speak falsly of our Lady and her Son Iesus Christ in saying that they did not hang him on the Cross. Their Book Alkaron forbiddeth Murther and Theft and commandeth them to do so to others as they would have others do to them for the Sarasins believe so near our Naith that they are easily converted when men preach the Law of Iesus Christ. They say also that they know right well by their Prophesies that their Law of Mahomet shall fail as the Jews Law doth and that the Law of Christians shall last to the Worlds end And if a man ask them wherein they believe they say that they believe in God Almighty that is the Maker of Heaven and Earth all other things and without him is nothing done and at the day of Iudgment every man shall be rewarded after his deserving and that all things are truth that God spake by the mouth of his Prophets CHAP. XLV Yet further concerning Mahomet ALso Mahomet had writ in his Book Alkaron that every man should have two Wives or three or four but now they have nine and as many Lemmans as them liketh and it any of these Wives do wrong to their Husbands he may drive her out of his House and take in another but he must give part of his goods Moreover where men speak of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost they say that they are not three Persons but one God for their Book Alkaron speaketh not thereof nor of the Trinity but they say that God spake or else he was dumb and that God had a Ghost or else he was not alive They say Gods Word hath great strength and so saith their Alkaron and they say that Abraham and Moses were greatly in favour with God for they spake with him and Mahomet was a true Messenger of God and they have many good Articles of our Faith and some understand the Scriptures Prophets Gospels and the Bible for they have them written in their Language In their manner they know holy Writ but they understand it but after the Letter and so do the Iews for they understand it not Spiritually but after their Letter and therefore saith Saint Paul Litera occidit Spiritus autem vivificar that is the Letter killeth but the Spirit quickneth The Sarasins likewise say that the Jews are wicked for they keep not the Law of Moses which he gave them and also Christians are evil for they keep not the Commandments of the Gospel that Iesus Christ sent unto them And further I shall tell you what the Soldan told me upon day in his Chamber shutting out all other men as Lords Knights and others for he would speak with me in counsel and then he asked me how Christians governed themselves in our Country I answered him and said Right well thanks be to God but he said secretly nay for he said that our Priests made no force of Gods Service for they should give good example to men to do well and they give ill example and therefore when the people should go on the Holy days to Church to serve God they go to the Tavern to sin in gluttony both day and night eating and drinking as Beasts that wot not when they have enough He said also that there was much contention among Christians and one would defraud another and they were so proud that they wist not how to clothe them now short now long now strait now wide and of all fashions whereas they should be humble and meek giving their alms as Iesus Christ did in whom they believe He said also that they were so covetous that for a little money they would sell their children sisters or wives one man taking another mans wife and no man keeping his promise Therefore said he for their sins hath God given these Lands to our hands and not through our strength but all for your sins For we know certainly that while ye truly serve God he will help you so that no man shall win of you if that ye serve God as ye ought to do but while ye live so sinfully as ye do we have no dread of you for God will not help you And then I asked him how he knew the state of Christians in that manner and he said that he knew well the state both of Lords and of Commons by his Messengers which he sent through all the Countries as it were Merchants with precious Stones and other Merchandise to know the manner of every Country And then he did call again all the Lords into his Chamber to us and then shewed he unto me three persons that were great Lords of that Country who shewed unto me the manner of my Country and of all Christendom as though they had béen men born in the same parts and they spake French right well and the Soldan also and then I had great marbel of this slander of our Faith and so they that should be turned by our good examples to the Faith of Iesus Christ they are drawn away through our evil living and therefore it is no wonder if that they call us evil for they say truth but the Sarasins are true for they keep truly the Commandments of their Alkaron CHAP. XLVI Of the Birth of Mahomet ANd ye shall understand that Mahomet was born at Ithareb in Araby and his Father was a Painim and his Mother a Jew their names were Abdal and Hâ—mna and they were but poor folk and he was first a poor drudge and kept horse and afterward he followed Merchandise And it befell sometime that Christians become Sarasins either through poverty simpleness or wickedness and therefore their Archbishop when he received them said Laelles ella Mahomet ros sella that is to say there is no God but one and Mahomet is his Messenger And seeing I have told you a part of their Law and their Customs Now I shall tell you of their Letters with their Names First they have for a almoy b bethat c cathi d delphy e ethoti f thy g gatophin h hecum i iochi k kathi l lothum m malach n nahalht o orthy p thâ—zui q zoâ—hii r ruchelat s chotimus t salathy v yrichom x mâ—zâ—r z zâ—lâ—phin johe-tâ—ncon these are the names Four Letters have they yet more for diversity of their Language forasmuch as they speak so in their throats as we have in our Language and speech in England Two Letters more they also have in their A. B. C. that is to say the which are called thrane and zawx CHAP. LVII
their God the one half like an Ox and the other half like a Man for Man is the fairest and chiefest creature in the World And they do worship to Serpents and other beasts that they first méet in the morning and namely those beasts that have good méeting after whom they spéed well all the day after the which they have proved of long time and therefore they say that this méeting cometh of Gods grace and therefore they do make Images like unto these things that they might worship them before they meet any thing else And there are some of them that say some Beasts are better for to meet than others for Hares Swine and other Beasts are ill to méet first as they say In this Isle of Lana are many wild Beasts and Rats in that Country are as great as Hounds here and they take them with Mastiffs for Cats may not take them From thence men go to a City that is called Sarchis and it is a fair and good City and there dwell many true believing Christians and there be men of Religion From thence men come to the Land of Lombe and in that Land groweth Pepper in a Forrest that is called Tombar and it groweth in none other place more in all the Country than in that Forrest and that Forrest is fifty days Iourney and there by the Land of Lombe is the City of Polomes and under that City is a Hill that men call Polombe and thereof taketh the City his name And so at the foot of the same Hill is a right fair and clear Well that hath a full good and sweet savour and it smelleth of all manner of sorts of Spices And also at each hour of the day it changeth his savour diversly and who so drinketh thrice in the day of that Well he is made whole of all manner of sickness that he hath I have sometime drunk of that Well and me thinketh yet that I fare the better some call it the Well of Youth for they that drink thereof séem to be young alway and have little sickness and they say that this Well comes from Paradise terrestre because it is of such vertue In this Land groweth Ginger and thither come many rich Merchants for Spices In this Country men worship an Ox for his great simplicity and meekness and the profit that is in him for they make an Ox to labour six or seaven years and then they eat him and the King of that Land hath evermore an Ox with him and he that kéepeth him every day taketh his Fées for the kéeping And also every day he gathereth his urine and his dung into a vessel of Gold and beareth it to the Prelate that they call Areth porta paparon and the Prelate beareth it to the King and maketh thereupon a great stur and then the King putteth his hand therein and they call it gaul and he anointeth his Front and his Breast therewith and they do it great worship and say he shall be fulfilled with the vertue of the Ox before said and that he is hallowed through vertue of those holy things as they say And when the King hath thus done then other Lords do it and after them other men according to their degrée if they may have any of the remnant In this Country their Idols are half Man and half Ox as in the Figure in the second page before is shewed and out of these Idols the wicked Spirit speaks unto them and gives them answer of what thing they ask him and before these Idols they oft-times slay their Children sprinkle their blood on the Idols and so make Sacrifices And if any man dye in that Country they burn them in token of Penance that he should suffer no penance if he were laid in the Earth by eating of Worms and if his Wife have no Children then they burn her with him and they say it is good reason that she kéep him company in the other world as she did in this but if she have Children she may live with them if she please also if he will In this Country groweth good wine and women drink wine and men none and women shave their heads and not men CHAP. LIV. Of the Kingdome of Mabaron And ye shall understand that when any great Feasts of that Idol come as the Dedication of the Temple or of the Throning of the Idol all the country thereabout assemble there together then they set the Idol with great revernce in a chair richly beset with Gold and Tapestry and so they carry him with great reverence worship roundabout the city and before the chair goeth first in procession all the Maidens of the country go two and two together and so after them go the Pilgrims that are come from far countries of the which Pilgrims some fall down before the chair and so let all go over them in so much that some are slain and others have their arms and legs broken this they do for love of the Idol thinking that the more pain they suffer here for their Idol the more joy shall they have in the other world But a man shall find few Christians that will suffer so much penance for our Lords sake as they do for their Idol And nigh before the chair go all the Minstrels of the country which are without number with great melody And when they are come again to the Temple they set up the Idol again in his Throne and for worship of the Idol two or three are willingly slain with sharp knives and the men in that country thâ—nk they have great worship if that holy man which is slain be of their kindred likewise they say that all those that are there slain are holy Men and Saints and they are written in their Letany and when they are thus slain their friends burn their bodies and they take the ashes and those are kept as Reliques and they say it is an holy thing and that they fear no danger while they have of those ashes CHAP. LV. Of a great Country called Lamory where the people go naked and of other things FRom this country two fifty days journey is a country that is call'd Lamory and in that land is great heat and it is the custome there that men and women go naked and they scorn all them that are clad for they say that God made Adam and Eve all naked and that men should have no shame of that God made and they believe in the same God that made Adam and Eve and all the world And there is no woman married but women are all common there and they refuse no man And they say that God commanded Adam and Eve and all that come of them saying Crescite multiplicamini replete terram Encrease and multiply and fill the Earth No man there may say This is my Wife nor no woman may say This is my Husband and when they have children they give them to whom they will of
