and chuse them for their Servants being in their Business very faithful diligent and careful as I have known many of them These and many more Nations as Turks Moors Armenians Curters Medians c. which every one of them have their peculiar Language are at Bagdet in great Numbers but chiefly the Persians so when I was there there arrived a Caravan of Three Hundred with Camels and Horses c. with an Intention to go to Mecha to give Mahomet a Visit which they think after Hali and Omar who were his Companions and did live in that City to be a very great Man These Persians have a peculiar Language so much differing That neither Turks nor Arabians nor other Oriental Nations can understand them and so they are forced to make them understand their meaning by Signs or an Interpreter as well as I and other Strangers They also have their peculiar Characters They sit well on Horse-back and have on long and wide Drawers which serve them also for Boots and are very well furnished with Scymeters Bows and Darts instead of Spurs they have as it is the Fashion in those Parts pointed Irons which are about an Inch and a half long and are sowed to the hind part of their Shooes They are also called Red Turks which I believe is because they have behind on their Turbants Red Marks as Cotton-Ribbands c. with Red Brims whereby they are sooner discerned from other Nations They may also be distinguished by their grey woollen Coats which have commonly Three Plaits behind and come hardly down to their Knees They are a strong and valiant People of a noble Countenance and Mind very Civil and in their Dealings upright They are very wary in their Undertakings which you may see by this that before they conclude a Bargain they take up more time to consider than others to two or three which I have several times observed Among other Merchandices they have delicate Tapestry of several colours and several sorts of Cotton-Work in which they are great Artists and well skilled but as for others as Gold and Silver working c. they understand little and a great deal less of Gilding wherefore they take any thing that is glossy for Gold They love the Christians that are Artists and Ingenious in these sorts of Works and shew them all Civilities But as for the Turks because great and bloody Wars arise often between them they hate them very much and call them Hereticks 1. Because they will not esteem nor receive Hali and Omar which they denominate Caliphi as the greatest and highest Prophets or Legates of God that have after Mahomet given more certain and better Laws Wherefore they esteem them a great deal higher nay worship them like Gods 2. Because that they as circumcised Men esteem their Women to be unclean and reckon them to be Members that are not to be saved and therefore exclude them out of their Churches so that they may not appear there publickly which by the Persians according to their Laws and Ordinances after they have spoke some Words after them are received as blessed Ones and admitted to come to their Churches From whence arise between these two Nations great Quarrels and Differences sometimes but yet they do not fall upon one another nor make Incursions in time of Peace so violently on the Frontiers as they do in Hungary probably that one may because Negotiation goeth further into Persia and bringeth in great Custom to the Grand Signior trade the safer into these Parts It is cheap and very good travelling through these Countries into the Indies and the Customs and Duties are very easy Further I understood from others that here and there in Persia live several Christians and that most of them are of the perswasion of Prester-John whom they call Amma and which way they are brought to it I am thus informed That formerly about Twelve Years agone it did happen that the King of Persia made a League with Prester-John against the Turks which came then very hard upon him and gave him his hands so full that he was forced to seek for help by Strangers Now when Prester-John thought it very inconvenient for him to make a League with a King that was not of his Religion he sent him a Message again that he could make no League with him except the chiefest of the Articles were that he and his Subjects would receive his Religion then he would not only do him all Friendship that in him lay but also assist him with all his Might and Power which at length was agreed upon Whereupon he did send him one of his Patriarchs and some of his Priests which in process of time had this Effect that now even at this Day there are above twenty Towns in Persia where the most of the Inhabitants are addicted to the Religion of Prester-John They have also as I was told several Books of the Holy Scripture and chiefly among the rest some of the Epistles of St. Thomas which they call Aertisch And besides that their Patriarch hath brought it to that pass that they are no more so zealous in their Superstitions and are of Opinion that Circumcision is not necessary and that so much the rather because their Enemies the Turks and Jews have it And for the same reason they do not abhorr the forbidden Beasts but eat Pork c. nor refuse to drink Wine and that as before said because their Adversaries are forbid it by their Law So that the Christian Faith doth in Persia encrease daily more and more and they begin to be Christened with Fire according to their Fashion and in the Name of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost whom they notwithstanding according to their Opinion rather believe to be a Creature than the Third Person of the Trinity and that he doth only proceed from the Father and not from the Son But that those that are Christians may be discerned they wear a blue Cross on the inside of their left Leg a little above the Knee They also administer the Sacrament of the Holy Supper or Communion and give it as well to the Young as to the Old ones in both kinds but before they go to it they must have their Feet washed wherefore there are little Rivolets led through the Churches where they sit down and some of the chiefest of the Town come to them and wash their Feet and when that is done they give unto one another a Kiss of Love then they read the Words of Christ's Institution and so go to receive it they do not come to Confession before And they endure no Images in their Churches but instead of them they make use of Harps Pipes and other Instruments wherewith they make Musick but chiefly at the King's Court at Samarcand where his best Musicians are which Town as they say was built by Sem the Son of Noah and called after his Name What else is to be said concerning the Points of their
Religion shall be hereafter mentioned in the Chapter of the Abissines Further I was informed at my return that after the Decease of Gamach the King of Persia that had three Sons and one Daughter who was soon married to one of the chiefest of the Council at Court whereof the Eldest called Alschi was beheaded because he did endeavour to take away his Father's Crown the other two are still in being the youngest of them Balthasar liveth in Parsid a peculiar Province and Town in Persia which lieth on the Borders of the Indies and the middlemost called Ismael was lately after his Father's Decease elected King almost at the same time when the now reigning Turkish Emperour Amurathes came to the Crown This is still young and of a tall and slim Body but very manly and full of Courage and well skill'd in all Warlike Exercises so that he dare before any of his Courtiers ride wild and unbroken Horses by them called Aecaik which are not easily mastered They are brought to him a great way off out of the Eastern Parts they are as I am informed of an Ashen colour only some have white Legs in these and other Exercises he hath shown his Manliness from his Infancy But when he did encrease in Age and in Strength the Anger and Displeasure he bore against the Turks did increase also and to that Degree that he resolved during his Father's Life to be reveng'd of them for the wrong they had done to his Ancestors Wherefore a little while agone he brought together a great many Men in the frontier Places to surprize the Town of Bagdet unawares being one of the Chiefest that formerly had belonged to his Ancestors together with the whole Country wherein the new Kings of Persia when they first come to the Government are used to be crowned When he was thus prepared for the Onset and nothing was wanting some Traytors ran away from his Troops and acquainted the Bashaw of Bagdet with his Design so the Bashaw was forced to arm himself with all Speed as well as he could that he might be able to oppose him in his Designs But when the King's Son would have put his Intention into Execution the Bashaw fell upon him unawares with such a Number and Strength that he could not only attempt nothing but was beaten and he himself taken Prisoner Besides this the Grand Turk would have had him to be beheaded if his Father had not with great earnestness taken his part and given him for his Ransom the Town Orbs in Mesopotamia After this the old King had enough to do to keep his Son in safe Custody that he might not begin new Alarms and Wars against the Turks Before I began my Voyage in March in the Year 74 certain News came to Aleppo that 25000 Turks were killed on the Confines of Persia and Arabia but in what Place this Battel was fought and which way it was done I could not learn for if they suffer any Damage they always keep it very close and secret nor any ways hear Wherefore the Turks at that time were a great deal harder towards the Christians so that many suffered for their Misfortunes Sake But if they had obtained the Victory as well as not they would not have been so silent but would have spread it abroad and have related it to others that did not ask them with high and big Words So great an Opinion have the Turks of themselves that they really believe there is no other Nation that can conquer the World so as they although they are not to be compared with the Persians neither for Strength Manliness nor Shape so therefore they could effect but very little against others if it were not for their great Number wherewith they over-power them And to speak only of the Inhabitants of this Town there are so many sick and lame People in it that you would admire to see so many lame and limping ones in the Streets yet the King of Persia cannot hold out the War at length nor keep a War at a great Distance for his Revenue is not so great as to make sufficient Provision for his Officers and Souldiers c. to pay them as well in time of Peace as of War For his Subjects are freed from all Taxes and Impositions according to their ancient Privileges and Customs They never arm themselves for a Defence but when they are called together by their King to defend and protect their Country House or Land Wife and Children against the Assault of an Enemy When I was thus enquiring from one or other and endeavouring to inform my self and learn whether it were more commodious for us two to go by Water to Ormutz or by Land through Persia into the Indies and we thought of nothing else but to begin our Voyage daily to go further I was call'd on a sudden by a Letter to come away for Aleppo immediately which troubled me very much and that the more when I considered that I was passed the Wilderness and come into the fruitful Eastern Countries which would have been very well worth seeing So after I had considered a while I agreed with my Comerade that he should go on with the Voyage in hand and that I because besides the Letter I had others no smaller Hinderances would go back again So I fitted him out for his Voyage with all Necessaries so that two Days after he went with other Merchants into the Ship for Balsara Not long after I had of him a very mournful Message or Account that the Ship wherein he went from Balsara to Ormutz was perished in a great Storm near the Island Baccharis in the Persian Sea where they find good store of Oriental Pearls and that he and several other Merchants and rich Merchants Sons from Aleppo were drowned At the same time I might have returned back again with a great Caravan to Aleppo but because they took the straightest way through great and sandy Desarts which lasted for Fifty Days Journeys or thereabout where we had but two places to pay Custom in where we could buy Provision as Water and other Necessaries I resolved within my self to go by more Fruitful Places and Famous Towns although I went about where I might see and learn something more so I did stay in the great Camp longer until I met with some Companions In the mean time while I stayed there I made my self acquainted with an eminent Merchant that lived in Aleppo and had been several times in the Indies who told me that the Jesuits had begun to set up a very severe Inquisition in the Indies chiefly in God where they observed diligently those that did not take of their Hats to the Images which were set up in several Streets of the Town that they might put them into Prison which he did very much dislike believing it to be very great Idolatry After he had said this he began to talk further to me concerning Religion and chiefly of the Articles
and Villages and we could speak better with the People for they understood the Armenian Turkish or Arabian Languages which are generally used in these Countries So our Travels went on with great speed so that we reached on the 21st late the Town of Hochan where the Jews rested and kept their Sabbath Here we received the News that Solyman the Turkish Emperour was Deceased The 23d we got up early again and went the next way to Orpha another Town to which we had Five Days Journey From thence the nearer we came to the Mount Tauri which separateth Armenia from Mesopotamia towards the South the worse grew the Roads which we found very sufficiently the next Day for when we came further into the Mountains the ways were so full of Stones that we were hindered very much Going thus on after it had snowed a little which I have never seen but twice in these Countries it happened that one of the Jew's Horses which was empty was frightened at something and flung it self over and over The Jew hearing this noise looked back and seeing me stand by it he grew angry with me as if I had done it and began to handle his Bow and Arrows to shoot at me when I found him in earnest and remembred how I lost my Wine in the Ship when we went down the River I did not delay but went to hinder him took him by his Leg and flung him off his Horse before he could take his aim at me so we fell a boxing one another so long until at length I tripped up his Heels When the other two saw that we spoiled thus the Figure of the Snow and that I was too hard for him and had given him several hard blows they came immediately to separate us and to make Peace again between us I seeing that they did not come to wrong me and also considering that we were to Travel together still further took their Counsel and was friends with him again and so we went on in our way At Night we came to another Village again in a narrow Valley lying at the bottom of a great ascent near which we found a great Stable wherein we went this was quite cut into the Hill and so was that wherein we lodged the Night before so that you could see nothing of it but only the entrance for they are commonly so in these hilly Countries under Ground that the Caravans may safely rest there and defend themselves from Cold in the Winter This Stable being 25 Paces long and 20 broad and all through equally high was cut out of a Rock About midnight when we were in our first Sleep one of the Grand Signior's Chiaus or Chamber-Messengers knocked at the door of the Stable who was come back from Bagdet in Six Days to this place to look about for some fresh Horses because he had tired his own and could not have others by the way as in our Country where Posts are ordered So he went in took away from one Mockeri or Carrier three Pack-Horses and two more from the Jew that I had had Contention with before for these Messengers of the Chamber have great Privileges and in case of necessity where-ever they see Horses in City or Country they may take them leaving theirs in the room thereof They value one no more than another except Merchants and Strangers which they excuse before others to encourage Trade those that they come to must deliver up their Horses without any reluctancy except they have a mind to be soundly bang'd as one of our Friends was that did not open the Gates immediately or else to fare worse When this Chiaus believed he had got very good Horses he soon found his mistake for the Jew's Horses had galled Backs wherefore he let him have them again for a small recompence which was a Child's Coat made of delicate Indian Stuff When our Journey was thus stopt chiefly because of the Mockeri or Carrier until he could procure himself other Horses in the room thereof at least for that Day we rose the earlier the next Day and traversed several rough Mountains and went through narrow Vallies that Day until at Night we came to a Village inhabited by Armenians These are good-hearted Christians which have great Compassion on their Fellow-Christians and love to entertain and to be kind to Strangers which I have very often experienced but chiefly in this Village where one of the Armenians took me and the Jews into his House and would fain have kept us also the next Day Being at leisure I would fain have conferred and discoursed with him concerning our Christian Faith and so was he willing but being that we could not understand one another and the Jews were in this case by no means proper Interpreters we were forced to have patience by silence and to look at one another About that time they kept Lent which I could perceive by their small sort of Diet for they did eat nothing but leguminous Food and Bread and Water After he had set before us some boiled Eggs at Night and I being hungry fell on them not imagining that they kept such strictness and difference in their Diet he admired that I did not refuse to eat the Eggs and asked me by one of the Jews whether I did not know that it was not allowed to Chistians to eat Eggs and the like Victuals in Lent at this I would fain have answered him that it became Christians to keep Lent rather with Soberness and Abstinency than with Distinctions and Differences of Foods But I not understanding the Language only answered him briefly that our Lent was not yet begun nor would until three Weeks hence begin which did content him presently The 28th we went on our Journey again and came right among the high Mountains which were very rough and full of Bushes we got out of them before Night and lodged our selves in the next Village which lieth on an ascent in the Plain where we also stayed the next Day being the Sabbath By the way when the Jews were in fear of having their Horses taken away as was done some Days before they often gave them to me to lead them as if they were mine hoping to carry them off the easier so that although they were my Guides yet I was their Safeguard After we had past the great and rough Mountains and were come into a very fruitful Valley which extendeth it self for a small Day 's Journey to Orpha there appeared presently on each side several Villages and afterwards the Costly City against us with the Castle situated on the Hill very pleasantly Into this we got on the 30th at Night very early and went to lodge in the large and very well built Camp and stayed there for four Days This Town is very pleasant pretty big and with Fortifications well provided It was formerly together with the whole Country belonging to the Kings of Persia but now it is as well as the greatest part
the Germans French and Italians and praise them saying That they are stout and courageous Soldiers they call them all by the same Name Franci because the Divisions of our Country are unknown to most of them In former Ages they had here and there in large and eminent Towns instead of the Pope whom they will not obey nor be subject unto their Patriarch Archbishops and Bishops whereof some are still kept up but after the Turks did take and possess themselves of their Country there is fewer of them in number and they have smaller Revenues Without their Country they have in great trading Cities as Cayro Alepo Antiochia of Syria Venice c. their peculiar Churches and chiefly in some holy places in the Land of Promise As at Jerusalem the Temple of Mount Calvaria the place of Sculls whereon Christ was Crucified and also the beautiful Chancel that is in the middle of the Church wherein is a round hole about a span over in a stone which is as they pretend the middle of the Earth according to the Words of the Kingly Prophet David when he says God who now is my King from the beginning has wrought our selves on the middle of the Earth Besides these they have another called the Holy Cross about an English Mile out of Town which as they pretend is built on the same place where the Tree did grow whereof they made the Cross of Christ Besides this they have a great many more which I reckon unnecessary to mention here Some of their Church-Doors are so low that you must stoop when you will go through them They believe that the Holy Ghost doth proceed only from the Father and not from the Son They keep yearly two great Fasts and they eat Flesh upon the Sabbath or Saturday at pleasure they sing the Mass in their own Language that every Body may understand it In their Churches they suffer no embossed Work nor carved Images but have plain Pictures on Boards or on the Walls They do not believe a Purgatory as the Papists there called Latini nor that our Praying Fasting or Offering for the Dead can do them any good And they are mightily displeased that the Roman Priests do not according to the plain words of St. Paul marry as well as they nor give the Lords Holy Supper in both kinds as our Lord himself did institute it Wherefore they condemn such Errors of the Popish Church and excommunicate the Pope and his Adherents on the holy Friday yearly And because they reckon them to be superstitious they will not permit them to say Mass upon their Altars but if they should do it they accuse them before the Turkish Magistrates So it happened when I first came over that they were very angry with a Papist that had said Mass upon their Altar and so had profaned it wherefore they did immediately consecrate the Altar again and had the Priest before the Cadi and they brought it so far that he was mulcted Five hundred Ducats to pay in a short time When he thought that the Punishmenr was greater than the Trespass or Transgression he did seek for help at Alepo and Tripoli by the French and Italian Consul but did obtain no great matter so that he was still in election to pay the Forfeiture CHAP XII Of the SURIANS that esteem themselves to be Christians AMong the Eastern Christians we also find them that are called Surians whereof there is a great many but chiefly in Syria They have like unto the Jews in several Towns their peculiar Churches In Jerusalem they live in the Church of St. Mark which stands in the place where the House stood formerly at the Door whereof St. Peter the Apostle did knock when the Angel had delivered him out of Prison In their Religion they follow for the greatest part the Greeks they Administer the Sacrament in Leavened Bread and they say their Masses like unto them in the vulgar Arabian Tongue They are a sort of poor naked covetous and helpless People their Gowns reach only to their Knees as those of the Maronites some whereof are wrought of course Goats Hair striped black and white such as the Arabians make use of commonly and almost alike unto their Mescha which they use for Sacks and Tents and they wear nothing underneath them but Shirts without Neck-bands as is usual in all the Eastern Countries they wear High Shoes which serve them for Stockings and Breeches also being tied up with Straps They are subject unto the Turks who make use of them as Labourers both by Water and Land They also mind their Trade more than their Religion wherefore having lived so long among the Turks they have already assumed their Customs and Manners in Temporal and Spiritual Affairs and are thereby become so confident and secure that now adays the Difference between these two Religions are esteemed by them to be small and frivolous If a Christian hath to deal with them and desireth to buy something of them either Opium Scammony or any other the like Drug which they commonly falsifie he must look to himself as if he had to deal with Jews CHAP. XIII Of the GEORGIANS NEar unto the glorious City of Trapozinta situated on the Euxine Sea beginneth the Country of the Georgians and butts toward the South upon Armenia These are very civil and simple People but yet strong and brave Warriors they esteem and honor among other Saints but chiefly for warlike Businesses as their Patron the Knight St. George from whom they take their Denomination Their Merchants come very often in great Caravans to Alepo and are according to all appearance in their shape and posture like unto the Persians only that these are more whitish and the others more tawny and browner they wear also like them short flying Coats and long and wide Drawers c. They have as the rest their Patriarchs and Bishops who altho they are differing and dissenting in some points yet for the most part they follow the Doctrine and Errors of the Grecians and so they have and use the same Writings and Offices Their Priests are as well as those of the Armenians allowed to be married but yet if either of them should happen to die they must not marry again In Jerusalem they are also possessed of their peculiar places wherein they sing and exercise the Offices and chiefly of one in the Church of Mount Calvaria in the place near the Sepulchre of our Lord Christ where he did first appear unto Mary Magdalen in the similitude of a Gardener after his Resurrection CHAP. XIV Of the ARMENIANS and their Religion THE Armenians possess a large Countrey which is chiefly divided into two parts viz. The Lesser Armenia which is now subject to the Turks and the Greater now called Turco-Mannia by some which is partly belonging to the Sophy King of Persia In it arise two great Rivers the Euphrates and the Tigris which run a great way toward the South mix together
below Bagadet and at length fall into the Persian Gulf by the Town Balsora or Batzera They are pious and honest People innocent but very zealous in their Religion and receive Strangers readily that come to them and give them Lodging as I have often found it in my Travels They are also very much inclined to help and assist the poor Slaves that are under Turkish Confinement and ready to help them out Their Merchants whereof there are many amongst them are dispersed not only over all Turkey but also Persia the Indies and many other Countries wherefore they have in all chief Towns of Trading as Antiochia Alepo situated in Coelosyria Orpha c. their peculiar Ware-houses and Churches and also in Jerusalem whither they go in great numbers the beautiful Church of St. Jacob the Greater and also below near to the place of Sculls another Chapel locked up c. and have commonly before their Chancels large Hangings behind which the Priests keep separated from the People These although they agree in very many Points and Articles exactly with those of the Reformed Religion yet notwithstanding they have some Errors worth to be rejected and some scandalous Customs besides So you may see them here and there cry over the Graves of their deceased Friends for to give them Visits they go out in the morning early the greater part of them old Women and there they make such Mourning and and Howling that the Travellers that come by for their Graves or burying places are generally out of Town near the High Ways may hear them a great way off There you shall see them sit some folding their Hands over their Heads and looking mournfully others fetching great Sighs beating on their Breasts others spreading themselves over the Graves as if they would embrace their Friends and take them in their Arms. In the mean while their Priests go about among them Reading and Praying and sometimes they speak to some of them When they have done mourning thus and cast Sorrows from their Hearts sufficiently they sit down together eat drink and be merry They do not at all esteem the Popes of Rome but have their own Prelates which they honour with great and peculiar Reverence neither do they believe any Indulgences nor Purgatory Their Priests go in plain Habits they have Wives as well as their Laymen they let their Hair and Beards grow they keep on Easter-day a great Feast and soon after beginneth their Lent which they keep strictly and therein as also on Wednesday and Friday all the year round they eat neither Eggs nor Flesh nor any thing else that ever had life in it only Saturdays and Sundays they are allowed them to refresh themselves other Feasts and Holydays they do not keep any at all In all these points they rather agree with the Abyssines than the Romans and also in these following viz. That they eat not of unclean Meats that are forbidden in the Old Testament they admit to the Communion young and old without distinction they baptize their Children in the Name of the Holy Trinity they believe the Articles of our Christian Faith they Preach Sing Pray and perform all their Devotion in the Vulgar Tongue that every one may understand it they use for the Interpretation of the Word of God the Writings of John Chrysostom and Gregory Nazianzen they dare not no more than all the other Nations that live amongst the Turks except the Maronites make use of any Clocks to call People to Church in place whereof they have strong wooden Tables or some House-Doors prepared several in each Street whereon they strike several Strokes with a great Cudgel and so call People to Church CHAP. XV. Of the NESTORIANS TOwards the East are other People which esteem themselves Christians and among the rest chiefly the Nestorians called after the Heretick Nestorius who was a Bishop at Constantinople Some of their Priests live upon the Mount Calvaria in the Temple and there are a great many Adherents to this Sect most of them living in Mesopotamia Chaldaea and Assyria but chiefly in the mountainous Country of the Curtans called Carduci by Ptolomy which they almost quite possess and have poisoned with their base and obnoxious Error as if it were by an infectious Air for in passing through I have found many of them in their Cities as Hapril Carcuck Mosel formerly called Ninive They are strong and warlike People but full of Vices and from their Infancy given to robbing They inhabit towards North and East as is before said upon the Armenians and Medes and they are a very ancient People whereof chiefly Xenophon maketh mention under the name of Carducci and are called to this day Curters They speak their peculiar Language which neither the Arabians Armenians nor Turks do understand they are of a Brownish Colour like unto the Surians and Maronites and wear the same Cloth or Habiliments that one cannot readily discern or distinguish one from the other save only by their flesh-coloured Lists in their Turbants The Grand Signior is their Head whom they obey and they are kept and respected very well by the Turks partly that he may not give them occasion for an Insurrection because they are upon the Borders and partly because Mahomet hath charged them to be kind to them before others and that the rather because he had a Friar of their Sect called Sergius for his Tutor who did baptize him and counselled and assisted him to make such Laws and to give them to his Adherents and so you may still see that they agree more than any other Sect with the Saracens For whereas they believe that in Christ according to his two Natures are two distinct persons one of the Godhead the other of the Manhood They will not allow any more than Mahomet the Virgin Mary to to be the Mother of God but the Mother of Christ according to his human Nature They have a Prelate in stead of the Pope whom they call Jacelich They bless and give the Sacrament as the Surians do and use in their Spiritual Services the Chaldean Language else they speak the common of their Provinces viz. in their own Country as is abovesaid their own Language in Chaldea and Mesopotamia commonly the Arabian and Saracen Language So in Assyria beyond the River Tigris where the two mighty Princes the Turk and the King of Persia do border upon one another the Language of the Turks Persians and Medes altho they are quite differing These and other Languages the holy Apostles did understand and in them they did speak on the Day of Pentecost when they received the Holy Ghost as you may read in the Second Chapter of the Acts Verse 5. where it is thus written And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews devout men out of our every nation under Heaven each whereof heard the Apostles speak in his own Language wherein he was born as that of the Parthians Medes Elamits or Persians that of those also
Prophet Mahomet and others which maketh them generally very Rich and wear greater Turbants than the rest that they may be distinguished from others Their Paper is generally smoothed and glazed and they comprehend their Letters in very few Words When they will make them up they fold them up until they come to be no broader than an Inch the outward crevise of the Paper they fill all along with Wax within and so glue it as it were to the other or else they take any other Paste made for that purpose and so imprint their Name upon it with their Seal that is done over with Ink so that nothing remaineth white but the Letters These Seals are generally made at Damasco where the best Artists live that cut in Steel and they put nothing more in it but their Name They do not make any use of Paper that is writ on although they have great quantity thereof neither to put things up in nor for any other use and yet if they find any of it in the Street they do not let it lye but take it up carefully fold it together and put it into the next crevise they meet with for they are afraid that the Name of God may be written on it Instead thereof the Grocers make use of great Leaves of Colocasia whereof they have great store CHAP. VIII Of the great Trading and Dealing of the City of Halepo as also of several sorts of their Meats and Drinks of their Ceremonies and their peculiar way of sitting down at Meals HAving heretofore treated of the Buildings and Situation of that Excellent Town of Halepo and of the Customs Manners and Offices of the Turks as much as I could apprehend of it I cannot but speak before I leave it of the Dealings and Merchandisings that are daily exercised there which are admirably great For great Caravans of Pack-Horses and Asses but more Camels arrive there daily from all Foreign Countries viz. from Natolia Armenia Aegypt and India c. with Convoys so that the Streets are so crouded that it is hard to pass by one another Each of these Nations have their peculiar Champ to themselves commonly named after their Master that built it viz. Champ Agemi Champ Waywoda Champ Abrac Sibeli Mahomet 's Bashaw and which are kept for them that they may make them their Inns and live in them and to keep or sell their Merchandises according to their pleasure So among the rest of the Nations there are French-men and Italians c. which have also there their peculiar Buildings which as is before said are called Fundiques wherein some live together and others chiefly the Italians that are married live without in Lodgings they have very small Habitations and live sparingly like the Turks In these Champs you meet with several sorts of strange Merchandises before all in Champ Agami where you have all sorts of Cotton-works viz. Handkerchiefs long Fillets Girdles which they roll about their Loins and Heads and other sorts by the Arabians called Mossellini after the Country Mussoli from whence they are brought which is situated in Mesopotamia by us Muslin with these do the Turkish Gentlemen Cloath themselves in Summer There is delicate Tapestry Artificially wrought with all manner of colours such as are sometimes brought over by us From Persia they bring great quantity of an unknown Manna in Skins by the name of Trunschibil which is gathered from a prickly Shrub called by the Arabians Agul and Albagi which is the reason that it is mixt with small Thorns and reddish Chaff This Manna hath Grains something bigger than our Coriander-seeds so that to all appearance it is very like unto our Manna which we gather from the Larix It might also very well be taken to be the same that the Israelites did eat had not God the Almighty fed his People and maintained them Miraculously and Supernaturally But that it falls upon Thorns is also attested by Serapio and Avicen in those Chapters where they treat of Manna which they call Theceriabin and Trangibin and that very learned and experienced Botanist Carolus Clusius saith the same in his Epitome of Indian Plants I found some of these Shrubs that grew about Haleppo which were about a Cubit high which shout out into several roundish Stalks and divide and spread themselves from the Stem into several Sprigs like unto a Flower part whereof were quite over-grown with Epithymum as Thymus used to be and had abundance of long thin and soft Prickles from whence grew out flesh-coloured reddish Flowers that bore small red Cods very like and of the same shape with the Cods of our Scorpioides whereof I have found many at Montpelier wherein are Seeds of the same colour The Root thereof is pretty long of a brown colour its leaves long like unto those of Polygonum of an Ash colour those that grow at the bottom of the Thorns are of a warm and dry Quality The People use the Herb for a Purge they take a handful thereof and boyl it in Water Besides this they have another Manna like unto that that cometh to us from Calabria by the way of Venice and is the concreted Saccarine Exudation of the Ornus Among the rest they also shew costly Stones by the Arabians called Bazaor which are oblong and roundish and smooth without and of a dark green Colour The Persians take these from a peculiar sort of Bucks and use the Powder against mortal and poisonous Distempers There are some that are very like unto these in Form and Figure but not to be compared for Goodness Wherefore a Man must have great care that he be not cheated But there are some Proofs to know whether they are good or no which a Merchant communicated to me as infallible Take Quicklime and mix it in Pouder with a little of this Stone and with Water make them up into a Paste when that is dry grind it if it then remaineth white it is esteemed false but if it turns yellow it is good and brought from Persia They also bring hither Turkey Stones that grow almost only in their Country and their King the Sophy has an incredible Treasure of them together Lately so many of them were brought to us that the Prices fell very much but when the King heard of this he immediately forbid that any should be Exported in seven years time that so they might come to their former Price again which seven years as I am informed are now expired There are also put to Sale many Chains of delicate Oriental Pearls which are for the greatest part taken or found in the Persian Seas near to the Island called Bahare scituated not far from that great trading City of the Turkish Batzora or Balsara From India they bring hither many delicate Spices Cinnamon Spicnard Long Pepper Turbith Cardamoms Nutmegs Mace and China Roots which the Arabians make more use of then of Guajacum and delicate China Cups and Dishes Indico and in very great quantity they bring that
to their Opinion is quite surpassing that which is prescribed in their Law to move the People the sooner regarding their severity in living their great Patience and frequent Ecstasies to believe them that they under pretence of Piety may go on in their hoggishness uncleanness and robberies as they do without any controuling Yet because their idle Hypocrisie and great Rogueries do daily appear more plainly not without great Damage to the Country therefore they are no more in so great esteem nor have so much given them as formerly Concerning their strange way of Praying chiefly that of the Moors their own People have often told me that because such a Devotee changed his natural Voice given by him God into an unnatural one therefore he ought rather to be accounted a Beast than a Man and consequently much less ought to be esteemed a Divine Thus much I thought convenient to relate here of their Mendicants that travelled with us and now I come to my former purpose again After we had spent four Days in drying our Merchandices and in mending our Ships we did load them again and so set out the next Friday being the 3d. of September about Noon All that Day we saw nothing but Bushes on both sides of the River wherein were several wild Beasts but above all wild Boars till Night when we came in sight of a little Village about two or three Miles distant upon the ascent on our left Hand where we landed and stayed all Night In that place I found nothing but a bastard Camel's Hay which was like unto the true one but without any Virtue in it The next Day our Navigation proceeded very well and at Noon we came to a strong Cittadel call'd Galantza which is situated at this side of the River on a Hill belonging to the King of Arabia with whom the Turkish Emperor as I was informed and could understand that did not know their Language well had long and heavy Wars and could have done him because he could not follow him through the Desarts for want of Water and Provisions no great hurt if the King 's Eldest Son had not put himself into this Castle believing that he might be secure there from any Assault from without wherein he was mightily mistaken For after the Sultan did understand that he was there he was resolved to take it notwithstanding all Difficulties And therefore he summoned all his Forces together in the Year 1570. and did Assault it in three Places at the same time so long and so often until at length he took it by Storm and so he made the King's Son his Prisoner and carried him to Constantinople where he had as they say his Head cut off the following Year This Castle being surrounded with strong Walls and having within a very high and large Tower is still according to my Apprehension very strong but yet it lieth in ruins and the three open places remain unrepaired At Night we landed in a small Island which was not inhabited and in the middle of the River we did not question but we were there very well secured from the Arabians and yet notwithstanding as soon as we had supp'd and began to go to rest some of them came creeping along to us about Midnight rather to visit our Goods than us But because they durst not venture to go to our Ships without great danger of being discovered by our Watch they did visit them that rested on shoar and had taken something considerable from them if they had not been discovered immediately by them and had retaken from them again that which they could not so readily carry over the River The Fifth Day of September some Arabians appeared on shoar early in the Morning by and by we saw more at a great Distance upon the height and some Squadrons of Horse of Forty or Fifty strong ride about from whence we concluded that the King's Camp was not far off which proved to be true For about Noon after we landed the King 's Youngest Son came riding to us on a high black Horse with a Retinue of about Hundred Men most of which had Bows and long Pikes made of Reed He was but young about Twenty Four or Twenty Five Years old of a brownish Colour and had a white Turbant on his Head made of Cotton one end whereof hung down behind about a Span long according to their usual Custom He had on a long Gown made of ordinary Sheeps Skins with the Wooll on them which hung down to his Ankles and so had all his Courtiers which were in their common Dress so like unto one another that one could not have discerned them if his had not been edged with some Gold Lists as we use to edge Childrens Coats in our Country about the Neck and Sleeves and had not had long Sleeves whereon were some Escutcheons to be seen Because Custom is due to the King of Arabia by reason of the Euphrates therefore this Young Prince came to demand and take it so he went into the River and rode first to the Turkish Ship to see what Goods they carried but finding nothing but Corn therein he did not stay long there but came to ours his Servants that were on purpose ordered for that helped him soon up into it and placed him in the middle of it on a Bale but they themselves went about from one Merchant to another to visit their Goods and did open now and then a Chest or a Bale and took some out of them more or less according as they liked them so that it was a great while before they came about from Merchant to Merchant In the mean while they brought also into the Ship a Young Prince perhaps two Years old which one carried before him on Horse-back after his Father He had nothing on but only a Cotton Shirt and Rings about his Neck Wrists and Legs made of fine Arabian Gold At length his Servants came to me and my Comrades into the Poop of the Ship but before we began to shew them any of our Goods they saw my Gun that was in-laid with Ivory which they took immediately to shew it to their Master with a great deal of Admiration being such a one as they had never seen in their Life before The King took it presently into his Hands and was mighty well pleased with it and said that it was Outlandish-Work made by the Franks by which Name they call Outlandish-Men French German Italian c. because they know no Divisions or Distinctions of our Country so we went both to him and acquainted him that we were lately come from those Countries with an Intention to go into the Indies After the King understood this he spoke very kindly to us and bid his Man to leave off and to search no more our Goods and enquired after several other things and at length he told my Comrade that he thought he had seen him before Which was very true for when my Comrade lived