he that can slay most is of most Fame among them And if there be two men at strife and after be made friends then must they drink either others blood or else the accord is of no value From this Isle men go to another Isle that is call'd Tarkonet where all men are as Beasts for they are unreasonable and they dwell in Caves for they have not wit to make Houses these men eat Adders and speak not but make such noise as Beasts do one to another and they make no force of riches but of a Stone that is of forty colours and is called Trakonet and in that Isle they know not the vertue thereof but they covet it for the fairness CHAP. LXI Of the Isle named Macumeran Where the People have heads like Hounds FRom this Isle men go to another that is called Macumeran which is a great Isle and a fair and the men and women of that Country have Heads like Hounds they are reasonable and worship an Ox for their God they go all naked but a little cloth before their Privy Members they are good men to fight and they bear a great Target with which they cover all their body and a Spear in their hand And if they take any man in battel they send him to their King which is a great Lord and devout in his Faith for he hath about his neck on a Chain three hundred great Pearls and as the Papists say their Pater noster and other prayers so their King saith every day three hundred prayers to his God before he either eat or drink and he beareth also about his neck a Ruby Orient fine and good that is near a foot and five fingers long For when they chuse their King they give to him that Ruby to bear in his hand and then they lead him riding about the city and then ever after they are subject to him and therefore he beareth that Ruby alway about his neck for if he bear not the Ruby they would no longer hold him for their King The great Caane of Cathay hath much coveted this Ruby but he might never have it neither by war nor by other means And this King is a full true and vertuous man for men may go safely and surely through his land and bear all that they will for there is no man so hardy to let them And from thence men go to an Isle that is called Silo this Isle is more than an hundred mile about and therein be many Serpents which are great with yellow strikes and they have four feet with short legs and great claws some be five fadome of length and some of eight and some of ten and some more some less and they be called Crocodiles and there be also many wild Beasts and Elephants Also in this Isle and in many Isles thereabout are many wild Geese with two heads and there are also in that country white Lyons and many other strange beasts but if I should tell all it would be too long CHAP. LXII Of a great Island called Dodyn there are many men of evil condition THere is there another Isle called Dodyn and it is a great Isle In the same Isle are many and divers sorts of men who have evil manners for the Father eateth the Son and the Son the Father the Husband his Wife and the Wife her Husband And if it so be that the Father be sick or the Mother or any Friend the Son goes soon to the Priest of the Law and prayeth him that he will ask of the Idol if his Father shall die of that sickness or not And then the Priest and the Son kneel down before the Idol devoutly and ask him and he answereth to them and if he say that he shall live then they keep him well and if he say that he shall die then cometh the Priest with the Son or with the Wife or any that is a friend unto him that is sick and they lay their hands over his mouth to stop his breath and so they slay him and then they smite all the body into pieces and pray all his friends for to come and eat of him that is dead and they make a great Feast thereof and have many Ministrils there and eat him with great melody And so when they have eaten all the flesh then they take the bones and bury them all singing with great mirth and all those of his friends that where not there at the eating of him have great shame and reproof so that they shall nevermore be taken as friends CHAP. LXIII Of the Kingdom of Mancie which is a large Kingdom TO go from this Isle toward the East after many days journy a man shall come to a kingdom called Mancy and this is in great Inde and it is the most delectable and plentiful land in all the world In this land dwell Christians and Sarasins for it is a great land and therein are fair women and therefore some men call that land Albany for the white Folk and there is a city that is called Latorim and it is bigger than Paris and therein are two thousand great Cities and many other Towns In this land no man goeth a begging for there is no poor man and there men have Beards as it were Cats In this Isle are Birds twice greater than they be here and there is all manner of Viduals good cheap In this country are white Hens and they bear no Featters but Wool as sheep do in our land and woman of that country that are Wedded bear Crowns upon their heads that they may be known by it In this country they take a beast that is called a Loyre and they keep it to go into Waters and Rivers and straight way he bringeth forth of the Water great Fishes and thus they take Fish as much as them needeth From this city men go many days journey to another city called Cassay which is one of the fairest in the World for that city is near fifty mile about and there is in that city above xii principal gates without From thence within three miles is another great city and within this city are more than ten thousand Bridges and upon each Bridge is a strong Tower where the keepers dwell to keep it against the great Caane for it boundeth on his land and on each side of the city runneth a great River and there dwell Christians and other for it is a good and plenteous country and there groweth very good Wines In this city the King of Mancie was wont to dwell and there dwell yet Religious men And men go upon the River till they come to an Abbey of Monks a little from the city and in that Abbey is a great Garden and therein is sundry sorts of Trees of divers Fruits In that Garden are divers kinds of Beasts as Baboones Apes Marmozets and other and when the Covent have eaten a Monk taketh the remainder and beareth it into the Garden ringeth once with a
Bell of Silver which he holdeth in his hand and anon come all those beasts that I speak of and many more near two or three thousand and he giveth them meat in fair Vessels of Silver and when they have eaten he smiteth the Bell again and they go away and the Monk saith that those Beasts are souls of men that are dead and those Beasts that are fair are souls of Lords and other rich men and those that are foul Beasts are souls of other Commons and I asked them if it had not been better to give that relief to poor men and they said There is no poor man in that Country but if there were yet were it more Alms to give it to those souls that suffer there their penance and may go no farther to get their meat then to men that have wit and may travel for their meat Then men come to a City that is called Chivens and there was the first siege of the King of Mancie In this City are threescore bridges of stone as fair as may be made CHAP. LXIV Of the Land of Pigme the people whereof are but three spans long WHen men pass from the City of Chivens they pass over a great River of fresh water and it is near four mile broad and then men enter into the land of the Great Caane This River goeth through the land Pigme and there men are of little stature for they are but three spans long and they are very fair both men and women though they be little and they are married when they are half a year old and they live but eight years for he that liveth eight year is holden very old these small men are the best workmen of Silk and Cotten and all manner of things that are in the world and these men travel not nor Till land but they have among them great men as we are to travel for them and have great scorn of those great men as we would have of Gyants or of them if they where among us CHAP. LXV Of the City of Manke where a great Navy is FRom this Land men go through many countries cities and Towns till they come to a city that men call Mank In that city is a great Navy of Ships and they are white as Snow by reason of the colour of the Wood they are made of and they are made as it where great Houses with Halls and chambers and other casements CHAP. LXVI Of the Land named Cathay and of the great riches thereof ANd from thence men go upon a River that men call Ceremolan and this River goeth through Cathay and doth many times harm when it waxeth great Cathay is a fair country and rich full of goods and merchandize thither come Merchants every year for to fetch Spices and other Merchandises more commonly then they do to other countries And ye shall understand that the Merchants that come from Venice or from Gene or from other places of Lombardy or of Italy they go by Sea and Land eleven months or more ere they come to Cathay CHAP. LXVII Of a great City named Cadon wherein is the great Palace and Seige IN the Province Cathay towards the Cast is an old city and beside that City the Tartarians have made another city that men call Cadon that hath xii Gates and between each two Gates is a great mile for those two cities the old and the new is round about xx miles in this city is the Palace and Seige of the great Caane it is a very fair place and great of which the Wals about be two miles and within that are many fair places and in the Garden of that Palace is a very great Hill on the which is another Palace and it is the fairest that may be found in any place and all about the Hill are many Trees bearing vivers fruits and about this Hill is a great Ditch and there near are many Rivers on each side and in those are many wilde Fowls that he may take and not go out of the Palace Within the Hall of that Palace are thirteen Pillars of Gold and all the Wals are covered with rich skins of Beasts that men call Panthers These are fair Beasts and well smelling and by the smell of those Skins no evil smell may come to the Pallace those Skins are as red as blood and they thine so against the Sun that a man can scarcely behold them and those Skins are estéemed there as much as gold In the midst of the Palace is a place made that they call the Monntor for the great Caan that is well deckt with great and precious stones hanging about and at the four corners of the Mountor are four Nedders of Gold and under that Mountor and about are Conduites of Beverage that they drink in the Emperors Court And the Hall of that Palace is richly deckt and well and first at the upper end of the Hall is the Throne of the Emperor very high were he sitteth at meat at a Table that is well bordered with gold and that border is full of precious stones and great pearls and the greeces on which he goeth up are of Divers precious stones bordered with Gold At the left side of this Throne is the seat of his Wife a degree lower then he sitteth and that is of Iaspar bordered with gold and the seat of his second Wife is a degree lower than the first and that is also of good Iasper bordered with gold and the seat of the third Wife is a degree lower than the second for always he hath thrée wives with him wheresoever he is beside these Wives on the same side sitteth other Ladies of his kin each one lower than other as they are of degrée and all those that are married have a counterfeit of a mans foot upon their Heads near a cubit long all made with precious stones and about they are made with shining Feathers of Peacocks or such other in token that they are in subiection of man and under mans feet and they that are not Wedded have none such And on the right side of the Emperor sitteth first his Son the which shall be Emperor after him and he sitteth also a degree lower thâ—n the Emperor in such manner of seats as the Emperor sitteth and by him sitteth other Lords of his kin each on lower then other as they are of degree And the Emperour hath his Table by himself alone that is made of gold and precious stones or of white christal or yellow bordered with gold and each one of his Wives hath a Table by her self And under the Emperors Table sitteth four Clarks at his feet that write all that the Emperor saith be it good or ill And at great feasts about the Emperors table and all other tables in the Hall is a Vine made of gold that goeth all about the Hall and it hath many branches of grapes like to grapes of the Vine some are white some are yellow some red some green