respect are very like unto the Polycnemon of Dioscorides but whether it be the same or no I leave the learned to decide Besides those before as we came down the River I saw a great many large Tamarisk Trees and abundance of a certain kind of Agnus Castus almost like unto the other only a great deal less and it had no more but three strong claver Leaves but above all the Galega called Goats-Rue in our Language which in these Parts groweth very high and in so great plenty that on the River side I could see nothing but this for several Miles together CHAP. IV. Of the Inhabitants of the Mountains and the great Wilderness we came through to Deer Of their ancient Origination and miserable and laborious Livelihood UPon this good and severe Command of the Bashaw Son of Mahomet Bashaw we were acquitted of our long Arrest and went away about Noon on the 27th of September we went again from thence through such great Desarts that for some Days we saw nothing worth relating but here and there little Huts made of some erected Boughs and covered with some Bushes wherein the Moors with their Families live to secure themselves from the great Heat Rain and Dews that are in these Parts most violent so that I admired how these miserable People could maintain themselves and so many Children in these dry and sandy Places where nothing was to be had Wherefore these poor People are very naked and so hungry that many of them if they saw us afar off would fling themselves into the great River and swim to us to fetch a piece of Bread And when we flung at them whole handfulls they would snap at it just like hungry Fish or Ducks and eat it Others did gather it and put it into the Crown which they make neatly of their Sheets on the top of their Heads and so swim away with it After these sandy Desarts had continued a great while we came at length out of them between high rough and bare Hills which were so barren that there was to be seen neither Plough-Lands nor Meadows neither House nor Stick neither High-way nor Foot-path wherefore those People that live there have no Houses but Caves and Tents as they have in the great Desarts where because of the great Heat and Driness the Soil is so barren that they cannot subsist in a place for any considerable time nor have Villages or certain Habitations Wherefore they wander up and down fall upon the Caravans and plunder them and make what shift they can to get a livelihood These Mountains as I am informed reach to the River Jordan the Dead and the Red-Seas c. wherein are situated Mount Sinai Horeb c. and the Town Petra which by the Prophet Isaiah is called Petra of the Desarts The Arabians that live in these Desarts and round about them are extraordinary Marks-men for Bows and Arrows and to fling Darts which are made of Canes They are a very numerous People and go out in great Parties every where almost they are a very ancient Nation and come from the Sons of Ishmael but chiefly from his Eldest Son Nebajoth and were anciently called the War-like Nabathees and their Country the Land or Province of the Nabathees which Josephus testifieth in Book I. Chap. 21. where he says that the Twelve Sons of Ishmael which he had by an Egyptian Wife his Mother Agar from whom they were called Agarens as you may see in the first of the Chronicles and the sixth Verse being also of the same Country were possessed of all the Country between the Euphrates and the Red-Seas and called it the Province of the Nabathees The Midianites that bought Joseph of his Brethren and carried him into Egypt may also be reckoned among these This same Country is also chiefly by Pliny because thereabout are no other Habitations but Tents wherein the Inhabitants live called Scenitis From this we may conclude that the Prophet Isaiah in his 60th Chapter and David in his 120th Psalm did speak of them when chiefly the latter maketh mention of the Tents of Kedar whereby he understands a Country that is inhabited by such a Nation as liveth in Tents and is derived from Kedar the Son of Ishmael whom his Father Abraham as a strange Child born by his Maid Agar did thrust out together with his Mother into the Desarts his words are these Wo is me that I sojourn in Mesheck that I dwell in the Tents of Kedar In our times these and other Nations are called the Saracens which have very much encreased under Mahomet which by his Mother was an Ishmaelite and did spread very much and so they were in David's time a very strong Nation wherefore he prayeth very earnestly in his 83 Psalm that God would punish and slay and disperse them as Enemies of his Holy Church But that I may come to our former Intention again here the Arabians asked us very often again where their King was at that time so that our Master had business enough to answer them whereby you may observe what great Respect and Love they have for their King But that they might not altogether look upon us as Outlandish Men nor presently discern us to be Strangers we did sometimes when there was occasion for it change our Turbants and let one end thereof according to their Fashion hang down which they do to make themselves a Shade against the Heat that is very cruel in these Countries But yet if any body be he who he will doth enquire after their King and wants to come before him to present him with a Suit of Cloaths c. or to desire a Pass from him or if one should go about to hire one of them to shew him the way to a certain place or through their Country which he may do for a very small price he would soon find one or other that would be ready to do it but among the Turks there is no such Obedience for if you should desire any thing of them to do in the Name of their Sultan they are not willing to do it except it would redound to their great Profit Wherefore a Turkish Guide to conduct you would cost you a great deal more than one of them Besides they also remember their Master daily and hardly speak of any thing but of him his great riches c. but with such Pride and Greatness chiefly when they speak of his powerfulness and enlarging of his Kingdom as if some share of these were belonging to them and that they must be respected for it In this Navigation through the great Desarts we two did not spend much because the Towns were at so great a distance from one another that we could not reach them to provide our selves daily with Necessaries as we do in our Country on the Danube and Rhine or Lodgings We were necessitated to be contented with some slight Food or other and make a shift with Curds Cheese Fruits
one which they were forc'd to give to the Servant of the Sub-Bashaw for the Pains he had taken CHAP. VI. Which way we travelled from Ana further to Old Babylon by some ancient Towns called Hadidt Juppe Idt and saw more pleasant fruitful and well cultivated Fields on each side than before AFter the designed Storm that should have befallen me was over and I by the Power of the Almighty God delivered as it hath pleased him to do with a great many more which would be too long to relate all here we immediately departed from thence on the 15th of October A little below it we found a fruitful and well cultivated Country and some fine Houses standing here and there so near together that before we passed one we could see another which had also their Orchards and Kitchin-Gardens and round about them fine Woods of Date-Trees and many others which I could not discern because it was too far off so that we found a great Alteration and our Wilderness wherein chiefly at a Distance from the River we hardly saw a Tree in a whole day changed at the lower end of the Town into a fertile Soil Wherefore our Voyage was very pleasant to us for we had also less danger to fear from the Arabians But our Master was very much troubled because the River was often stop'd up at the Sides with great Stones that made the River swell for there was a great Number of large and high Water-Engines or Wheels therefore these Stones were laid to lead the Stream to them to make them work for it often happen'd that Two of them stood close together which took up so much of the River that we had hardly room to pass by them in the middle of the Stream wherefore he was forced to have great Care to find the right way where he might pass without Danger The Reason why these Water-Wheels are so much in Use is because this River doth not overflow as the River Nilus to water the Grounds neither doth it rain enough here sufficiently to moisten the Seeds and Garden-Plants that they be not burnt by the great Heat of the Sun wherefore they must look out for such Means as will supply this Want To do this they erect Water-Wheels whereof Three or Four stand behind one another in the River which go Night and Day and dip up Water out of the River which is emptied into peculiar Chanals that are prepared on purpose to water all the Ground But if the Places lie not conveniently or the Shore be too high to erect such Wheels they make instead of them Bridges and peculiar Engines that are turned by a Couple of Bullocks to bring the Water up with great Leathern Buckets which are wide at Top and narrow at Bottom This Land being so fruitful we soon found to our great Pleasure great Quantities of delicate Fruit sold for a small Matter of Money and among the rest chiefly Indian Musk-Melons that were very well tasted When we came further we had generally even ground at both Sides and not a few Fields the most Part whereof were sown with Indian-Millet for they sow more of this than of Wheat or Barley for the Sand is pretty deep wherein the Corn would not grow so well This Millet was just fit to be cut down and in some Places they had it in already It shoots up into a high Stalk about Six Seven or Eight Cubits high the Leaves thereof are like unto the Indian-Corn or Sugar-Reeds which I took it for at First and that because the Inhabitants did chaw it as well as the Sugar-Canes because of the sweet and pleasant Juice which is more in the upper Part of the Cane whereas that of the Sugar-Canes is more in the lower which they draw out of it untill I saw at length their white hairy Tops sprout out which are large and not unlike to the Italian-Millet These are full of whitish Grains each of which sticks between Two broad flying Leaves of the Bigness of those of the Orabus yet somewhat more compressed at the Sides Hereof they bake very well-tasted Bread and Cakes and some of them are rowled very thin and laid together like unto a Letter so that they are about Four Inches broad Six long and Two thick they are of an Ashen Colour The Inhabitants call it still at this Day by its ancient Arabian Name Dora whereof Rhases maketh mention he that will may read more of it in Authors Our Voyage went on very well wherefore the Merchants began several Pastimes some did play at a Play called the Eighteenth and others played at Chess in which Two Games they were very well versed others spent their time in Reading and Singing Among the rest there was a Merchant from Balsara that sung out of his Alcoran which was put into Rhymes in the common Arabick several times with a loud and delicate Voice so that I took great Delight in hearing him Yet they were not so hot in their Gaming or Jesting that they should therefore forget the Hour of their Prayers chiefly their Divines that were in Orders which used to call them out with a loud Voice at the usual Hour either in the Ship or without in the Desarts if they could have convenient Time and Opportunity But among the Persians I found a greater Zeal and Earnestness than among the Turks or Moors all which Nation have notwithstanding the same Ceremonies in their Prayers For as they have chiefly Five Hours of Praying whereof Three are in the Day-time viz. the First about Noon the Second about Three and the Third when the Sun begins to set the two others in the Night one in the Morning an Hour and half before the Sun riseth and the Second after Sun set when the Firmament begins to look white and the Stars to appear So the Persians would not be hindered by the Darkness of the Night Danger of the Place Inconveniency of the Time to go out when the others were asleep on the Ground in the Island where we were landed and say their Prayers with such an Earnestness and Devotion as I have often seen it that the Tears run out of their Eyes I must also needs say that they keep closer and stricter to their Laws than almost any other Nation which forbid them to drink Wine and command them to live in Poverty and to watch and pray continually The Eighteenth Day of October we came early to Hadidt a pretty large yet anciently built Town belonging to the King of Arabia which is also divided into two Towns by the River Euphrates like unto Ana whereof the greater part lieth on this Side of the River Here the Master payed for his Ship two Sayet one whereof is about Three-Pence in our Country to the Customers and so set Sail again to try whether he could reach that Night to Juppe And he did oftner than ever before speak to his Men to pull on chiefly where the River in its Breadth and Depth
of the Country brought under the subjection of the Turkish Emperour Orpha is a Town of very good Trade they deal in Tapestry of several sorts some whereof are made there and sent out to us there is also a great Deposition of Merchandices which are brought thither from Aleppo Damascus Constantinople and other places to go to Carahemit Five Days Journey distant from hence and so to be carried further into Media Persia the Indies c. yet all these Goods are brought thither in Caravans by Land because there is no Navigable River belonging to it Some say that this Town was anciently called Haran and Charras from whence the Patriarch Abraham departed with his Wife Sarah and his Brother's Son Lot according to the Command of God Gen. Chap. 12. and went forth to go into the Land of Canaan which the Lord had promised to give him and there is a plentiful Well still to this Day called Abraham's Well where the Servant of Abraham whom he sent into Mesopotamia to the Town of Nahor to fetch a Wife for his Son Isaac from his own Kindred did first see Rebecca when she gave him and his Camels some Water to drink out of this Well And so did afterwards the Patriarch Jacob when he fled from his Brother Esau at this same Well make himself known to Rachel the Daughter of Laban his Mother's Brother when he removed the Stone from the head of the Well and so let her Sheep drink The Water of this Fountain hath a more whitish troubledness than others I have drunk of it several times out of the Conduit that runs from thence into the middle of the great Camp and it hath a peculiar Pleasantness and a pleasant Sweetness in its taste To the same did also come the Son of the Pious Tobias conducted by the Angel Raphael whom his Father sent to Rages now called Edessa as is above-mentioned to call in a Debt from Gabel as you may read in the 11th Chapter of his Book when they returned by the way of Haran which is half way to Nineve After the Jews had done their Business there with good Success we went on in our Travels again and came again into the high and rough Mountains where we spent also the next Day with great trouble and hardship until we came again to the great River Euphrates into the Town Bi r whereof I have made mention before And although we had no more but two half Days Journey to Aleppo yet the Jews my Fellow-travellers had Business in the Famous Town Nisib which is situated on this side the River on the borders of the lesser Armenia so that we were bound to go thither so we put out again on the 6th of February after their Sabbath and went through very fruitful and well cultivated Corn-Fields to Andeb towards Evening It is a pretty big Town but not very strong It lieth on two small Hills very pleasantly so that you may see it plainly and distinctly as soon as you come from out of the Valley by the Lake into the Fields Yet notwithstanding that it is so pleasantly situated and looketh so stately at a distance it is but pitifully built when you come within it In former Ages this Town hath been several times besieged by the Kings of Persia by whom it was taken at last and kept so long until the Roman Emperour Galienus Odenatus Palmyrenus took it from King Sapor together with the Town Orpha and laid it to the Roman Empire again But in these our Times to our grief it is brought again together with all the Country under the Ottoman Slavery The Inhabitants have very little Trade they live for the most part upon their Estates by cultivating their Grounds and chiefly from the Fruits of Vineyards and Orchards which are planted with Pomgranates and Figs c. so thick that from the great quantity of Trees they may have the more Fruit that you would at a distance rather take them to be Woods of wild Trees than of fruitful ones So they send Yearly many sorts of Fruits but chiefly Cibebs into the Eastern Countries by great Caravans whereof I have met many After we had staid here and I had lost a whole Day for their Business sake we broke up again directly for Aleppo and having passed for several Miles through rough bad hilly ways we came at length into a plain delicate and fruitful Country so fruitful of Wine and Corn that on all my Journey I have seen none like unto it This did almost extend it self to Aleppo where we arrived early with the help of the Almighty God in very good health on the 10th Day of February At my arrival because my Comrade Hans Vlrich Krafft with the rest were not there then present presently some French Merchants which I had cured of several Distempers before my departure came to me and carried me home with them desiring me to live with them untill my Business which caused me to come back were done wherein really they did me a very great Kindness For I having very well torn my Cloaths which never came from my Back in half a Years time I had there an Opportunity to rest my self and to procure my self some new ones I thank the Almighty God for his many Mercies and Favours bestowed on me and the Assistance he graciously afforded me in this Voyage returning him Praise Honour and Glory c. CHAP. XI Of the Turkish Physicians and Apothecaries Of my Comrade Hans Ulrich Krafft of Ulm 's hard Imprisonment Of the great Danger that I was in in the two Towns of Aleppo and Tripoli Of the murdering of some Merchants and what else did happen when I was there AT my return to Aleppo where my Business obliged me to stay a while I came to understand that during my absence several Italians and French-men were in their Sickness but very slightly served by the Jews their Physicians wherefore I did not only soon recover my former Acquaintance and Practice by them but might have also stept into great Business with the Turks for I was presently so well known that I had much to do to excuse my self with Discretion to get off of them that I might escape their Anger and Displeasure which I must have got if I had served them never so faithfully which I knew several had before me found by experience Wherefore at the instance of several good Friends I only cured two great Persons whereof one was a Georgian and at that time Sangiack of Jerusalem which were very well pleased with me and requited me accordingly The Physicians generally in these Parts agree before hand for the Cure with their Patients for a certainty according to the Condition of the Patient and his Distemper and have security for their Money but yet it is not paid to them before the Patient is cured They have a great many Physicians but they are very unskilful chiefly the Turks which know none but their own Language and so cannot
about with a strong Cudgel and striketh in every Street on one or more Doors made strong for that purpose as if it were upon an Anvil several times which resounds through all the Street When the Christians pray they observe almost the same Ceremonies with the Turks Persians and Arabians c. they turn themselves towards the South they speak low in the beginning lift up their Hands bend their Heads and whole Bodies downwards then they fall down upon their Knees kiss the Earth several times and pray with great Devotion which Custom the Jews keep also and that without doubt because the Patriarchs used the same in their Prayers as we read in the Seventeenth Chapter of Genesis Verse 3. and 17. And Abraham fell on his face Exod. xvii 11. When Moses held up his hands Israel prevailed and in 1 Kings xviii 42. is said And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel and he cast himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees and also Nehemiah viii 6. And all the people answered Amen Amen with lifting up their hands and they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground So did Christ himself lying on his Face vehemently pray the Third Time If we Christians did but mind the Fervency and Zeal of the Heathens and Superstitious in their Prayers we should see what reason we have to awake from our Laziness and Coldness in our Prayers and to pray with earnestness There live in Turkey so many Christians that they inhabit the greatest part of that Country wherefore considering their great number to speak according to all human probability it would be an easie matter to subdue the Turks without the assistance of any outlandish Power and to drive them out of their own Countries did not God Almighty who visiteth us for our manifold Sins set them over us as a Punishment For although the Turkish Emperor sets his Bâ—glerby's and Bashaws as great and mighty Lords here and there over great Provinces and Countries to rule them with great Zeal and Severity and and to order all Business according to his pleasure so that among so great a number of People and considering their severe Reign and Government where small Transgressions are vigorously punished there is not easily to be feared an Insurrection yet he could not be half so strong without the help of the Christians that live amongst his People nor be able to bring together such mighty and numerous Armies of good and experienced Soldiers The Christians for the most part wear as well as the Turks long Cloaths and gird their Loins with fine and soft Rollers some of Silk and others made of Cotton in them they keep still to this day their Money chiefly the poor as some with us that have no Pockets do in their Handkerchiefs tied up in a strong knot the same without doubt did the Ancients wear as the Words of Christ our Saviour Matth. x. 9. give us to understand where he speaketh to his Disciples and sends them into the whole world saying Provide neither gold nor silver nor brass in your purses In the German Bible we read Girdles With such a one without doubt the Prophet Agabus did tie the Hands and of the Apostle Paul in Cesarea in the House of Philip when he would make him to understand that the Jews at Jerusalem would take and tie him and at length deliver him up into the hands of the Heathens as you may read in the 21st of the Acts. Now altho the Christians go as well as the Turks in long Cloaths so that that way they are hardly to be distinguished from one another yet they are distinguished by the peculiar Colours of their Turbants which they wear for the Turks wear white ones as also do the Arabians and Persians only these put behind to it a red coloured Cloth and the others make it up in another form and let one of the ends hang down behind to defend their naked Necks from the excessive heat of the Sun But the uncircumcised that have a differing Religion are not allowed to wear a white one unless another Colour be mixed with it much less a green one which Colour being their Mahomets and esteemed to be holy is not allowed to be worn by any Body neither Turks nor Christians except to their Priests and some Pilgrims that have been on Pilgrimage to Mecha neither in Turbants nor other Cloaths So the Armenians have blue the Nestorians flesh colored the Grecians Maronites Surians and others have white ones with blue Lists wrought into them But the Jews have yellow ones as they have in our Country yellow Bonnets yet when they have a mind to travel afar off as into Mesopotamia Assyria Persia or into the Indies c. seeing that the Turks hate them that so they may travel the securer and with little Charges they put on white ones by the way and pretend to be Tschelebys or Noble Men nay sometimes Messengers of the Cambre which they may easily do because they understand the Languages yet not without great danger But they stay not long in a place that they may not come to be known There are also some Jewish Physicians which instead of the yellow Turbants wear red high Hats of Scarlet they exceed in number the Turkish ones that go cloathed like the common people They are commonly more Able and Learned because they can read the Physical Books of Galen and Avicen c. in their original Languages Greek and Arabick which they generally understand But for the Latin Tongue very few of them understand that neither have they any good Books in it but what they have received in the taking the Island Cyprus So much of the Christians in general But because I have made mention of Christians of several Nations that inhabit the Temple of Mount Calvaria what places in and without the Town of Jerusalem each of them are possessed of and with what Errors in Religion they are contaminated I cannot but relate in particular of each of them as much as I could understand and learn in that little time CHAP. XI Of the GREEKS AS the ancient Greeks in former days did excel almost all other Nations in Wisdom and Understanding and used to have their Children instructed at home in thir own Universities in all manner of Learning so in our times we find the contrary for in all Greece there is not one University to be found where such Discipline and Learning flourishes as did anciently just so is the desire of Learning and instructing their Children extinguished in them They take greater delight in idle Discourses and rather love Idleness which they have learned very well since they truckle under the Turkish Yoak 'T is true they write the Greek Language but which is as corrupt and different from the Ancient as the Italian is from the Latin The Turks despise them for their Laziness and Cowardize and on the contrary they love
that live in Mesopotamia and Judea c. This Sect was rejected and condemned in the Counsil of Ephesus CHAP XVI Of the JACOBITES called Golti IN the Temple of Mount Calvaria also live in the Chapel behind the Sepulchre of Christ another sort that boast to be Christians called Jacobites after Jacob the Heretick who was a Pupil of the Patriarch of Alexandria They pretend to have been first converted to the Christian Religion by the holy Evangelist and Apostle Matthew but they did not adhere to it but fell afterwards into a great many Errors so that in our time they are divided into other Sects and Orders For some have assumed the Order of S. Macharius who with Eutychius did own or believe no more but one Nature in Christ others that of St. Anthony who was an Eremite in the year of our Lord Christ 324 in Egypt Others have their Male Children circumcised but others and the greater part have their Children baptized with Fire and have Crosses made on their Foreheads or Temples according to the words of St. John the Baptist in the 3d. Chapter of St. Matthew V. 11. He that cometh after me shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with Fire They live chiefly in Egypt and in other adjacent places They are generally subject unto the Turkish Sultan they speak the vulgar Arabian Language and agree in most points partly with the Abyssines and partly with the Surians We saw many of their Wives go about in the Temple they wear Hats near a Span high which at top have a broad Brim like unto our Bonnets else they are habited like unto the Surians This Heresie was rejected and condemned in the Chalcedonian Council CHAP. XVII Of the Abyssins Priest John called Lederwick Subject unto the King of the Moors THese live at Jerusalem in the Temple of Mount Calvaria just by the Church Door towards the left and have through their Lodging a peculiar way so that without hinderance according to their pleasure they may go in and out and pretend that their King hath made a peculiar Agreement to let his Subjects have Free-ingress and Re-gress According to all appearance they are a Naked People yet for all that they may be Rich and Able they are of a dark brown colour When we spoke to them by an Interpreter they shew'd themselves very kind and friendly and always did give with a great deal of discretion such Answers to our Questions that one might easily conclude that they were of good Understanding and well Instructed and Grounded in their Religion To their King is given in the beginning of his Reign the Sir-name of David which else are called Lederwick and by the Persians Amma to shew and to make known by it that they are derived from the Kingly Race and Stem of David and Solomon and to prove this they alledge the History of the Queen of Saba called Merquerda who as we Read in Scripture came from Rich Arabia with many Camels Laden with Gold Spices and precious Stones to Jerusalem to see the great Wisdom and Glory of Solomon whereof she had heard much When she had been there a good while and in the mean time was got with Child by Solomon and brought him a Son into the World called Meytich she left him at Jerusalem but she returned into her own Country again Many Years after when the Son was grown up and came to his Understanding his Father seeing he had more Sons was perswaded to send him home to his Mother who had a greater Kingdom than he So he did dispatch him and sent along with him the chiefest of his Courtiers and sent him away with a great Train as did become a King When he was come into his Kingdom he entertained these Lords and Gentlemen very Honorably and promoted them before all others to the highest and best places that they might the willinger stay with him But all this would not prevail with them but they grew daily more tired and unwilling to stay longer in these strange and unaccustomed Countries and this encreased daily more and more and at length to that height that they resolved that if the King would not give them free leave they would endeavor to make their escape Clandestinly against the Kings Will to Jerusalem in Judea When this their design came before the King he was very angry and ordered immediately that a Mark should be burnt on their Foreheads that every body might know them and issued a Proclamation That all his Subjects might watch them and if any or more of them that were a going away should be taken they should detain them and send them to him again Now as at this time the Marks did begin and then those had them that were of a great Race so they are retained by their Posterity to this very day as we still see in these times that their Nobility have them on their Foreheads towards the right yet not all for there are some that wear them rather upon their Shields and Arms c. These marks are not all alike for in some you see a Bear a Dragons-Head c. in others a Lyon a Wolf or three crossed Arrows c. because every one hath that made that they give in their Coats of Arms they colour it with an Oil which they call Aâ—aâ—cinte and is brought to them from Greece Beâ—s this Custom they still keep in many things to the Ancieâ— ones of the Jews for they keep the Sabbath for their peculiar Holiday and also they do not eat all sorts of flesh nor any of them that are forbid as Unclean in the Old Testament They pretend that the Holy Apostle Philip hath when he Travell'd with the Chamberlain of Candaces Queen of the Moors to Gaza and Converted him there allowed them this and other things being Born Jews Circumcision they believe unnecessary and that it can neither profit nor hurt a Christian And again Baptism they believe to be necessary wherefore through all his large Dominions they bring their Children to it on the third day and Baptize them yet with Fire in the Name of God the Father the Son and the holy Ghost whom they believe to proceed only from the Father and not from the Son according to the Words of St. Mathew Chap. 3. Vers 11. He shall Baptize you with the holy Ghost and with Fire They take the Oil of Achalcinte dip a Stick into it and lay Frankincense upon it and set it on Fire and so they let some drops fall down which do not hurt the Children being mix'd with the Oil and at last they make a Cross with it upon the left side of their Forehead near unto the Temple They begin their Lent about Easter as the Armenians wherein the Lay-men Eat nothing else but 〈◊〉 Herbs and Pulse but their Priest generally nothing but Bread and Water and so they do every Wednesday and Friday throughout all the Year They Marry also according to the Words of
Mountains and good Castles Damoud Tegre and Barnegas Besides there are several Provinces governed by Princes who are Vassals to the King of Ethiopia In short the Kingdom of Ethiopia comprehends twenty four Tambours or Vice Roys The capital City is called Gonthar and is in the Province of Dambia Ethiopia as the Ambassador told me is as cold as Aleppo or Damascus only the Countries near the Red-Sea and the Country of Sennar are hot The King of Ethiopia has above an hundred Wives and keeps no Eunuchs to look after them because they look upon it as a Sin to geld a man so that the Women have the same liberty there as in Christendom He is a King of very easie access and the poorest have the freedom â—o come and speak to him when they please He keeps all his Children on a Mountain called Ouhhni in the Province of Oinadaga which is a Mountain two days Journey distant from Gonthar there is a place like a Cistern on the top of the Mountain into which they are let down every night and taken up again in the day-time and suffered to play and walk about When the King dyes they chuse out one of the wittiest of them and make him King without any regard to Birth-right and when he comes to have Children he sends his Brothers Prisoners to some other place and places his Children at Ouhhni The place where the Kings are buried is called Ayesus and is a kind of Grott where the Aged are laid in one side and the young in the other Heretofore there was a Church there of the same name in time of the Jesuites and in the same place there is a Library The Ambassador assured me that he had been in that Library and I fancy it is the old Library of the Ancient Ethiopians Ethiopia is a good and fertile Country producing Wheat Barley c. The greatest Desarts of it are not above three or four days Journey over and nevertheless when the King makes any progress he lodges in Tents The Houses of the great Lords are like those of Caire that is to say very mean in respect of the Houses of Europe and the rest are only of Mud. The Country affords men of all Trades except Watch-makers They have no Camels there but Mules Asses Oxen and Horses All the People of this Country eat raw Flesh except the King who has it dress'd and drinks Wine of Grapes the rest drink only Wine made of Millet or Sarasin Wheat but as strong as ours and Brandy made of the same Grain They are cloathed after the fashion of the Franks and wear Cloath Velvet and other Stuffs imported to them by the Red-Sea They have Harquebusses from the Turks and of those People there are not above three or four hundred who serve in the Wars with Harquebusses In Trading they make no use of coyned Money as the Europeans do but their Money are pieces of fifteen or twenty Pies of Cloth Gold which they give by weight and a kind of Salt which they reduce into little square pieces like pieces of Soap and these pass for Money They cut out that Salt upon the side of the Red-Sea five or six days Journey from Dangala as you go from Caire and the places where they make it are called Arho Among them is the Nation of the Gauls whom in Ethiopick they call Chava and are a Vagabond people in Ethiopia as the Arabs are in Egygt These Gauls are rich in Cattel and are alwaies at wars with the Ethiopians They have no Harquebusses nor other Fire-Arms but make use of Lances and Targets After all they speak so mâ—ny different Languages in Ethiopia that the Ambassador said to me If God hath made seventy two Languages they are all spoken in Ethiopia I asked his Excellency if he knew any thing of the Source of the Nile and this he told me concerning it The Head of Nile is a Well that springs out of the Ground in a large Plain where many Trees grow this Fountain is called Ouembromma and is in a Province called Ago It makes that a very delightful place casting up Water very high in several places And this Ambassadour of Ethiopia assured me that he had been above twelve times with the King of Ethiopia to spend several days about that Fountain which is twelve days Journey from Gonthar More Observations of Ethiopia by Father Lobo Father Alvarez Father Tellez and others extracted from their Portuguese Voyages THE Rains begin to fall in June and continue July August and part of September which make the Nile swell and overflow in those Months Father Tellez says the Mountains of Habessinia are much higher than our Alps and Pyrenean Hills these render the Country more temperate and healthful and make that torrid Climate tolerable to the European Bodies There is plenty of good Springs and Herbage In the midst of the Plains there rise up many steep Rocks of wonderful Figures and Shapes on the tops whereof are Woods Meadows Fountains Fish-ponds and other conveniencies of Life The Natives get up to them by Ropes and crane up their Cattel These are like so many Fortresses which defend the Natives against the sudden Incursions of barbarous Nations on all sides This Kingdom abounds with Metals but they neglect to work them lest Turkish or other Invasions should follow if such Baits were discover'd Their Winter is from May to September the Sun then passing and repassing perpendicular over their Heads During this Season once every day it rains Torrents and thunders most violently which are accompanied sometimes with sudden and furious Hurricanes The Jesuits residing in the Province of Zambea observ'd both the Poles the Antarctick higher with his cross Stars In this tract of Heaven there is as it were a Cloud or Blot full of little Stars as our Via Laclea The Animals of this vast Kingdom are the Hippopotamus or River-horse which makes great devastation in their Plantations Crocodiles Rhinocerots Elephants Lyons Tygers Panthers Camelopardalus Gazels Zembra's Civet-Cats great varieties of Monkeys Apes and Baboons Ostriches Cassowars Turtles Locusts in prodigious numbers The ordinary Trees are the Date Coco Tamarind Câ—ssia Oranges Musa or Plantane Cotton-Trees with many others peculiar to the Climate and Region In one year they will have three several crops of Rice Millet Tef-Seed their common Food ten times less than Mustard-Seed of Wheat and other European Grain yet the Locusts often devour all and bring on Famines They make a Drink of Honey burnt Rice Water and a Wood call'd Sardo They have no Mills but grind all their Grain with the Hand Great Caravans pass up and down the Country to and from the Sea-Ports with Merchandise In many places the Towns and Villages are extreamly thick and very populous Snow sometimes lies on the high Mountains of Ethiopia especially those called Semam and Salleat or the Jews Hills This part of Africk called Habessinia is much the highest of that Quarter of the World the great Rivers
A COLLECTION Of Curious TRAVELS VOYAGES In Two Tomes The First containing Dr. Leonhart Rauwolff's Itinerary into the Eastern Countries as Syria Palestine or the Holy Land Armenia Mesopotamia Assyria Chaldea c. Translated from the High Dutch by NICHOLAS STAPHORST The Second taking in many parts of Greece Asia minor Egypt Arabia Felix and Petraea Ethiopia the Red-Sea c. from the Observations of Mons Belon Mr. Vernon Dr. Spon Dr. Smith Dr. Huntingdon Mr. Greaves Alpinus Veslingius Thevenot's Collections and others To which are added Three Catalogues of such Trees Shrubs and Herbs as grow in the Levant BY JOHN RAY Fell. of the Royal Society LONDON Printed for S. Smith and B. Walford Printers to the Royal Society as the Princes Arms in St. Paul's Church-yard 1693. To the Honourable S r ROBERT SOVTHWELL PRESIDENT TO THE COUNCIL AND FELLOWS OF THE Royal Society These TOMES OF Curious Travels and Voyages ARE Most Humbly Dedicated AS A Monument of GRATITUDE THE BOOKSELLERS TO THE READER THese Two Tomes of Travels and Voyages containing great Variety both as to the several Countries the Observations and Authors of them we think it proper to give the World a short account of them The first is Rauwolf a Person very famous for his Skill in Natural Products and in the Practise of Physick whose Itinerary into the Eastern Countries being written in High Dutch was grown very rare valued as a Manuscript and much desired by some learned Gentlemen who are justly esteem'd to have a delicate Taste and fine Judgment in the choice of Books and Subjects therefore being informed that the High Dutch Copy of these Travels was only to be found in the Arundelian Library at Gresham College we freely undertook the Charge of having it translated and printed in our Language which is here performed with great care and diligence The Plants collected by the worthy Author Dr. Leonhart Rauwolff in his Itinerary were curiously preserv'd by the late Isaac Vossius in four large Volumes and justly esteem'd by that great man as the most noble Rarity and Ornament of his Bibliotheque which when it came to be sold to the Vniversity of Leyden was particularly valued by the Great Heer van Beverning for these Volumes of dry'd Plants collected by our Author in his Travels of the Eastern Countries and tho' some perhaps may give a slight Character of him for a Mistake or two about Prestâ—r John and the Unicorn yet if they consider that he only relates what he accidentally heard of them from others they ought to take that part only as a Story told him upon the Road as he himself indeed delivers it But this may very truly be said of Rauwolff that whatever he writes upon his own Observation or Knowledge is most faithful and sincere therefore it was not without Reason that Carolus Clusius and the two Bauhines all very good Judges depended so much upon him and made such frequent and honourable mention of this Itinerary But because some might think that the aforementioned Journey of Dr. Leonhart Rauwolff was consinâ—d to too narrow a compass of Ground and to some Countries not much frequented as Armeâ—ia Mesopotamia Assyria Babylonia Judea c. we therefore consulted a Friend how to render the Piece more useful to the Publick who advised us to extend it to many other places of the Levant where Rauwolff never travell'd as Greece Egypt and other adjacent Countries bordering near the Sphere of Rauwolff's Itinerary This being thought most serviceable to the Republick of Learning we immediately concluded to supply and enlarge Rauwolff with a Second Tome out of some of the most renowned Travellers of those parts of the World such as Bellonius Alpinus Veslingius Mr. Greaves Mr. Vernon and many others of great Fame and Reputation for their excellent Observations in the Levant as Dr. Smith Dr. Huntingdon Dr. Spon Sir G. Wheeler c. To these we have added something of Arabia Felix and Ethiopia which curious persons may be desirous to read being taken from Original and Authentick Voyages Lastly We prevail'd with Mr. Ray to draw up three Catalogues at the end containing the Trees Shrubs and Herbs growing in the Levant part of the World together with their various synonimous Names which do much illustrate and beautifie the whole But before we take Leave a Point of Honour of Candor and Ingenuity ought not to be forgotten which is a decent acknowledgment of the Writings from whence the several parts of the Second Tome were extracted for the benefit of the Reader these were Clusius's Edition of Monsieur Belon's Itinerary by Plantine at Antwerp The Egyptian Observations of Alpinus printed at Padua and Venice The Pyramidographia of Mr. Greaves The Collections of Voyages and Travels by Ramusio Hakluyt Purchas and Thevenot The Philosophical Transactions published by Mr. Oldenburg at London and afterwards by Dr. Plot at Oxford To which we may add some of the most learned Missionaries of the Church of Rome into foreign Countries such we mean only as applied themselves to Topographical and Philosophical Observations as Father Alvarez Father Lobo Father Tellez and Father Vansleb who setting aside the business of their Calling and Mission are not only worthy of entring the List of Gentlemen Travellers and Virtuoso's but of appearing in a Protestant Kingdom From all these we fetcht Materials for the forming and raising our Second Volume which we cannot but hope will prove beneficial and grateful to the Publick seeing we had no other design in it than purely that of pleasing and instructing as well as of enlarging the Empire of Knowledge Dr. Leonhart Rauwolff TO His Honoured Cousins and Friends HANS WIDTHOLTZ CHRISTOPH CHRISTEL AND NICHOLAS BEMER Honoured and Dear Cousins THE Ancient Philosophers were wont not unfitly to compare the study and pursuit of Ingenious Arts and Sciences to the practise of Merchandizing for as Merchants fear no Dangers neither spare any Pains or Cost in travelling to foreign Countries by Sea and Land that they may procure and bring thence to furnish their Store-houses such Goods and Commodities as they chiefly deal in So those who make the attainment of Skill in the forementioned Liberal Arts their principal End and the study thereof their Delight are not deterred from prosecuting this Design by any distances of Places by Winter or Summer fearing neither Rain nor Snow nor the traversing of horrid Desarts or the wild and roaring Seas nor wasting or weakening their Patrimonies if at last they can but arrive at those places where they may gain the acquaintance and familiarity of eminently-learned Masters able to instruct them in those Arts and Sciences to the Knowledge and Comprehension whereof they aspire or where they may inform themselves of the Constitutions and Customs of famous Nations and of other things subservient to their Intentions We have an Instance of this in the Wise Philosopher and famous Law-giver Solon who as Plutarch in the Description of his Life remarketh travelled through
many foreign Countries to acquire the knowledge of their Government and Polity their Laws and Constitutions in order to the qualifying and enabling himself to accomplish his design of giving Laws to his own We read also in Diogenes Laertius that Plato did travel to Megara to visit Euclide to Cyrene to see Theodorus Mathematicus into Italy to encounter the Pythagorean Philosophers and also into Egypt to converse with the Priests and Sages there so mightily cried up in the World and to acquaint himself with their Learning and Mysteries Moreover that he intended a Journey into Asia had he not been hinder'd by a War then newly commenced After the same manner Galen writes of himself That he sailed to Lemnos Cyprus and Palestina of Syria on purpose to see foreign Plants and rare Oares and Minerals To relate what great Troubl◠and Dangers those that have written of Exotick Plants to this day have sustained and incurred in their foreign Peregrinations would not be grievous to me did I not fear that it would extend this Dedication to too disproportionate and tedious a length wherefore I will omit it and briefly touch what concerns my self mine own Inclinations to travel and proceedings in pursuance thereof Although I dare not compare my self with those Excellent and Incomparable Persons newly mentioned nor boast of any high Vnderstanding Experience or Learning so far as I know my self yet to confess the Truth I am forced to own that from my Infancy I alwaies had a great desire to Travel into foreign parts and to enquire out Learned and Famous Men that I might get something of them to encrease my Stock of Knowledge From whence it did proceed I having chiefly before all other Faculties a great inclination to the Study of Physick and finding that it required the assistance of a great many Sciences more and especially Skill in Botanicks that after serious and mature deliberation with the Consent of my Parents and Relations and at their Expences I did leave the German Universities and travelled into France and Italy where the Knowledge and Practise of Medicine doth chiefly flourish where also several rare Plants of great use in Physick do naturally grow to acquaint my self with which and to gain the knowledge of them I have taken abundance of pains and chiefly at Montpellier where in company with the highly learned Jeremias Martius Doctor of Physick I wander'd over several Hills and Valleys in many places but chiefly the high Mountain Ceti situate near Frontignan on the Sea-shore c. by which means I gathered several hundreds of Simples and kept them by me as a Treasure But when I began to consult Authors concerning them finding a great many others no less useful and advantageous in Physick that were said to grow in Greece Syria and Arabia c. I was highly therewith pleased chiefly when I found also those fruitful places of the Eastern Countries described which several Authors and above all the Holy Scriptures have mentioned and from thence I was enflamed with a vehement desire to search out and view such Plants growing spontaneously in their Native places and propounded also to my self to observe the Life Conversation Customs Manners and Religion of the Inhabitants of those Countries And although I did not then immediately put this my design in execution but delay'd for several years doing mean while what Service I could to my Native Country yet I embraced the first opportunity that offer'd it self of accomplishing it For when my deceased Brother-in-law Mr. Melchior Manlich wished me to take a Voyage into the Eastern Countries to find out their Drugs and Simples and other things convenient and profitable for his Trade and did promise me requisite Charges and a considerable Salary I immediately accepted his agreeable Offer and readily embraced so often-desir'd an opportunity and addressing my self instantly to the Magistrates of this City for I was then in their Service craved Leave to go which I had no sooner obtained but I began my Travels into the Levant What I saw learned and experienc'd during the space of Three years for so much time this Journey took me up not without great danger and trouble I consigned all in good order as it occurred daily in a Pocket-Journal to keep as a Memorial of my Life But after I returned home again being desir'd nay continually importun'd by several Gentlemen and others my very good Friends to communicate this my Itinerary to them and to make it publick At last after many Refusals not being able any longer to resist their Solicitations I was prevailed upon to comply with their Desires to publish it in Print Wherefore I looked my Itinerary over again and whatever Curiosities I had observed I did transcribe into a peculiar Diary which I divided into three parts according as I travelled into several Countries and committed it to the Press that I might communicate Copies thereof to my Friends It is not Vain-glory that hath prompted me to do this but rather the Profit and Pleasure it may afford the Reader that those who have no opportunity to visit foreign Countries may have it before their Eyes as a Map to contemplate and that others may be excited further to enquire into these things and induced by reading this Account to Travel themselves into those parts whereof I have written to observe that more narrowly and exactly wherein I have been too short But if any shall object and say That I might have spared this Labour and Trouble and employed it to better purposes and that the present State Condition Situation and Manners of the World have been so fully surveyed and described by others that there is hardly a corner of it left unsearched To this I answer That what others have written I have not transcribed into this Work but what I have seen experienc'd observ'd and handl'd my self is only mentioned here But if any one hath already out of the like Books printed before learned all these things so that nothing here propounded is new to him I confess this my Labour is of no use to such an one neither have I written it for him But he that by daily experience observeth how Wars Plagues Distempers and other Accidents may and do mightily alter Kingdoms Countries Cities and Towns so that what was praised formerly as glorious and beautiful lyeth now desolate and in Ashes and what then was accounted barren and waste may be now become fruitful and glorious he will confess that still in our times a great many things remain to be search'd and enquir'd into which others before us never did nor could observe treat of or publish Pursuant to this the wise Solon before mentioned said That he grew old continually learning many things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Julian the Law-giver was wont to say That if one of his Feet were in his Grave yet he should be desirous to learn If this my Work doth not make or improve Divines Lawyers or Physicians for which
Sails and departed in the Night But in going thence for Tripoli we had for the most part contrary Winds which hindred us so much that we did not arrive there until the last day of September Thanks Honour and Glory be to the Almighty God that mercifully did protect us from all Dangers and Mischiefs and bought us safely into this Harbour CHAP. II. Of the Famous City of Tripoli of its fruitful Neighbourhood and great Trade And also of the splendid Baths and other magnificent Buildings to be seen there Their ways of making Rusma Pot-Ashes Soap c. BEfore Tripoli near the Sea-shore we saw five Castles like high Towers distant from one an other about a Musquet-shot where some Janisaries are kept in Garrison to cover the Ships in the Harbour which is in some measure surrounded with Rocks and to defend that Custom-house and the several Ware-houses where you may see all sorts of Goods brought from most parts of the World from any hostile Attempt or Assault but after the Sun was set and Night began to approach we made what haste we could to the Town which was an Hours going distant from us Some Turks went with us no other ways armed but with good strong Cudgels which as I was told they commonly carry to keep off the Wolves called Jacals whereof there are a great many in these Countries that are used to run seek and pursue after their Prey in the Night While we were a talking of them some came up pretty near us but as soon as they saw us they turned and ran away When we came to the Gate of the Town we found it shut up wherefore one of our Friends that met us to make us welcom called to some French Men that were in their Inn in their Language called Fondique which is near the Gate and reacheth quite to the Wall of the Town and desired that one of them would take the Pains to go to the Sangiacho to desire him to let the Gate be opened to let us in which they were willing to do But in the mean time that we staid before the Gate another that was an Enemy to our Friend ran also away and bespoke some Turks and Moors to set upon us which they were very willing to do and came with all speed through another Gate that is never shut along the Wall to us fell unawares upon us struck at us and took hold of us chiefly at our good Friend for whose sake all this was done others drew their Scymmeters upon us so that I thought we should have been all cut to pieces While this was a doing the Gate was opened and some French Men and their Consul himself came to our assistance and spoke to these Fellows earnestly exhorting them to desist and to let the Cause be decided by the Sangiacho and Cadi which at length they did So we came after this unfriendly welcome in the Croud into their Fondique where we remained all that night The Consul was very much displeased at this considering that such like Proceedings would be very troublesome to them wherefore he made great Complaints and Enquiries until at length he found out who was the Author thereof The next Morning we went to our Friends Houses in order to stay a while with them in the mean time we walked sometimes about in our own Cloaths to see the Town which is situated in the Country of Syria called Phoenicia which reached along the Sea-shore to Berinthus Sidon Tyrus and Acon as far to the Mountain of Carmelus The Town Tripoli is pretty large full of People and of good account because of the great Deposition of Merchandizes that are brought thither daily both by Sea and Land it is situated in a pleasant Country near the promontory of the high Mountain Libanus in a great Plain toward the Sea-shore where you may see abundance of Vineyards and very fine Gardens enclosed with Hedges for the most part consisting chiefly of Rhamnus Paliurus Oxyacantha Phillyrea Lycium Balaustium Rubus and little Palm-Trees that are but low and so sprout and spread themselves In these Gardens as we came in we found all sorts of Salletting and Kitchin-herbs as Endive Lettice Ruckoli Asparagus Seleri whose tops are very good to be eaten with Salt and Pepper but chiefly that sort that cometh from Cyprus Taragon by the Inhabitants called Tarchon Cabbages Colliflowers Turneps Horse-raddishes Carrots of the greater sort of Fennel Onions Garlick c. And also Fruit as Water-melons Melons Gourds Citruls Melongena Sesamum by the Natives called Samsaim the Seeds whereof they are very much used to strow upon their Bread and more but chiefly the Colocasia which is very common there and are sold all the Year long I have also found them grow wild about Rivulets but could never see either Flowers or Seeds on them I found also without the Gardens many Dates and white Mulberry-Trees which exceed our Aspen and Nut-Trees in height very much and also Pomgranat-Trees and Siliqua which the Grecians call Xylocerata the Arabs Charnubi Also Olive and Almond-Trees and Sebesten the Fruit whereof are to be had at Apothecaries Shops by the same Name Poma Adami Matth But in great plenty there are Citrons Lemons and Oranges which are as little eaten there as Pears or Crabs here Between these Gardens run several Roads and pleasant Walks chiefly in the Summer for they afford many shady Places and Greens where you are defended from the Heat and the Sun-beams and if passing through you should have a mind to some of the Fruits you may either gather some that are fallen down or else pull them from the nearest Trees without danger and take them home with you Without at the Sea-shore near the Old Town of Tripoli which together with many more as Antiochia Laodicea c. in the Year of our Lord 1183. was so destroyed by an Earthquake that nothing but a few Marks remain there were more Spring-gardens which some of the Merchants still remember But these were a few Years agone by the violence of the Seas so destroyed and so covered with Sand that now you see nothing there but a sandy Ground like unto the Desarts of Arabia Yet at Tripoli they have no want of Water for several Rivers flow down from the Mountains and run partly through the Town and partly through the Gardens so that they want no Water neither in the Gardens nor in their Houses The New Town in it self is of no strength for it is so meanly walled in that in several places in the Night you may get in and out But within there is a Citadel situated upon an ascent near the Water where a Garrison of a few Janisaries is kept They have low Houses ill built and flat at the top as they are generally in the East for they cover their Houses with a flat Roof or a Floor so that you may walk about as far the Houses go And the Neighbours walk over the tops of their
Houses to visit one another and sometimes in the Summer they sleep on the tops of them And so it may very well be that the four Men of which we read in St. Mark the 2 d. and St. Luke the 5 th Chapter that carried the Paralytick Man and could not come to Christ because of the Crowd of the People did carry him on the tops of the Houses and so let him down through the Roof into the Room where our Saviour was They have not great Doors Gates or Comings in from the Street as we have in our Country except some few Merchants Houses because they use neither Wagons nor Carts wherefore they have only a little low Door sometimes not above three Foot high so that you cannot go into them without stooping In a great many Houses the Comings in are so dark and deep that one would think he were going into a Cave or Cellar but when you are come through this Entry into them you see in some great Court-yards wherein are Cisterns to wash themselves in in others large Halls paved and therein some Ascents that go up two or three Steps paved delicately with Marble which they keep very clean and adorned with rich Tapestry whereupon they sit and this is covered with a large Arch left open at one side that the Turks may chiefly in the Summer sit underneath them very airy Their Doors and Houses are generally shut with wooden Bolts which are hollow within and they unlock them with wooden Keys about a Span long and about the thickness of a Thumb into this Key they have driven five six seven eight or nine short Nails or strong Wires in such an order and distance that they just fit others that are within the Lock and so pull them forwards or shut them backwards as they please The Streets are but narrow paved with broad Stones and have chiefly those that are great Roads a Channel in the middle of them about ten Inches broad so that a laden Camel may walk in them with ease or that a Man may step over them which they say are made that the laden Camels or Asses c. that daily arrive in great Caravans may be obliged to walk in them one after another in good order that People may walk in the Streets without being disturbed by them And that these Channels may be kept clean and dry they have in some places some hidden drains covered with broad Stones that as well the Rain-water as that of the Wells may run away through them They cannot brag of any fine Buildings save only the Mosques or Temples into which no Christian must come except he hath a mind to be circumcised and so turn a Mammeluck or Renegado And also some great Houses by the Natives called Champ or Carvatscharas Caravanseries wherein are a great many Shops or Ware-houses and Chambers by one another as is in stately Cloisters in the middle thereof is a great Court-yard where the strange Merchants that daily bring their Merchandizes in great Caravans do Inn considering that the Turks keep no other Inns. The Inns commonly belong to the Grand Seignor or his Basha which they build in several Towns to get themselves a yearly Revenue as the Venetians do in Venice out of the German House Besides these Buildings they have also Hot-Houses or Bagnios which are so glorious and sumptuous that they far exceed all their other Buildings in Beauty wherefore they are very well worth seeing And because the Turks Moors and Arabs c. according to their Mahumetan Laws are bound to bath themselves often to wash themselves clean from their manifold Sins which they daily commit but chiefly when they are going to their Mosques therefore they have their Hot-houses always ready and keep them warm and in an equal heat with a very small Charge and with far less Wood then one can imagine all the Week long both by Night and by Day They have under-ground a large and deep Vault like unto a large Cellar which is every where very close and it hath no more but two Air holes one on the top about three or four Inches Diameter and the other below which is a great deal larger where they put in Wood or for want of it pieces of Peat which they make out of Camels or Goats Dung c. and also out of the Dregs of the pressed Grapes these are so dry that the great Heat melts them just like Sea-coals or Turf which are burnt in the low Countries and other places where they have not plenty of Wood and these give so great a heat that it warmeth the whole Vault quite through And yet this Vault is so close made that you do not perceive the least Smoak nor Vapour although it is sometimes very hot But that the Fire may not decay there is one on purpose to attend it that flings on as much Fuel as is necessary to keep it These Hot-houses which according to the Custom of the Ancient Greeks and Romans are magnificently built have near to the Entry a delicate Hall which is curiously paved as also is the whole Bath and set with Marbles of all colours very artificially and a great Cupolo at the top thereof which is covered with an Arch in shape of a Ball or Globe Round about the Walls are broad Benches made where the People put off their Cloaths wherefore this first part of the Bath whereof the Ancients had five was called Apodyterium In the middle of the Baths is a fine Fountain where they sprinkle every one that goeth out of the Bath with sweet Water and also wash the Bathing-cloaths that were made use of in the Bath which they afterwards fling up upon Lines that are hung at the top of the Vault two or three Fathoms high with an admirable Certainty and spread them out with a long-Pole with one-stroke that they may dry the sooner so even as if it were done with Hands which no body can see without admiration when they have a mind to make use of them again they take them down with the same Sticks that are ready stuck up about the Fountain These are wrought finely with all sorts of Colours whereof they give two to every one that goeth into the Bath or Bagnio two others when he cometh out one to put upon his Head the other to put about him in the manner of an Apron When you will go into the Hot-house you must go through two or three Chambers whereof one is warmer than the other which each of them are covered with round Arches until you come into the great Room these Arches are full of round holes all about which are made in such order and set with Glass so curiously that they do not only make them very light but give also a fine Ornament to them In the great Bath are several great Marble Vessels which they let the Water into round about the great Room there are three or four small Chambers which they keep
Sharers of the Prey that receive their Dividend Weekly In short let one have committed never so much Evil if he giveth but Money to them all is well and he is as good again as ever he was before Seeing that many chiefly in Law Suits are wrong'd by them therefore higher Judges called Cadileschier are set over them to punish them for their Roguery these are esteemed by the Turks to be the principal Teachers of the Mahumetan Faith and Laws they are generally grave and understanding Men before whom are brought all intricate Causes and Appeals to be decided and they have Power to punish these and other Officers but chiefly the Cadis and to put them in and out according to their behaviour wherefore they often take their Circuits from Town to Town to see how the Cadis execute Justice wherefore they are very much afraid of their coming and if they know themselves guilty of any Misdemeanors they oftentimes run away If they are complained of by the People they are presently punished with many blows put out of their places and if the Crime be great they are after beheaded strangled burnt or other ways executed and this happeneth very often in these Countries But if one or more that were also wronged by the Cadi could not stay till the Arrival of the Cadileschier to make their Complaints to him they have another way that is to make their Complaints to the Port or the Emperor's Court or else to go themselves and make their complaints in Person where they are speedily heard for such Causes as I am inform'd are heard certainly once in fifteen days and righted If any be poor he is maintained by the Court until his Cause is ended Such a Cause did formerly happen to an Interpreter of the Venetian Consul who being very well to pass a Soubashaw did strive to make booty of him but not being able to prove any thing against him whereby he could make him punishable he found at length a way and got one of his Servants to hide a common Whore in the Interpreter's House unknown to him that he might have sufficient cause to accuse him This being done the Servants of the Cadi broke into the House and searched it and finding this Whore they put him into Prison The Interpreter notwithstanding he pleaded his innocency and that he was totally ignorant of the Fact yet could not satisfie the Cadi by any means but was condemned by him in Nine hundred Ducats which he was forced to pay This troubling the Interpreter he could not brook this unjust Imposition being an experienced Man well skill'd in their Laws wherefore he took Horse immediately unknown to the Cadi for Constantinople where he made his Complaints to the Court himself so well and with that Success that he was declared innocent and not guilty of the Fact But as this Court usually doth severely punish those that do commit Injustice so this Cadi did not escape for within a little while after the Turkish Emperor sent to him a Chiausbashaw which may be compared to an Executioner with a little Note whereof the Contents were to send him his Head by the Bearer which frighted the Gentleman very much but yet after by a peculiar Favour he had taken his leave of his Wife submitted himself to it This is the Reason That many ill Intentions and Designs chiefly if one summoned the other to appear at the Court before the Emperor are stopt and drawn back which else would have taken effect and been gone on with all If a Man appeareth before any Turk that is a Person of Quality he must have especial care that chiefly in departing he do not turn his back-side towards him for this is accounted the greatest Incivility and Affront that can be given throughout all the Turkish Dominions Nay if a Servant appears before his Master to ask him forgiveness of his Faults he useth peculiar Ceremonies first he submitteth himself and sheweth his Master all respect imaginable then he taketh with his Knees bended his Master's Hands to kiss them if his Master lets him have them freely he is in good hopes that his Master will grant him his request but if not but draweth them back although he maketh several proffers towards them he knoweth certainly that he is still out of favour and that there is but small hopes of obtaining his Intention They love that one should bear a great deal of Honour and Respect towards them for they know that their Masters the Sultan's Power hath for a long time past not been decreasing but always increasing wherefore they take very much upon themselves and are always richly cloathed and ride delicate Horses well adorn'd with stately Accoutrements with embroidered Saddles and Saddle cloths of Scarlet Velvet or other Silks the Bridles and Stirrups well garnished with Silver and Gold They commonly speak in the Turkish Language and so do all that lie about in Garrisons which is a very Manly one and sounds in pronouncing much like unto our German Tongue but they also generally are expert in the Arabian Tongue which is the common one there to the whole Country and goeth through many Provinces for you meet there with many Arabians Syrians Jacobites c. Christians and Heathens to whom this Speech is common The Turks have also some very fine Manners and Customs they are affable they begin their Discourse chiefly to Relations and Acquaintance with a friendly Salutation and Kissing but they are also lazy and do not esteem the liberal Arts and Sciences love Idleness better than Labour for you shall see them spend a whole Day in the Game of Chesse and other Games and in playing on their Quinterns Guitarhs which have three five seven and sometimes eleven Strings as I have seen them with the Musicians of the Bashaw of Aleppo several times they commonly play only with their Fore-finger or a piece of a Quill they walk about with them in the Streets chiefly the Souldiers all day long and so use themselves to Laziness and Leachery and contaminate themselves with all sorts of terrible and chiefly Sodomitical Sins which by them because both high and low are equally guilty thereof are not at all punished They love to wear good Cloaths but do not care they should cost them much of light colours their upper Garments which hang down very long before set with Buttons under which they wear other Coats instead of Doublets which commonly those of the Souldiers are made of blew Cloth somewhat shorter before then behind with white Sleeves and without Collars about the Neck and so are their Shirts which generally are wrought of Cotten and cut about the Neck as wide as their Cloaths instead of Bands they wear Neck-cloths which they wrap about their naked Necks to defend them from the violent Heat of the Sun They also chiefly in the Summer wear white and wide Cotten Drawers which reach to their Ancles and are much narrower below to them they have no
Cod-pieces which they do not suffer others to wear that they may wash themselves without hinderance their Private parts Feet Arms Necks or any other parts to cleanse themselves as often as their Laws shall direct them These Drawers they tie about their middle with some Strings or Bands about their naked Body and let their Shirts hang down over them When they have occasion to make Water they untie their Drawers again sit down and cast their Cloaths round about them like Women turn themselves from the South to which they turn when they are going to pray If they see a Man make his water standing they immediately conclude him to be a Christian and none of their Faith They commonly sit with their Legs laid one over the other which they do every where in the East wherefore they have neither Chair nor Table but instead thereof they have a paved place two or three steps high which is arched over head which they keep very clean and cover it with Tapestry or Serge or Mats finely twisted with several colours according to their Ability wherefore to save them the Turks pull of their Shoes and leave them at the Chamber-door Their Shoes are like unto those our Lacques use to wear and like Slippers easie to be put on and off they commonly are of a white or blew colour painted before underneath defended with Nails before and with Horse-shoes behind these are worn by young and old Men and Women rich and poor Besides these they also wear sometimes wooden Shoes which are to be sold every where they are about three Inches high and in the middle underneath carved out to distinguish the Soals from the Heels painted with several colours the same wear the Women which have almost the same Garments with the Men and have also Drawers which sometimes are so long that they hang out before their Coats they are commonly made of fine Cotton of several colours and laced at the sides You very seldom see any Turkish Women either in the Streets or in the Markets to buy Provision or in their Churches where only the chiefest of them come and that but seldom where they have a peculiar place separated from the Men. They have also in their Houses secret places and corners where they hide themselves immediately if any body should come to see their Housholds When they go abroad which is very seldom you see three or four of them together with their Children which are all one Man's for according to their Law they are allowed to take as many as they can maintain Their Faces are all covered with black Vails whereof some are of fine Silk and some of Horse-hair which the poorer sort wear and over their Head they put some white Scarfs made of Cotton which are so broad that they cover not only their Heads but their Arms and Shoulders they look in them almost like our Maids when to keep themselves from the Wet they put a Table-cloth or Sheets over their Heads But because the Turks are very Jealous therefore their Wives seldom meet in the Streets or Markets but only in the Hot-houses or when they go to visit the Tombs of their deceased Parents or Relations which generally are out of the Town near the High-ways When they go thither they take along with them Bread Cheese Eggs and the like to eat there which was called Parentalia by the Latins just as the Heathens used to do in former Ages and sometimes they leave some of their Chear behind them that the Beasts and Birds may eat it after they are gone for they believe that such good bestowed upon the Beasts is as acceptable to God as if it were bestowed on Men. Their Graves are commonly hollow covered at the top with great Stones which are like unto Childrens Bed-steads in our Country which are high at the head and feet but hollowed in the middle they fill them up with Earth wherein they commonly plant fine Herbs but chiefly Flags they also put some green Myrtles in little Air-holes that are round the Tombs and they are of opinion that their Relations are the happier the longer these remain green and retain their colour And for the sake of this Superstition there are in several places of the Town Myrtles to be sold that stand in Water that they may remain fresh which the Women buy to stick up at the Graves of their Relations Their Burying-places are always out of Town near the High-ways that any body that goeth by may be put in mind of them and pray to God for them which is the reason that so many Chappels are built about their Burying-places that People that go by chiefly the Relations of the deceased may go into them to pray to God on their behalf When any of them dieth they wash him and put on his best Cloaths then they lay him on a Bar or Board and strow him with Sweet-smelling Herbs and Flowers leaving only his Face bare that every body may look upon him that knoweth him as he is carried out If it be a Tschelebii that is a Noble Person they put his Helmet and his other Ornaments at his Head his Friends and Acquaintance which go before and follow the Corps keep no order but hang upon one another as if they were fudled and go merrily and shouting along to the Grave as also do the Women who come behind and hollow so loud that you may hear them a great way off CHAP. IV. A Description of the Plants I gathered at Tripoli COnsidering that I undertook this Journey into the Eastern Countries not only to see these People and to observe their Manners c. but also and that principally diligently to enquire and to search out the Plants that were growing there I cannot but shortly describe those I found about Tripoli during my stay there and will begin with such as grew on the Sea-shores which were Medica marina Gnaphalium marinum Leucoium marinum Juncus maritimus Peplis Scammonium Monspeliense which the Natives call Meudheuds but Rhasis in his Book ad Almans calleth it Coriziala Brassica marina which spreads its Roots above the Sand for some Cubits round and has instead of round Leaves rather square ones A kind of wild white Lillies by the Latins and Greeks called Hemerocallis which did not only grow on the Sea-shore but also in Islands thereabout in great plenty with a great many others which I forbear to mention here being common Behind the Custom-house near the Harbour I found in the Ruines of the old Wall that are left of that City Hyoscyamus and hard by it in the Sand an Herb not unlike unto Cantabrica secunda Caroli Clusii saving only the Stalks and Leaves which are woolly But the Ricinus groweth there above all in so great plenty that you can hardly make your way through it the Inhabitants call it still by its old Arabian Name Kerva If you turn from thence to the High-way towards your Right-hand you see the
also great plenty They are also very well provided with Horse-raddishes Garlick and Onions which the Inhabitants still call Bassal Of Pumpions Citruls and Cucumis anguinus which they call Gette they plant as many as they have occasion for but many more Angurien an Indian Muskmillion Water-mellons which they call Batiechas but Serap Dullaha they are large of greenish colour sweet and pleasant to eat and very cooling wherefore they esteem them to be their best Fruits but chiefly those which have more red than white within they are very innocent and harmless and keep so long good that they sell them in their Batzars all the Winter long Moreover there are three sorts of those Plants which the Arabians call Melanzana Melongena and Beudengian as Ash coloured Yellow and Flesh coloured which are very like one another in their Crookedness and Length and like unto the long Gourds There are two other sorts which are called Bathleschain viz. oblong and round ones which are much bigger of a black colour and so smooth and glazed that they give a Reflection They eat these oftener boiled chiefly after the way which Averrhöes mentioned than raw Without their Gardens are two other strange Plants which also being they eat them commonly with others may be reckoned among the Kitchin-Herbs whereof one is called by them Secacul which I found about the Town in shady places and among Trees and in the Corn its Roots are of an Ashen colour without and white within smooth mellow or tender of one Inch thick and one and a half long it hath instead of Fibers little knobs like unto Warts and a sweet taste not unlike to our Carrots in Stalk Herb or Head saving only the Flowers which are yellow the Herb-women carry them strung upon Strings about the Streets to sell them The other sort is also very plentiful and is found in dry and rough places which the Inhabitants to this day with Serapio called Hacub whereof he maketh mention in his 295 Chapter under the Name of Hacub Alcardeg whereof they cut in the Spring the young Shoots or Sprouts that grow round about it boil and eat it as we do Sparagus corruptly called Sparrowgrass the whole Plant is very like to our Carlina only this hath bigger higher and more prickly Heads whereon appear Flesh-coloured Flowers It being that it is every way like it and that also the Root hath the same Vertue for if you steep it in Water and drink of it it maketh you vomit and fling up therefore I am of opinion that without doubt it must be the true Silybum Dioscoridis Besides this there grow also in the Road and on old Walls such plenty of Capers that they are not at all esteemed they take these Flowers before they open and pickle them and eat them for Sauce with their Meat I had almost forgot another Herb which I found in their Gardens that beareth roundish smooth Stalks about two Foot high the Leaves are two and two equally distant from one another and one above the other they are long crenated at the sides like unto our Mercurialis between them sprout out in harvest time yellow Flowers which produce long aculeated Cods which open themselves when they are ripe within them are six distinctions and in each of them little black Seeds placed in very good order the Herb is of a sower taste like Sorrel wherefore it is to every body chiefly the Jews known which boil the Leaves thereof with their Meat to eat them Wherefore some take it to be Olus Judaicum Avicennae and others take it for Corchorum Plinii whether it be or no I suspend my Judgment They have abundance of Pulses in these Countries which they feed upon so that you see several in their Batzars which sell nothing else but them Among the rest you will find abundance of Phaseoli or Kidney Beans little and great ones very white and many sorts of Cicer which they call Cotane and with Avicenna Hamos Whereof they have as many as we have Pease in our Country and boil them for their daily Food and oftentimes they eat them raw chiefly if they be roasted till the outward Shell falls off they often call for them thus dressed when they are a drinking in their Coffee-houses and have them brought to Table with Cheese after their Meals instead of Preserves or Fruit as Cibebs Hasel-nuts and the like for they eat very mellow and have a fine saltish Taste They dress the Orobus after the same manner which they call now Ades and Hades but whether right or no I leave to the Learned they are somewhat less and rounder and not unlike the Cicers in their colour only that these are reddish and white and the other white and yellow These put me still in mind of another strange Plant by the Arabians called Mas whose Leaves and Cods are prety like our Phaseolus and the Cods contain little round Seeds something less than our Pease of a dark green colour and are so smooth and shining that they reflect again Serapio maketh mention of them in his 116 Chapter under the Name of Mes. And Avicennas in his 488 Chapter under the Name Meisce and the very learned and experienced Botanist Carolus Clusius calleth it in his Epitome of the Indian Plants by the Name of Mungo The Turks love these Pulses very well chiefly to eat them among their Rice So much I thought convenient to mention here of their Kitchin-Herbs and Fruits that grow in Gardens and about Halepo of others that belong not to the Kitchin I shall make mention hereafter In this City of Aleppo the Merchants buy great store of Drugs brought from several parts by the Caravans as Rheubarb Galbanum Opoponax Styrax Laser Sagapenum Scammony c. CHAP. VII Of the high Places and Authority of Bashaws what great Courts they keep and how they administer their Offices as also of their way of living of their Priviledges of their Manners and Conversation THE City of Halepo which some considering the Name and Situation believe to be the Town Chalibon of Ptolomaeus situated in Chalibonitis is subject unto the Turkish Emperor together with all the adjacent places wherefore he keepeth a Bashaw in it which is to rule it and the whole Province according to his Will and Pleasure Now as the Bashaws are almost the chiefest and highest under the Emperor so they keep according to their Station and Dignity their Courts as great as the Princes do in our Country according as they have great or small Provinces So they have under them their chief Commanders as Sangiacks Bolucs-bashaws and others which are continually with them go with them to their Temples or any other place where-ever they have a mind to go in great flocks both on Foot and on Horse-back which by their several Habits are to be distinguished but chiefly the Bolucsbashaw which as Captains have an Hundred Janisaries under them which in costly Cloaths and high Heads with Feathers run on Foot