and some black all the red are of Rubies of Creams or Allovance the white are of Christal or Byral the yellow are of Topaces the gréen of Emeralds and Chrysolites and the black are of Dutcks and Gorands and this Vine is made thus of precious stones so properly that it seemeth that it were a Vine growing And before the board of the Emperor standeth great Lords and no man is so hardy to speak unto him except it be Musicians to solace the Emperor And all the Vessels that are served in his Hall or Chambers are of precious Stones and specially at the Tables where great Lords eat that is to say of Iasper Chrystal Amathist or fine Gold and the cups are of Emeralds Saphirs Topaces and other of any manner of stones and of Silver have they no Vessels for thy esteem but little of silver to make Vessels of but they make of Silver Greeces Pillars and Pavements of Halls and Chambers And ye shall understand that my Fellow and I were in wages with him sixteen moneths against the King of Mancy upon whom he made War and the cause was we had so great desire to see the Nobility of his Court if it were such as we heard speak of and truly we found it more rich and of greater Royalty then ever we heard speak of and we should never have believed it had we not seen it but ye shall understand the use of eating and drinking is more evil among us then in those countries for all the Commons eat upon skins of Beasts on their knees and eat the flesh of all manner of Beasts and when they have all eat they wipe their hands on their Shirts and they eat but once in the day and eat but little bread but the manner of the Lords is full Noble CHAP. LXVIII Wherefore the Emperour of Cathay is called the great Caane ANd ye shall understand why he is call'd the great Caane ye know that all the World was destroyed with Noes Floud but Noe his wife and children Noe had three sons Sem Cham and Japhat Cham when he saw his Fathers Privities naked when he slept he scorned it and therefore he was cursed and Japhat covered it These thrée Brethren had all land Then Cham took the best part Eastward that is call'd Asia Sem took Africk and Jâ—phat took Europe C ham was the mightiest and richest of his brethren and of him are come the Painim Folk and divers manner of men of those Isles some headless other men disfigured for this Cam the Emperor they called him Cham and Lord of all But ye shall understand that the Emperor of Cathay is called Caane and not Cham and for this cause It is not long ago that all Tartary was in subjection and thrall to other Nations about and they were made Heardsmen to keep beasts and among them were vij Linages or Kings the first was called Tartary that is the best the second Linage is called Tamahot the third Furace the fourth Vilatre the fifth Semoth the sixth Menchy and the seventh Sobeth These are all holden of the great Caane of Cathay Now it befel that the first Linage was an old man and he was not rich and men called him Chanius This man lay and slept on a night in his bed and there came to him a Knight all white sitting upon a white horse and said to him Caane sléepest thou God that is Almighty sent me to thee and it his will that thou say to the vij Linages that thou shalt be their Emperor for you shall conquer all the land about you and they shall be in your subjection as you have béen in theirs and when the morrow came he rose up and told it to the vij Linages and they scorned him and said he was a fool and the next night the same Knight came to the seven Linages and have them in Gods behalf to make Chanius their Emperor and they should be out of all subjection And on the morrow they those Chanius to be Emperor and did him all worship that they might do and called him Caane as the white Knight called him and they said they would do as he have them Then he made many statutes and Laws the which is called Isakan The first Statute was that they might be obedient to God Almighty and believe that he would deliver them out of thraldom and that they should call on him in all their works Another Statute was that all men that could bear arms should be numbred and to each ten should be a Master and to a hundred a Master and to a thousand a Master Then he commanded to all the greatest and principallest of the vii Linages that they should forsake all that they had in Heritage or Lordship and that they should hold them apaid of that he would give them of his Grace and they did so And also he had them that each man should bring his eldest Son before him and slay his own Son with is own hands and smite off his Head and presently they did his bidding And when he saw they made no letting of that he bade them then he bade them follow his Banner and then he put in subjection all the Land about him CHAP. LXIX How the Great Caane was hid under a Tree and so escaped his Enemies because of a Bird. ANd it befell on a day that the Caan rod with a few men to see the Land that he had won and he met with a great multitude of his enemies and there he was cast down off his Horse and his Horse slain and when his men saw him at the earth they thought he had béen dead and fled and the Enemies followed after and when he saw his Enemies were far he hid him in a Bush for the Wood was thick there and when they were come again from the Chase they went to séek among the Wood if any were hid there and they found many and as they came to the place where he was they saw a Bird sit on a Trée the which Bird men call an Owl and then say they that there was no man for the Bird sat there and so went they away and thus was the great Caane saved from death and so he went away on a night to his own men which were glad of his coming and from that time unto this day men of that Countrey have that Bird in great reverence and for that cause they worship that Bird above all other Birds of the World And incontinent he assembled all his men and rod upon his Enemies and destroyed them and when he had won all the lands that where about him he held them in subiection And when the Caane had led all the Lords to Mount Belyan the white Knight came to him in a vision again and said unto him Caane the Will of God is that thou pass the Mount Belyan and thou shalt win many Lands and because then shalt find no passage go thou to the Mount Belyan
that is upon the sea side and knéel nine times thereon against the East and Worshâ—p God and he shall shew thée a way how thou shalt pass and tho Caane did so and anon the Sea that touched the Hill withdrew it self and shewed him a fair way of nine foot broad between the Hill and the Sea and so he passed right well with all his men and then he wan the land of Cathay that is the best land and the greatest of all the World and for those nine knéelings and the nine foot of way the Caane and the men of Tartary have the number of nine in great worship CHAP. LXX Of the great Caane's Letters and the writing about his Seal ANd when he had won the land of Cathay he died and then raigned after Cychoco the eldest Son of Caane and his other Brothers went to win them lands in other countries and they won the land of Prusse and of Rusie and they call themselves Caanes but he of Cathay is the greatest Lord of the World and so he calls himself in his Letters and saith thus Caane filius Dei excelsi universam terram colentium summus Imperator Dominus Dominantium That is to say Caane Gods Son Emperour of all those that till the Land and Lord of Lords And the writing about the Great Seal is Deus in Coelo Caane super terram ejus fortitudo omnium hominum Imperatoris sigillum That is to say God in Heaven Caane upon Earth the strength the Seal of the Emperour of all men And the writing about his Privy Seal is Dei fortitudo omnium hominum Imperatoris sigillum That is the strength of God the Seal of the Emperour of all men Although it be so that they be not Christians yet the Emperour and the Tartarians believe God Almighty CHAP. LXXI Of the Governance of the Country of the Great Caane NOw have I told you why he his called the great Caane Now shall I tell you of the governing of his Court when they make great Feasts and he keepeth four principal Feasts in the year the first is of his Birth the second when he was carried to the Temple to be Circumcised the third is of his Idols when they begin to speak and the fourth when the Idol beginneth first to do Miracles and at those times he hath men well arrayed by thousands and by hundreds and each one knows what he shall do For there is first ordained four thousand rich Barones and mighty for to ordain the Feast and to serve the Emperour and all these Barons have Crowns of Gold well deckt with precious Stones and Pearls and they are clad in Cloth of Gold and Camathas as richly as they may be made they may well have such cloaths for they are there of less price then woollen cloth is here And these four thousand Barons are parted into four parts and each Company is clad in divers colours very richly and when the first thousand is passed and hath shewed themselves then come the second thousand and then the third thousand and then the fourth and none of them speaketh a word And on the one side of the Emperours Table sitteth many Philosophers of many Sciences some of Astronomy Negromancy Geometry Pyromancy and many other Sciences and some have before them Astrolobes of Gold or pretious Stones full of sand or of Coals burning some have Horologies well dight and richly and many other Instruments after their Sciences and at a certain hour when they sée time they say to men that stand before them Make peace and then say those men with a loud voice to all the Hall Now he still a while and then saith one of the Philosophers Each man make reverence and incline to the Emperor that is Gods Son and Lord of the world for now is time and hour and then all men bow to him and knéel on the Earth and then the Philosopher biddeth them rise up again and at another hour another Philosopher biddeth them put their finger in their Ears and they do so and at another hour another Philosopher biddeth that all men shall lay their hands on their Heads and they do so and then he biddeth them take them away and they do so and thus from hour to hour they bid divers things And I asked privately what it should mean and one of the