like Lacqueys by their Master They have also besides their Court as well as the Emperour himself peculiar Lodgings for their Concubines which they either have pick'd up here and there out of Towns and Countries or else taken in time of War by Sea and Land from Christians and other Nations wherefore they keep many Eunuchs to attend them constantly They take great delight in Hunting and go often several Days Journeys after it If they take Wild Boars they give them because they are by their Laws forbid to eat them to the Christians which maketh the Turks often to mock them in the Streets crying out and calling them Chansir quibir that is great Boars or Hog-eaters Although the Bashaws are great Persons that Command over Cities and Countries yet they are rckoned to be like others but Slaves to their Master that have nothing of their own that they can bequeath to their Heirs or Posterity after their decease as our Princes can because the Emperour after their decease taketh Possession of all their visible Estates and allows only to their Children an Annuity Nay if their Sultan Commands them to go from one place to an Inferiour one or to leave their Dignity quite and clean they must obey immediately if they will not run themselves into greater Inconveniencies or Dangers This is the Reason that such Persons although Rich seldom build great Buildings so that you see none in all the Country except it be a Chappel or a Champ which they build to be remembred by They rather keep their Riches in Gold and Silver which can be hid and so secretly given to their Posterity They bestow but very little upon Jacks for they are too Covetous neither have they many Work-men that are able to set them These Bashaws being altogether for their own Advantage that strive to get Wealth their Subjects must needs suffer very much under them but chiefly Strangers that live there to Traffick as Italians Frenchmen c. whereby between them and the Bashaws that mind their own and not the Publick Good arise often great Differences and they must have suffered great damage if their Soveraigns to prevent these things and that their Subjects may deal securely had not taken care to send them discreet and prudent Men which are called Consuls endued with great Priviledges from the Grand Signior to hear their Complaints and to protect them against any Assaulters It happened in my time while I staid there that great Differences arose between the Consul of Venice and the new Bashaw who was sent thither instead of the deceased one in the Year 75. the 6 th day of March who came in to take Possession with a great number of Horse and Foot At his Arrival the Consul of Venice went accompanied with a great number of Merchants in great State to meet him to bid him Welcom and presented him with Fourteen Cloaths Richly wrought of Silk desiring him to take his Country-men into his Protection that they might Trade and deal safely under him The Bashaw looking upon the Cloaths behaved himself very unkindly and looking upon them to be very inconsiderable he not only refused them but answered the Consul very scornfully So it often happens that these great Persons come to differ and pursue their Differences so far that at last it must be brought before the Emperour and his Court. If they find that the Bashaw is in the wrong he is immediately punished not regarding his great Authority according to the default either in Money or else if it be a great Crime he must lose his Life for it which is the oftner done because they depend very much upon Traffick which bringeth the Emperour in yearly a very great Revenue Yet notwithstanding they are punished so severely sometimes the Pride and Ambition of the Bashaws is so great that to uphold their Greatness they will not cease to strive by any means after Riches and great Wealth which their Subjects not to speak of Strangers find daily whom they squeeze and press chiefly if they find them Rich to that degree that they cannot come to any thing nor thrive under them Moreover they draw after the decease of their Rich Subjects for the most part the greatest share of what they leave into their own Purses so that such Persons do not take Pains nor bestow any great Cost to build their Houses or to till their Grounds as we do in our Country They have commonly in Market-Towns and Villages low Houses or Halls whereof many are so covered with Hills that you cannot see them before you are quite at them When you come into them you find neither Chairs nor Stools nor Tables only a couple of pieces of Tapestry spread whereon they sit after their fashion and instead of Feather-Beds whereof they make no use at all they have Mats and Quilts which they fold together in the Day and hang them up in a corner at Night they spread them out again to sleep on them They have no occasion for Sheets to cover themselves as we do nor for any Towels neither for instead of them they use long pieces of Rags which they hang about their naked Necks or hang them at their Girdles We see sometimes in their Houses above all in the Country several strange-shaped Earthen Vessels which cover whole sides of the Wall in their Rooms which their Relations use to Present them with at their Wedding which to please them they use to put up and to keep there rather for their Remembrance than to make any other use of them In their Kitchen they have very few Utensils perhaps a few Pipkins Pans and Trenchers for they boyl all their Victuals in one Pot together that their Maids may not have many to cleanse or to put up Concerning their Cloaths they bestow not very much upon them although they be well to pass for they love Money so well that they will rather spend a whole day in contending for a Penny than pay it willingly Wherefore a Man that will Travel through these Countries must have his Purse well stored and keep it very close that no body may know its worth but chiefly he must have a care of the Jews which are not to be trusted if you will escape great danger They will not only do nothing for you without Reward but if they suspect you to have any Money they will endeavour to get it from you Wherefore those that take a Pilgrimage into the Holy Land and go in pitiful Cloaths are not much troubled by them The Courtiers of the Bashaws and amongst the rest chiefly the Eunuchs and Dwarfs c. whereof they have several go in their Taffety and Sattin Cloaths which are long and very well trimmed wherewith their Master furnisheth them being Gifts from others which he distributeth among them The Souldiers Spahees Janisaries c. commonly have blew woollen Cloaths from the Court and they live of their Pay that is 4 5 6 7 or 8 Medins which
noble Root called Rhubarb And moreover they sell several sorts of precious Stones viz. Garnats Rubies Balasios Saphirs Diamonds and the best sincerest Musk in little Gods These precious Stones are hid by the Merchants in the great Caravans that come from India and they bring them secretly because they dare not pay Custom for them that the Bashaws Sangiachs and others may not rob them of them on the High-ways for they use to do so if they find any I will cease to discourse any longer of these and other Drugs and several Merchandises which the Merchants convey thither from forreign Places daily and from thence to other places again because it is none of my Business to deal in them With the Spices are sometimes by the Merchants brought from the Indies delicate Canes which are very long solid or full within flexible and bright without of a yellowish Colour they are almost every-where alike thick only a little tapering but few Joynts far distant from one another and are hardly seen in them There are two sorts of them great and small ones the great and stronger ones are used by old and lame People instead of Crutches to walk with but the lesser which are very like the former are made into Arrows and Darts for which they are very fit the Turks wind them about with Silk of many sorts of Colours which they are very proud of when they make their entries You find also in the Shops another sort of Canes to be Sold which are small and hollow within and smooth without a brownish red Colour wherewith Turks Moors and the Eastern People write for to write with Goose-Quills is not in use with them wherefore these may be esteemed to be the true Syringas or Fistularis of Dioscor Besides these there is another bigger sort of Canes almost of the same Colour but full of Joynts the Pilgrims that go to see their Mahomet bring these with them from Mecha and the People of that Country carry them along with them on Horseback instead of short Pikes chiefly the Arabians for they are long strong and light and yet solid or full within with these they come running on upon their Enemies or else they lifting it up above the middle in one of their Hands fling it at them with such force that they penetrate deeper with their sharp Iron wherewith they are tipt before and behind then their Arrows Theophrastus maketh peculiar mention of them in his fourth Book and the 11 th Chapter and Pliny in his Sixteenth Book and the 36 th Chapter We see very few of these in our Country for the Christians are forbidden under great Penalties to carry any of them the same it is with any other Arms that they make use of in their Wars out of the Country if any doth and is found out he exposes himself to infinite Troubles and Dangers as did happen to one in my time which after a Scimiter was found about him was very highly accused and fined Seventy Ducats to be paid in two days time and if he had not paid it they would certainly have circumcised him and made him a Turk Besides these above-mentioned Champs there are a great many more without and within the City where also all sorts of Merchandises are Sold viz. Quibir the Great Sougier the Little Gidith the New Atich Old c. And besides all these they have a great Exchange called Batzar by the Inhabitants which is in the middle of the Town and is bigger then Friberg in Bavaria in it there is many Alleys and each of them divided for several Wares and handy-craft Trades first the Grocers and Mercers then those that sell Tapestry and other soft Woollen Cloaths and also Turkish Machyer Camlet Taffety and other Silks and Cottons delicately wrought There are also good Cardavon delicate Furrs of Martins and chiefly Wild Cats whereof abundance runs about in these Countries There are also Jewellers that sell all manner of Jewels precious Stones Pearls c. All sorts of Handy-craft Tradesmen as Shoe-makers Taylors Sadlers Needle and Pin-makers Painters Goldsmiths Brasiers Locksmiths c. that have their Shops in the Batzars where they work but their work is chiefly that of the Goldsmiths Painters and Locksmiths is so silly that it is by no means to be compared with ours There are also Turners Fletchers that make Arrows and Darts and Bow-makers that have besides their Shops small Butts that any body that goes by may exercise himself or try his Bow before he buyeth it These Bows are sometimes plain Work and some inlaid with Ivory Buflers Horns c. which maketh them of a differing Price The Archers wear a Ring upon their right Thumbs as our Merchants wear their Seals wherewith they draw the String on when they are going to shoot these are made of Wood Horn or Silver and some are set with Precious Stones Besides these you find in great Batzars some Barbar-Surgeons which when they have no body to trim use to go about the Streets with their Instruments and a Flask of Lather to look out for Work if they find any that will be trimed they do not come back to their Shops but go to Work in the Streets or in the next Champ if any be near and there begin to Lather him and shave all the Hair of his Head save only one long Lock which he leaves to hang down his Back There are also places where they sell Slaves of both Sexes old and young which are sold dearer or cheaper according to their Strength or Handsomeness c. But in all these Countries I saw neither Wheel-wright nor Cart-wright because neither Waggons nor Carts are in use with them Neither could I find for all it is so great a City a Gunsmith that understood how to mend the least fault in a Gun-lock because there is a great Trade daily driven in these Batzars you shall find there at all times of the day a great number of People of several Nations walking up and down which makes a Crowd as if you were in a Fair. Amongst them you will often see drunken Turks which use to push People that do not give them the way immediately chiefly if they be Christians but the Christians are not afraid of them for all that but prepare themselves when they perceive some of them to approach among the People and stand upon their Guard to be even with them and when the Turks come and push them they make them rebound again to one side or to one of the Shop-boards Sometimes also the Turks will lean themselves backwards against the Shops and when they see a Christian go by they let him fall over their Legs and so laugh at them but then the Christians again when they perceive this they kick up the other Leg of the Turk whereon he rests and so make him fall down himself For it is usual with the Turks to try the Christians what Metal they are made of whether they have
Courage or no wherefore they oftentimes before they are aware of them assault the Christians with rough Words and if they find them to be affraid they laugh at them to boot but if they resist them they give over immediately as soon as they find them in earnest just like some Dogs that sooner bark then bite and esteem him afterwards the more for it and call them brave People that are fit for the War You find also in this Crowd several that are in Orders called Sacquatz which commonly are Pilgrims that have been at Mecha that go about with Skins full of Water and for Charity give to any nay even to the Christians that desire it because the Mahumetans are forbid to drink Wine in their Alcoran Wherefore you see many in their peculiar Habits moved thereunto by Devotion that go all day long among the People to exercise a Work of Love and Charity to those that are thirsty They have in one hand a fine gilded Cup whereinto they power the Water out of their Skins wherein they have commonly laid Chalcedonicks Jaspirs c. Sometimes also delicate tasted Fruit to keep the Water fresh and to recreate the People When they give you to Drink out of it they reach you also a Looking-glass with this Admonition That you shall look your self in it and remember that you are Mortal and must die For this Service they desire nothing of you but if you give them any thing they take it and thank you and spout into your Face and Beard to shew their thankfulness some fragrant Water which they have in Glasses in a great Pouch tip'd with many Brass Clasps The Turks and Arabians also esteem it to be a great Charity and Love if they let their Marble Troughs or great Pots that stand everywhere about their Doors be filled up with fresh Water every day that Travellers or any that are dry may quench their Thirst as they pass by in it hang little Kettles to drink out of If one goes to it others that see him go also and drink rather for Companies sake then to quench their Thirst So you find often a whole Multitude about a Pot. If you have a mind to eat something or to drink other Liquors there is commonly an open Shop near it where you sit down upon the Ground or Carpets and drink together Among the rest they have a very good Drink by them called Chaube Coffee that is almost as black as Ink and very good in illness chiefly that of the Stomach of this they drink in the Morning early in open places before every body without any fear or regard out of China Cups as hot as they can they put it often to their Lips but drink but little at a time and let it go round as they sit In this same Water they take a Fruit called Bunru which in its Bigness Shape and Colour is almost like unto a Bay-berry with two thin Shells surrounded which as they informed me are brought from the Indies but as these in themselves are and have within them two yellowish Grains in two distinct Cells and besides being they agree in their Virtue Figure Looks and Name with the Buncho of Avicen and Bancha of Rasis ad Almans exactly therefore I take them to be the same until I am better informed by the Learned This Liquor is very common among them wherefore there are a great many of them that sell it and others that sell the Berries everywhere in their Batzars They esteem it as highly as we do in our Country Wormwood Wine or that that is prepared with several Herbs and Drugs yet they love Wine better if their Law would allow them to drink it as we have seen in the Reign of the Emperour Selymo when he gave them leave to drink it that they met together daily in Drinking-houses and drunk to one another not only two or three Glasses of strong Wine not mixed with Water but four or five of such as came from Venice to them so quickly one after another with such eagerness as I have often seen it that they would not allow themselves to eat a Morcel or two between it and so as you may easily guess they become to be sordid presently and so Hoggish that they excel all other Nations in it But after Selymus was dead and his Son Amurath succeeded him in his right he immediately forbad them to drink Wine in the very beginning of his Reign and looked after it with such severity that any body that did but smell of Wine was Imprisoned immediately put out of his place and a great Fine put upon him according to his capacity or for want of it punished severely with many Blows under his Soals During this Prohibition it happened that when the Bashaw of Halepo had a mind to go abroad and met in the Court-yard one of his men that was Drunk and perceived it by his staggering he drew his Scimeter and cut off his Head and so left him dead upon the place But yet notwithstanding all this Severity and be it never so peremptorily forbid they do not only not mind such Prohibition chiefly the Renegadoes being very much used to it but long and linger the sooner after it with that eagerness that in the Summer time they use to carry in privately just like the Ants great quantities of Wine and lay up good Stores that they may meet at Night and drink together until they have their Bellies full and so rest after it all Night that they might not smell of Wine the next Day In that time when they were prohibited to drink Wine we Christians fared very well and bought our Wine very cheap until afterwards they had leave to drink it again Their Wines are generally red very good and pleasant they keep it in Skins they are brought to Halepo from several places but chiefly from a famous Town called Nisis which lieth two days Journey distant from it upon the Borders of Armenia The use of Skins is still very great with them as it was in former Ages as we may see by the similitude of Christ when in St. Matthew Chap. 9. Vers 17. he says No man put new wine into c. Seeing that the Christians have leave to drink Wine therefore they sell and buy most of it they also plant it and have whole Villages in their Possessions with abundance of Vineyards But the Turks not being allowed to drink Wine by their Laws do not keep or cultivate many Vineyards and if they do they press the Grapes after several ways for some they make into Cibebs chiefly these People that live in and about Damascus where indeed the best groweth others boyl the Juice of the Grapes up to the consistence of Honey which they call Pachmatz chiefly these that live at Andeb a Town between Bi r and Nisib They have two sorts of this rob one very thick and the other somewhat thinner the former is the best wherefore they put
it up into little Barrels to send into other Countries the latter they use themselves mix it sometimes with Water and give it to drink instead of a Julep to their Servants sometimes they put it into little Cups to dip their Bread in it as if it were Honey and so eat it Besides these they have other sweet Drinks which they prepare out of red Berries called Jujubes or of Cibebs which when boiled in Water with a little Honey the Inhabitants call Hassap and others called still by the old name of Berberis of which they bring great quantities down from Mount Libanus Among other Liquors they have a special one called Tscherbeth which boiled of Honey tasteth like unto our Mead they have another made of Barley or Wheat by the Ancients called Zychus and Curmi these two last make the Turks so merry and elevated that as our Clowns do when they drink Beer they sing and play on their Hautboys Cornets and Kettle Drums which their Musicians make use of every Morning when the Guards are relieved All these Liquors are sold in their great Batzars where they have Baskets full of Ice and Snow all the Summer long whereof they put so much into the Drink that it maketh their Teeth chatter and quake again Thus much I thought convenient to mention of their Liquors or Drinks Concerning their Food their Bread is nourishing and good and so white chiefly at Halepo that none is like it in all Turkey so they have several sorts of it of several shapes and mixtures whereof some are done with Yolks of Eggs some mixt with several sorts of Seeds as of Sesamum Romish Coriander and wild Garden Saffron which is also strowed upon it Meat is cheap with them and very good by reason of the precious Herbs that grow thereabout chiefly upon Mount Tauri which extendeth itself very far Eastwards from whence they have abundance of Cattel as Rams Weathers and Sheep with broad and fat Tails whereof one weigheth several Pounds They have also great store of Goats which they drive daily in great Numbers through that City to sell their Milk which every one that hath a mind to it drinks warm in the open Streets among them there are some that are not very big but have Ears two foot long so that they hang down to the Ground and hinder them from feeding when one of them is cut off which is commonly done they turn themselves always upon that side that the other Ear may not hinder them from feeding They have no want of Beefes and Bufles for they are very common there and the Butchers kill the Beasts in the Fields without Town where they have their Slaughter-houses thereabout are a great many Dogs that live of the Offels and have their young ones in Holes and Cliffs where they bring them up and these become so Ravenous and Wild that they run about in the Night after their Prey as I am informed like Wolffs in our Country And this may very well be for the Turks do not only not kill any Dogs but rather carry them home when they are young and there feed them till they are grown up and able to shift for themselves and they believe that they do a deed of Charity that is very acceptable to God Almighty like unto the Divines in the Indies called Banians which serve the Birds in the same manner as these do the Dogs and Cats These Wolves are more like to our Dogs both in Shape and Bigness and so says Pliny that the Wolves in Aegypt are less and lasier then these towards the North being there are no Inns in Turkey where as with us Travellers may Lodge and have their Diet therefore there is a great many Cake-shops kept in the Batzars where all manner of Victuals are cleanly dressed viz. Butchers Meat Fouls and all sorts of Sauces and Broths and Soups where every body buys what he hath a mind to according to the capacity of his Purse Among the rest nothing is so common as Rice which they boyl up to such a stiffness that it crumbleth A great many other sorts you shall see in Copper Basons upon their Shop-boards prepared after the same way amongst the rest peculiarly a very common one called Bnuhourt made of Barley and Wheat which were first broke on a Mill and perhaps dryed and so boyled with or without Milk into a thick Pap. Dioscorides in the 83d Chapter of his Second Book maketh mention of this by the name of Crimnon and also Avicen and Rhasas ad Almans in Synonymis calleth it Sanguick and Savick The Turks provide themselves with good store of this chiefly in War-time by Water and by Land that when they want Provision they may make use of it instead of Bread Besides these they have more Dishes amongst them I remember one called Trachan when it is dressed it is so tough that you may draw it out like Glue this they make up into little pieces which being dryed will keep good a great while and is very good and pleasant Food after it is boyled wherefore they lay up great Stores of this in their strong Fortifications as we do of Corn that in case of necessity they may eat it instead of Bisquets or other Food That such sorts of Foods by the Latinists called Pùls have been very well known to the Ancients and that in case of necessity they use to make a shift with it Pliny testifieth in his Eighteenth Book and the Eighth Chapter They have also all manner of Poultry in great plenty viz. Pullen Snipes Partridges with red Bills Woodcocks c. but very few Fishes because they have only a small Rivolet which is full of Turtles so that at Halepo they are very scarce Neither do they esteem them much because most of them drink Water instead of Wine which is prohibited by their Law wherefore there are but very few brought thither from foreign places as Antiochia and the great River Euphrates c. distant from thence two or three miles Besides this they have little By-dishes as Kal Colliflowers Carrots Turneps French-Beans Besides Trees and Codded Fruits and many more but yet they are not so well skilled in the dressing of them as we are in our Country Lastly They put also up with their Cheese Cibebs Almonds dryed Cicers Pistachio's and crack'd Hasel-nuts which although they are carried thither from our Country are better tasted and pleasanter than ours They have many sorts of Preserves very well done with Sugar and Hony very artificially chiefly those they carry about to sell upon Plates very well garnish'd made up and set out with several Colours and Shapes very beautiful to behold For the rest they live very sparingly and bring the Year round with small and little Expences for they do not make so great Feasts nor have so many Dishes nor bestow so great Cost as we do in our Country In these Eastern Countries they eat upon the plain Ground and when it is Dinner-time
standing behind the Tree As soon as he saw it he gave over and beckened to me to give it him so I stepp'd to him and when I reached it to him he took it But my Table-book fell out of my Pocket when I pulled out the Money upon the Ground wherein I had recorded many things which when he saw he would have it also but I refusing it he grew mad and began to renew the same Game again then I repented that I did not dismount him when I gave him the Money yet I consider'd that if I should have done him a Mischief as he deserved yet although I had never so good a Cause I was sure I must be cast and perhaps come to a greater mischief and hurt so I gave him it and after he had received it he was pacified and rode away But to come to my former purpose again I found about the River the other Tragium Diosc in the ploughed Grounds and afterwards also in abundance upon the Hill but generally in moist places near to the Spring that runs down the Hill Its Root is whitish pretty long and slender from thence spread themselves some woody Stalks not above a little finger long whereon grew towards the top many Leaves together which were long and had of each side of their rib small Leaves one opposite to the other which were just like the Trichomanes divided only somewhat longer about the bigness of these of Asplenium and are as they delicately green within but without and against the Ground of an Ash-colour and woolly chiefly the small ones that are just sprouting out between the others Out of these first-mentioned Stems come first naked long Stalks upon which grow at the top Violet-brown Flowers close together as if it was an Ear of Corn The Inhabitants call it Secudes and so did the ancient Arabians chiefly Avicen in the 679th Chapter where he also attributeth this Vertue that it is very proper in the Bloody-flux In their Gardens the Turks love to raise all sorts of Flowers wherein they take great delight and use to put them on their Turbant so I could see the fine Plants that blow one after another daily without trouble In December I saw our Violets with dark-brown and white Flowers whereof they gave me in that Season several Nosegays Then came the Tulips Hyacinths Narcissies which they still name by the old name Nergis Before all other I saw a rare kind with a double yellow Flower called Modaph and a strange Convolvulus hederae foliis with great purple Flowers whereout grew Seed-vessels as you see in the new Harmala with three distinct Capsula's wherein is kept its black Seed to which they attribute the vertue of evacuating tough Slime This is found sometimes in Gardens and by the Inhabitants called Hasnisca and the Persians Acafra and Serapio Chapt. 273. Habalnil the Latines Granum Indicum and Carthamus Indicus and he that hath a mind to know more of it let him look into the Author himself in the above-mentioned place in the 306th Chapter of Avicen and the 208th of Rhases I also found in their Gardens Balm Basil and a fine sort of Amaranthus which for his colour-sake may be called Symphonia Plinii and therefore called Parrots Feather I cannot forbear before I conclude to mention some which I found here and there in the Batzars and among them a strange sort of Lillies which as I am told grow in sunny moory mossy and moist places whereon groweth a long Stalk of the same colour and thickness of ours only a great deal broader but broadest of all at top where it is about three fingers broad so that it is like unto a Spatula that is painted at one end On this Stalk grow at each side several tender Leaves which are pretty long but very small and pointed and at the top thereof some white Flowers like unto ours When I was thinking of this at several times what they were called by the Ancients it came into my mind that I had read of them in Theophrastus lib. 4. cap. 9. and I really believe it to be the same But whereas Theophrastus writes in the quoted place that they do not touch the Ground I can say nothing to it for I never saw any of them growing They have also some small Roots to sell called Mamirani tchini good for Eyes as they say they are yellowish like Curcuma but a good deal longer and thinner and knotted and very like unto our Poligonatum and may be esteemed to be the true Mamican whereof Rhases maketh mention in several places There is also among others brought a great quantity of the Juice of Scammony that is still very soft it cometh in Leathern Bags from out of the Country and so it 's sold to our Merchants in their Fondiques but those that buy it must have a great care because it is often adulterated that they be not cheated There is also a good deal of the Juice by the Apothecaries called Opium and by the Inhabitants Ofinn which the Turks Moors and Persians and other Nations take inwardly not only in War at the time when they go to fight their Enemies to make them couragious and valiant but also in time of Peace to drive away Melancholy and Care or at least to ease it Their religious People make also use of it but above all the rest the Deruis and take so much of it that it maketh them presently drowsie and without consideration that when after their barbarous and silly way they cut slash or burn themselves they may feel less smart or pain If any one hath so begun to make use of it they take about the quantity of a large Pea at a time they cannot well leave it off again except they have a mind to throw themselves into a Sickness or other Inconveniencies For as they confess themselves that if they omit taking of it they find themselves very ill in their Bodies Opium is commonly taken from the white Poppy-heads in their Language called Cascasch wherein they cut when they are young and tender a spiral or winding-circle round about it from top to bottom one under the other out of those runs some Milk which they let be there until it groweth thick then they gather it and make it into Balls like unto our perfumed Soap-balls Being that the Turks use this Opium so commonly it happens sometimes that they take so much of it that it is very dangerous wherefore they have an Antidote as I was informed that is the Root Aslab whereof I have made mention before which they give to bring them to rights again I found also in the great Batzars a sort of Alga sold in their Shops which was dark-red and therefore very useful for Dyers it had Stalks of the thickness of a Finger and was surrounded with several thin Scales or rather Leaves and round Wherefore it may be taken to be a Saderva Serap and Herb Alargivan of Andreas Bellunensis
whereof he maketh mention in his Index where he interpreteth the Arabian words For a kind of this may also be taken because it affords a delicate purple colour that Alga that is found in the Seas near Candia and is described by Theophrastus in his Fourth Book and Seventh Chapter Lastly Among the rest I did also enquire after the Amomum and thought because they were near unto the Confines of Armenia that therefore they might easily have it by the Caravans which come daily from those parts yet I was forced to run a great while after it till at length I got a little Stalk thereof in one Shop They call it by the name of Hamama But of the other so called by Dioscor which is like unto it and therefore may easily be taken for the right one they had a great deal These two small Shrubs although they are very like to one another yet for all that they may be distinguish'd by their Stalks and different colours Wherefore Dioscorid bids us if we will not be imposed upon to pick out the bigger and smoother with its noble Seed and to leave the small This Stalk which I found about the length of a Finger is almost of the colour of the Bark of the Cinnamon-tree and also in its acrimony and good odour although it was old still very strong At the top had been several woody Stalks close to one another whereon I believe had been the Flowers and Seeds But the Twigs of the other sort which are crack'd and bended are of a brown colour which at the top divide themselves into other less ones like a Tree whereon grow several Stalks with little Heads like unto the Masaron or Marum Syriacum from Crete wherein is no great strength nor odour Thus much I thought convenient to mention of strange Plants chiefly of these the ancients make mention of and so I conclude the first part of my TRAVELS Here endeth the First Part. THE SECOND PART OF THE TRAVELS OF Dr. Leonhart Rauwolff INTO The Eastern Countries Wherein is treated of his Journey from Halepo through the famous Town of Babylonia to Badgee what he saw by the way and what did befal him in going and coming by Water and by Land With a brief account of the high Mount of Libanus of the strange Plants and Inhabitants thereof THE SECOND PART OF THE TRAVELS OF Dr. Leonhart Rauwolff INTO THE Eastern Countries Wherein is treated of his Journey from Halepo through the Famous Town of Babylonia to Bagdet what he saw by the way and what did befal him in going and coming by Water and by Land VVith a brief Account of the high Mount of Libanus of the strange Plants and Inhabitants thereof CHAP. I. How I departed from Halepo to the Famous City of Bi r and how I sailed from thence on the Euphrates to old Babylon AFter I had stay'd a good while in Halepo and had seen and understood the Trade and Merchandices of the Inhabitants together with that of all the other Nations viz. Grecians Armenians Georgians Arabians Persians and Indians which come and go daily with their Caravans and very well observed and understood their Manners and Customs and had also Collected a fine parcel of foreign and undescribed Plants I resolved to go farther Eastward into Mesopotamia Assyria and Babylonia c. as the ancientest and most fruitful Countries that ever were where the ancientest People and the most Potent Monarchs did inhabit But these Countries lying far off and the Way that leadeth thither passing through vast Desarts and Wildernesses and therefore the Voyage being so much the more difficult and dangerous to attempt and accomplish I first look'd out for a trusty Companion to take as my Assistant and met presently with an experienced Dutchman that had lived a great while in Halepo who granted my request being as desirous to go this Voyage as my self to go along with me We agreed presently and began to consider which was our best Way to take But that we being Strangers might not be taken to be Vagabonds or Spies they being very suspicious from whence they might presently take occasion as the Turks use to do to lay great Avarias or unjust Taxes upon us which the Christians that deal to these Parts have often to their great Loss and Damage experienced we did consider and found that the Trading here was very great so that they did not only deal from hence into Armenia Egypt and Constantinople for from thence come the Caravans through Natolia in about a Months time but also very much into Persia and India Wherefore we thought best to profess our selves Merchants that so we might Travel the more safely with other Merchants in order thereto to buy some Merchandices that would Sell in those Places and to carry them along with us That we might put this in execution my formerly mentioned Friend Hans Vlrich Raft from Vlm took great Pains to furnish me at my Desire and Request with several fit Commodities for those Places upon account of my Patron Mr. Melchior Manlich which I got pack'd up immediately to go with them to the Famous City Bagdet situated upon the Tigris where is a great Staple and Deposition of Merchandices that are to go farther for Persia and India But seeing that seldom any Merchants go from Halepo further into these Countries so that our Habits are very rarely seen there we cloathed our selves as is usual in the common Turkish Habit that every body might not presently look upon us as Strangers first we had long blue Cabans which are button'd before quite down and cut out about the Neck not unlike to those of the Armenians and white Drawers made of Cotton that hung down to our Ankles and were drawn in and tied about our Bodies and also Shirts after the same Fashion and without Collars We also fitted our selves with white Turbants with a blue Brim such as Christians usually wear and put on yellow Shooes which were painted before guarded with Nails and with Horse Shooes behind Besides this we put on a kind of a Frock made of a certain course Stuff called Meska in their Language which is common among the Moors They are generally made of Goats and Asses Hair pretty narrow without Sleeves and short reaching only to our Knees But these Stuffs being not all alike the finest thereof chiefly that which is striped white and black is taken for Cloaths and the courser for Tents and Portmantles wherein they carry their Provision through the Desarts and also keep their Camels and Mules meat hanging it about their Necks This puts me in mind of the plain cloathing which the ancient Inhabitants of these Countries chiefly the Israelites when they mourned for their deceased Relations or when they repented of their committed Iniquities and turned from them and prayed God to forgive them their accumulated Transgressions used to put on as we read in the 37th Chapter of Genesis where Jacob lamented the Death of his Son Joseph
Ship still wanting both Men and Merchandices to load his Ship withal we were forced to stay somewhat longer for other Merchants which came in a little time from Halepo whereof some were Armenians some Persians others from Bagdet and Balsora to us with these also came into the Ship Four Souldiers that were listed by the Turks to go to Bagdet to reinforce the Confines of Persia Our Master also took in some of their Jews which are worse than ours and so we were warned to have a care of them Besides all these we were forced to take in some of their Religious Men which had long before begged thereabout for they commonly live by begging and desire you to give them something Alla hitsi that is for God's sake and yet if they find an Opportunity they will fall upon you and Rob you They are very ill-favoured idle and yet very hardy Men that run about all Countries and often do a great deal of hurt wherefore one must have especial Care of them chiefly upon the Road. Yet for all this they have in these Countries very great Privileges they pretend to great Holiness and Devotion and pray often and perswade the Vulgar sort of People that God doth hear their Prayers before any others and grants their desires but People do not believe them so readily now as their Ancestors have done formerly wherefore they do not remain long in one place that their Roguery may not so much appear CHAP. II. Which way we went into the Ship and sailed to Racka and how the Son of the King of Arabia with his Retinue came to our Ship to demand his Customs What else we saw by the way and what we did suffer from the Arabians and their Mendicants AFter our Ship as well as the others was sufficiently loaden and with all Necessaries provided we went aboard and began our Voyage in the Name of God the 30th Day of August Anno 74. having stay'd there and lost Seventeen Days in the Evening with an intention to go that Night three Leagues further But two of our Ships got into a branch of the River whereof there are several in the very beginning Our Watermen took great pains to bring them into the right way again and stayed for them which retarded us so long that we were forced to stay all Night at a Market-Town called Caffra which lieth a good League below on the top of a Hill where we landed The next morning at break of Day we got in again and in the beginning we went on very fortunately and began to leave by degrees on our left Hand the Mountain Taurus which extendeth its self Eastward and went more to the right through the great Desarts and Sandy Places of Arabia where that River divideth it self into several broad Branches that the Skippers knew hardly how to steer the right way When we went on so thinking of no danger for the Turkish Ship was got already very safe through one of them the second which we followed stuck upon the Sand by the neglect of their Pilot towards the right so that it did not only stick there but took away the Stream from us which turned their Ship cross very violently after such a manner that we were forced because we were too nigh and our Ship was in her full running so that we could turn no way to fall foul upon it So ours drove with the Stream upon theirs with that force that we broke the two uppermost Boards of their side so the Water ran in and the Ship sank deeper Our Ship although it had received no hurt yet did it not go on but stuck by the other Whereupon we began to labour hard removed the Sand below and made a way to get it clear after we had half drawn it before the other into the Stream the Stream drove it so hard against the other that also a row and a half of our side-board were broken and if it had broken the second row quite we had incurred the same Mischief and Damage as they When we were in this Condition and could not otherwise think but that we must perish all together yet our merciful God and Lord did order it so that we did not only secure the breach but came into the right River free and quit before the other Ship where we did land immediately After we had recovered our selves a little we did not delay to assist the other but unloaded our Ship to load theirs into it and so to land them which we did with all speed In the mean time appeared behind the Trees and Tamarisks at each side a good many Arabians both on Horse-back and foot and came so near that they were not afraid to attack our Guards we had left with our Goods and to attempt to rob us But when they found resistance and heard several of our Guns discharged on our side they were frighted for Guns were unknown to them to that Degree that they turned their Backs and run away as hard as they could drive At last we attempted to draw out the Ship together with some small Goods that were still left in it which succeeded very well for when we hoisted our Sails and drew them on and wrought with all our might and strength it yielded by Degrees so that at length we got it quite off and brought it a-shoar The loss of their Merchandices although it was but small in quantity yet it was very great in their Silk Stuffs of Damasco Soap Sugar Roots of Zarneb Melchi which is good for the Pain in the Back as is here before mentioned Figs and Corn which suffered very much wherefore they begged of us that we would be pleased to stay with them until they had dried their Goods and mended their Ship so that they might go along with us more safely through these Desarts which we granted them readily During this our Stay when we were helping them it fell out that I and one of my Comrades were falsly accused by some Jews before some of their Religious Men that we were often fudling with the Master of the Ship which the Jew did on purpose to make us Out-landish Men hated among them for they do according to their Law not easily admit of drinking of Wine and to disparage us and this his Intention did succeed so well that when their Clergy-men did understand it they became very angry with us took our Vessel of Wine flung it into the River and drew it upon the Land where they let it run out which did not well please the Souldiers and others wherefore they took our part and did give the Jew for it a very severe Reprimand But as no good Deed remaineth unrewarded and no ill one unpunished so it happened here for the chiefest of them which was a Moor and of the Order of the Dervis was the next Day punished severely for a frivolous Cause whereof I unadvisedly was the occasion While our Goods were yet on shoar I
got towards Night upon the Balls to stand Centinel it being my turn so when I saw one with a Mug full of Water I desired him to give me some to drink which he was willing to do and reached me the Mug I going to take it trod by chance upon a Fiddle of one of the Turks and broke it Although he had had great occasion to be angry with me for this yet understanding that I had Giue enough to mend it he was presently quieted and well contented The next Morning we sat together and mended the Fiddle as well as we could when the Dervis saw us busy about the Fiddle he was very angry that we did not help to spread out the Merchandices which we had done already before we began so he took the Fiddle broke it and flung it into the River then he came back and pretended to bang us thinking to have the same Success with this as he had with the Wine But the Turk seeing this took up a good Cudgel that was thrown up by the River and struck him several times over his Head and Limbs that the Blood ran down his Ears and Face and at length he grew so angry that he went to draw his Scymeter but before he could we stept in between them got them asunder mitigated the business and appeased them So this Saint of theirs looked very dismal in his long and lank black Hair and had besides on his Body here and there several Scars viz. on his Head and Breast and above all upon his Arms which he had cut or burnt himself which is usual to that Order and other Turks to do which set often on their Flesh burning and red glowing Spangs or instead of them Linen Rags about an Inch thick twisted very hard together broad below and pointed on the top tapering just like unto a Pyramid which they set on Fire and let it burn out with a great deal of Patience upon their bare Skin so long until it is quite consumed and brought to Ashes then they tie it up with Cotton they also do the same sometimes in Rheums of the Head and Eyes c. to dry them up or to turn them and to draw them into another place So I have seen several which have had at least Twenty Scars about them but chiefly on their Arms whereof-some were of the bigness of a Shilling besides Wounds and Scratches they had But from whence they received this inhumane way to wound and torment themselves I do not know except they had it anciently from the Priests of Baal which used to wound themselves with Knives and Lances as we read in the 18th Chapter of the 3d of the Kings until the Blood followed These Holy Scars and Tokens of their Zeal I could soon see and observe on this Moor for according to his Order which is a very great one he was to wear no Cloths upon his Body neither Winter nor Summer only a little Scarf to cover his Privy Members withal Instead of them they put Sheep Skins about them whereon they lie also at Night and so they serve them for Cloaths Bed and Cover And so they pretend by their exteriour Apparel and Behaviour to great Vertue and Patience as if they were dead to the World and to a peculiar Holiness in praying fasting watching c. whereas they are full of Roguery and Knavery so that you shall hardly find any like them With this came also several other Religious Men of several Orders which were all in several distinct Habits as they are in our Country among them was a very strong well set young Man of the Order of the Geomaliers as they call it which are rather Secular than Clergy-men they are generally Tschelebys that is Gentlemen and rich Persons which take great delight in travelling in their young Days under pretence of Holiness like Pilgrims at other Peoples Costs through several Countries and Kingdoms to see and learn and to get Experience This had only a blue Coat on that covered his Body tied about with a Sash and Shooes of Sheeps Skins such as the Arabians in the Desarts use to wear There went along with us Two more whereof one had a great Ring in each Ear about the thickness of a Finger and so heavy that it stretched down his ear-laps to his very Shoulders These are of the Order called the Calendriers which lead a sober and abstemious Life before People wherefore they separate themselves from the People and walk about like Hermits into Desarts where-ever they can to pray there ardently and to cry out the hours whereof they have Five every Day as the Priests do from the Steeples wherefore this Man did separate himself as often as he had an Opportunity far from us that the Beasts could rather see and hear him than we that were in the Ship When he had done this he came to us again and looked so devoutly as if he had been in a Rapture or Ecstasie The other was a Dervis whereof I have made mention before which also kept to a very strict Order for he prayed devoutly and ardently chiefly at Night after Sun set at what time two or three more used to come to him and among them sometimes some of our Merchants they did stand together in a circle and so began to pray as I heard often first very lowly then by degrees louder but when they came to the Leila Hillalla c. they were so loud that you might hear them afar of and then they repeated only these Words very often and every time they repeated them they turned their Head from one side to the other as if they looked upon one another by turns to shew their great Love one to another so they repeat these words very often and every time quicker and quicker until they abbreviate them at last and say only Lahu Huhu By this pratling or jabbering and moving of their Heads they became at length so giddy and weary that the cold Sweat ran down them But this their Saint did not pronounce the words of their Prayers with the rest but struck on his Breast with his Fist upon his Heart which gave instead thereof so strange a Tune as if he had been hallow within much like unto the Noise that a Turky-Cock uses to make when he is very angry so that it would have frighted any Man chiefly if he had been alone with him and he would with his terrible Face rather have taken him to be an Apparition than a Man These above-mentioned Words he repeateth so often and so long until he fainteth away and falls down and there he lieth as if he were dead Then the others cover him let him lie and go their ways After he hath lain thus a good while as if he had been ravished in his Prayers or had seen a peculiar Vision he cometh to himself riseth and appeareth again All these Saints although they practise their Religion after a peculiar manner which according
at Halepo where he had drove the Goldsmith's Trade for a great while he and others were sent to the King who was then at a little distance from Halepo by the Consul of Venice to present him in his Name with several Presents whereof some were costly and rich wrought Cloths when they came to him and presented them to him he took them with a great deal of Kindness and treated them very honourably and shewed them several sorts of Sport as Jumping Running c. that they might see that he had a great many brave and handy Souldiers and did dispatch them very generously again and promised them as my Friend told me all Kindnesses chiefly to their Masters saying That if they should have occasion to make use of him against the Turks he would faithfully assist them and that he did not doubt at all if they should agree together but they might go a great way with him in these Countries nay advance further upon the Turk in a short time even to Constantinople it self After the before-mentioned Discourse the King went to his Tents that were pitched on a Plain by a Hill within two Miles of us and took some of our Company along with him to discourse his Father about our Concerns I would willingly have presented the King with my Gun altho' we had to travel through many Desarts and perhaps he would have been pleased with it but durst not do it before the Turkish Souldiers Mendicants and Jews for I feared that they would betray it and accuse me before the Bashaw and Cadi's which soon would have made me punishable altho' innocent as they use to do to Strangers nay sometimes those of their own Nation and besides I did remember that when the King was encamped near Halepo and some of his Men did daily come into the Town to buy Provision Cloaths and other Things that then it was strictly forbidden to Sell them any Arms Bows or Pikes to take along with them into the Desarts After we had staid for our Friends a great while they came so late to us that we were hindred from going any farther that Day for it began to be late and so we stay'd there all Night They told us that the King after they had told him that we came from Halepo would not believe them but thought rather we came from Saphet which Town is within a Day 's Journey of Sidon which the Sultan had taken from him a little while before that he might have a Pretence to arrest us and our Goods and that he did so obstinately persist in this Opinion that they did really fear he would have sent some of his Men with one of us to Halepo to know the certainty thereof until they plainly demonstrated to him by their Letters from whence they came whereupon he gave them Liberty to go on in their Journey But I understood afterwards that it was only to press something more out of them as he really did for they were forced to give him some Knives tip'd with Silver that came from Damascus and also some Damasks On the Sixth of September we were up early and passed between great Wildernesses wherein were abundance of Wild Boars that appeared sometimes in great Herds These Wildernesses continued so long that we saw nothing else the whole Day but Woods till in the Evening we came to Cala a Village and Castle on this side of the River which is no more but two Days Journey from Halepo situated in a Plain from whence you may conjecture how crooked the River is hitherto This Castle belongeth to a great Bashaw called John Rolandt and also the fine House at Halepo as is before mentioned He hath very great Revenues and Sixty Sons Six or Seven of them are Sangiacks whereof some live at the Sultan's Court. Beyond this Castle on the other side of the River we lodged all Night in the Wilderness which continued so far that we saw nothing all the next Day long but only here and there a little Cottage of the Moors which generally are built upon Four Sticks and covered with Bushes Within them there are so many Children that I have often admired at the Number of them They run in their first Infancy to the River and learn to swim so well that they undertake without any fear to swim over the broad River When we went by the Moors saluted us very often if the distance did not hinder them and that chiefly to learn of us where about their King was in the Country For they have so great a Respect for their King altho ' they are an Idle and Vagabond People and unanimously shew him such Obedience as no other Nation doth to their Superiours which also you may guess by this that if any Outlandish Man hath a mind to get safely through the Wilderness or to see their King let him but cloath himself in their Habit and take a Moor along with him to shew him the way and to be his Interpreter they will readily tell him the way to go to him or when they see that he hath one of their own Nation with him they let him pass without any Molestation or Examination So that those that are Slaves on the Confines of Arabia might easily free themselves without any trouble or danger Their Wives did also often come to us and brought us Milk in great flat Dishes which they shewed us at a distance to sell wherefore we did land sometimes and received it and gave them Biskets for it for they have great want of Corn so that this interchanging pleased us both We used to break Biskets into this Milk and so to eat it for Dinner or Supper and sometimes if it was too thick or rather too little of it that it might go the farther we used to temper or mix it with Water They have also sometimes put it into oblong Linen-Sacks which it did hardly penetrate and let it hang in the Ship for two or three Days until it did curdle and came to be in Curds and so it used to serve us with Biskets and Onions for Breakfast or for Supper When we did land and had time to spare I used to look about me for some strange Plants and among the rest I found a peculiar Schoenanthum which was very like in Figure unto the true one but had not its Virtues and the first kind of Rhannus of Carolus Clusius with fat Leaves like unto Housleeke I found also Goats Rue and a strange sort of Willows which still are called by the Inhabitants by their old Name Garb. There also were abundance of Tamarisks they were as big and high as our Cherry or Plum Trees wherefore these Trees are discerned soon at a distance by their height they have very tender Leaves and long purple coloured tops as you see in the second kind of our Tamarisks so that between them and ours there is no great Matter of Difference but only in Bigness and Fruit whereof I found
Honey c. and to take any of these with some Bread for a good Entertainment The Honey in these Parts is very good and of a whitish colour whereof they take in their Caravans and Navigations great Leathern Bottles-full along with them this they bring you in small Cups and put a little Butter to it and so you eat it with Biskets By this Dish I often remembred St. John the Baptist the fore-runner of our Lord how he also did eat Honey in the Desarts together with other Food Besides this when we had a mind to Feast our selves some ran as soon as our Master had landed at Night to fetch some Wood and others in the mean time made a hole in the Ground on the Shoar in the nature of a Furnace to boil our Meat So every Company dressed accordingly what they had a mind to or what they had laid up in Store some boil'd Rice others ground Corn c. And when they had a mind to eat New Bread instead or for want of Biskets they made a paste of Flower and Water and wrought it into broad Cakes about the thickness of a Finger and put them in a hot place on the ground heated on purpose by Fire and covered it with Ashes and Coals and turned it several times until it was enough These Cakes were very savory and good to eat Some of the Arabians have in their Tents Stones or Copper-Plates made on purpose to bake them On the 4th Day being the last of September about Noon we came to the end of the Mountains before which without on this side lieth a very strong Citadel on a high Hill built three square by the Inhabitants called Seleby whereof two Points go downwards towards the River and the third upward a great way on the Mountain so that in its situation it is very like unto Baden in Switzerland Although it is demolished yet it is still very strong in its Walls that are to be seen at the top and on the sides chiefly towards the Hills and the River side to hinder the Passage both by Water and Land There are also still standing some Watch-houses without as you come towards it near the Mountains which may hold three or four Souldiers yet it lieth still to this Day in ruins and so desolated that nothing but Birds and Beasts inhabit it whereof a great many appeared on the Rivers side as Herns Ducks that were very large and of a delicate Colour and others among which were some of a white Colour called Pelicans by Aristotle and Onocrotali by others which are as big as Swans the Prophet Zephaniah maketh also mention of them in his second Chapter when he prognosticated the punishment that was to come to the Ninevites Assyrians and Moors there also appeared some quite black with long Necks whereof I did see abundance in my Travels into the Land of Promise and especially near Acon among the Rocks and Crags of the Sea as far as I could discern them at a distance they seemed to be a kind of a Sea-Eagle that feed more upon Fish than any thing else Six Miles lower and at the other side of the Euphrates lieth still another Fortification which is called Subian Seleby that is lower Seleby on a very high Bank and seeing that we sailed very near it I could not well discover it Of these two which way they were besieged and taken and also of the way of Government or ruling of the Kings of Arabia c. I should have been very glad to have been a little better informed but the Language wherewith I was not well acquainted did hinder me And suppose I should have understood it very well or enough to have made an enquiry after those Particulars yet I could not have done it without great Danger to have been taken for a Spy for they soon suspect Outlandish Men on every little occasion which those that Trade in these Parts have often experienced not without great Loss and Danger Beyond the Mountains in the low Country we saw more tilled Grounds and Habitations of the Arabians than we had done before wherefore our Master landed sooner than he used to do near a Village to take in Provision for our further Journey where the People brought Flesh and Indian Melons to us to sell Here it happened that about Midnight one of the Turkish Souldiers went out to ease himself to the River side and when he was busy about it a Moor came creeping along to him and thrust him into the River before he was aware of it and run away The Turk finding himself in the Euphrates fell a crying out for help I hearing him standing Sentinel that Night did not fail him but made what haste I could with my Scymeter in my Hand followed his Voice and came to the place although it was very dark drew him out and brought him into the Ship which was so kindly taken by the rest of the Turks that I got mightily into their Favour and received many Kindnesses of them all the way until we came to Bagdet the Garrison which they went to reinforce The first of October when our Voyage went on again there came early in the Morning a Post of six Arabians on Horse back to the River side to enquire of us whither their King was gone or where we thought they might find him they had received Letters for him from the Sultan wherefore they must follow him until they found him The Master of our Ship told 'em and so he did to every body that asked him that we had seen him in Mesopotamia which Province he called Amanachar that he was broken up with his Men to go back into Arabia where they would find him After this relation they departed and we went on our way and soon saw below a Town to our right at a distance called Seccard very well situated on an ascent belonging to the King of Arabia wherefore some of the Turks said that none but Haramiquiber that is great Thieves lived in it which they do out of spite to all them that are subject to any other Master than their Sultan This Town we passed by and went directly towards Deer another Town whence we were then three Leagues distant yet they do not accompt their distances by Leagues for they know little or nothing of it but rather reckon by Days Journeys for their Towns are so situated at such a distance that they have sometimes to go through divers Wildernesses several Days more or less before they arrive there Before we came thither one of the Ships in our Company did go too much toward one side toward a Branch of the River that runs by the Town for it divideth it self into several Branches where it got into the Mud and stuck Our Master seeing this landed immediately and did send his Men to help them So I got time to look after the strange Plants and found there about the River many great Tamarisk-Trees and also a
peculiar sort of Willow which the Inbitants still call by its ancient Arabian Name Garb. These Trees do not grow high but spread very much the Twigs thereof are stronger and not so tough as to make Bands or Wit hs as ours will the Bark is of a pale yellow Colour and so are the Leaves which are long and about two Fingers broad and at the edges round about crenated so that they are very much differing from the rest of this kind I found them to be of a pretty drying and astringent quality Of their Flowers and Fruit whereof Avicen maketh mention in his 126 and 686 Chap. I can say nothing because I saw none Hereabout the Turk that would not stay until we were cleared but went away before us did suffer Shipwrack and so lost a great deal of his Corn that he intended to carry to Bagdet called Baldac to sell it in the great Scarcity which was occasioned for want of Rain for there fell none in the space of two Years and a half And yet as they say if it raineth but twice or thrice a Year they have enough to supply themselves After our Men had wrought longer than an hour together with theirs until they had emptied the Ships they came to us again to go that Night to Deer But there being several Rocks before it which were very dangerous to pass some of their Pilots that understood the depths came out to meet and did help us so that we got safe there The Town of Deer which is not very big and belongs to the Sultan is situated on this side of the River on an ascent and is pretty well built with Houses whereon stood great Numbers of People when we went into it to see us but as for the Walls and Ditches they are but very slight At our first arrival we thought we should soon get clear for the Custom with the Armin and so Ship off again but he was not in Town so that we were forced to stay three Days for his coming In the mean time we got acquaintance with the Inhabitants which were handsome lusty and well-set and white and more mannerly than the rest they visited us frequently and spoke kindly to us so that we found a vast Difference between those and the former The Armin also who was no less civil we presented at his return with a great dish fill'd up with Cibebs and several sorts of Confectures and laid round about with Soap balls as is the Fashion in these Countries but to them that were with him and of his Family we gave some Sheets of white Paper which they willingly received and were so well pleased with it that some of them as the Children do in our Country when we give them something that is strange or pleasing to them smiled at it as often as they looked on it The Country there about is pretty fertile and plentiful of Corn Indian Millet Cotton c. and they have also between the Rivers very good Gardens for the Kitchin with all sorts of Plants and Fruits in them viz. Colliflowers Citruls Pumpions Cucumbers Anguriens or Water-Melons which they call Bathiecae whereof they have so many that you may buy forty great ones for one Asper whereof three make a Medin much about the value of our Penny There were also some Date Trees Limon and Citron and other Trees which I could not distinguish at a distance CHAP. V. Of our Voyage to the Famous Town Ana in which we passed again through great sandy Wildernesses for the performance whereof we must provide our selves with Victuals and be very careful in our Navigation Some relation of the Inhabitants of their Cloaths and other things we did observe and see by the way and what else did happen unto us AFter we had paid the Custom to the Armin who was a great deal more civil than he at Racka and provided our selves with all Necessaries we did but half load our Ships to draw them out of the branch again into the River and then we carried the rest to them by Boats and small Ships for the Water was very low and full of Mud so that we went from thence on the 4th Day of October in the Evening and so staid all Night a little below Deer The next Morning our Navigation proceeded very well till Noon when we came to a very broad and shallow place of the River that our Master did not know which way to get through When he was thus troubled and considering there appeared on the Height on the Shoar some Arabians and shewed us the Course we must take but we durst not trust them for we had heard before that they had sunk some great Stones there and that a Month before they had perswaded a Ship to go that way which did not discover their Cheat until their Ship after several hard knocks did split in pieces and sink The same they would have served others which although they did not follow their Counsel yet they came into such Danger that they could not deliver themselves out of it in a whole Days-time We Thanks be to God got sooner through than in an Hour after we had drawn our Ship a little back into the deep Stream to the great Admiration of the Arabians But the other in our Company did not stick much longer yet we had more to do to get her off because she was shorter with a hollow Bottom wherefore she was sooner turned but could not be got out so well as ours which was flat-bottom'd In the Evening very early we saw at a great distance on the other side in Mesopotamia a Castle in the Plain called Sere which the Arabians as they say have many Years ago demolished which the River Chabu which is pretty large runs by which beginneth not much above the Castle which one may guess by its Fresh-Water like unto Fountain-Water and runs a little way below into the River Euphrates From thence we thought to have reached Errachaby a Town belonging to the King of Arabia but being hindred in our Navigation as is above-mentioned we landed a little above this before the Night befell us and went the next Morning early to the before-mentioned Town which was pretty large and lay about half a League from the River in a very fruitful Country where we stayed until the next Day to sell some Goods there Wherefore two of ours went into the Town to call out some of their Merchants to trade with them After they had spent that whole Day with them we went off the next Morning early toward Schara a little Village which lieth on the Right-Hand half a League distant from the River belonging to the King of Arabia where we landed to pay the usual Custom All about the Sides and the River I saw a great many Bushes and Trees I would fain have been at them to discern what they were that I might have viewed them exactly but I was forced to stay in the Ship and
so I missed them From Schara our Navigation went on for several Days very well but chiefly through sandy Desarts which were as large as any we had before passed for they extended sometimes so far that we could not see the end of them and they were so dry that you could see neither Plough-land nor Meadow Tree nor Bush Leaf nor Grass nor Path to go in wherefore these may very well be called Desarts which are also called the sandy Seas First you must expect there great Storms as well as in the Seas which cause Waves in the Sand as well as at Sea then those that go in great Caravans through them must have their Leader or Pilot by them called Caliphi as well as those at Sea which knows how to direct their way by the Compass as Pilots do on Ship-board Then they provide themselves because the way is very long through them with Victuals for a long time as well as those that go by Sea wherefore they load generally the third Part of their Camels with Provisions chiefly with Water to refresh themselves and their Beasts in the great heat of the Sun for throughout all the Desarts there is never a Spring to be found except one should light by chance on a Cistern which yet are also generally dry for nothing but the Rain filleth them The Turkish Emperours have ordered 30000 of these Cisterns to be dug in the Ground in these Desarts as I was informed when I was at Aleppo and to be provided with Water that their Armies when they marched from place to place in those times when they had War with the Kings of Persia or Arabia c. might not want for Water and if one should be empty they might perhaps find some in the others In these Wildernesses I saw nothing worth speaking of but on the 9th of October some ancient Turrets that stood upon the high Banks on a Point called Eusy where as some say hath been formerly a Famous Town Thereabout the River taketh so large a Circumference that we went longer than half a Day before we could pass it By the same River below us we saw on the other Side of it several Arabians on Horse-back And nothing else remarkable but as I have told you before some small Hutts of the Moors who came to see us often but chiefly at Night-time to pilfer something which they are used to from their Infancy Wherefore it behoved us to have great Care and to keep a good Watch as I did find it the same Night For when it was come to my Turn to stand Sentinel again which I commonly did in the hindermost part of the Ship on high that I might espy the Thieves the sooner if any should come I laid down by me a good Cudgel as we all used to do every time so I lay down and wrap'd my self up in a Frize Coat with hanging Sleeves to it to keep my self from the Frost and Dew which are very frequent and violent there After long watching I began to be drowsy and fell asleep a Thief came through the Water to the Ship where I was laid down very silently and took hold of one of my Sleeves that hung down in hopes to draw out the Coat gently not knowing that I was in it So I was sensible that Somebody was there that would steal the Coat and got up and seeing the Head of the Rogue I took hold of my long Cudgel to have a Blow at him but he was too nimble for me swam back and ran away The rest that lay by me were awakened at this and did perceive that I had seen Some-body but did not know the Particulars so they were very glad that I had frightned away the Thief and gave me Thanks for my great Care and diligent watching As the Moors by Night follow their Robbery so they came by Day-light often with their Wives to trade with us Wherefore our Master sometimes to please some Merchants did sooner land who took all sorts of Goods out with them as Soap-balls Beads of Chrystal and yellow Agates Glass-Rings of several Colours which they wear on their Hands and Feet and several other Toys made of Red Yellow Green and Blew Glass and set in Tin Brass or Lead high Shooes which are tied with Leathern Straps at the Top c. for these Goods they trucked with the Moors for Sheep's Skins Buck-skins Cheese-Curds and several other Things and sometimes for Money These Moors do not differ much in their Form from our Gypsies only that these are a good deal Browner They are very nimble in their Actions but they do not much care to work they rather spend their time in idle Discourses or begin to quarrel with one another with loud and big Words and a great Clamour but seldom are so much in earnest as to come to Blows Their Heads are shaved saving only the Crown where they let generally a long Lock grow like unto the Turks that hangeth down behind As to their Cloathing they wore Coats made of Course Stuff whole before and without Sleeves they are pretty long before and reach to their Knees such an one I wore on my Journey striped with White and Black underneath they have long Shirts which are cut out about the Necks and reach down to their Ankles they are commonly Blew and have wide Sleeves which they let fly about chiefly in their walking when they fling their Arms about to shew their Pride These Shirts they gird up with broad Leathern Girdles so high that you cannot see the Girdle but only their bended Dagger that sticks or hangs in them as we wear our Swords The Archers put sometimes one of their Arms out of their Shirts and so leave their Breast bare at the same time that they may shoot and fight the freer without being hindred those that are not able to buy Shooes take instead of them Necks of undressed Skins and put them about their Feet with the Hair outwards and so tye or lace them up The Men wear no Breeches but the Women do and they come down to their Ankles Their Faces are not veiled as the Turkish Womens but else they cover themselves with broad Scarfs which more incline to Blew than to White and let them chiefly those that wear narrow ones hang behind in a great knot When they have a mind to be fine they put on their precious things as are Marbles Amber Beads Glasses of several Colours c. fixed to Laces and hang them down their Temples which come down about a Span long and fly about from Face to Neck so that in bending or moving their Head they often hurt their Face and do not a little hinder them in their Actions Those that are of greater Substance and have a mind to be richer and finer in their Dress wear Silver and Gold-Rings in one of their Nostrils as some do in one of their Ears in our Country wherein are set Garnets Turquois Rubies and Pearls
c. They also wear Rings about their Legs and Hands and sometimes a good many together which in their stepping and working slip up and down about their Hands and Feet and so make a great noise So much I thought convenient to relate of the Inhabitants of these Countries and Desarts as I have seen and found it After we had passed through the great Desarts and began to come prety near unto Ana our Master landed early in the Evening in a very pleasant Place which was about a League and a half on this Side of the Town where we stayed all Night For the River is very dangerous to navigate because of its swift Current and some Rocks that lie between the Mountains This Place was so pleasant by Reason of its fruitful Trees viz. Olive-Trees Orange Citron Limon Pomgranate and chiefly Date-Trees that the like I had not seen before in my Travels and hard by it was a very thick Wood of Date-Trees whereinto I went with some of our Company and found so great a Quantity of Fruit that they did not esteem them at all and among them we found two new Sorts different from them that use to be brought to us in our Countries viz. quite Red and Yellow ones by Serapio called Hayron in his 69th Chapter which although something less than ours yet are very good and of a delicate Taste The next Morning we recommended the Ship to the Master and walked the Ship being pretty well laden to the Town By the way we found concerning Fruitfulness so great a Difference that we could really say we were come from the barren and desolated Arabia which hitherto had continued from Dir nay very near from Aleppo into the well cultivated and fruitful one For just in the very Entrance there appeared Fields sown with Cotton which was as tender and woolly as one could any where find Then delicate Fields of Corn which grew very high and was full ripe and fit to be cut down Then Trees that stood round about full of Fruit so that we had a very pleasant Walk to the Town In this way I saw no strange Plants at all onely in the Corn the Moluchi of the Arabians whereof I have made mention before which is esteemed to be the Corchorum Plinii and also another which because of its Height is easily seen this is very like unto the Sesamum onely that the Stalk is longer and fatter the Leaves are rougher and the uppermost ones are cut into three different ones which is not to be seen in the uppermost Leaves of the Sesamum the Leaves whereof are more like unto Willow-Leaves both in Length and Colour Between the Leaves that stand singly about the Stalk one above the other sprout out stately Flowers which are Yellow without and intermixt with Red Veins and of a purple brown Colour within and have a long Style or Pointel in the middle thereof when these are fall'n off there grow long Pods out of them about a Finger long and thick which are hairy without pointed towards the Top and have Five Distinctions within wherein the seeds are contained which are very like unto the sort of Malva that is called Abutilon and are placed in good Order one above the other I did very much enquire after this plant but they know no other Name for it but Lubie Endigi that is Indian Kidney-Beans But according to my Knowledge I rather take it to be the Trionum whereof Theophrastus maketh mention in several Places The Town Ana is by the Euphrates divided into Two Parts or rather into Two Towns whereof the One is not very big and subject to the Turk and is very well guarded with old Walls and so surrounded by the River that you cannot go into it but by Boats but the other that lieth on this Side belongeth to the King of Arabia is very great and very ill-provided with Walls and Ditches so that you may go in and out by Night as in all other Towns belonging to him This and also the whole Province is called Gimel and is fifteen Days Journey distant from Aleppo and goeth down a great way the River so that we had a good Hour to go before we came to the House of our Master which was near the Harbour where our Ship did lie The Houses are built with Brick and Stone Walls and very well done and we could hardly see one on either side but what had a Garden to it planted with Dates Limon Citron and Pomgranate Trees with delicate Fruit in it At the other side on the left in Mesopotamia I saw nothing but some Summer-houses standing about the Hills By the way before we came to Ana I observed very well that some of our Company to whom I was of an Outlandish Man recommended left me and began to contrive with the Master who was born in that Town to accuse me by a second Hand that they might not be seen in it as a Spy before the Magistrates pretending that I observed all Towns and Places accurately and had a mind to betray them at my Opportunity which they chiefly did to frighten me and so to get the sooner some good Booty out of me In Order whereunto some of them went to the Sub-Bashaw and obtained presently of him to send one of his Servants with them which came to me in the long Street having some Iron Chains and Fetters in his Hands which he let hang down upon the Ground and led me along so that I presently understood that they had an ill Intention against me which they intended to execute So I went along with him to see what they would do with me when they came to the Harbour they gave me leave to go into the Ship and to stay there until I heard more of them So they soon aggreed together and told me chiefly one of them that was on Horse-back in a long Furr'd Coat that if I would be at Liberty I must pay to the Sub-Bashaw 500 Ducats When I was considering these things and saw my self also left quite alone and their Demands so extraordinary unreasonable and found my self in this great Necessity and Danger it came into my mind that there was another Magistrate in the other Town Ana at the other side of the River which was a Turkish one to whom I would make my Complaint of their unjust and unreasonable Imposition to see whether I might not find help and assistance of them wherefore I provided my self with my Pass and fitted my self so in Cloaths that I might be able to swim so that if they should Assault me to take hold of me I might soon make my escape over the River without any opposition or hindering At length when they expected my Answer and the Money I told them my Intention plainly and clearly which put them into greater Fright and Fear than they had put me in before Wherefore they gave over their unjust Demands and desired of the 500 Ducats no more but a single