Masters said that the bowing the knéeling on the Earth at that time hath this token that all those men that knéeled so shall evermore be true to the Emperor that for no gift nor threatning they shall never be Traytors nor false to him and the putting of the finger in the Ear hath this token that none of those shall hear any ill spoken of the Emperor or his Council And ye shall understand that men bring nothing as cloaths bread drink nor no such things to the Emperor but at certain hours that the Philosophers tell and if any man raise War against the Emperor in what Country soever it be these Philosophers know it soon and tell the Emperor or his Council and he sendeth men thither for he hath many men Also he hath many men that kéep birds as Gerfalkons Sparhawks Falkons Gentles Lavers Sacres Popinfayes that can speak and many other He hath ten thousand Elephants Baboons Marmozets and other and he hath ever about him many Phisitians more then two hundred that are Christian men Sarafins but yet he trusteth more in Christian men then in Sarafins And there is in that Country many Sarasins that are converted to the Faith through the preaching of good Christian men that dwell there and there are many that will not be known they are Christians CHAP. LXXII Of the great riches of the Emperor of his dispending THis Emperor is a great Lord he may dispend what he will without number because he spendeth neither Silver nor Gold and maketh no Money but of Leather or Skins and this same Money goeth through all his Land and of the Silver and Gold buildeth he his Palace and he hath in his Chamber a Pillar of Gold in the which is a Ruby and a Carbuncle of a foot long the which lighteth all his Chamber by night and he hath many other precious Stones and Rubies but this is the richest This Emperour dwelleth in the Summer toward the North in a City that men call Saydus and there it is very cold and in the Winter he dwelleth in a City that men call Camalach and there it is very hot but for the most part he is at Cadon that is not far from thence CHAP. LXXIII Of the Ordinance of the Lords of the Emperour when he rideth from one Country to another to war ANd when the great Caane doth ride from one Country to another they ordain four Hosts of peeple of which the first goeth before a daies Journey and that Host lyeth at even where the Emperor shall lie on the Morrow and there is plenty of Victuals And another Host
cometh at the right side of him and another at the left side and in each Host is many men and then cometh the fourth Host behind him a Bow draught and there is more men in that then in any other And ye shall understand that the Emperoux rideth on no Horse but when he will go to any secret place with a small Train where he will not be known then he rideth in a Chariot with four Whéels and thereupon is a Chamber made of a trée that men call Lignum Aloes that cometh out of Paradise terrestre and that chamber is covered with fine gold and precious Stones and Pearls and four Elephants and four Oxen all white go therein and five or six great Lords ride about him so that none other man may come nigh him except the Emperor call any and in the same manner with a Chariot and such Train rideth the Empress by another side and the Emperors eldest Son in that same Array and they have so many people that it is a great marvel for to sée CHAP. LXXIV How the Empire of the great Caane is divided into twelve Provinces and how they do cast Incense in the fire where the great Caane passeth through the Cities and Towns in worship of the Emperour THe land of the great Caane is divided into twelve Provinces and every Province hath more then two thousand cities and towns And when the Emperor rideth through the country as he passeth through cities and towns each man maketh a fire before his house and casteth therein Incense and other things that give good smell to the Emperor And if any men of Religion that are Christian men dwell near where the Emperor cometh they méet him with Procession with Cross and holy water and they sing Veni Creator Spiritus with loud voice when he séeth them coming he commandeth the Lords to ride near to them to make way that the Religious men may come to him when he séeth the Cross he doth off his Hat that is made of precious stones and great Pearls and that Hat is so rich that it is marvel to tell and then he inclineth to the Cross and the Prelate of the Religious men saith Orisons before him and giveth him the blessing with the Cross and he inclineth to the blessing full devoutly and then the Prelate giveth him some fruit to the number of nine Pears or Apples or other fruit in a Platter of Gold and then the Emperor taketh one thereof and the other he giveth to his Lords for the manner is such there that no strange man may come before the Emperor but he gives him somewhat after the old Law that saith Non accedit conspectu meo inanis that is to say No man comes into my sight empty And then the Emperor biddeth those Religious men that they go forth so that men of his Host defile them not and those Religious men that dwell where the Empress or the Emperors Son cometh they do in the same manner CHAP. LXXV How the Caane is the mightiest Lord of all the world THis great Caane is the mightiest Lord of the world for Prester John is not so great a Lord as he nor the Souldan of Babylon nor the Emperor of Persia. In this land a man hath an hundred wives some forty and some more some less and they take of their kin to wives all save their Sisters their Mothers and Daughters and they also take their Step-mother if their Father be dead and men and women have all one manner of cloathing so that they may not be known but the women that are married bear a token on their heads and they dwell not with their Husbands but he may lie by any as he will They have plenty of all manner of beasts save swine for they will kéep none and they believe in God that made all things and yet have they Idols of Gold and Silver and to those Idols they offer their first milk of beasts CHAP. LXXVI Yet of other manners of this Country THe Emperor the great Caane hath thrée Wives and the principal wife was Prester Johns Daughter Andthe people of this country begin to do all their things in the new Moon and they worship much the Sun and the Moon those men ride commonly without Spurs and they hold it a great sin to break one bone with another and to spill Milk on the ground or any other liquor that men may drink and the most fault that they may do is to piss in the Houses where they dwell and he that pisseth in his House shall be slain and of that sin they shrive them to their Priests and for their Penance they give Silver and the place where they have pissed shall be hallowed or else may no man come there And when they have done their Penance they shall pass through a fire or two to make them clean of their sins when they have eaten they wipe their hands upon their skirts for they have no Table-cloaths except it be very great Lords and when they have all eaten they put their dishes or platters not washed into a Pot or Cauldren with the flesh that is left when they have eaten until they will eat another time and rich men drink Milk of Mares Asses or other beasts and other Beverage that is made of Milk and Water together for they have neither Beer nor Wine And when they go to War they War full wisely and each man of them beareth two or thrée Bows and many Arrows and a great Hatchet Gentlemen have short Swords and he that sleeth in Battel they slay him and they are ever in purpose to bring all the land in subiection to them for they say it is Prophesied that they shall overcome by shot of Archers and that they shall turn men to their Law but they wot not what men they shall be and it is great peril to pursue the Tartarians when they flée for they will shoot behind and slay men as well as before and they have small eyes as little Birds and they are commonly false for they hold not their promise And when a man shall die among them they strike a Spear in the earth beside him and when he draweth to the death they go out of the House till he be dead then they put him into the Earth in the Field CHAP. LXXVII How the Emperour is brought unto his Grave when he is dead ANd when the Emperor is dead they set him into a Cart in the midst of his Tent and then set before him a Table covered with a Cloth thereupon they set slesh and other meat and a Cup full of Mares Milk and they set a Mare with a Colt by him and a Horse sadled and bridled and they lay upon the Horse Gold and Silver and all about him they make a great Pit and with all the things they put him therein as the Tent Horse Gold and Silver and all that is about him and they say when he cometh
into another world he shall not be without an house nor horse nor silver nor gold and the Mare shall give him Milk and bring forth more Horses till he be well slored in another World and one of his Chamberlains or servants is put with him in the earth for to do him service in the other World for they believe that when he is dead he shall go to another World and be a greater Lord there then here and when he is laid in the earth no man may be so hardy for to speak of him before his friend CHAP. LXXVIII When the Emperour is dead how they chuse and make another ANd when the Emperor is dead seven of the Kindred gather them together and they touth his Son or the next of his blood and they say thus We will and we ordain and we pray thée that thou wilt be our Lord and Emperor and he enquired of them and saith If ye will that I reign over you then must you do all that I bid you And if I bid that any shall be slain he shall be slain and they answer all with one loud voice All that ye bid shall be done Then says the Emperor From henceforth my word shall cut as my Sword and then they set him in a Chair and Crown him and then all the good Towns thereabout send to him presents so much that he shall have more then an hundred Camels loden with Gold and Silver beside other Iewels that he shall have of Lords as precious Stones and Gold without number and Horses and rich cloaths of Camacas and Tarius and such other CHAP. LXXIX What Countries and Kingdomes be next to the Land of Cathay and the Fronts thereof THis Land of Cathay is in Asia the déep and this same land reacheth towards the West upon the Kingdom of Sercie the which pertained some time to one of the thrée Kings that went to séek our Lord in Bethlem and all those that come of this kin are Christian men These men of Tartary drink no Wine In the Land of Corosayme that is at the North-side of Cathay is a very great plenty of goods but no Wine the which hath at the East side a great Wilderness that lasteth more then a hundred daies iourney and the best City of that land is called Corosaym and after the name of that City is the land called and men of this land are good Warriours and hardy and thereby is the Kingdom of Comayne this is the most and the greatest Kingdom of the World but is not all inhabited for in one place of the land is so great cold that no man may dwell there for cold and in another place is so great heat that no man may dwell there and there are so many Faiths that a man cannot tell on what side he may turn him and in this land are few trées bearing fruit In this land men lie in Tents and they burn dung of Beasts for lack of wood This land descendeth toward Prusie and Rusie and through this land runneth the River Echel that is one of the greatest Rivers of the World and it is frozen so hard every year that men fight thereupon in great Battels on Horse and Foot-men more then a hundred thousand at once And a little from that River is the great Ocean that they call Maure and betwéen this Maure and Aspy is a very streight passage to go toward Inde and therefore King Alexander did make there a City that men call Alexandry for to kéep that passage so that no man may pass unless he have leave and now is that City called Port de Fear and the principall City of Comaine is called Sarachis that is one of the thrée ways to go to Inde but through this way may not men go unless it be in Winter and this passage is called Berbent And another way is to go from the land of Tulkescon through Persia in this way are many daies iourney in Wilderness And the third way is that that cometh from Cosmane and goeth through the great City and through the Kingdoms of Abachare And ye shall understand that all these Kingdoms and Lordships unto Persia are holden of the Caane and many other and therefore he is a great Lord of men and of land CHAP. LXXX Of other ways coming from Cathay toward the Greek Sea and of the Emperour of Persia. NOw that I have shewed you the land toward the North to come from the lands of Cathay to the lands of Prusie and Russie where Christian men dwell Now shall I shew unto you of other lands and Kingdomes in coming down from Cathay to the Gréek Sea where Christian men dwell and for as much as next the great Caane of Cathay the Emperor of Persia is the greatest Lord therefore I shall speak of him and ye shall understand that he hath two Kingdoms the one beginneth Eastward and it is the Kingdom of Turkescon and it lasteth Westward to the sea of Caspy and Southward to the land of Inde This land is great and plain and well manned with good Cities but two most principal the which are called Facirida and Sormaguant The other is the Kingdom of Persia and lasteth from the river of Pison unto great Armony and Northward unto the sea of Caspy Southwards to the land of Inde and this is a full plenteous country and a good In this land are thrée principal Cities Nassal or Saphen and Sermesse CHAP. LXXXI Of the Land of Armony which is a good Land and of the Land of Middy THen is the land of Armony in the which was sometimes thrée Kingdoms that is a good land and plenteous and it beginneth at Persia and lasteth Westward to Turky in length and in breadth lasteth from the City of Alexander that now is called Pott de Fear unto the land of Middy In this Armony are many fair cities but Canrissy is most of name Then is the land of Middy and it is very long and not bread and beginneth Eastward to the land of Persia and Inde the less and lasteth Westward to the Kingdom of Chalde and Northward to little Armony in this Middy are many great Hills and little Plains and there dwell Sarasins and other manner of men that men call Cordiner and Kermen CHAP. LXXXII Of the Kingdomes of Georgy and Abean and many marvels THen next is the Kingdom of Georgy that beginneth Eastward at a great Hill that men call Abior this land lasteth from Turkey to the great sea and to the land or Middy and to great Armony And in this land are two Kingdoms one of Abcan and another of Georgy but he of Georgy is in subiection to the great Caane but he of Abcan hath a strong country and defendeth him well against the Enemies and in this land of Abcan is a great marvel for there is a country in this land that is near three days iourney in length and it is called Hampton that country is all covered with darkness so
this land are many Griffons more than in other places and some say they have the body before as an Eagle and behind as a Lyon and it is true for they be made so but the Griffon hath a body greater than 8 Lyons and stronger then 100 Eagles for certainly he will bear to his Nest flying a Horse and a man upon his back or two Oxen yoked together as they go to Plough for he hath long nails on his feet as great as it were horns of Oxen and of those they make Cups there to drink with and of his ribs they make Bows to shoot with CHAP. LXXXVI Of the way to go to Prester Johns land which is Emperour of Inde FRom this land of Badile men go in many days journey to the land of Prester John that is a great Emperor of Inde and men call his land the Isle of Pantrore This Emperor Prester John holdeth a great land and many good Cities and good Towns In this Kingdom are many good Isles and large for the land of Inde is parted into Isles because of great Rivers that come out of Paradise and also in the sea are many great Isles The best City that is the Isle of Pantrore is called Nile that is a noble City end a rich Prester John hath under him many Kings and divers Lords and his land is good and rich but not so rich as the land of the great Caane for Merchants come not so much thither as they do into the land of the great Caane for it is too long a journey And also they find in that Isle of Cathay all things that they have need of as Spicerie Cloth of Gold and other Riches and although they might have better cheap in the land of Prester John then in the land of Cathay and more fine nevertheless they will not go thither by reason of the length of the journey and great perils on sea for there are many places in the sea where are many Rocks of a Stone that is called Adamant the which of his own kind draweth to him all manner of Iron and therefore there may be no Ships that have iron nails pass but it draweth them to it and therefore they dare not go into that country with Ships for fear of the Adamant I went once into that sea and saw as it had been a great Isle of trees stocks and branches growing and â—he Shipmen told me that those were great ships that above there through the vertue of the Adamants and of things that were in the ships whereof those Trees sprung and wared and such Rocks are there many in divers places of the Sea and therefore dare there no shipmen pass that way And another thing also is that they fear the long way and therefore they go most to Cathay and that is nearer unto them And yet it is not so near but that from Venice or Gene by sea to Cathay is xi or xii months journy The land of Prester John is long and Merchants pass thither through the land of Persia and come into a City that men call Hermes for a Philospher that was called Hermes founded it and then pass an arm of the sea and come to another City that men call Saboth and there find they all Merchandises and Popinjayes as great plenty as Larks in our country In this country is little Wheat or Barley and therefore they eat Rice Milk and Cheese and other fruits This Emperor Prester John wedded commonly the Daughter of the great Caane and the great Caane his Daughter In the land of Prester John is many strange things and many precious stones so great and so large that they make of them Vessels Platters and Cups and many other things of which it were too long to tell but some what of his Law and of his Faith I shall tell you CHAP. LXXXVII Of the Faith and Belief of Prester John but he hath not all the full Belief as we have THis Emperor Prester John is Christred and a great part of his land also but they have not all the Articles of our Faith but they believe well in the Father the Son and the Holy Gost and they are very devout and true one to another and they make no force of Cattel And he hath under him 72 Provinces and countries and in each one is a King and those Kings have other Kings under them And in this land are many marvels for in this land is a gravelly sea that is of sand and gravel and no drop of water and it ebbeth and fleweth with very great waves as another sea doth and it is never standing still and never in rest and no man can pass to the land beyond it And although there be no water in the Sea yet men may find therein very good Fish and of other fashion and shape then are in any other sea and also they are of a very good taste and sweet and good to eat And three daies journey from that Sea are many great Hills through which runneth a great Floud that cometh from Paradise and it is full of precious stones and no drop of water and it runneth with great Waves into the gravelly sea and this floud runneth three daies in the week so fast that it carrieth great stones of the Rock with it that make such noise and as soon as they come into the gravel sea they are no more seen and in those three daies when it runneth thus no man dare come in it but the other daies men go therein when they will And so beyond that floud toward the Wilderness is a great Plain among Hills all sandy and gravelly and in that plain grow trees that at the rising of the Sun each day begin to grow and so grow they till-midday and bear fruit but no man dare eat of that fruit for it is a manner of Irâ—n and after mid-day it turneth again to the earth so that when the Sun goeth down it is nothing seen and so doth it every day And there is in that Wilderness many wild men with Horns on their Heads very hideous and they speak not but rout as Swine And in that country are many Popinjays that they call in their Language Pistak and they speak through their own kind partly as a man and those that speak well have long Tongues and large and on every foot five Toes but there are some that have three Toes but those speak not or very ill CHAP. LXXXVIII Of another Island where also dwelleth good people therein and it is called Synople THen is there another Isle that is called Synople wherein also are good people and true and full of good Faith and they are much like in their living to the men beforesaid and they go all naked Into that Island came King Alexander and when he saw their good Faith and Truth and their good Belief he said he would do them no harm and bid them ask of him Riches or any thing else and they should have
it And they answered that they had Riches enough when they have meat and drink to sustain their bodies and they said also That Riches of this world is nought worth but if it were so that he might grant them that they should never die that would they pray him And Alexander said That might he not do for he was mortal and should die as they should Then said they Why art thou so proud and wouldest win all the world and have it in subjection as it were a God and hast no term of thy life and thou will have all Riches of the World the which shall forsake thee or thou forsake them and thou shalt bear nothing with thee but it shall remain to others but as thou wert born naked so shalt thou be done in Earth And Alexander was greatly astonished at this speech And though it be so that they have not the Articles of our Faith nevertheless I believe that God liketh their service as he did of Job that was a Painim the which he held for his true servant and many other I believe verily that God loveth all those that love him and serve him meekly and truly and that despise the vain glory of the World as these men do and Job did and therefore said our Lord through the mouth of the holy Prophet Esay Ponam eis multiplices leges meas that is to say I shall put Laws to them in many manners And the Gospel faith thus Alias oves habeo quae non sunt ex hoc ovili that is I have other sheep that are not of this fold and thereto accordeth the Vision that S. Peter saw at Ioppa how the Angel came from Heaven and brought with him all manner of Beasts and Serpents and divers Fowls saying to S. Peter Take and eat and S. Peter answered I never eat of any unclean Beast and the Angel said to him Non dicas immunda quae Deus mundavit That is to say Call thou not those things unclean that God hath cleansed This was done in token that men should not have any man in disdain for their divers Laws for we wot not whom God loveth and whom God hateth CHAP. LXXXIX Of two other Isles the one is called Pitan wherein be little men that can eat no meat and in the other Isle the men are all