would have been more and have encreased if the Towns that lie above it on the Euphrates and Tigris and chiefly Mossel which formerly went by the Name of Nineve had not sent them great Supplies as did also those of Carahemit c. which Supply they have also almost always at any other time occasion for for their cultivated Grounds are chiefly in Mesopotamia where they have almost none at all so that there groweth not enough to maintain themselves wherefore the two Rivers are very necessary to them not only to provide them with Victuals as Corn Wine Fruit c. but also to bring to them all sorts of Merchandices whereof many Ship-loads are brought in daily So that in this Town there is a great Deposition of Merchandices by reason of its commodious Situation which are brought thither by Sea as well as by Land from several Parts chiefly from Natolia Syria Armenia Constantinople Haleppo Damascus c. to carry them further into the Indies Persia c. So it happened that during the time I was there on the 2d Day of December in 74. there arrived 25 Ships with Spice and other precious Drugs here which came over Sea from the Indies by the way of Ormutz to Balsara a Town belonging to the Grand Turk situated on the Frontiers the furthest that he hath South-Eastwards within Six Days Journey from hence where they load their Goods into small Vessels and so bring them to Bagdet which Journey as some say taketh them up Forty Days Seeing that the Passage both by Water and Land belongeth both to the King of Arabia and Sophi of Persia which also have their Towns and Forts on their Confines which might easily be stopt up by them yet that notwithstanding all this they may keep good Correspondence with one another they keep Pigeons chiefly at Balsara which in case of necessity might soon be sent back again with Letters to Bagdet When loaden Ships arrive at Bagdet the Merchants chiefly those that bring Spice to carry through the Desarts into Turky have their peculiar places in the open Fields without the Town Cresiphon where each of them fixeth his Tents to put his Spices underneath in Sacks to keep them there safe until they have a mind to break up in whole Caravans so that at a distance one would rather believe that Soldiers were lodged in them than Merchants and rather look for Arms than Merchants Goods And so I thought my self before I came so near that I could smell them Some of these Merchants that came with the same Ships came directly to our Camp and among the rest a Jeweller which brought with him several precious Stones viz. Diamonds Chalcedonies which make incomparable Hafts to Daggers Rubies Topazes Sapphirs c. the two first whereof he had procured in Camboya and most of the rest in the Island of Zeylan whereof he shew'd us several very fine ones The Merchants bring these along with them in great Caravans and keep them very close and private that they may not be found out at the Custom-Houses and be taken away from them which the Bashaws do constantly endeavour with all their Might and Power For the Turks do not love that Precious Stones should cost them Money for they are extraordinarily covetous wherefore you find but a few among them but if they can have them without cost after the aforesaid manner they love them dearly and keep them in great Esteem In the room of them other Stones are sent into the Indies again Corals Emralds which are bought best in Aegypt Saffron Chermes-berries and several Sorts of Fruit as Cibebs Dates which are there so pliable and Soft that you may pack them together in great lumps as they do Tamarinds Figs Almonds and many others which I cannot now remember and also several Sorts of Silks and Turkish Handkerchiefs But above all fine Horses whereof they send Abundance into the Indies by the way of Persia but more by the way of Ormutz wherefore the King of Portugal received yearly a good Sum of Money for Custom viz. Forty Ducats for each which the Merchants pay very freely because that those that import Horses as I am informed pay but half Duty for their other Goods at the Custom-Houses and sell them besides with good Profit Some of these Horses are also sent because of their Beauty and Goodness into Syria Natolia and to us into Europe where they are sold or presented to Princes and other great Persons of Quality They feed there Horses in these Countries chiefly with Barly and Straw so as it is broke by their Threshing-Waggons which they hang about their Heads in Sacks as they do also about Asses rather than give it them in Mangers as we do For want of Straw they sometimes litter them with a fine loose Earth which they afterward throw by in heaps to make it clean again to serve another time When among other Merchants Christians arrive from our Countries at Ormutz which happeneth very seldom all those of them that have been any ways afflicted by Turks Arabians or Jews must appear before some certain Officers of the King of Portugal appointed for that purpose and make their Complaints to them of what hath happened to them or what Damage they have suffered or received and in Case they should omit any thing they are themselves severely punished If then it appeareth that one of them hath been cheated of his Money immediately some Merchants of the same Nation although innocent and knowing nothing of it are flung into Prison where they must remain until they have made Satisfaction to the utmost Farthing and are besides severely punished for an Example to others that they may take warning But if a Christian should be murthered and they come to know of it then Three or Four of them more or less according to the Manner of the Fact must suffer and lose their Lives for every Christian From thence it cometh when Merchants of many Nations are going into a Ship in order to go to the Indies by the Way of Ormutz where they must land upon Penalty of Confiscation of all their Goods that when first they put off they look strangely upon one another and take great notice of or mind one another much and say very little or nothing not making themselves known fearing that something may be had against them and this endureth so long untill they are gone half the way then they begin to be acquainted Further I understood that the King of Portugal's Governour in the Indies hath already to make himself strong and the more able for a War made several of the chiefest and powerfullest Indians Knights or Noblemen to the Number of 5000 and hath sent many Jesuits to reform these Countries to propagate their Religion and to institute there the Spanish Inquisition The Indians are lank in Body brown in their Colour well shaped and of a very good Understanding Wherefore Persons of Quality and Merchants love to buy them
Shillings that was bigger than an Hungarian Bullock Thus much I had to relate of Bagdet its Situation Trade and strange Plants so much as I could find and see at that improper time Being that I expected daily Company to go with me to Aleppo again by the way of several Towns and not straight through the sandy Wildernesses a Persian that I got acquainted withal in the mean while did inform me that the Sophi King of Persia had several Unicorns at Samarcand which he kept there and also in two Islands Alc and Tylos which lay from Samarcand nine Days Journey further towards the East near Spaam some Griffins by them called Alera which were sent him out of Africa from Prester-John They are a great deal bigger and higher have a red coloured Head a bearded Bill and a Neck over-grown with Feathers a thick Body black Wings like unto an Eagle and a long Tail like a Lion and Feet like a Dragon they are very eager for Flesh while they are yet young the King taketh them along with him and goeth often thither for Sport and Pleasures sake but as they grow up and strong he hath them chained about their Necks very strongly I did believe this the sooner because he could also tell me what Trees and Fruit grow there and chiefly those whereof Theophrastus maketh mention and out of him Pliny He also gave me an Account besides these of others that grow out of Persia in several places as of the Tree Palla which Theophrastus and Pliny mention which the Wise men did eat in the Eastern Countries and of the Musa of the Arabians whereof the former bear delicate sweet-tasted and very wholesome Fruit by them called Wac which are round reddish and as big as the Indian Melons But whether this be the noble Fruit Mangas whereof Clusius maketh mention in his History of Indian Plants which for Goodness sake is carried over Sea into Persia I leave to the learned to decide But the Musa which is as aforesaid also common in Syria beareth a great deal smaller Fruit which is smooth yellowish and bended almost like unto Citruls in shape These are also of a sweetish taste and therefore the pleasanter to eat but are very unwholesome so that Alexander the Great was forced to forbid his Souldiers to eat of them The same Persian did also inform me of the Poysonous Fruit Persea which is still known to them by the Name of Sepha which they esteem very little and also the Peaches called Het which are not so poysonous as some say as the above-mentioned for they esteem the Kernels thereof to be good wholesome Physick But yet that they are not esteemed by them the chief Reason is that they perswade themselves that Nimrod who was a great Magician or Necromancer poysoned them by his Black-Art and that since that time they could not be eaten wherefore they have not been esteemed ever since This I thought convenient to mention rather for the sake of those that have a mind to travel that if one or more of them should go into these Countries they might have occasion to make a more accurate enquiry after these things CHAP. IX Which way I came in my return from Bagdet through Assyria the Confines of Persia and the Province of the Curters to the Town Carcuch Capril c. and at length to the River Tigris to Mossel that Famous Town which was formerly called Nineve WHen hindered in my Travels for several weighty Reasons I was forced to go back again I looked up my Goods as I was advised by my good Friend the Christian whereof I made mention here before and fitted my self for my Journey I got for my Companions three Jews one whereof came down the Euphrates with me the others came from Ormutz for I could get no others to travel with me to Aleppo We set out on the 16th of December of the 74th Year for Carcuch distant Six Days Journey in the Confines of Media on the other side of the River Tigris which is still called by them in their Language Hidekel By the way we first saw some well-tilled Fields and above us on the River Tigris some Villages so that I could not but think I should meet with a Country that had plenty of Corn Must and Honey c. as it was commended by the the Arch-koob bearer of the King of Assyria and compared even with the Land of Promise but the further we went the greater grew the Wildernesses so that we were forced to lodge all Night in the Fields The next Morning there appeared a great way off more little Villages belonging to the King of Persia But we went on through the Desarts and my Fellow Travellers told me that they extend themselves to Persia and Media where we lost our way and came in the Evening into a Bog which hindered us so much that I because their Sabbath began whereon according to their Laws they must not travel was forced to stay there with them all Night long in it and also the next Day in great Showers of Rain not without great Inconveniency and Trouble During our staying there I look'd about me for some Plants but found none because they did but first begin to sprout but in the moist Places some wild Galengal with great round Roots by the Inhabitants called Soedt and by both Latines and Grecians Cyperus The 19th Day after we were not without trouble got out of the Mire our way extended its self still further through desolate Places and Desarts I thought of Julian that impious Roman Emperour and of his Army which when it went against the Persians and was very numerous over the River Tigris near to Ctesiphon he was by an Ancient Persian that was a Prisoner decoyed into these Desarts where he was beaten and routed by the Persians In this great Fight when the Emperour himself was mortally wounded he took up as Nicephorus and Eusebius say a handfull of Blood and flung into the Air yielded the Victory and said Then Galilean so he called Christ in whom he at first believed and afterwards denied and persecuted thou hast beaten and conquered me After we had lived for several Days very hardly in the Desarts and spent our time in Misery we came on the 20th by Scherb a Village over an Ascent into another more fruitful and well tilled Country situated on the Confines of Persia and for the most part inhabited by them which we could conjecture by the common Language Now though travelling through the Confines uses commonly to be very dangerous yet I thank God we met with none so that we without any Stop or Hinderance reached that Night the 21st of December to Schilb a curious Village where we rested all Night and refreshed our selves From thence we went on through large and fruitful Valleys but I found nothing for it was but just at the beginning of plowing time that was worthy to be mentioned for the Plants did but just begin
appeared sometimes on a high one that before the rest lieth nearer to the Plain some of them so that we might very well presume that there was more of them behind in Ambuscado which also proved very true For no sooner were we pass'd it but before we went up the Hill they came out from behind the Mountain in great Troops on Horse-back which immediately drew up into order in the Fields in Two Squadrons Three and Three in a Rank to the Number of about 300 almost as many as we were They exercised their Horses which were very lank very swiftly turn'd sometimes on one and then on the other hand and came at length to us within a Bows Shoot They had most of them Darts which they plaid withal in their full Speed sometimes holding it down-wards as if they would run through a Deer which was a pleasant but very dangerous Sight to us When they shewed themselves so as if they would fall upon us instantly we drew our Caravan close together in order to resist them Wherefore we stood still and tied our Beasts together and bound the Fore foot of each of them that they could not stir behind them stood our Mockeri with their Bows and all those that were not well provided with Arms and Horses either to shoot at the Enemy or else in Case of Necessity if they should come too near us to sally out and cut off their Horses with our Scymeters Near unto us our Horses were drawn up into a Troop ready for their Assault to venture their Success After a whole Hour's delay we sent at length two of our Company to them and they sent also Two of theirs to meet them to parley together But which way they made up an Agreement I know not but they prevailed so much with them that soon after they left us and rode away and we went on in our Journey After this we kept our Caravan that is so much to say as a great many People with loaden Camels Asses and Horses in far better Order than we had done before and came that same Day a good Way to a small Village where we encamped and stayed all Night We found no Wood thereabout wherefore we made shift with Bread instead of other Victuals and were very glad we had it In the mean time the Inhabitants came to us to gather the Dung of our Beasts as they do in several other Places chiefly in the Desarts of Arabia to burn it instead of Wood which they do after the following Manner They make in their Tents or Houses a Hole about a Foot and half deep wherein they put their earthen Pipkins or Pots with the Meat in them closed up so that they are in the half above the middle Three Fourth Parts thereof they lay about with Stones and the Fourth Part is left open through which they fling in their dried Dung and also sometimes small Twigs and Straws when they can have them which burn immediately and give so great a Heat that the Pot groweth so hot as if it stood in the middle of a lighted Coal-heap so that they boil their Meat with a little Fire quicker than we do ours with a great one on our Hearths so that these poor People must make very hard Shift and do sometimes as the Israelites did in the Siege of Jerusalem where they also in their greatest Necessity did boil their Meat with Dung of Men and Beasts as you may read in the 4th Chapter of Ezekiel This Night and several others before we passed more with watching than with sleeping so that sometimes we contemplated the Constellations of the Skies which are very much observed by these Nations but chiefly by the Arabians which lodge always in the open Air and have no Shelter so that by the Stars they know the Hour of the Night and when it is time for them to break up They care not for Beds but rather have Cloaks or Tapestry wherein they wrap themselves up and keep themselves warm so that no Frost nor Rain nor Dew can hurt them The next Morning we broke up that we might not expose our selves any further only after Day-light and travelled all Day long without any Molestation or Hinderance a long way after several rough Mountains and also the next Day through sandy Desarts which were deep and hindred our going on very much When it began to be Night our Beasts were almost ready to lie down under their Burthens in the Sand which was very tiresome to us and that the rather because we saw the Town Zibin far off before us at Four Miles distance but at length we got out of this bad Road into green Meadows to very clear Springs which run over in several Places to water them So that we began to make more speed and came the same Night yet very late into the Town It is a fine Place subject unto the Turkish Emperour not very big lying on Ascent very well surrounded and fortified with Walls and Ditches It is full of Conduits or Springs but chiefly in the great Camp where we rested for five Days to stay for more Company There live Abundance of Armenians in it for it lieth in the Confines of the greater Armenia and so we were no more in so great danger as we were in the Country of the Curters During my staying there the abovementioned rich Armenian Merchant and also an eminent Turkish Gentleman which were very kind to me upon the Road desired me several times having heard from the Jews that I was a Physician that I would be pleased to go along with them to Carahemit which Town was Four Days distant at the other side of the Tigris to cure some of their Relations that were not well they proffered me good Entertainment and to recommend me to the young Bashaw Son of Mahomet Bashaw which was also sick at that time and to bring me into good Business which I would have done with all my Heart and nothing could have pleased me better than to have served the Armenian for his Kindness Yet because I was sent for to come to Aleppo and could not but be as good as my Word wherein I had also no small Interest I was obliged to leave that Journey and to strive with all Speed and Diligence to get thither Now as this Bashaw is among the rest except the Visir-Bashaws whereof there are four or five which are always at Court about the Turkish Emperour as being his Privy Council the Chiefest in Turky so he hath larger and more fruitful Territories than he of Bagdet or any other to govern viz. Assyria Mesopotamia and a large part of the greater Armenia and of the Province of the Curters c. all which border upon the Dominions of the Sophi King of Persia After we had refreshed our selves during this time very well and other Companies had joined us we broke up on the 20th towards Night and went away By the way we saw several plough'd Fields
read the Authors of Physick that have writ in another Language as the Jews can But seeing that the Jews are very much addicted to Covetousness they endeavour rather to promote their own Interest than that of their Patients so that the Turks are but slightly provided with Physicians and therefore rather die like Flies than take advise of their Physicians chiefly of the Jews which are not contented with a small Reward to this add also that the Turks never put any Confidence in the Jews and esteem their Counsel but little and besides they believe that God hath already pre-ordained every one his Death so that he that is born to be drowned cannot be hanged And besides all this the Jews do not stick close to them in time of necessity but fly presently and first of all in time of Sickness which certainly happens once in Seven Years if not in Five or sooner just like Hirelings as they have sufficiently experienced in the last Plague in the Year 72 with the loss of several Persons of Worth and Quality chiefly among the rest a Turkish Pay-Master by them called Daftedar and another Eminent Turk and their own Sons which both of them although this proferr'd to lay 3000 Duckets and the other 10000 into the Hands of a third Person yet were neglected and lest by their Physicians and died It is very much in use among them that if any body doth find himself not well another puts his Arms cross before him and so graspeth him about his Back and lifteth him up and sets him down again and shaketh him several times just as they use to do Sacks with Corn to make them lie the closer and to hold the more As the Physicians are so are also the Apothecaries where you find nothing of any great Compositions nor purging Electuaries as Elect. Diacatholicon Diaphoenicon c. although they have the best Ingredients thereof for we have them all sent from them except they be sent to them from Marseilles or Venice c. If you have occasion for any Herbs Roots or Seeds c. you must go your self not without great trouble and losing of time and find them either in the Fields or else at the Grocers and other Shop-keepers Among the rest of the things they had I soon knew the Rob Ribes by its ancient Name and pleasant sourish Taste whereof they make a great quantity in this place and send it further into other Countries but chiefly to the Turkish Emperour wherefore in the Easter Week they had already gathered several Sacks full of the Stalks of the true Ribes of the Arabians which are hairy almost two Foot long and of the thickness of an Inch of a greenish colour and underneath as also Serapio mentioneth reddish from the Mount Libanus and brought it to the Cadi to make Rob of it for him I saw them lie in his Court-yard and several of them were given me to taste and to take away with me What Herbs I found at my return else because there are but a few of them therefore I have put them among the rest here-above in a peculiar Chapter I saw there several strange Birds and among others some of a delicate green and blue colour which were about the bigness of our Nut-crackers by them called Sucuruck and by others Alsecrach I also found their Alhabari which are not unlike our Peacocks and almost as big and could not fly much Of four-footed Beasts I saw seveveral and among them some Civet-Cats which were brought thither in Caravans from remote Parts and the Indies In the Fundique of the Consul of the Venetians I saw a very sharp sighted one like unto a Lynx exactly of the shape of a Cat so that it was not easily distinguished from it save only in its bigness for it is much higher and slimmer This is a very wild and fierce Beasts so that his Keeper himself was afraid of it It once got loose and got through the Yard below into an Apothecaries Shop wherein he had just then put a great many Glasses that were sent him from Venice whereof it broke the greatest part before it could be taken again When I was there a young Rhinoceros was carried through the Town to Constantinople It came from the most Eastern Parts and had killed above 20 Men before they could take it They also lead daily some Lions about the Town in small Chains which have small Bells before that every body may take the sooner Notice of them they are so tame that their Keepers sometimes wrastle with them in open Places neither do they easily grow wild except they should see Sheep then their Keepers have enough to do to keep them off and to appease them Without in the Fields in high and bushy Places are sometimes found Chamelions which are somewhat bigger than our green Lizards but a great deal leaner and higher upon their Legs they walk very slowly and lazily they live a great while without Meat like the Serpents and are a very ugly Creature If we put it upon a coloured red yellow or black Cloth it hath by degrees changed its natural green Colour into the same that the Cloth was of Having ended my Business I had and in the mean time received a Letter from my Comrades that were at Tripoli I parted from thence according to their desire and came on the 5th of May Anno 75 to them in Tripoli After some Days arrived also with some Goods one of their chiefest Carriers which they call Mokeri which swore to me by his Head that is he affirmed upon his Faith and Reputation that the Sub-Bashaw of Aleppo when he was departing from thence had sent his Bailiffs to my Lodgings to apprehend me and to fling me into the publick Turkish Gaol because they were very well assured that when I was on the Hills where they had seen me look for Plants I had observed the Situation of the Town and all the Country very diligently that I might when I should have an opportunity betray them to their Enemies and shew them the best way to take it But all this was contrived that they might have an opportunity to take an Avaria on me as the Merchants call it there in these Countries that is to say they would accuse me falsly to make me punishable that they might get a sum of Money out of me And the Carrier also really believed for as much as he heard of them that they would not have let me come off for less than 200 Saraffi or Duckets one whereof maketh two of their Gilders Thanks be to our Lord God who hath delivered me from their unjust Accusations and Contrivances and brought me safe to this place At my arrival at Tripoli when I expected to live securely and quietly and thought that I was passed all danger I fell notwithstanding all this into another for when my Comrades and with them also Hans Vlrich Krafft yet without any transgression were flung into the Turkish
Gaol by the Contrivances of some Turks the same Rogues had also a mind to contrive something against me to bring me in also But the French Vice-Consul Andrew Bianchi who was my very good Patron took my Part in so much that he did recover my Liberty by the Turks in spite of my Accusers and not only got me Licence to walk freely without molestation in and about the City where-ever I pleased but did also procure me a free and safe Access to my Comrades to see them in Prison as often as I pleased Into the Prison wherein they were kept I must always go through three small and low Doors which the Keepers did always very freely and without any grumbling open unto me to go in or out and sometimes I have staid there all Night with them I was always in very great hopes that God Almighty would have ordered it so that their Adversaries might have agreed with them so that I and my dear Friend whom I loved as my own Brother Hans Vlrich Krafft might have been returned home again with Joy But it pleased God to order it other ways for the Differences grew the longer the more difficult and were so long produced that this Young Gentleman particularly Hans Vlrich was kept there in this hard Imprisonment very near three Years To tell all that he suffered and endured there would be too long here only this I cannot omit to tell you that he did endure and conquer all these Troubles and Adversities as I did see my self with such a Courage Patience and good Conduct that notwithstanding all these although he was almost left quite Comfortless he was rather fit to comfort others than to be comforted When I went thus in and out to them I observed very well that the Turks have very great Compassion on poor distressed Prisoners and are very free to give them Alms and a Man used to come in daily with Bread or boiled Meat as Rice and other sorts of boiled Corn chiefly on Feast-Days after the Afternoons Lecture was over and when he distributed them he did also always as he went by fling in for each of them a little Loaf very like unto them they Bake in Lent in our Country into their Apartment before them upon the Ground wherewith they must make shift except they could live of their own means or get something by their Hand-labour whereof there was a good many that did to maintain themselves These Alms the Turks give rather freely without being ask'd for it for they believe that God is better pleased with that which they give freely than that which is begged of them Wherefore they have very few or no Beggars in their Towns which beg Alms as they do in our Country During my stay at Tripoli I did at the request of the Consul live in his Fundique who entertained me very honourably that I might give Attendance and if any of the Merchants or Sea-men should happen to be sick I might use my best endeavour to cure them So I did in the space of three Months cure only in our Fundique above Forty Men of all sorts of Distempers viz. malignant Fevers violent Gripings of the Guts c. which generally befell them that were lately arrived and were not yet acquainted with the Air and Diet of the Country There happened in these Days a miserable cruel Case that some among whom were Five Italians and One French-man did arrive at Tripoli which made themselves soon ready to go from thence further to Aleppo with their Merchandices to sell there Upon the Road they left their Caravan too far behind them and met with some Horse-men which spoke to them and desired them that they would halt at the Command of their Master the Sub-Bashaw and dismount and go into the next Camp which I found very desolate and ruined when I went by formerly to stay there until he came to them which would not be long for he had something to say to them the Merchants obeyed them readily fearing that if they should not they would be punished severely by the Sub-Bashaw for their Disobedience After they were gone into the Camp the Murderers immediately fell upon them Shooting and Striking at them until they killed them all at last then they buried them in the Ground mounted their Horses and rode away After these Murderers thought they were very secure one of these Rogues which were said to be Arabians met one of the Mockeri or Carriers of the same Caravan he knew the Horse immediately and perceiving it to be bloody his Heart gave him that it was not right wherefore he made haste up to him and thrust his bended Bagonet into his side and took him Prisoner and carried him to Aleppo where he was as I did hear afterwards having confessed the Fact when he was upon the Torture executed for it They did also seek for the rest but did apprehend none of them in the time of my staying The Sultan else taketh great Care to keep the Roads safe and free from High-way Men that Trading may go on without hinderance Yet sometimes there are some of the great ones and Men of Note that put others upon it for gain's sake so that one must be very careful in these Countries It is not long ago when we had News that not far off the Christians had taken some Ships from the Turks and carried them off and also formerly in the beginning of July of the last Year they lost some more and as I am informed among them were Four great ones Three Fliboats and Two other that were taken by Six Gallies of the Christians which made the Turks mightily discontented wherefore the Emperour sends out many Gallies into several places chiefly to Rhodes to cross the Seas up and down to keep them clear from Pirates and to hinder them from making Incursions or Descents upon him These come sometimes into this Port but our Merchants and the Masters of our Ships do not care for their arrival for they are forced to present them with Cloths Woollen Cloaths Money c. if they will remain in Favour with them CHAP. XII Of the large and high Mount of Libanus its Inhabitants and strange Plants that are found there WHen I stayed with the Consul at Tripoli and had not a few of his in cure in his Fundique some others of other Nations did sometimes between whiles desire my Assistance and Advice and among the rest an Eminent Patriarch of the Maronites which reckon themselves to be Christians and are called so from the Heretick Maro to this Day This did live in the Mount of Libanus and was carried down although he had a whole Day 's Journey to Tripoli and was afflicted with that painful Distemper the Gout very severely to be cured by me After some Days when he was pretty well recovered again so that he intended to return home he spoke to some of us in our Fundique that we would be pleased to conduct
where in former Years the Potent Caliphi did reside I did hear no more of it in all my Journey until at my return when my Comrade Hans Vlrich Krafft of Vlm then Prisoner in Tripoli did relate it to me so as it was reported to him by Credible Hands who told me that the Trusci are very numerous that they were divided into several Regiments of several colours and that those that live in the middle of the high Mountains were the most numerous of them all that they live in a Country that is very well secured and surrounded so that they need not nor will not be subject either to the Turks or any other Potentate They are Warlike People for the generality good Gunners that make their own Guns and any other sorts of Arms c. they have plenty of Corn Oyl Wine good Meat and good Fruit so that they need not any Assistance of Strangers They chiefly deal in Silk whereof they wind from Silkworms about 100 Rotulas in a Year which is about 450 Hundred weights to send from thence into other Countries These have their white Colours and their Confederates that live on the outward Hill toward the Sea at Baruti near Tripoli have red ones and have also their Colonel which they call Ermin Mackfur which also those that belong unto the white Colours acknowledge to be theirs as well as their own which was lately murdered This because he could not entrench himself as well as the other Trusci on the Hill agreed with the Great Sultan and made Peace upon this account that if he would let him live peaceably and quietly he would help him to Protect the Country and pay unto him yearly the accustomed Tribute but if the Grand Signior would not be pleased with this proferr he would join the rest and assist them The Emperour accepted of this and did not only make this Ermin Mackfur Lord of all Baruti and Seide called Sidon but did also procure him a great and plentifull Yearly Revenue out of these Countries thinking thus to oblige him to help him with his Trusci to subdue the others not doubting but that he might easily overcome these when once the others on the Mountains were killed But they would not get up the Hill but did proferr to the Turks that if their Men and the Moors would go up they would be ready in the Valley about Baruti to cut off all that should fall into their hands This Answer they gave to the Sultan only for Fashion's sake for no Truscus killeth the other When the Sultan saw that they would not bite one another and that he was not like to obtain any great matter from the Colonel he did notwithstanding send up the Bashaw of Damascus with Six other Bashaws and Seventeen Sangiacks about Two Hundred Thousand strong both Foot and Horse well Armed to subdue the before-mentioned Trusci which were about Sixty Thousand strong to burn demolish and destroy their Towns Villages Houses and Plantations After they were come up to the Ascent Two Days Journey from Damascus they found the Roads so steep that no body could pass them on Horseback for there was nothing to be seen but rough and sharp-pointed Rocks So they agreed to dismount and to go up to them on Foot and so they took presently Six or Seven Villages whereof there is said to be Twenty Seven in all but they found nothing in them but some Women and Children and very few Men the rest were got upon the Hills where they had intrenched themselves which were all cut in pieces and the Villages burnt The Turks and Moors thought themselves obliged according to their Emperours Command to go on further so they endeavoured and got up higher but could not do any more harm to the Trusci being hindered by the bad ways But on the contrary the Trusci met them sometimes and poured their Shot upon them from all Sides before they were aware of it so that they were but in an ill Condition Then when the Turks would pursue these Men they were too quick for them as being born and bred in these Mountains so they did only laugh at them and bid them kiss their Breeches So the Turks partly for want of Provision partly being tired by the steep Roads were sometimes forced not without great damage and loss of their Men to retire again to take better Measures Sometimes also the Trusci would stand between the Rocks covered and when they found any of their Enemies appear chiefly those that endeavoured to climb up the Rocks they would all of a sudden shoot among them as among a Flock of Pigeons so that many of them did precipitate themselves and broke their Necks They would also sometimes decoy the Turks into a good Road and after Eight or Ten Thousand of them were passed they would with Six Thousand Trusci fall in the Rear of them to drive them up higher where others soon did appear that came down upon them so they surrounded them sometimes and received them so warmly that but very few of them came back again to tell what was become of the rest After this War had continued for about two Months the Bashaw at last was forced to make a shameful Retreat with the Remainder of his Forces and that so much the sooner because the Winter began to approach so that it was impossible to endure the Frost and Snow which occasioned many to die and the chiefest of them came home sick The Trusci pretend to be Christians and the Posterity of those that some Years ago by Might and Strength recovered the Holy Land so that still to this Day they have a great Affection for Christians which those that travel among them to buy Silks can testifie whom they treat and entertain very civilly with good Meat and good Wine yet refuse to take any Money for it And say That what God hath given them they are bound to distribute among us Christians But they hate Mahometans and Jews and keep very good Intelligence with the Christians of this Country Yet they themselves are neither Christians Turks Moors nor Jews For they do not go to Mass nor any other publick Worship of God They cry out sometimes to Heaven that God would be pleased to protect them They also believe according to the Opinion of Pythagoras that the Souls of the deceased according to their Merits transmigrate from one Body into another That the Soul of a pious Man goeth into a new-born Child and that of an ill Man into the Body of a Dog or other wild Beast chiefly if he hath lived very ill As they believe so they live also Among them they marry to their nearest Relations the Brother to his Sister the Son to his Mother the Father to the Daughter and they lie all together at Night but they will not marry into a strange Family The Father or the Mother says Seeing that God hath given me this Child as a Seed unto me why should I throw
it away upon a Stranger or else I have a Garden and God giveth me Flowers in it is it not reasonable that I should enjoy them rather than a Stranger c. they make use of a great many of these and the like Expressions They also keep a Yearly Feast with their Wives which then they change one with the other as they please Else they are not given to stealing killing or any such like Crimes because they want for nothing but if any be taken that hath thus transgressed he is executed immediately So they live in Peace together and care not for any other Monarch The End of the Second Part. THE THIRD PART OF Dr. Leonhart Rauwolff 's TRAVELS INTO THE Eastern Countries Wherein is chiefly Treated of the Land of Promise the City of Jerusalem and also of several Opinions Beliefs and Errors of the Turks and Christians CHAP. I. A Short Description of his Departure from Tripoli a Town of Phenicia in Syria and how he went from thence to Joppa AFter my Return to Tripoli when I found my self near to the Confines of Canaan the Land of Promise promised and given to the Israelites by the Lord of Zebaoth and considered that our long before promised Messias Lord and Saviour of the Gentiles was there according to the Prophecies of the Prophets born in Bethlehem of the Virgin Mary and by the Jews suffered the shameful Death of Crucifixion at Jerusalem on the Mount of Calvaria and afterwards was laid in the New Tomb of Joseph of Arimathea that was cut out of a Rock c. I found in me a great desire to see these and other the like holy Places Not that I thought still to find there Christ our Lord as the two young Men Peter and John and the three Maries did but to exercise my outward Senses in the Contemplation thereof that I might the more fervently consider with my inward ones his bitter Passion Death Resurrection and Ascension and to appropriate to my self and to apprehend the better and to make my own by Faith and firm Confidence Christ our Lord himself together with his Heavenly Gifts and Treasures as he has manifested himself in the Holy Scriptures wherefore I was fully resolved to look out for Fellow-Travellers to accompany me in this Journey before I returned home again I staid not long in quest of Company but quickly met with four Pilgrims that came out of the Low Countries that had the same intention there also came to us a Grecian Monk of the Order of the Carmelites whom I knew before when he lived with his Master that I cured of a very dangerous Distemper and desired to go in company with us So we agreed together and bespoke a small Turkish Vessel with eight Oars by them called Caramusala whereof there were many in the Harbour that wait constantly for Travellers Goods and Provision to be carried into the Neighbouring Towns and Provinces vix to Antiochia Caramania anciently called Cilicia Cyprus Baruthi Caramania or quite into Egypt We bought some Bisquets Cibets Eggs Cheese Pompions which the Arabians call Baticcas Margeropfel Oranges good Wine c. which we had occasion of for our Journey of which as much as would last us eight days for the Ship-Masters do not willingly land chiefly with Pilgrims because of the great Customs the Roguish Turks demand unjustly from us Christians every where until we arrive at our designed Stations After we had thus fitted our selves and got a good Wind we went aboard the Ship on the Seventh of September in the Year 1575 and put off and came before Night to the Point Capugio to the Village Aniffe anciently called Neuphrus which was in former Ages very well Fortified as still appeareth by some Remainders to this Day This Village is pretty big but every where open that one might easily take it with a handful of Men it is situated on the Foot of Mount Libanus which is very high there and reacheth unto the Sea It is chiefly inhabited by Maronites as are also many more Villages of this Mountain chiefly those that lie in Valleys towards Aleppo where I have inned many times when I went through it and was very kindly received they keep very good Wine by them which the Turks know very well and come there very often for it altho they are forbidden by the Laws of their Mahumetan Alcoran to satisfie their Desire These Maronites are Christians and speak the Arabian Language and have their Patriarchs which are first chosen by the People and then confirmed by the Pope After we had went on from thence very well all Night long all along the steep mountainous Shore and had made the utmost Point of the Promontory of Baruthi we saw in the morning a far off that famous Town lying behind it where formerly great Commerce has been drove well fortified with strong Towers towards the Sea and surrounded with fruitful Orchards and Vineyards In this and also in more adjacent Towns and Villages live a very War-like People called Trusci very nimble and expert in shooting with Guns and Bows and call themselves the posterity of the ancient French Men which took and possessed many years agon under Godfrid and Baldwin Jerusalem and all the Land of Promise They are still a Free People to this Day and not subject unto the Great Sultan as others are wherefore he hath many times attempted to bring them under his Yoak And in order thereunto he did send in the Year 1574 last past a great Army consisting of Two hundred thousand Horse and Foot to subdue them but what harm he did them I have already mentioned in the precedent part of this Journal They are very willing to accommodate and serve Outlandish Christians as Germans French Men and Italians whereof they make no Difference and to take them up into their Habitations and to shew them all Civility and Kindness nay and what is more to assist them according to their utmost Power against the Common Enemy of Christendom as we have formerly found indeed before Cyprus was taken by the Turks for after they were informed that some Italian Gallies were to arrive to make an Incursion into the adjacent Towns and Places chiefly to plunder Tripoli they raised Seven thousand Men very well armed to help them and to come to their Assistance some of which did then appear and shew themselves on the Frontiers but finding that their Gallies did not arrive they also returned home again and left their Design unaccomplished The Trusci have a Head called Ermin Macksur that is a judicious Man and a very experienced Soldier whom they acknowledge to be their Supreme Governour and are obedient to him he liveth in a Castle on the bottom of the Mountain not far from the Town we went by he taketh great pains chiefly now after the Turkish War and maketh great Provision to keep the Country in Peace and Security He also keepeth good Correspondence with the Neighbouring People chiefly the