full of Feathers THere is another Isle that men call Pitan the men of this land till no ground for they eat nothing and they are small but not so small as Pigmies These men live with the smell of wild Apples and when they go far out of the country they bear Apples with them for as soon as they loose the savour of Apples they die they are not reasonable but as wild as beasts And there is another Isle where the people are feathered but their Face and the Palms of their Hands these men go as well about the sea as on the land and they eat Flesh and Fish all raw in this Isle is a River that is two mile and a half broad that men call Kenemar CHAP. XC Of a rich man in Prester Johns land named Catolonapes and of his Garden ALso in an Isle of Prester Johns land called Miscorach there was a man that was called Catolonapes he was rich and had a fair Castle on a Hill and strong and he made a Wall about the Hill very strong and fair within he had a fair Garden wherein were many Trées bearing all manner of Fruits that he might find and he had planted therein all manner of Herbs of good smell and they bear Flowers and there were many fair Wells and by them was made many Halls and Chambers well deckt with Gold and Azure and he had made there divers Stories of Beasts and Birds that song and tuned by Engine or Drbage as they had béen quick and he had in his Garden all things that might be to mans solace and Comfort He had also in that Garden Maidens of the age of fiftéen years the fairest that he might find and men-children of the same age and they were clothed with Cloth of Gold and he said that they were Angels and he caused to be made certain Hills and enclosed them about with precious Stones of Iasper and Chrystal and with Gold and Pearl and other manner of Stones and he made a conduit under the earth so that when he would the Wells ran sometime with Milk sometime with Wine and sometime Honey and this place he called Paradise and when any young Batchelor of the country Knight or Squire cometh to him for solace or sport he leadeth them into his Paradise and sheweth them these things as the Songs of Birds and his Damosels and Wells and he did strike divers Instruments of Musick in a high Tower that might be heard and said they were Angels of God and that place was Paradise that God had granted to those that believed when he saith thus Dabo vobis terram fluentem lacte melle that is I will give you a land flowing with Milk and Honey And then this man did make these men drink a manner of drink by which they were drunken and he said to them If they would die for his sake when they were dead they should come to his Paradise and they should be of the age of those Maidens and should dwell alway with them and he would put them in a fairer Paradise where they should sée God in his joy and in his Majesty and when they granted to do that he would then he had them go and slay such a Lord or a man of the country that he was wroth with and that they should have no fear of any man and if they were slain themselves for his sake he would put them into his Paradise when they were dead And so went those Batchelors to slay great Lords of the country and were slain themselves in hope to have that Paradise and thus was he avenged of his enemies through his deceit And when rich men of the country perceived his cautel and malice and the will of this Catolonapes they gathered themselves together and assailed the Castle and slew him and destroyed all his goods and his fair places and riches that were in his Paradise and the place of the Wells are there yet and some other things but the riches are gone and it is not long agone since it was destroyed CHAP. XCI Of a perilous Valley that is beside the River Pison ANd a little from this place on the left side beside the River of Pison is a great marvell There is a Valley betwéen two Hills and that is four mile long and some men call it the Valley Enchanted some the Valley of Divels some the Valley perilous and in that Valley are many Tempests and a great noise very hideous both day and night and a sound as it were a noise of Labours and Trumpets as it were at a great Feast This Valley is full of Divels and hath béen always and
men say there is an entry to Hell In this Valley is much Gold and Silver whereof many Christian men and other go thither for desire of that Gold and Silver but few of them come out again for they are anon strangled with Divels And in the middest of that Valley on a Rock is a Visage and the head of a Fiend bodily very hideous and dreadful to sée and there is nothing séen but the head and the shoulders but there is no Christian man or other in the world so hardy but that he would be greatly afraid to behold it for he beholdeth each man so sharply and his eyes are so stairing and sparkling as fire and he changeth so often his countenance that no man dare come near for all the World and out of his Nose conteth great plenty of fire of divers colours and sometime is the fire so stinking that no man may suffer it but alway a good Christian man and one that is stedfast in the Faith may go thereto without harm if they call to God only for forgiveness of their sins then shall the Devils have no power over them And ye shall understand that when my Fellows and I were in that Valley we had very great doubt if we should put our Bodies in a venture to go through it and some of my Fellows agréed thereunto and some would not and there were in our campany two fryers minours of Lumbardy who said If any of us would go in they would also As they had said so upon trust of them we said that we would go and we did make our Prayers to God for our safeguard and so we went in 14 men and when we came out we were but 10 and we wist not whether those four was lost there or whether they turned again but we saw them no more other of our company who would not go in with us went about another way for to be before us and so they were but we went through the Valley and saw there many strange things as Gold Silver precious Stones and Iewels great plenty as we thought whether they were so or no I know not for Devils are so subtil and false that they make many times a thing to séem that it is not for to deceive men and therefore I would touch nothing for fear of enemies that I saw there in many likenesses some of dead bodies that I saw lie in the Valley but I dare not say that they were all bodies but they were bodily shapes through making of Devils and we were often thrown down to the earth by wind thunder and tempest but God helped us alway and so passed we through that Valley without peril or harm thanks be to God CHAP. XCII Of an Island wherein dwell People as great as Gyants of eight and twenty or thirty foot of length and of other things ANd beyond that Valley is a great Isle where be people as great as Gyants of 28 foot long and they have no clothing but Beasts Skins that hang on them and they eat no bread but raw flesh and they drink Milk and they have no Houses and they gladlier eat mens flesh than other And men told us that beyond that Isle is another wherein are greater Gyants of 45 or 50 foot long some 50 cubits long but I saw them not And among those Gyants are great Shéep as if it were young Oren and they bear great Wool these shéep have I séen many times Another Isle there is Northward where are many evil and foul Women but they have precious stones in their eyes and they have such force that if they behold any man with wrath they slay them with beholding as the Basilisk doth Another Isle is there of fairer Folk and good where the custome is such the first night that they are Wedded they take a certain man that is ordained therefore and let him lie by their Wives to have their Maiden-heads and they give him a great reward for his travel and those men are called Gadsybrien for men of that country hold it a great thing to make a Women no Maiden and if it be so that the Husband find her a Maiden the next night after for peradventure he that lay by her was drunken or for any other cause the Husband shall complain of him to the Lawyers that he hath not done his Devour and he shall be grievously punished and chastized but after the first night they keep their Wives well that they speak not with those men and I asked what was the cause why they had that custom and they said Heretofore men lay with their Wives first and no other and their Wives had Serpents in their bodies and stung their Husbands in the Yard or on their bodies and so were many men slain and therefore they had that custom to let other men have their Maiden-heads for fear of death and thus they suffer them to assay the passage ere they adventure CHAP. XCIII Of women which make great sorrow when their Children are born great joy when they are dead ANother Isle there is where women make great sorrow when their children are born and when they are dead they made great joy and cast them into a great fire and burn them And they that love well their Husbands when they are dead they cast them in a fire and burn them for they say that fire shall make them clean of all filth and vices and they shall be clean in another world and the cause why they wéep when their children are born and that they joy at their death is they say a child when he is born cometh into this World to have travel sorrow and heaviness and when they are dead they go to Paradise where Rivers are of Milk and Honey And there is life and joy and plenty of goods without travel or sorrow In this Isle they Elect their Kings by voices and they chuse him not for his riches and nobleness but him that is of good conditions and most righteous and true that judgeth every man truly little and much after their trespass and the King may judge no man to death without counsel of his Barons and that they all assent And if it be so that their King do a great trespass as slay a man or such like he shall die also but he shall not be slain but they charge and command that no man be so hardy to keep him company nor to speak to him nor give him meat nor drink and thus he dieth for they spare no man that hath done a trespass for Love Lordship Riches or Nobleness but they do him right after he hath deserved CHAP. XCIV Of an Island where men wed their own Daughters and Kinswomen THere is another Isle where is that great plenty of people and they never eat flesh of Hares nor of Hens nor Geese yet is there many of them but they eat of all other Beasts and they drink Milk In this country they wed their own daughters
and other of their kin as them liketh and if there be 10. or 11. men in one house each one of their Wives shall be common to other and at night one have one of their Wives and another night another and if she have any child she may give it to whom she will so that no man knows it to be his In this land and many other places of Inde are many Crocodiles that is a manner of long Serpent and on nights they dwell on water and on days they dwell on land and Rocks and they eat not in winter These Serpents slay men and eat them wéeping and they have no tongue In this Country and many other men cast séed of Cotten and sow it each year and it groweth as it were small Trées and they bear Cotten In Araby is a kind of Beast that some men call Gersants that is a fair Beast and he is higher then a great Courser or Stéed but his neck is near xx Cubits long and his tale like a Hart and he may look over an high house And there are many Camelions that is a little Beast and he never eateth or drinketh and he changeth his coleur often for sometime he is of one colour and sometime of another and he may change him into all colours that he will save black and red There are many wild Swine of many colours and as great as Oxen and they are spotted as it were small Fawns and there are Lions all white and there be other Beasts as great as Stéeds that men call Lamborans and some men call them Tonts and their head is black and thrée long horns in his front as cutting as sharp swords and he chaseth and will slay Elephants And there is many other manner of Beasts of whom it were too long to write all CHAP. XCV Of an Isle where dwell good people and true THere is another Island good and great and plenteous where are good men and true and of godly life after their Faith and though they be not Christians nevertheless of kind they are full of good Vertues and they flye Vices and all sin and malice for they are not envious proud covetous leacherous nor gluttonous and they do unto another man that they would he did to them and they fullfill the ten Commandements and they take no force of riches nor of having and they swear not but they say Yea and Nay for they say he that sweareth will deceive his Neighbour and some men call this Isle The Isle of Bragamen and some call it the land of Faith and through it runneth a great River that men call Thebe and generally all men in those Isles and other thereby are truer and wiser then in other countries In this Isle are no Théeves Murderers nor Beggars And forasmuch as they are so true and so good there is no Tempest nor Thunder War Hunger nor Tribulation and thus it séemeth well that God loveth them well and he is well pleased with their déeds and they believe in God that made all things and him they worship and they live so temperately in meat and drink that they live very long and many of them die without sickness and their life faileth them with age CHAP. XCVII How King Alexander sent his men to win that land SOmetime Alexander sent men to win that land And they sent him Letters that said thus What behoveth a man to have all the World that is not content therewithal Thou shalt find nothing at all in us Why shouldest thou make War upon us For we have no Riches nor Treasure and all the Cattel of our Country are common our Meats that we eat are our Riches and instead of Gold and Silver we make our Treasure Peace and Concord and Love and we have nought but a Cloth upon our Bodies our Wives are not arrayed richly to please for we hold it a great folly for a man to trim up his Body with costly apparel to make it séem fairer then God made it We have béen evermore in peace till now that thou wilt dis-inherit us We have a King among us not for néed of the Law nor to judge any man for there are no Trespassers among us but all only to learn us to be obedient to him and so mayest thou take from us but our good peace And when King Alexander saw this Letter he thought he should do too much harm if he troubled them and sent to them that they should kéep well their good manners and have no dread of him CHAP. XCVII How the Emperour Prester John when he goeth to Battel hath three Crosses of fine Gold born before him THe Emperor Prester John when he goeth to Battel hath no Banner born before him but he hath born before him thrée Crosses of finé Gold large and great and richly set with precious Stones and for to kéep each Cross he ordaineth a thousand men of Arms in manner as men kéep a Standard in other countries and he hath men without number when he goeth to any battel against any other Prince And when he hath no battel but rideth to take the Air then hath he born before him but a Cross of a Trée not painted and without Gold or precious Stones and all plain in token that our Lord Iesus Christ suffered death on a Cross of Trée And also he hath born before him a Vessel full of Iewels and Gold and precious Stones in token of his present Nobleness and of his Might he hath born before him like wise a Platter of Gold full of earth in token that all Lordship and Nobleness shall turn to nought and all flesh shall turn to earth CHAP. XCVIII Of the most resident place of Prestor John which is in a City called Suse ANd he dwelleth commonly at the city of Suse and there is his principal Palace and it is so rich that it is strange to tell for about the principal Tower of the Palace are two pomels of Gold all round and each one of these hath two Carbuncles great and large that shine very clear in the night and the principal Gates of this Palace are of precious Stones that men call Sardine and the Borders of the Ears are Ivory the Windows of the Hall and Chambers are of Chrystal the Tables they eat on are some of Emeraulds some of Mayk some of Gold and precious Stones and the Pillars that bear the Table are of such Stones also and the Stairs on the which the Emperor goeth up to his Table where he sitteth at meat one is of Mastick another of Chrystal and another of gréen Iaspy another of Diasper another of Sardin another of Cornelin another of Senton and that he setteth his foot upon is of Chrisolites and all those Stairs are bordered with fine Gold and well set with great Pearls and other precious Stones and the sides of his Table are Emeraulds bordered with Gold and with precious Stones the Pillars in his Chamber are of fine Gold with many
Carbuncles and other such Stones that give great light in the night and though the Carbuncles give great light nevertheless there burneth xii great Vessels of Chrystall full of Balm to give good smell and to drive away evil Air. The frame of his Bed is all Saphire well bound with Gold to make him sléep well and for to destroy Lechery for he will not lye by his Wives but thrice a year after the seasons and that only for getting of Children And he hath also a fair Palace in the city of Nise where he dwelleth when he will but the air there is not so well tempered as it is in the city of Tuse And he hath every day in his Court more then thirty thousand men beside commers and goers but thirty thousand there or in the Court of the great Caane spend not so much as twelve thousand in our country He hath evermore eight Kings in his Court to serve him and each one of them serveth a month and with these Kings serve alway seventy two Dukes and thrée hundred Earls and every day are in his Court twelve Archbishops and twenty Bishops The Patriark of Saint Thomas is as it were a Pope and the Archbishops Bishops and Abbots all are Kings in that country and some one of the Lords is Master of the Hall some of the Chamber some Stewerds Marshall and other Officers and thereby he is richly served And his land extendeth in breadth four Months journey and it is of length without measure CHAP. XCIX Of the Wilderness wherein groweth Trees of the Sun and the Moon ANd beyond this place is a great Wilderness as men that have béen there say In the Wilderness as men say are the Trées of the Sun and the Moon that spake to Alexander and told him of his death and men say that those that kéep those trées and eat of the fruits of them live four or five hundred year through the vertue of the fruit and we would gladly have gone thither but I think that an hundred thousand men of Arms could not pass that Wilderness for the plenty of wild Beasts as Dragons and Serpents that slay men when they pass that way In this land are many Elephants both white and blew without number and Vnicorns and Lyons of many colours Many other Isles are in the land of Prester John that were too long to tell and much riches and of precious Stones great plenty I have heard say why this Emperor is called Prester John and for these that know it not I will declare Sometime there was an Emperor a noble Prince and a doughty and he had many Christian Knights with him and the Emperor thought he would sée the Service in Christian Churches and then was Churches of Christendom in Turkey Sury and Tartary Hierusalem Palestine Araby and Alapy and in all the land of Egypt and this Emperor came with a Christian Knight into a Church of Egypt and it was on a Saturday after Whitsunday when the Bishop gave Orders and he beheld the Service and asked of the Knight what Folk those should he that stood before the Bishop and the Knight said they should be Priests and he said he would no more be called King nor Emperor but Priest and he would have the name of him that came first out of the Priests and he was called John and so have all the Emperors since béen called Prester John In this land are many Christian men of good Faith and good Law and they have Priests to sing Service and they receive the Sacrament as men of Gréece do and they say not otherwise but as the Apostle said as Saint Peter and Saint Thomas and other Apostles when they sung and said Pater noster and the words with the which the Communion is sacred we have many additions of Popes that have béen Ordained of which men of these countries know not CHAP. C. Of the great Island and Kingdom called Taprobane TOward the east-side of Prester Johns land is an Isle that men call Taprobane and it is right good and fruitfull and there is a great King and a rich and he is obedient to Prester John and the King is alway made by Election In this Isle are two Winters and two Summers they reap Corn twice in the year and Gardens flourish at all times in the year There dwelleth good people and reasonable and many Christian men among them are full rich and the water betwéen the side of Prester John and this Isle is not very déep for men may sée the ground in many places CHAP. CI. Of two other Isles one is called Oriel and the other Argete wherein are many Gold-mines THere are more east-ward two other Isles the one is called Oriel and the other Argete of which all the land is full of Mines of Gold and Silver In those Isles may men sée no stars clear shining but one Star that is called Canapos and there men sée not the Moon but in the last quarter In that Isle is a great Hill of Gold that Pismires kéep and they part the fine Gold from other that is not fine and the Pismires are as great as Hounds so that no man dare come there for dread of Pismires that would assay them so that mén cannot dig for the Gold nor get thereof but by subtilty and therefore when it is very hot the Pismires hide themselves in the Earth from morn to noon of the day and then men of the country take Camels and Dromedaries and other Beasts and go thither and lade them with Gold and go fast away ere the Pismires come out of the earth And other times when it is not so hot that the Pismires hide them not they take Mares that have Foals and they lay upon those Mares two long vessels as it were two long Barrels with the mouth upwards and drive them thither and kéep their Foals at home and when the Pismires sée these vessels they leap thereto for by kind they leave no Hole nor Pit open and anon they fill those vessels with Gold and when the men think the vessels be full they take the Foals and bring them as near as they dare and then they whinny and the Mares hear them anon they come to their Foals and so they take the Gold for those Pismires will suffer Beasts to come among them but no men CHAP. CII Of the dark Country and Hills and Rocks of Stone nigh to Paradise BEyond the Isles of the land of Prester John and his Lordship of Wilderness to go right East men shall find nothing but Hills great Rocks and other dark land where no man may sée day or night as men of that country say and this Wilderness and dark land lasteth to Paradise Terrestre where Adam and Eve was set but they were but a little while there and that is toward the East at the begining of the Earth but that is not our East that we call where the Sun riseth for when their Sun riseth