Maronites that have lived long before in these Mountains with whom he hath lately renewed the old Confederacy again as I know very well and their Patriarch himself was with him before I was called to cure him of his Distemper He also leaveth no Stone unturned to get in with others and to make them his Confederates so he hath already secured to himself the Syrians which are also Christians yet not without gross Errors by paying to them a yearly Pension These speak also Arabick and are very like unto them in Shape Manners Fashion and Cloaths and I sound two of them among our Seamen that confirmed this to me After we had gone on a great while and were passed by the Point of the Promontory of Baruti which extendeth it self far into the Sea our Ship-Master who was a Turk and understood the Arabian Language shewed me a Village lying beyond it called Burgi and told me that that was also inhabited altogether by Harani Quibir that is great Robbers and Murtherers as they always call these People But I being better informed before-hand I prayed by my self that God would be pleased to let the poor Slaves that live in hard Servitude under the Turks who were these they call Harani and I do not at all question but they would soon take their Refuge to them to make themselves free of their Servitude as those might easily do that live about these Countries in Syria We saw also upon the Shoar some ancient Towers and among them chiefly two which are renewed again wherein the Trusci keep Watches to observe the Pirates but the others whereof there are a great many not above a League distant from one another are for the greatest part by Age decayed Some say that they were formerly built by the potent Emperors that if any Nation should rise up in Rebellion they might immediately give notice thereof to Constantinople These gave notice before Guns were invented in the Night by a flaming Fire and by Day-time by a great Smoak And they still keep to this in many places altho Guns are now invented In the Afternoon we were becalmed and so our Journey went on but slowly we saw late at Night a small Village called Carniola upon the height and soon after at the Foot of the high Mount of Libanus Southward of the City of Sidon by the Inhabitants still called Scida which is not very great but as far as I could see very well built and defended by two Castles one whereof is situated towards the North on a high Rock the other on a little Hill Those that are going to Saphet which is a Days Journey distant from it land there Before we could reach it Night befel us and brought contrary Winds which hindered us so much that we could hardly reach the glorious and rich Town of Tyrus now by the Inhabitants called Sur which lieth in a manner close to it until the next Morning This is still pretty large and lieth on a Rock in the Sea about Five hundred Paces distant from the Shoar of Phenicia In former Ages Alexander the Great did besiege it for Seven Months and during the Siege he filled up the Streight of the Sea and did join it to the Continent and after he had taken it he laid it into Ashes so that Punishment was inflicted on the Inhabitants which the Prophet Esaias denounced against them Four hundred years before On the Confines of Tirus and Sidon that Cananean Woman came to Christ on behalf of her Daughter that was possessed of an unclean Spirit whereof the Lord seeing her Faith did deliver her immediately Just before it we heard a great noise of large running Springs which rise within the Country with so great a vehemency that they drive several Mills Within a large distance from thence we saw a very fine new House called Nacora Two Miles farther near Mount Saron within Southward we saw a large Village called Sib without it in the Sea round about were several Banks and Rocks behind which we hid our selves the Wind being contrary and staid for a more favourable one in the mean while some of our Men got out among the Rocks to catch Fish and to find Oisters where they also gathered so much Sea-salt that they filled up a great Sack with it Between this and Mount Carmelo which are Eight Leagues distant and run out a great way into the Seas lieth almost in the middle thereof as it were in a Half Moon the famous Town of Acon anciently called Ptolemais on a high Rocky Shoar which some years ago when Baldewin the Brother of Gotefrid first and Guidon after him did possess themselves of the Holy Land was not without great Loss of many Men taken by them from Saladine King of the Saracens in Aegypt which had after some obtained Victories surrendered it self again a second time after a long Siege This Town hath very good Fields of a fertil Soil about it and is at this time together with the Land of Promise and others to the great grief of the Christians subjected under the Yoak and Slavery of the Turkish Emperor The next Day the Wind favouring us we hoisted up our Sails and got out at Sea with less danger to get before the Point of the Mountain but our Design was frustrated for about Noon a contrary Wind arose which did not only hinder us in our Course but violently drove us back again so that we were forced to have recourse to our old Shelter behind the Rocks again After Midnight when it began to be calm and another Wind arose we put out two hours before Break of Day and went all along the Shoar towards the Town Hayphe formerly called Caypha or Porphyria Four Leagues beyond Acon lying just within Mount Carmel where on the Evening when we came very near it several Frigats came out of all sides to surround us As soon as the Master of our Ship perceived them he did not like it wherefore he let fall his Sails and exhorted his Men to ply their Oars warmly to get clear of them When they saw they could not reach us they left their Design and went back but we landed without on that Mount Carmelo to put out again in the Night This Mountain is very high and famous in Scripture for we read in the Third Book of the Kings and the Eighteenth Chapter that the holy Prophet Elias called before him upon the Hill the People of Israel the Four hundred and Fifty of Baal's Priests and and the Four hundred of Hayns to chide them for their Idolatry where also God heard him and consumed his Sacrifice by Fire that came down from Heaven but the Priests of Baal were not only not heard by their Idols but kill'd as Idolaters near the River Kison and also in the Fifth of the Epistle of James that after the Heavens had been lock'd up for the space of three years and a half Elias did pray to God on this same Mount and the
read also in the Acts of the Apostles in the 9th and 10th Chapter from Peter the Apostle That he lay or tarry'd for a while at the House of Simon the Tanner where he raised the Sister Tabitha from the Dead c. Joppe at that time was very well Built and Fortify'd which doth appear because a good many of the Jews did at the time of the Desolation of Jerusalem retire thither to defend themselves against the Might of the Romans although it was but in vain for being that the time of the punishment that was to befal them was at hand the City therefore was two several times one after another besieged and taken and demolish'd and as Josephus testifieth about 12600 Jews were killed in it We also read That after the time of Gotfrid de Boullion when the Christians lost again the Land of Promise that then this Town also was retaken again by the Infidels and razed to the Foundations so that now there are no Antiquities at all to be seen And I should have doubted very much whether there did ever stand such a Town there had not I seen some large pieces of the Ancient Town Walls still remaining which are so near to the Sea that there is hardly room to go at the outside of them Hard by this I suppose was the Habitation of Simon the Tanner where Peter sojourned because the Evangelist St. Luke saith That it was near to the Sea shore Above it on the height stand two Towers where some Watchmen attend to look after the Vaults and Ships in the Harbor that they may not be assaulted by the Pirates this Harbor although it is surrounded with Rocks and Banks yet it is but very slightly secured and very narrow and shallow so that Ships of any great bulk or heavy Laden cannot ride in it Near to them growth the Hemerocallis which I have also found about Montpelier and Aigemort near to the Sea And also in the adjacent Moist and Mashy Meadows I found a delicate kind of Limonium which hath about ten or twelve Aspleniun or Ceterach Leaves on both sides these proceed from a long Root of a brown colour without and red within between them sprout out two three-square Stalks about a Cubit high with a great many Joints that have three long small Leaves and are adorned at the top with beautiful and stately blue and purple coloured Flowers they are of a dryish Nature and the Inhabitants use to eat them in Sallads Presently after Dinner our Men returned and brought along with them the Pass and the Carriers our Master of the Ship left some of the Crew in his Caramusala to look after it in our absence We Mounted and went away and came soon into the plain Fields where Jonathas slew Apollonius the Captain as is said in the 1st of Maccabees the 10th Chapter Soon after we saw a pleasant Village call'd Jasura and when we came a little nearer a Camp of a great Turkish Lord who sent as soon as he espy'd us on the Road and found that we were Pilgrims some of his Men to us to call us before him and also to tell us That he was one of them to whom the Grand Sultan had given Charge of the Temple and the Mount Calvaria with strict order to let no Pilgrim in before they had paid a certain sum of Money So we went along with them and appeared before him in his Tent put our Right Hand on our Breast bended our selves forwards and made him according to their Custom his Compliments After he had look'd upon us a great while he bid his Men to receive the Money of us so each of us paid him Nine Ducats that had their full weight except the Grecian who paid only Five and at their Request we staid with them all Night because their Master intended to send a Janizary with us the next day to let us into the Temple This Lord who was an Eunuch had a great many Offices for in these Countries they are by the great ones as Bashaws Sangiachs Cadees c. so much esteemed that in their absence they make them Stewards over all their Goods and Chattels Wives and Children c. At that time he was there to gather great quantity of Corn from these fruitful Countries it being Harvest time and to send it from thence to Joppe to go by Sea for Constantinople After Midnight we mounted again and came early in the Morning to the Town Rama and went into the House of the Pilgrims which Philip Duke of Burgundy bought and gave it to the Pilgrims as their Inn. This is very large and hath a great many Arched Chambers within and a fine Well within the Inner Court is a pretty large place all grown over with green Aloes the Juice whereof is brought over to us in large pieces from the Eastern Countries and is very useful in many tedious Distempers Nicodemus did also bring with him together with Myrrh to the quantity of 100 pounds to the Grave of Christ our Lord to Bury his Body decently according to the Jewish fashion as you may read in the 19th Chapter of St. John Here we staid almost three days and had all along enough to do to agree with the Cadi Subashaw Clerks Janizaries and Paityfs c. about our free passage so Unjust Malicious and Infidel a People are they that one would hardly believe it The Town is situated on an Ascent in plain Fields as is before said which extend themselves for two Leagues to the Hill of the City of Jerusalem These Fields are very Fruitful and very well Tilled and Sown with Corn Cotton and Indian Millet Hereabouts do also grow Indian Muskmelions in great quantity by the Arabians called Batiere which are very pleasant and well tasted chiefly those that are red within so that in all my Travels I hardly met with the like The Town is pretty large but very open like unto a Village very pityfully built where one may still see here and there some signs of old Building From thence Northwards within half a League lieth the Town Diospolis formerly called Lidda where Peter did visit the Saints and cured one named Aeneas that had had a Palsie for Eight Years Nothing else is to be seen there but the Church of St. George whom the Turks chiefly honour as a Knigt and Hero before all other Saints After they had quite tired us during this time with their continual Impertinencies we agreed with them and went away early in the Morning and came in good time over the Plain to the Mountain of the City of Jerusalem to which we had still Four Leagues to travel By the way there appeared presently on the Mountains several Arabians and ran before us in great Clusters to cut us off in our way with such violence that we were almost forced to come to our defence and to push through them by force for our Janizaries had already flung their Iron Club into the Back-side of
give us demonstration thereof If I say this worldly Jerusalem because of its unbelieving Inhabitants that would not acknowledge the Blessed Messias nor adhere to his Doctrine to their Salvation is quite rooted out and instead thereof the way of the Heavenly Jerusalem opened to us Heathens by the holy Apostles How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation This way to our Lord Christ hath for many years past been shewed us sincerely by the Ministers of the holy Word of God but we do not only not much care for it but seek rather other by ways that lead us to Idolatry Sin and Vices nay to our utter ruine Wherefore it is to be feared that if we do not repeat in time and return to God again that he will come upon us with his wrath as he hath already begun and deliver us up into the Hands of our Adversaries that we may fall by their Swords as Ezekiel doth threaten us in his Thirty ninth Chapter and to punish us according to the Deserts of our Sins Wherefore we ought to lay to heart the terrible Example of the Jews and turn from our evil ways that we may avoid the Punishments that befel them We see that those who were formerly the People of God are now come to be so blind and full of Errors and of so depraved a Life that there is hardly any like them to be found even among the Infidels and Impious Wherefore they are by all Men despised and hated chiefly by the Turks which hate them more than any other Nation so that they would not let them live among them if the Turkish Emperor had not for a great Sum of Money given them a peculiar freedom And besides all this now adays their Towns and Countries are inhabited by Turks Moors and Arabians that do not love to till or cultivate the Ground but will rather starve than take pains to get a good Livelihood by their Hand-Labour And although the Country about Jerusalem is very rocky rough stony and ill managed yet notwithstanding they will not endeavour to mend and improve it but find out the fruitful Lands that are here and there and over-run the Country like Grashoppers so that you may observe it yearly to decay more and more Seeing then that there is but little Tillage about the City therefore the product of the Earth there is but very small so that they must have almost all Necessaries brought them from other places The Town of Jerusalem which is still pretty large but very ill built hath within its Walls which the Turkish Emperor caused to be built about Twenty Years ago large places that lie desolated and are so full of Stones and Rocks that one can hardly walk in them The Gardens even those that are within the City and are but ill managed are surrounded with Mud Walls not above Four Foot high so that one may climb over them without any difficulty These are washed down again by Rain in a very little time so that they want mending continually Their Habitations are also little and and low have Clay-Walls and many of them are decayed some lie quite in a heap The Churches of the two Apostles that of St. John and St. Peter are in the same Condition as also the Prison where St. Peter was kept the Habitation of Veronica which the Cordeliers shew us for them and a great many places more In some Streets chiefly near to their Bazar or Exchange are very old Vaults part whereof are decayed and broken part filled up with Dust which runs out into the Streets wherefore chiefly in the Summer the Dust lieth so thick in them that you may see every step in it as in Snow or Sand. All which sheweth that the Turks destroy or ruin more than they build wherefore they are deservedly called Turks that is to say Destroyers The present Town as to the Extent of its Walls is not much less than the old one was wherefore one should admire considering how it is built now how it was possible it should hold so many People as it is said were in it at the time of its Desolation viz. a Million of Men or as Josephus and Eusebius say Three Millions Jerusalem was formerly surrounded with very steep Cliffs deep Ditches and Valleys chiefly on three Sides towards the South East and West so that one could not easily get up to it but only on the North Side where the Town was low lying in a Plain therefore did Titus first attack it in a place near the Village called Scapas Seven Miles distant from it and afterward advanced and took it which the holy Prophet Jeremiah did foretel many years before in the First Chapter and Twelfth Verse saying Out of the North an Evil shall break forth upon all the Inhabitants of the Land These Ditches and Valleys are now quite filled up with the Ruins of the broken Walls and Buildings so that one may go into the Town as into an open Village without any hinderance or pain But when the Grand Signior after he had taken it saw that the Town was open and that the Christian Pilgrims came thither in great numbers from all places and Countries he feared that they might make themselves Masters of it again as they had done some years agone wherefore he ordered it to be surrounded again with new Walls which although they are very high yet they are so thin and slight that they are not able to withstand the least violence But as the Town was anciently built four square so it is now built more round chiefly towards Mount Calvaria which formerly was without the Town but now is Walled in so that you may still see two corners one whereof is towards Galilee where the Gate of that corner is which is still open and almost one of the handsomest through which you go to Nazareth distant three days Journey as also to Caesarea Philippi which is now called Balbec where still are to be seen some very fine Antiquities and also towards Damascus which is six days Journey distant from Jerusalem and from thence 6 days Journey more to Aleppo the greatest Town for Trade in all Syria Jeremiah maketh mention of this Gate in his 31st Chapter and the 38th Verse Behold the days come saith the Lord that the City shall be built to the Lord from the Town of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner And also Zacharias in his 14th Chapter and in the 2d Book of Chronicles the 26th Chapter and 9th Verse It is said Vzzia built Towers in Jerusalem at the Corner-Gate and at the Valley-Gate c. The second corner Mount Zion maketh where it doth end toward the South whereon as also on the Mount Moriah the City is rising towards the North. The old City had twelve Gates as you read in the Revelation The 1st the Fish-gate which was also called the Gate of Hebron because the Road of Hebron went through it which is about seven or eight
great a difference might easily be seduced and perswaded Besides the Turks will not allow neither to Jews Moors nor Christians nay not to their own Nation to say any thing ill of Christ nor to Curse him but if any body should presume to do it the soles of his Feet are struck very severely with many blows and he is Fined besides according to his Ability So their Prophet Mahomet commends the Holy Scripture very much and saith that it containeth Truth and Happiness If they would but often look into it as their Alcocan teacheth them in several places to read in it and mend their Lives according to it they might easily be brought to the right way again but he himself doth not stand by his words but falleth off again from them afterwards and speaketh quite otherways of the holy Scripture and that so differing that he quite contradicts himself For as he did commend it before so now he discommendeth it again when he saith That it hath been because it is too difficult to be kept long since quite out of Doors chiefly in those parts where is written That we must do good to our Enemies leave all for his sake love God with all our heart c. and our Neighbor as our own self And that therefore he Mahomet was peculiarly and purposely chosen by God Almighty to bring down with him the Alcoran and communicate it to the World that was then drown'd in Lusts Sin and Vices to reform and bring it to rights again Besides this he knew very well how to disguise his Tricks and how to behave himself in his Life and Conversation devoutly and discreetly towards the People and how to blind them under this pretence that they did believe him and receive him the sooner to be a great Prophet and Messenger from God When he found that he had got a good Party and a great many Adherents that impowered him he Studied daily more and more to order his Laws so that they might be acceptable and pleasing to all the World And thus he got in a great many places such a fame that to our Grief in these times he hath seduced and possessed a great part of the World with his Erroneous and Poisonous Doctrine the Turks closely adhering to this Doctrine therefore their Hearts are so blinded with darkness that they cannot have any true knowledge either of God the Father or the Son or the Holy Ghost and so they miss of the right way that would bring them to the Knowledge and Acknowledgment of their Sins and consequently to the Remission thereof and so make them Children of God and Heirs of Life Everlasting But on the contrary they remain Impenitent and persist in their sinful Life with such a Confidence and Security that they know not when they commit Sins as to take a Mans Property and Goods away by force to destroy his House and Lands to undermine his Life and Livelihood and also to contaminate themselves with Uncleanness Whoredom Sodomy Not to keep an Oath that hath been taken to Revenge themselves from whence Results Envy Hatred Anger Contention Murder c. as we hear what Injustice and Violence the Grand Signior committeth daily upon our Brethren and Sisters that border upon his Dominions which we need not to wonder at because if they fall out amongst themselves they try all Unjust means to Revenge themselves Wherefore they accuse their Adversaries often falsely because they dare not offer any violence before their Judges and so bring them to Damage Trouble and Pains But when they have committed one of these or the like Facts and have a mind to free themselves of it or to be Absolved they go after their own invented Devotion to good Works Alms Prayers Fasting Redeeming of Captives c. to make satisfaction to God for their committed Sins as their Alcoran teacheth them And so they lead a Life of good outward Conversation and are very diligent in their Devotion chiefly in going to their Prayers at the five Customary hours of the Day when they leave their VVork and go to Church And seeing that in these Countries they have neither Clocks not VVatches to tell them the time of the Day and Prayers instead of them they have their Priests called Meitzen by them on the Steeples which are ordered to cry out the Hours with a loud Voice that you may hear them as far almost as the Ringing of a Bell even throughout the whole Town The first Hour of Prayers is an Hour and half before Day-light The second is about Noon The third which the Arabians call Latzera is about Three a Clock in the Afternoon The fourth is at Sun-set and the fifth when after the Sun is down the Twilight or whitishness of the Skies is gone and the Stars appear clearly Sometimes two of these Priests sing together which is common in great Towns and they sing almost as with us they sing a Ballad so that while the one is singing the other may fetch his breath and so they sing by turns until the Song is at an end When I came first into these Countries and hear'd them Sing about that time in the Morning I believed the Turks did it that they might brisk themselves up to go to Work until I heard them do the same at other hours in the day time and understood they were their Priests So they Sing about Five a Clock at Night very well and sometimes something longer because of the Sick that live near which desire it of them to make them cheerful and to have a good heart which we need not to wonder at for their Clergy which are not Wiser or more Learned than the Lay-men know not how to comfort them or to make them joyful much less how to give good and wholsome Instruction out of the Word of God although they believe it to be true how to obtain forgiveness of Sin and Gods Mercy Love or Commiseration but think it to be sufficient if they Admonish them that lye a dying to think of God and to Pray to him that he may have Mercy upon them and afterwards to wash their Body to cleanse them quite from all Sins according to the Law of their Mahomet which they highly esteem and that the rather because they serve not only the Living but also the Dead wherefore the Turks wash themselves daily chiefly at the Hours of their Prayer when they are a going to Church and that very carefully and diligently viz. Their Hands Privy-Members Head Neck Feet nay the whole Body according as they are Contaminated or become Unclean So in consideration of their Sins they have three sorts of washing whereof one is that of the whole Body which these must make use of that are not Married and contaminate themselves with Concubines wherefore the Baths are kept continually in an equal heat and are open to any body both by Day and Night that these that have occasion to wash their whole Body may not
Pastime chiefly the Janizaries which in great places erect Gibbets three Fathoms high to the top whereof they tye strong Ropes almost like as the Children do in our Country where they Swing others for a small recompence when any body sits in it two stand ready with a broad String one on each side which they fling before him and fling him backwards with it and so set him a Swinging Others run before the People that are walking and sprinkle them with sweet smelling Water to get a little spell of Money out of them chiefly the Christians which they will not easily leave before they have satisfied them wherefore they are necessitated to stay at home on these days Not long after they keep another peculiar Feast called Chairbairam where they also use all sorts of Gesticulations which were too long to relate here they do not Fast on those days but they Sacrifice young Steers and Wethers c. cut them into small pieces to distribute them among the People for the Honor of Abraham because he did obey God and would have Sacrified his Son Isaac to him At this abundance of Heathens congregate themselves in certain places before the Towns to go in Pilgrimage to Medina-Talnabi Mecha and Jerusalem for love to Mahomet Amongst them many are found that are recovered again from dangerous Distempers or delivered from great Dangers and then did make a Vow either to go on Pilgrimage to one of these places or else to kill such a number of Beasts to distribute among the Poor as an Alms. According to what I have said before that they compute their Months more by the Moon-light and so accompt Twelve of them to a Year they observe mightily the Change of the Moon chiefly the New Moon to see it again Wherefore at that time they go often in great Numbers out unto the next Hill to observe it the better after Sun set He that seeth it first sheweth it with great rejoycing to his Companions In their Prognostications they also mind the Moons Light and according to that they make their Accompt to know then if any thing shall happen They have also as some of them have told me a peculiar Book which they keep very close to themselves wherein is briefly Written what shall happen to them every year whether it be good or bad This beginneth in the same Year with their Prophet Mahomet and continueth for 1000 Year when this is at an End they have nothing more of that Nature worth any thing And being they go no further some will deduce or conclude from thence that their Reign will soon have an end when those years are passed Wherefore they fear the Christians very much and confess themselves that they expect to suffer a great blow from the Christians And this one may see or conclude from hence for on their Holidays in the Morning about 9 of the Clock they shut up the Gates of their Towns great Champs and other publick Habitations as I found at Aleppo so that many times I could not get either out or in until they opened them again for they fear at that time to be Assassinated by the Christians Being then that their Term of Years is near expired for when I lived in these Places in the year 1575. they Writ 982 of this same Term so that there was not quite 18 Years more to come Now if we compare these 1000 Years with those whereof John the Evangelist and Apostle maketh mention in the 20th Chapt. and 7th Verse of his Revelation saying When the 1000 Years are expired Satan shall be loosed out of his Prison And shall go out to deceive theÌ„ Nations which are in the Four Quarters of the Earth Gog and Magog to gather them together to Battle as also is written in this same Book of Revelation in the 9th Chapter and by the Holy Prophet Ezekiel in his 38th and 39th Chapters the Number of whom is as the Sand of the Sea c. We find not only that they may also be interpreted and applied to the Turks and their Adherents but also that they have begun their Reign almost at the same time when Mahomet and the Antichrist should appear about the year 666 as we Read in the 13th Chapter and the last Verse of St. John in his Revelation And besides it looketh in these miserable times when it seems as if every thing would turn topsie turvy that these Years are passed and that Satan is loosed as if our dear Lord God would make an End of this malicious World Add that some Learned Mathematicians do Prognosticate that at these times but chiefly in the year 1588. great Alterations will be in all the parts of the World When we add to this Date the 42 Months or 1260 days or the 3½ years whereof the Prophet Daniel and also the Holy Evangelist and Apostle John in his Revelation make mention the Eighteen Years that are still wanting of the 1000 Years of their Mahomet as is above said will be compleated so that these two years Numbers do very well again agree together God the Almighty preserve us in all Adversities that we may persevere in the acknowledged Truth of his Holy Gospel and send us Penitent Hearts that we may be sensible of his merciful Visitations and also overcome the two last Wees that are not quite over with Patience Amen CHAP. VII Of Mount Bethzetha and the two Houses of Pilat and Herod FRom the Temple Mount towards the North you come presently towards the House of Judicature where Pontius Pilat did Live and condemn Innocent Lord Christ to that Heinous Death of the Cross But because the House hath been since surrounded with â—igh Walls we saw in the Court where the Soldiers 〈◊〉 cloath ouâ— Lord Christ with the Purple Cloke and 〈◊〉 â—pon his Head the Crown of Thorns and afterwards did spit upon him and Mock Beat and Whip him nothing Remarkable but only without a very Old and High Arch like unto an Arched Bridge This is almost black with Age and so Artificially Erected that one can hardly find any juncture where the Stones are put together This was the High Place as it is said before the Judgment Hall whereon the Condemned Men use to be exposed to the sight of the People because the Jews durst not go into the House of Judicature at their High Feasts as Easter and Whitsunday as you may Read in the 18th Chap. of St. John that they might not make themselves Unclean but Eat of the Paschal Lamb Wherefore Pilat did several times go out to the People to shew them our Lord Christ and sit down in the Judgment Seat in a place that is called the Pavement but in the Hebrew Gabbatha as you Read in the 19th Chap. of St. John Vers 13. This Arch is open at the Top in the Middle and hath two other small Arches about the widness of an ordinary door one by the other supported by a Marble Column in one of them
stood Christ with his Crown of Thorns on and Pontius Pilat in the other when he said to the People Behold the Man Hard by at the other side of the Arch at the Right Hand on an Ascent they shew the Habitation of King Herod which is still very fine and gloriously built of Marble Wherefore although it is not the same which hath been burnt long agone by the Jews and afterwards Rooted out by the Romans yet it is built in the same Place where the King's Palace did stand on the height of Mount Bethzetha as Josephus Testifieth from the North over against the Temple and the Fort Antonia Where our dear Lord Christ was Mocked and Abused by Herod and his Servants and had a White Garment put upon him and so was sent back again to Pilate In these Habitations chiefly these of Pilate are still to this day Turkish Magistrates Sanchiachs Cadis and Soubashaws dwelling that keep Courts of Judicature there and therefore no body is admitted to come in before he hath Gratified the Master and Servants These Magistrates are very severe and Punish their Subjects for no great Matter either in their Body or Purse or with a certain Number of Stripes which they give with straps of rough Neats Leather upon the Soles of their Feet fewer or more in proportion to their committed Crimes more or less which sort of punishment is very common to all Eastern Countries This sort of Punishment is very Ancient and mention thereof is made in the 25th Chapt of Deuteronomy Verse 2. And it shall be if the Wicked Man be Worthy to be beaten that the Judge shall cause him to lie down and to be beaten before his Face according to his Fault by a certain Number Forty Stripes he may give him and not exceed least if he should exceed and beat him above these with many Stripes then thy Brother should seem vile unto thee So the Holy Apostle St. Paul hath received them several times whereof he maketh mention in the 2 Corinthians chap. 11. vers 23. Where he saith I am in Labours more abundant in Stripes above measure in Prisons more frequent in Deaths often Of the Jews five times Received I forty Stripes saw one When we came back from these Habitations we saw some more Remarkable Places which are usually shewn unto Pilgrims some whereof are mentioned in Scripture Viz. The Iron Gate through which the Angel of the Lord did conduct St. Peter out of Prison The Habitation of Mary the Mother of St. John where the Holy Apostle Peter did knock at the Door The Temple of St. John the Evangelist whereof the Knights of the Order of St. John call themselves and several others which are for the most part fallen down and lie in Ruins But because in these times it is uncertain in what Condition they were then I also omit to say any more of them After we had seen these two Places with their Habitations we returned back again at Night according to the appointment of the Father Guardian to go with us into the Temple of Mount Calvaria CHAP. VIII Of the Mount Calvaria and the Holy Grave of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ON the 27th of Septemb. in the year 1575 after Dinner the Father Guardian did send to the other Lords of the Temple to let us in to the Temple of Mount Calvaria which the Turks keep always Locked up But we and some other Friers in their own Habit went with their Father Guardian to the Temple of the Mount which first of all the Pious Queen Hellen Mother of the Great Emperor Constantine after she had destroyed the Temple of Venus that was Built upon the Place of the Grave did Build as she did also build several Churches in several Places Viz. That at Bethlehem where Christ was Born That of the Holy Apostle James the greater in the Place of the Upper Town where he was Beheaded And an other on the Mount of Olives where Christ did Ascend into Heaven As also another at Bethania where Christ did Raise Lazarus his dear Friend from the Dead and in many other places at Nazareth and on the Mount Thabor c. But when afterward the City of Jerusalem was many times Besieged and at length taken from the Christians by the unbelieving Saracens Hequen that malicious King of Aegypt did in the year of Christ 1011. Demolish these Churches and so they remained until after his Decease his Son Daber came to the Government who afterwards in the year 37. did give leave to Constantine the Emperor of Constantinople when he renewed with him their Old Correspondency to Rebuild it again at his own Cost and Charges In these our times when it remaineth in the possession of the Turks free Egress and Regress is quite denied to the Christian Pilgrims that come to see the Holy Places For when they saw that many Christians came yearly thither from all Places Viz. From Armenia Aethiopia Syria Aegypt Greece Italy Nay from all Places of Europe they have put a certain Sum of Mony according as they are near or further off under his Dominions or not to be paid by them to be admitted For some pay two or three Seckins or Ducats other four and five but we that are Outlandish as Italians French-men and Germans as well knowing that we do not spare for Mony must pay Nine Seckins a piece and that without any Remission must be paid in weighty Turkish or Venetian Ducats And they keep the Temple Locked up close until every one of them have paid their due By these means the Grand Senior hath acquired himself a considerable yearly Revenue which amounts to several thousand Ducats yearly But yet it is now adays nothing near to what it hath been formerly when all was under Popish Darkness and the Pilgrims used to Flock thither in great Numbers For since in our time by the Grace of God the Holy Gospel hath been brought to Light again and began to be Preached which sheweth us a far nearer and better way to find Christ and to have true and full Pardon and Remission of our Sins so that daily more come to the knowledge of the Truth and return to the Lord his Revenues decrease as much as the Number of the Pilgrims that used to resort thither When we came pretty near to the Temple and expected to have seen Mount Calvaria the Franciscans told us that this Mount together with the holy Grave and the Garden wherein Christ did first appear unto Mary Magdalen were intirely taken into the Temple so that no heigth at all was to be seen without Just when we came into the Court of the Temple there appeared an old Heathenish Prison wherein are Prisoners kept to this day near which did stand the Prison-Gate whereof we saw still some part of the Wall up in the Wall of the Church through which Christ did carry his Cross to the place of Sculls which in former days was without the Town
as you may chiefly in St. Mark Chap. 17. V. 20. clearly see where he writes And they led him out to crucifie him And in the Thirteenth Chapter to the Hebrews Vers 12. where it is plainly writ that Christ suffered without the Gate But when afterwards the Emperor Adrian did rebuild and enlarge the desolated Town he did also surround with a Wall the place where our Lord Jesus Christ did suffer which was without towards the North-West beyond the Mount Moria so that now it is situated almost in the middle of the City of Jerusalem and becuse of this Inlargement he call'd the Town after his Sirname Helia We staying a great while at the Gate before they did open it unto us several Oriental Christians to wit Greeks JACOBITES Armenians c. came to us to visit their Priests and to perform their Devotion in it so that about Three-score went in with us The Building of the Temple is very large of strong Walls and so thick that it taketh away the Light within it is richly covered with Grey Marble within and without and supported by some Marble Pillars about a Fathom and a half thick so strongly that one may conclude from thence that neither Labour nor Costs were spared in its Building Yet the Turks notwithstanding the holy Places and the Costliness of the Building have in some places spoiled and demolished some part of the Walls thereof so that now they are no more like to the old ones that were before and besides as the Guardian told us half of it is hardly remaining Yet it is still very large and so well closed up again that one can hardly perceive the Loss thereof As we went through we passed by the Grave of Christ in a glorious large Chapel called our Ladies which the Franciscans have in possession and is hung with Tapestry very well wrought Within it is a great Altar on each side whereof is to be seen a Nick artificially made of white Marble the Windows whereof are very well guarded with Iron Bars in that towards the Left Hand is kept a piece of the Column whereon Christ was whip'd it is of a reddish Colour three spans long and four over In the other on the Right there is a small Crucifix in the middle whereof is in-laid a small piece of the true Cross of Christ From thence we went further into their Vestiary which hath several large Rooms where we staid until the Franciscans had put on their usual Habits to go their Rounds with us and to shew us the holy places with the usual Ceremonies When they had made themselves ready we came out again into the Church and left the Chancel of the Grecians that is in the middle and the holy Grave upon our Right Hand and went to the Left to another Chapel whereby the Grecians have an Altar without by which in the Marble Floor are two Holes to be seen wherein they pretend that Christ was detained prisoner until they had fixed the Cross for him on the place of the Sculls This Chapel is within very deep and so dark that when you go into it you believe that you go into a Cave where the Romanists believe as I understood by a French Man of their Convent who was in a Priest's Habit and as we went about standing before the Altar did tell us what they had done to Christ our Lord in every place that they did detain Christ there as in a place where into they threw the Dust to mock him until his Cross was got ready for him Just by the Chapel behind the Chancel they shew on a high Arch another place where the Soldiers did share Christ's Cloaths amongst them and cast Lots for his Coat Somewhat farther about they shew a pair of Stairs of Twenty nine Steps which we descended and came into a great Chapel of Queen Helen situated underneath Mount Calvaria wherein is still towards the Right Hand of the Altar a glorious and beautiful high Seat of Marble whereon the Queen used to sit when she had a mind to overlook the Workmen to see whether they went on right for she loved Building mightily as appeareth still to this day by the number of her mighty Buildings Behind this Seat are eleven Steps which go further down Mount Calvaria where the Cistern hath been wherein Queen Helen found the Cross of Christ Underneath on the Altar 't is true there stands one but it is new and therefore to be supposed to be put there of late years At the bottom of the Stairs do also appear very plainly the cracked Rocks as it is mentioned in Scripture And the rocks rent And these Rents or Cracks are a foot wide and so deep as to reach from the top to the bottom of the rocky Mount of Calvaria When we came up into the Church again they shewed us at the bottom of Mount Calvaria a Chapel that was locked up and in it underneath the Altar a large blackish Stone with some reddish Spots upon it in the shape of a piece of a Pillar which was brought thither from Pilate's House of Judicature whereon our Lord did sit when the Soldiers did put the Crown of Thorns on his holy Head and did salute him as a King with their Knees bended and did also mock him spit in his Face and whip him This Crown was twisted out of Thorns called by the Arabians Nausegi and Athausegi and by the Grecians and Latinists which have kept the same Name Rhamnus whereof there are three sorts the first of which is the true one which is also common in France and Italy which doth not only grow without but also within the Town of Jerusalem plentifully this puts out early in the Spring into long thin and pliable Twigs with a great many long and strong Prickles Just by it cometh out above from the Chancel of the Grecians a path up to Mount Calvaria which they forced from the Georgians as they did before from the Armenians by giving Money to the Turks Which is very common in these Countries for if one hath any Business to be done by the Turks it cannot be easier obtained than if you bribe them more than your Adversary wherefore it happeneth very often that such places are taken away from one Nation and given to the other Underneath this Way or Gallery you ascend nineteen Steps to go up to Mount Calvaria where we saw two Chapels one behind the other which were open and had a very delicate Floor artificially inlaid wirh Flowers of several Colours the like whereof is hardly to be seen any where else At the top of the Stairs we left our Shooes and went in and attended the Priest which did also there as he had done in other places before give us a short account of what had been done to our Lord Jesus Christ in these places viz. that in the hindmost Chapel his Hands and Feet had been extended and sharp Nails drove through them and so with