there then it is mid-night in our Country by reason of the roundness of the Earth for our Lord made the Earth all round in the middest of the Firmament Of Paradise can I not speak properly for I have not béen there but that I have heard I shall tell you Men say that Paradise Terrestre is the highest land of all the World and it is so high that it toucheth near to the Circle of the Moon for it is so high that Noes floud might not come thereto which covered all the earth about CHAP. CIII A little of Paradise Terrestre This Paradise Terrestre is inclosed all about with a Wall and that Wall is all covered with Mosse as it seemeth that men may see no stone nor nothing else whereof it is and in the highest place of Paradise in the middest of it is a Well that casteth out the four Flouds that run through divers lands The first floud is called Pison or Ganges and that runneth through Iude in that River are many precious Stones and much Lignum Aloes and gravel of Gold Another is called Nilus or Giron and that runneth through Ethiope and Egypt The third is called Tygrée and that runneth through Assyria and Armony the great And the fourth is called Euphrates that runneth through Armony the less and Persia and men say that the swéet and fresh waters of the World take their springing of them The first River is called Pison that is to say gathering of many Rivers together and falling into one and some call it Ganges of a king that was in Iude that men call Gangeras for it runneth through his land and this River is in some places clean in some places troubled in some places hot in some places cold The second River is called Nilus or Giron for it is ever troubled for Giron is to say trouble The third River is called Tygrée that is to say fast running for it runneth faster then any of the other named so of a Beast that men call Tygris for he runneth fast The fourth River is called Euphrates that is to say well bearing for there groweth many good things upon that River And ye shall understand that no man living may go upon that Paradise for by land he may not go for wild Beasts that are in the Wildernesse and for Hills and Rocks which no man may pass Neither by those Rivers may any man pass for they come with so great a course and so great waves that no Ship may sail against them Many great Lords have assayed many times to go by these Rivers into Paradise but they might not speed in their way for some died for weariness in rowing some were blind and some deaf with noise of the waters so no man may pass there but through special grace of God I can tell you no more of that place which I may speak of upon mine own sight CHAP. CIV How Prester Johns land lyeth foot against foot to England THese Isles of the land of Prester John they are under the Earth to us and they lie foot against foot to England and other Isles there are whoso would pursue them for to compass the Earth having the Grace of God to help the way he might come right to the same countries that he were come of and come from and go about the earth but for that it asketh so long time and also there are so many perils to pass that few men assay to go so and yet it might be done for men come from those Isles to other Isles coasting on the Lordship of Prester John which men call Cassay and that country is near ix days journey long and more than fifty of breadth and this Cassay is the best land that is in those countries save Cathay and if Merchants came thither as commonly as they do to Cathay it would be better than in Cathay for it is so thick of Cities and Towns that when a man goeth out of a city he séeth another at each side there is good plenty of Spices and other goods the king of this Isle is rich and mighty and he holdeth his land of the great Caane for that is one of the twelve Princes that the great Caane hath under him beside his own land CHAP CV Of the Kingdom of Ryboth FRom this Isle men go to another Kingdom that is called Ryboth and that is also under the great Caane This is a good country and plenteous of Corn Wine and other things men of this land have no houses but they dwell in Tents made of Trées and the prineipall city of the Country is all black made of black stones and white and all the Streets are paved with such stones and in the city is no man so hardy to spill blood of man nor beast for worship of an Image that is worshipped there In that city dwelleth the Pope of their Law and they call him Lopasse he giveth all Dignities and Benefices that fall to the Image And men of Religion and men that have Church-livings in that country are obedient to him as men here to the king They have a custom in this country that when a mans Father is dead whom they will do worship unto they send after all his Friends religious Priests and many other and they bear the body to an Hill with great joy and mirth and when it is there the greatest Prelate smiteth off his head and layeth it upon a great place of Gold or Silver and giveth it to his son and the son taketh it and giveth it to other of his friends singing and saying many Orisons and then the Priests and the religious men cut the flesh off the body in pieces and say Orisons and the Birds of the country come thither for they know well the custom and they flye about them as the Eagles and other Birds that eat flesh and the Priests cast the pieces unto them and they bear it away a little from thence and then they eat it and as the Priests were wont to sing for souls Subvenite sancti Dei so those Priests there sing with high voice in their Language in this manner wise Sée and behold how good and gracious a man this was that the Angels of God come for to fetch him and bear him into Paradise And then thinketh the Son of his Father that he is greatly worshipped when birds have eaten him and when there are most plenty of birds there is most worship And then cometh the son home with all his friends and maketh them a great feast then maketh he clean his fathers Scalp and giveth them drink therein and the flesh of his fathers head he cutteth off and giveth it to his most special friends some a little and some a little for dainty And in remembrance of this holy man that the Birds have eaten the son kéepeth his Scalp for a Cup and therein drinketh he all his life in remembrance of his father CHAP. CVI. Of a rich man that is neither King Prince
the way of Nazareth to the Mount or Hill Tabor Chap. 36. Of the Sea of Galile Chap. 37. Of the Table whereon Christ eat after his Resurrection Cha. 38. Of strange manners and divers Chap. 39. For to turn again on the side of Galile Chap. 40. How a man may go the shortest Way to Hierusalem Chap. 41. Of other wayes for to go by Land unto Hierusalem Chap. 42. Yet of another way by Land toward the Land of Promise Chap. 43. Of the Faith of the Sarasins and of the Book of their Law named Alkaron Chap. 44. Yet it teacheth more of Mahomet Chap. 45. Of the Birth of Mahomet Chap. 46. Of divers Isles and manner of People and of marvellous Beasts Chap. 47. Of the Haven of Gene for to go by Sea into divers Countries Chap. 48. Of the Country of Job of the Kingdom of Chalde Chap. 49. Of the Kingdom of Amazonie where dwell none but Women Chap. 50. Of the Land of Ethiope Chap. 51. Of Inde the more and less of Diamonds and of their great vertues Chap. 52. Of divers Isles and Kingdoms which are in the land of Inde of people that are of yellow and green colour and of many strange things Chap. 53. Of the Kingdom of Mabaron Chap. 54. Of a great Country called Lamory where the people go all naked Chap. 55. Of the Country and Isle named Jaza which is a mighty Land Chap. 56. Of the Kingdom of Pathen or Salmas which is a goodly Chap. 57. Of the Kingdom of Talonach the King whereof hath many Wives Chap. 58. Of the Island called Raso where men are hanged so soon as they are sick Chap. 59. Of the Land of Melks wherein dwelleth evil people Chap. 60. Of the Island named Macumeran whereas the people have heads like Hounds Chap. 61. Of a great Island called Dodin where are many men of evil conditions Chap. 62. Of the Kingdom named Mancy the which is one of the best Kingdoms of the World Chap. 63. Of the Land of Pigmes the people whereof are but three spans long Chap. 64. Of the City Menk where a great Navy is kept Chap. 65. Of the Land named Cathay and of the great riches thereof Chap. 66. Of the great City named Cadon wherein is the great Caanes Palace Chap. 67. Wherefore the Emperour of Cathay is called the great Caane Chap. 68. How the great Caane was hid under a Tree and so escaped his enemies by a Bird. Chap. 69. Of the great Caanes Letters and writing about the Seal Chap. 70. Of the governance of the Country of the great Caane Chap. 71. Of the great Riches of the Emperour and of his Pedigree Chap. 72. Of the Ordinance of the Lords of the Emperour when he rideth from one Country to another to War Chap. 73. How the Empire of the great Caane is divided into twelve Provinces and how that they do cast Incense in the fire where the great Caane passeth through the Cities and Towns in worship of the Emperour Chap. 74. How the great Caane is the mightiest Lord of all the World Chap. 75. Yet of other manners of his Country Chap. 76. How the Emperour is brought into his grave when he is dead Chap. 77. When the Emperor is dead how they chuse and make another Chap. 78. What Countries and Kingdomes lie next the Land of Cathay and the fronts thereof Chap. 79. Of other wayes coming from Cathay toward the Greek Sea and of the Emperor of Persia. Chap. 80. Of the Land of Armony which is a good Land and of the Land of Middy Chap. 81. Of the Kingdom of Georgy and Abcan and many marvels Chap. 82. Of the Land of Turky and divers other Countries and of the Land of Mesopotamia Chap. 83. Of divers Countries Kingdoms Isles and other Marvels beyond the Land of Cathay Chap. 84. Of the Land of Bactry and of many Griffons and other Beasts Chap. 85. Of the way for to go to Prester Johns Land which is the Emperor of Inde Chap. 86. Of the Faith and Beliefe of Prester John but he hath not all the full Beliefe as we have Chap. 87. Of another Island which is called Synople wherein dwelleth good people Chap. 88. Of two other Isles the one is called Pitan wherein be little men that can eat no meat and in the other Isle the men are full of Feathers Chap. 89. Of a rich man in Prester Johns land named Catalonapes and of his Garden Chap. 90. Of a Marvellous Valley that is beside the River Pison Chap. 91. Of an Island wherein dwell people as great as Gyants of nine and twenty or thirty foot of length and of other things Chap. 92. Of Women which make great sorrow when as their Children be born and great joy when they die Chap. 93. Of an Island where men wed their own daughters and kinswomen Chap. 94. Of another Island wherein dwell good people true Chap 95. How King Alexander sent his men thither for to win the Land Chap. 96. How the Emperour Prester John when he goeth to Battel hath three Crosses of find Gold born before him Chap. 97. Of the most resident place of Prester John which is in a City called Suse Chap. 98. Of the Wilderness wherein groweth Trees of the Sun and the Moon Chap. 99. Of the great Island and Kingdom called Taprobane Chap. 100. Of two other Isles on is called Oriel and the other Argete wherein are many Gold Mines Chap. 101. Of the dark Country and Hills and Rocks of Stone nigh to Paradise Chap. 102. A little of Paradise Terrestre Chap. 103. How Prester Johns land lyeth foot against foot to England Chap. 104. Of the Kingdom of Ryboth Chap. 105. Of a rich man that is neither King Prince Duke nor Earl Chap. 106. How all the Islands Isles and Kingdoms before rehearsed have some of the Articles of our Faith Chap. 107. How Sir John Mandevile leaveth many marvels unwritten and the cause wherefore Chap. 108. What time Sir John Mandevile departed out of England Chap. 109. FINIS