must find great Passions within his Breast as you also read in the last Chapter of St. Matthew Verse 8. of the Women where you find these Words And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy This I found also in my Heart and Mind so that it was as if I saw our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of the Almighty God to humble himself and to become obedient to his Heavenly Father even to Death nay to the Death of the Cross to bring us miserable sinful Men to Rights again and to deliver us clearly from all Debts and Punishments and so to procure us the only and true Indulgences After we had seen Mount Calvaria the Sepulchre of Christ our Lord and other places we went into the Vestiary again to eat our Supper After Supper they led us up into the Gallery which is in the round Building over against the holy Sepulchre to stay there all Night but some of the Eastern Christians sung below in the Church others did grumble together and played with their sweet sounding Cymbals which were made of pure Metal about the bigness of a large Walnut-shell so pleasant Tunes or Musick that I rather looked on them and minded their Musick than slept The next Morning my Comerades after they had been at Confession and received the Sacrament upon Mount Calvaria came to me into the Church again with an intention to go round once more So we saw the holy places once more and at last also the Chapel which we left the day before at the Foot of the Hill on our Left Hand belonging to the Grecians they let us in very willingly because of our Chaplain who was also a Grecian and shewed us in it at the furthest part where it was pretty dark a large and deep Crack of the Rock afterwards also on each side some fine and high Tombs of some Kings viz. that of Gottefrid de Boulion and others which were for some time possessed of the Land of Promise these stand on delicate Columns cut out of curious grey Marble whereon are some Epitaphs which I thought to set down here underneath together with a short Relation when they did take the Land of Promise and the famous City of Jerusalem how long they were possessed of it and how many Kings did succeed one another in it Plants observed by Monsieur Belon to grow about some of the Holy Places Near Jerusalem on the Mounts Hills and Valleys Adrachne seu Arbutus folio non serrato Picea Aria Ilex cocci-glandifera Terebinthus Lentiscus several sorts of Cislus Capparis Spinâ—sa Paliurus or Christ's Thorn Fig-trees Olives Almonds a sort of Wild Peach Jujubes or Zizyphus Esculus or Dwarf-Oak Alaternus White Mulberry for the Silk-Worms the Inhabitants trading a little in Silk and Kermes which they gather from a Holm Oak Sesamum Gossipium seu Xylon Thymbra Marum Origanum Heracleoticum Tragoriganum Salvia Stachys Ruta Sylv. Trifolium Asphaltites a rare fort of Hyâ—scyanâ—us on the Walls of Jerusalem Azadarach Arbor in Palestinâ secundum D. Monconny Between Mount Sinai Mount Oreb and Suez Oenoplia a sort of Zizyphus Arbor Lanigera or Cotton-Tree Glans seu Nux Vnguentaria call'd Balâ—nus Mirepsica Alcanna a Species of Ligustrum of great use and sale for Dying and Colouring Senna Rose of Jericho or Hiericho a sort of Thlaspi Colocynthis Ambrosia or Oak of Cappadocia Some Plants mentioned by Breynius and taken out of Rauwolff's Hort. Sic. or else found in those Countries where Rauwolff Travelled Acaciae similis Mesopotamica minutissimis foliis siliquâ integrâ contortâ crassâ obtusâ sive siliqua Nabathaea nobis Azadirachta foliis ramosis majoribus Syriaca sive vulgaris flore caeruleo maj Perlato falso Sycomorus Italorum Bellon Astergir Rhasis incolis Zenselacht Rauwolff Horminum Syriacum tomentosum foliis Coronopi sive profundè laciniatis Breyn. Horminum rarum foliis laciniatis Rauwolff in Herbar vivo Lapathum Rotundifolium montis Libani semine maximo Breyn. Ribes Arabum Rauwolf Lycium Buxi foliis angustioribus Syriacum Breyn. Lycium Dioscoridis Rauwolff in Herbar Hadhad Arabibus Zaroa incolis montis Libani ejusdem In Syria Palestinâ observavit Rauwolffius Lycium Buxi foliis rotundioribus Syriacum vel Persicum Breyn. Hoc Lycium apud Rauwolffium cum priore confunditur Marrubium villosum Syriacum sive montis Libani Breyn. Melanthium Syriacum minus frutescens latifelium Rutae flore fructu tricapsulari Breyn. Ruta vocaâ—a Harmala J.B. Melilotus minima Syriaca Nephel sive Nephal Ibenbaithar Malasesae Plantago angustifolia minor lanuginosa Syriaca Cretica pediculis capitulis maturiâ—ate ad terram inflexis Breyn. Leontopodium Alpin Exot. Leontopodium Creticum C.B. Plantago angustifolia pâ—niculis Lagopi C.B. Plantago quinquenervia cum globulis albis pilosis J.B. Catanance Dioscoridis Rauwolff in Herbario vivo Satureia frutescens Arabica folio fimbriato hirsuto Breyn. Sathar Arabum Rauwolff Tithymalus vel Tithymalo affinis aphyllos dictus major latifolius flore sanguineo aviculae capitulum repraesentante Breyn. An Planta lactaria Xabra Camarronum Rhasis Rauwolff Jacea maxima Hicrosolymitana Alpin Exot. Marum Syriacum foliis incisis CHAP. IX Here follow some Epitaphs of the Christian Kings of Jerusalem together with a short Relation of their Reigns and mighty Deeds IN the Year of our Lord Christ 1096 when Henry the Fourth was Emperor of the West and Alexius the Grecian Emperor at Constantinople in the East Pope Vrban the Second called a Council at Claremont in France where they consulted together which way the Land of Promise might be delivered again from the Hands of the Infidels Where it was concluded and agreed upon to take the Field in common and for their General they chose Gottefrid de Boulion Count of Bâ—nonia in France Along with him went many Princes Counts and Noblemen viz. Baldwin and Eustachius his Brethren and many more and brought together an Army of Six hundred thousand Foot and One hundred thousand Horse so they went in several Parties through Hâ—gâ—ria Greece c. till they had passed the Hellespâ—nt and came into Asia the Lâ—ss now called Natâ—lia and belonging to the Turks where they joyn'd again and took some Towns to wit Nicea Tarsus and also Antiochia situated in Caelosyria Yet in these Actions were a great many Christians slain by the way others were taken Prisoners some were starved a great many died of Sicknesses that came by changing of the Air in these hot Countries so that in three years time for so long dured this March there were hardly Forty thousand Men as some write left of the aforenamed Sum that did arrive in the Land of Promise These went with their Master and General Gottefrid de Boulion before the City of Jerusalem wherein were a greater number of the Infidels to defend it yet they surrounded the City and took it in a little time and killed a great number of them When they had taken the Town on the 15th Day
of July in the Year 1099 and had reduced it they laid down their Armors and Arms and went to visit the Holy Sepulchre with great Devotion and chose there unanimously their General King of Jerusalem who at their request undertook the Government would not be called King nor Crowned with a Golden Crown in that place where our Saviour that Arch-King had worn one of Thorns After he had obtained this Victory he also subdued some adjacent Towns viz. Joppe called Jassa Porphria situated at the Foot of Mount Carmel by the Arabians and Turks called Hayphe Tiberias and the Consines of Galilea He also overcame with a handful of his Men the Captain of the Sultan who had a great number of Men with him and killed above Thirty thousand of them But as nothing is lasting in human Affairs he died in the Eleventh Month of his Reign and was buried in the above-mentioned Chapel and upon his Tomb-Stone is still to be read this following Epitaph Hic jacet inclitus dux Gottefridus de Boulion qui totam istam terram acquisivit cultui Christiano cujus anima regnet cum Christo Amen After his Decease the Christians unanimously chose his Brother Baldewin King of Jerusalem in his place He overcame with a small number of Men th◠King of Egypt that was Two and twenty thousand strong and killed the greatest part of his Men. And when he died in the Eighteenth Year of his Reign they chose Cousin Baldewin of Burgo the Second of that Name King This was a great Warrior and did many Heroick Deeds with few Men against the Heathens he overcame and took Prisoner Gatzim the Turkish Prince of the Lesser Asia with a great number of Men but soon after in the Fifth Year of his Reign he was beaten in a Battel by the King of the Parthians and carried away Prisoner In the mean time the Venetians and Genoueses came with Two hundred and seventy Ships and dispersed and beat the Armada of the Saracens and sunk many of their Ships and took also the strong Town of Tyrus so that both by Sea and Land there was abundance of Blood shed When the Enemies saw this that they set the King at liberty again in the Eighteent Month of his Imprisonmenth for a Sum of Money after that he did execute in the six following Years of his Reign in order to an Enlargement of his Kingdom many glorious and famous Deeds He overthrew the King of the Ascalonites who was assisted by the Egyptians and fell upon Jerusalem in one single Battel and also beat the King of Damascus in three several ones as you may see by his Epitaph here underneath written Rex Baldewinus Judas alter Machabaeus Spes patriae vigor ecclesiae virtus utriusque Quem formidabant cui dona tributa ferebant Cedar Aegyptus Dan homicida Damascus Proh dolor in modico clauditur hic tumulo In the Year 1131 the Crown was presented to Fulcon Count of Andegavia and Son-in-law to the before-said Baldewin who also obtained several Victories against the Persians and Turks But in his time there arose some Differences among the Christians and some Conspiracies which proved afterwards very disadvantageous to him he lost also Edessa a City in Mesopotamia which King Baldewin the First had conquered before which the Turks took by force from him This King left two Sons Baldewin and Alamric and after he had reigned Eleven Years he fell dead when he hunted a Hare on full speed After him his Son Baldewin the Third was Crowned who also died in the Twenty fourth Year of his Reign after he had fought several Battels and taken some Towns Then his Brother Alamric came to the Crown who was a great Warrior so that he was very fit for this Dignity he obtained many Victories against Sultan Saladin But afterwards when the Scales were turned he died also after his return from Egypt in the Year 1178 his Son Baldewin the Fourth and the Seventh King undertook the Government of the Kingdom in the Thirteenth Year of his Reign This although he was leprous yet he managed his Business very well and defended his Dominions courageously and gloriously against the Infidels And because he would not be married by reason of his Distemper therefore he married his Sister Sibylla to a Marquis of Monteferrato called William She was brought to Bed in the first year of a Son and called him after his Uncle Baldewin But when William died he married her again to Guido of Lusignan Count of Joppe with this condition that after his Decease he should Rule the Kingdom for his Son-in-law and be his Guardian so long until he came at age But he behaving himself very ill in the mean while the King grew so angry with him that he would by no means suffer him to live in his Dominions and ordered another to fill up his place one Raymond a Count of Tripoli Soon after the King died before his Son was quite Twenty Years old and was also buried in the Temple of the holy Sepulchre Within Eight Months after did also die the true Heir of the Crown the Son of Sibylla his Sister and was also buried by the other Kings so that we find still on three several Tomb-Stones that stand close one behind the other viz. Septimus in tumulo puer hic regnum tumulatus Est Baldewinus regum de sanguine natus Quem tulit è mundo sors primae conditionis Vt Paradysiacae loca possideat regionis So by the Incitation of his Mother Guido was proclaimed the last King Raymund the Count of Tripoli was extremely disgusted at this Election being that the Kingdom was already recommended to him wherefore he resolved to go to war with him and that he might be strong enough for him he made a League with Sultan Saladin to his own Grief and Ruine For when the Sultan saw these Differences between them two he raised suddenly a great Army and took Jerusalem and the whole Country by force of Arms. So the Kingdom of Jerusalem after the Christians had been possessed of it Eighty eight Years and Nineteen Days was retaken again by the Infidels not without great Loss and Damage Not long after the Infidels did pull down the Walls of the City turned the Churches into Stables saving the Temple of Solomon and spoiled the holy Sepulchre of our Lord Christ which in all the other Wars did still remain intire so that only one side of the Rock thereof is now to be seen This was done by the Infidels on purpose to shew us the foolish Zeal we have to conquer and visit the holy Grave and City as if Christ were still in it This and other places had been quite demolished also had it not been for the Eastern Christians the Armenians Surians c. which did stop their Fury by giving of them a great Sum of Money and so redeemed it CHAP. X. A Common Account of several sorts of Christians but chiefly of them that are
always to be found in the Temple of Mount Calvaria And also how these and many other Strangers are treated by the Turkish Emperor as by their chief Head to whom they generally are subjected and his Officers IN the Temple of Mount Calvaria live Christians of several Nations as Latins or Italians Abyssins Graecians Armenians Georgians Nestorians Syrians Jacobites c. which for the most part are Priests and Friers which are of so different Opinions in many Articles of Faith that many of them might sooner be reckon'd amongst the Superstitious and Hereticks than Christians wherefore each of them have their peculiar Habitation and Chapel that they may perform their Devotion undisturbed by one another The Turkish Emperor also lets them alone and doth not at all trouble them for their Religion nor endeavour to bring them over to the Mahumetan Religion and Alcoran and is very well contented to receive his Yearly Tribute which is exactly demanded as it cometh to be due I have seen many of them in the Temple to go up and down in their peculiar Habit and once I did attend at their Devotion so that I easily passed away the time that the Turks kept us Locked up in it Their Pilgrims resort thither Yearly chiefly against the great Feasts or Holy Days in great Numbers to see the holy Places not only from the Eastern but also from the Western Countries These that are under the subjection of the Sultan which they are almost all of them except the Latins and Abyssins must pay him Yearly the fourth part of all their Revenues He that hath four Olive Almond or Quince-Trees must yield one of them to be the Emperors So in their Harvest every fourth Sheaf is also his their Harvest beginneth in the beginning of April and endeth in May as you may see Deut. chap. 16. vers 9. Seven weeks that is from Easter to Whitsonday shalt thou number unto thee begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn Besides this Imposition they have another that is They must pay Yearly for every Head that is Male the Poor as well as the Rich one Ducat and sometimes two chiefly when the Sultan intendeth to go to War with the Christians then he beginneth to lay these Taxes upon them a Year before-hand and hath it Gathered in He that hath not wherewithal to pay it is forced either to sell one or the other of his Children to perpetual Slavery or else to give one of them to the Grand Turk according to his liking to be his own for ever And what is more he sendeth every 4th or 5th Year through all his Dominions his Emissaries viz. Wallachia Servia Bosnia Albania Colchid c. to fetch away every third Son of his Christian Subjects and they always chuse that which they like best and so they bring together a great Number and call them Azanoglans and give them to the Janizaries to be their Servants These have in some chief places their Exercises from their Infancy that in time they may be fit to be made Officers and Commanders in time of War In this the Turks exercise great Cruelty and Pride they spare no Body for if a Christian doth possess some small matter of Riches he must either keep it very privately or else with a great deal of discretion say That it is all belonging to his Emperor and him So if the Grand Signior hath occasion for any thing of theirs whatsoever it must be granted him without any refusal But what a trouble and heart-breaking this must be to the poor Parents not only to have their Children that are free by Nature forced to such a Brutal way of Life and Education but what is more taken away from Baptism to Circumcision from the Christian Congregation and Faith into a severe Slavery and Superstition wherein they are brought from their Duty to their Parents into a mortal enmity against them and their other Relations every Christian may with himself consider The Turks where there is choice take them that are single and young because they being still infirm and but slightly grounded in their Faith they are the sooner seduced chiefly if they are Instructed in their Mahumetan Laws and Educated therein for a while for then they soon forget their own Faith and grow in theirs and so as they grow up in Years they also grow in their Malice and become to be worse than they themselves as daily Experience doth sufficiently testifie Of the same stamp are also these Christians that after they have been taken Prisoners in the War turn Mamalucks which they call in their Language Haracs and are Circumcised These are free from all Imposition as well as the Turks save only the Tenth but dare not go away without their Masters leave upon pain of Death if they are taken they are according to their Law without any Tryal Sentenced and Condemned to be burnt And these also are confirm'd and obdurated in their impious and base Life that they forget God and themselves never think of coming home again to hear the Gospel Preached or to see their Friends and Relations again Yet the Prisoners are not so very much pressed by the Turks to deny their Faith and turn except there should be found one or more great Persons among them for such they always use to press more and endeavour to turn them one way or other and promise them great Preferment if they will declare for their Religion for they are in hopes that if they could perswade them a great many more of the little ones would also come over with them If such are perswaded by them and turn they are entertained by the Turks very Honorably and called Tscheleby that is Gentlemen and endued with great Revenues but yet they do not easily confide in them or put any Trust into their hands and do not esteem such inconstant and faltering Men in their Heart although they carry themselves very friendly before their faces for they make account That he that will easily deny his Religion will also betray his Prince and Country if occasion should serve I have known in these Countries some Slaves whom their Masters that bought them as their Servants did very much press to be Circumcised but when they did mightily resist and excuse themselves and say That they could not admit thereof with a safe Conscience and if by force they should take away their Prepuce and Circumcise them that notwithstanding all that they could not Circumcise their Hearts and therefore they desired them not to trouble themselves any further with them they were for all that ready and willing to serve them honestly and faithfully to the utmost of their power So their Masters have been satisfied with this Answer and have pressed them no more But if it should happen that a Christian should be taken in one of their Mosques for they as unclean Men are forbid to come there or should dispute
nearer into the Valley between the Mounts of Olives there is still to be seen several Fig-trees whereabouts Christ did curse one of that kind because he found no Fruit thereon when he was hungry Just at the coming out of the Valley near unto the Steps of Mount Olivet you see the City again but chiefly the Mount of the Temple and Gate where you go up walled up in the new Wall From this Valley when our Lord Christ came in sight and came down the Mount Olivet the People as he came riding long cried saying Hosanna to the Son of David c. And a little after when he came nearer unto it he lamented with tears also their future misery and the terrible destruction of the Town and went in from thence toward the Golden Gate into the Temple and drove out the Buyers and Sellers CHAP. XXII Of Bethlehem the Mountains of Judea and their famous Places Where also is made mention of my returning back from Jerusalem to Tripoli BEthlehem formerly called Ephrata is situated towards the South Twenty Furlongs or a German Mile distant from Jerusalem The nearest way to it you go through the Gate of Hebron and come to the Right by the upper Mote and the bloudy Field up the steps over mount Gihon where just before you see a Cistern with good fresh Water near the Path made of white Stones and well prepared near which the Star did appear again unto the three wise Men of the Eastern Countries and led them into Bethlehem Near it there groweth a Turpentine Tree larger and higher than any that ever I saw elsewhere in my life Further about half way you pass over a Hill at the top whereof you may see both Towns Jerusalem and Bethlehem Before you is a large Valley which altho it be rocky yet is it fruitful both of Corn and Wine In it towards the Right Hand near the Road is an Acre called the Cicer-Field which had its Name as I was informed from the following Transaction It is said that when Christ went by at a certain time and saw a Man that was a sowing Cicers he did speak to him kindly and asked him what he was a sowing there the man answered scornfully and said He sowed small stones Then let it be said our Lord that thou reap the same seed thou sowest So they say that at Harvest-time he found instead of the Cicer-pease nothing but small Pebles in shape and colour and bigness like unto them exactly Now whether there be any thing of truth in it or no I cannot affirm but this I must say that there are to this day such stones found in this Field For as we went by some of us went into it and did gather a great many of them that were in bigness shape and colour so like unto these Cicers by the Arabians called Ommos and in Latin Cicer arietinum that we could hardly distinguish them from natural ones Hard by it you see still some old Ruins of old Stones where first Abraham the Patriarch did build a Tent as you read Genesis 12.8 And he removed from thence unto a Mountain on the East of Bethel and pitched his Tent having Bethel on the West and Hai on the East Senacherib the King of Assyria when he went before Jerusalem did come into this Valley with all his might and power and had by the Angel of the Lord in one nights time One hundred and eighty five thousand Men slain and still to this day there are two great holes to be seen wherein they flung the dead Bodies one whereof is hard by the Road towards Betlehem the other towards the Right Hand over gainst old Bethel which Town fell to the Children of Benjamin and is called still to this day Bethisella and is situated half a League farther towards the West at the Foot of the Hill in a very fruitful Country There did Jacob the Patriarch when he fled from his Brother Esau see in his sleep the Ladder which reached up into Heaven whereon the holy Angels ascended and descended wherefore he erected there a stone for a mark and called the place Bethel which was called Luz before as you may read in the Twenty eighth Chapter of Genesis As you come nearer to Bethlehem you see the Grave of Rachel at your Right Hand near the Road which Jacob did erect there when his Wife died in labour with Benjamin as you read in Genesis xxxv 16. And they journeyed from Bethel and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath and Verse 18. And it came to pass as her soul was in departing for she died that she called his name Benoni but his father called him Benjamin and Rachel died and was buried in the way Ephrath which is Bethlehem And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave that is the pillar of Rachel's Grave unto this day Before you come quite thither there is just by without it on the Left a good rich Cistern which is deep and wide Wherefore the People that go to dip water are provided with small Leathern Buckets and a Line as is usual in these Countries and so the Merchants that go in Carrvans through great Desarts into far Countries provide themselves also with these because in these Countries you find more Cisterns or Wells than Springs that lie high This was formerly under the Gates of Bethlehem whereof King David longed to drink wherefore his three Champions did break into the Camp of the Philistins and did dip some Water out of the Well and brought it to the King but the King would not drink of it for certain Reasons as you may read in the Twenty third Chapter of Samuel and in the Twelfth Chapter of the First of Chronicles From thence we went by the Path of the Mount into Bethlehem the Town of David where he was born and anointed King by the Prophet Samuel it lieth upon an Ascent its Buildings Town-Walls and Towers are so decayed that now it is quite open and nothing at all to be seen except the Well and Monastery but ruined Cottages Just without Bethlehem at the the other side of the Path towards the East for formerly the Town reached fo far they shew still the Stable under a large Rock wherein Jesus Christ the promised Messias God and Man was born of the immaculate Virgin Mary and laid in a Manger Of his coming and the place where he should be born the holy Prophet Micah long before prophesied in his Fifth Chapter and Second Verse saying But thou Bethlehem Ephrata though thou be little among the thousands of Juda yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel whose goings forth have been from of old from everlasting On that place hath Helena Mother of Constantine the Great also built a stately Church but since it is so ruined and demolished that hardly half of it is left as one may see by the old Walls of the Foun-Foundation and other Places
for of those 6 Gallies that met us in Liesena but two could make our Harbour because they were not strong enough for the Wind although they used their utmost force in Rowing the rest were forced to go back again and to shelter themselves behind the outward Islands Into the same Harbour was also just before us run in to shun the ill Weather a Yatcht that had about eleven Men on Board they did Pump out the Water that was run in and dry their Sails upon the Land by which we did conjecture that they also had not been in small danger We did send some of our Men on Board of them to know who they were and they answer'd us That they had Letters from the Great Sultan to their Masters the Venetians concerning a Peace that was agreed upon which their Envoy at Constantinople had sent by Land to Cattaro one of their Towns where they were delivered up to them to carry them to Venice with all possible speed After this great Storm was over we went on again in our Voyage By the way I saw nothing worth mentioning but now and then a Village where sometimes if convenient we Landed and staid there all Night In one of them I found a great deal of Saffron which was very like unto that of Vienna both in look and goodness So at length we came to the large and very deep Golfo Carnaro by which within lieth the Town Segna where the windy-Windy-Country endeth and the Hister-Land beginneth This Golfo is about 100 Miles long and 30 broad so that in clear Weather one may see very well over it but it is very dangerous to sail over it and because of its great motion it is easily discern'd from the Sea from without over this we came God be thanked very well and Landed at Rovigna a small Town situated on a high Rock This belongeth as well as others thereabout as Pola Parentza c. to the Venetians from whence to Venice we have still about 100 Miles But being that it is very dangerous to go from thence with large and Loaden Ships to Venice therefore that Republick doth keep there always several Experienc'd Pilots to prevent further mischief that do nothing else but conduct the Ships that arrive in Histria safely thither And these do not easily put off unless they have very good mild and clear Weather which was the occasion that our Ship did tarry there so that we all except the Seamen which we left in the Ship behind went into a Barge on the 14th day of January late and went all Night long to Venice where we all safely arrived the 15th of the same Month about Noon At my arrival I met with some very good Friends and Acquaintance with whom I stayed for several days to refresh and rest my self after the great Hardships I had endured and Dangers I had passed After they had made me very welcome and shewn unto me all kindness and civility and I had rested my self sufficiently I resolved to Travel with a Venetian Post into Germany again so we Travell'd together from thence to Treviso Trent Botzan Inspruck Amberga c. whereabouts I found my Cousin Hans Widholtz and George Hindermayer Botzen Riding by him who kept me all that Night with them in their Inn so at length I arrived on the 12th day of February 1576 at Augsburg my dear Native Country to the great Rejoycing of my dear Parents and Relations which I all found in indifferent good Health I thank the Almighty Merciful and Good God that is one in his Essence and three in Persons for all his Mercies he hath bestowed upon me in all my great Dangers and Necessities both by Sea and Land for his dear Son Jesus Christ his sake Praise Glory and Thanks be to him for ever and ever Amen FINIS A COLLECTION Of Curious TRAVELS AND VOYAGES c. The Second Tome A COLLECTION OF Curious Travels and Voyages The Second Tome CONTAINING Observations made by several Learned and Famous Men in their Journeys through the Levant viz. the Isle of Candy Greece Aegypt Asia minor c. by Monsieur Belon Prosper Alpinus Dr. Huntingdon Mr. Vernon Sir George Wheeler Dr. Smith Mr. Greaves Father Vansleb and others To which are added Two Itineraries to Mecha and into Aethiopio Curious TRAVELS AND VOYAGES c. TOME II. CHAP. I. Mr. Belon 's Remarks in the Island of Crete or Candy THE Roots of Mount Ida called now by the Natives Psiloriti extend to both the Shores of the Island When I was at the top I not only saw under me all Candy but some adjacent-Islands as Milo Cerigo c. The Snow lies all the year long on this Hill whilst the Plains underneath are extreamly scorch'd and burnt up 'T is so cold that the Shepherds cannot inhabit it in the Summer-time but are forced every night to descend and leave their Flocks of Goats and Sheep feeding This Mountain on one side abounds with pleasant Springs Woods many sorts of Trees Shrubs and Herbs as Maples Ilices or Holme-Oaks Arbutus and Adrachne Alaterni Cisti Labdaniferi Firrs Cypress Chamaelea Thymelea Oxycedrus Nerion or Oleander with a white Flower Olive-trees Vines many Legumes and Pulse Near and round this famous Mountain Ida are found Salvia Pomifera which is carried to all the Markets Caper Shrubs Mandragora Mas foemina two kinds of Paeony with a white Flower Tragium seu Androsaemum foetidum Leontopetalum Melilotus vera Odorata Trifolium Moenianthe perhaps our Palustre Heliocryson which grows so thick as to cover and shelter the Hares Staechas Citrina two kinds of Tragacanth which yield no Gum in this Island Staphis agria common up and down Coris a sort of Hypericum with Leaves like Heath or Tamarisk grows plentifully the Root hath an ungrateful taste and vomited me The Anagyris stinks so upon the Roads that it makes the Head ach and scarce any Animal will touch it Tithymalus Dendroides Thapsia Ferula Libanotis and Seseli abound Agriomelea frutex a sort of Sorbus or Cotonaster a fourth Species of Aristolochia different from those three describ'd by the Ancients 't is scandent like a Smilax The Coccus Baphica or Kermes is found plentifully here upon an Ilex the Shepherds and Boys gather it in June separate the red Animalcules from the Vesicle or Excrescence by Sieves and form them into Balls very gently for sale for if they are squeez'd or press'd they dissolve and the colour perishes The Dictamnus grows only between the Fissures of the Rocks but the Pseudo dictamnus in other places Lotus Arbor Zizyphus or Jujube Scolymus Chrysanthemos called commonly Ascolimbros whose milky Root and young Leaves make a common Dish Tithymalus Myrsinites and Paralius in the mountainous and maritine places as also a Gnaphalium candicans littoreum and a wild Brassica Chamaesyce and Soldanella a Dracunculus with an Ivy-leaf the Halimus makes their common Hedges up and down the Island the tops are edulous Agnus Castus Sedum
those at Otricholi and Rome but spherical as those at Verona and Nismes There are also Dorick and Ionick Pillars with many Statues belonging to the Temple of Divus Claudius At Cavalla or Boucephala there are still great Cisterns of hardned Cement as at Baiae and Aquaeducts Departing from Cavalla we pass'd by Mount Haemus over the River Nesus and came to Bouron on the Salt-Lake of Bisto near a moist Plain full of Cytisus Halimus c. as about Philippi Here are taken great quantity of Dace or Dare which they pickle as we do Herrings as also smoak and dry them The Fishing on this Lake is very considerable for from hence they supply many distant places About six hours from Bouron we came to Commercina where they sell great variety of Provisions from thence we went to Cypsella where they make Alum by gently calcining the Stone and letting it dissolve afterwards in the Air by the Dews and Rains and then boyling and crystallizing the impregnated Water In this Journey we saw many old Roman Highways pav'd with great Stones We passed the Marisca of old Hebrus in a Ferry and came to Vire here they wash some Gold out of the Sand but are often forced to use Quicksilver in the separation The Water of Hebrus is very cold in the middle of Summer and the Banks are set with Tamarisks King's-fishers build their Nests in holes on the sides they make them of the Bones and Scales of little Fishes The Natives hereabouts often leave their Habitations to work in Harvest time Their Sickles differ from ours and their Corn is not thresh'd but trodden with Cattel In this Journey we found great variety and plenty of Jaspars and Chalcedony The Thracians and Macedonians gather all the Galls or Excrescencies on the Turpentine Trees which they sell at Prusa for the dying of Silks This Country abounds much with Tortoises for the Greeks never eat nor destroy their unless they catch them in their Gardens or Plantations of Cotton and Sesamum We left the Road of Gallipoli on the right and came to Rodesto the old Perinthus from thence we left Heraclea on the left and past Selibria a days Journey distant from Constantinople The Honey of Heraclea is said to be pernicious perhaps because the Country abounds with the Chamaeleon niger a sort of Carlina to whose Root adheres a very venomous Excrescence called Ixia which may affect the Bees that feed on that Plant. I found hereabouts a milky Plant perhaps an Apocynum with the leaves and flower of a Nerion or the purple Lysimachia Thrace is an open Country without Trees like Picardy the great Plains are divided here and there with Ridges and little Hills About three miles before we came to Constantinople we pass'd two long Wood-Bridges that run over the Salt-Marshes upon which are many Boats and Mills with eight Wings or Arms On these Lakes there is a great Fishery as also on the Propontis for the Oriental People as other Nations of old are more delighted with the Fish Diet than with that of Quadrupeds or Birds This may be one reason why the Books of the Ancients treat more of Fish than of Fowl or any other Animals CHAP. IV. The Ways of Fishing on the Propontis the Bosphorus and Hellespont as also of the Fishes taken By M. Belon THESE Seas abound extreamly with Fish that pass between the Euxine and Mediterranean into which abundance of great fresh Rivers empty themselves The Streights and Shoars are full of little Wood-Cottages wherein the Fishermen watch and observe the several Shoals and great variety of Nets both loose and fastened to Poles of several figures for the taking both of great and small frys There is also the Hook and Bait-fishing up and down with long Lines the Train and Hand-Nets c. Besides all these ways they practise another manner of fishing by lighted Torches in dark calm nights whereby they find the great Fishes asleep and strike them very silently with sharp Tridents and hooked Engines This they find the most convenient for taking the greater sorts of Fish which often break their Nets and Lines The common Fishes of these Streights are the Tunny and the Pelamis Macrel Scads Giltheads Mullets Gurnards Sheathfish Swordfish the Dolphin different from our Porpess the Wolf-fish Lampreys the Muraena Sphyrena Melanurus Salpa Sargus Moena Atherina Exocaetus which serve for Baits to catch Congers Celerinus Sardina Polypus Loligo Erythrinus c. The Garus so common in the Shops of Constantinople is prepared here only out of the Sanies or Ichor of the salted Intestines of the Macrel and Scads The red Cavear is not made of the Eggs or Roe of the Sturgeon but out of the Cyprinus Q. Whether the Author means the Bream or Carp CHAP. V. Of some Beasts and Mechanick Trades at Constantinople NEar the Hippodromus at Constantinople I observ'd some rare Animals which the Turkish Emperors are much delighted with as the Onager the Hystrix the Lupus Cervarius the Lynx the Ponticus Mus or Ermine many rare Weasils and odd Cats The Turks not using the Printing Trade they levigate and polish their Writing Paper in Box Frames by rubbing it with the Chalcedony and Jaspar-stones put at the end of Sticks They damask their Cymeters with a blewish colour by macerating Sal Armoniac and Verdigrease in Vinegar and steeping the Blades in this Mixture often pouring fresh upon them this acts upon the Steel and renders it of that colour upon polishing They granulate Leather for Scabbards In the Cutlers Shops one sees great variety of Horns Teeth c. as of Bufalo's Gazels Morse-Teeth and other Tusks They colour their Linnen with great variety and with many Figures which they cut in Wood and there paint afterwards stamp and press it upon the Linnen or Silk as in printing upon Paper they first polish their Linnen or Cottons with Pastes of fine Flower The Inhabitants on these Streights gather abundance of a broad-leav'd Alga which they mix with a fat Earth and so cover their Houses with it The Current running so strong casts out great variety of Marine Productions as Alcyonium or Arkeilli Antipathos a sort of Coralline Mr. Francis Vernon's Letter written to Mr. Oldenburg Jan. 10. 1675 6 giving a short account of some of his Observations in his Travels from Venice through Istria Dalmatia Greece and the Archipelago to Smyrna where this Letter was written SIR I Must beg your Excuse for not having written to you in so long a space The little rest I have had and the great unsettledness of my Condition is the reason Neither have I now any great Curiosities to impart to you only some small Circumstances of my Journey I will run over From Venice I set out with those Gallies which carried their Ambassadour that went for the Port. We touch'd at most of the considerable Towns of Istria and Dalmatia by the way In Istria we saw Pola an ancient Republick There remains yet an Amphitheatre entire
which manifestly tending to Sedition and to the heightning of their Discontents by their mutual Complaints and by this free venting of their Grievances during the War at Candia the wise Vizier seeing the evil consequences that would follow if such Meetings and Discourses were any longer tolerated commanded that all the publick Coffee-houses should be shut up in Constantinople and several other great Cities of the Empire where the Malecontents used to rendevouz themselves and find fault upon every ill success and miscarriage with the administration of Affairs The Custom of the Turks to salute the Emperor or the Vizier Bassa's with loud acclamations and wishes of Health and Long-life when they appear first in their Houses or any publick place is derived from the Greeks who took it from the Romans This was done by them in a kind of singing tone whence Luitprandus Bishop of Cremona tells us that in a certain Procession 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at which he was present they sang to the Emperor Nicephorus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is many years which Codinus who lived just about the taking of Constantinople by the Turks expresses by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to wish or salute by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and at Dinner the Greeks then present wish'd with a loud voice to the Emperor and Burdas Ut Deus annos multiplicet as he translates the Greek The Turkish Coyn in it self is pitiful and inconsiderable which I ascribe not only to their want of Bullion but to their little Skill in matters relating to the Mint Hence it comes to pass that Zecchines and Hungars for Gold and Spanish Dollars and Zalotts for Silver stamp'd in Christendom pass current among them most of the great Payments being made in them they not caring either through Ignorance or Sloth to follow the example of the Indian or Persian Emperors who usually melt down the Christian Mony imported by the Merchants into their several Countries and give it a new stamp The most usual pieces are the Sheriphi of Gold somewhat less in value than a Venetian Zecchine and Aspers ten of which are equal to Sixpence English and some few three Asper pieces A Mangur is an ugly old Copper piece eight of which make but one Asper and is not I think a Turkish Coyn but rather Greek They have no Arms upon their Coyn only Letters embossed on both sides containing the Emperor's Name or some short Sentence out of the Alcoran The Turks look upon Earthquakes as ominous as the Vulgar do upon Eclipses not understanding the Philosophy of them During my stay in Constantinople which was above two years there hapned but one which was October 26. 1669. about six a Clock in the morning a stark Calm preceding It lasted very near a minute and we at Pera and Galata were as sensible of it as those who were on the other side of the Water but praised be God nothing fell and we were soon rid of the Fears in which this frightful Accident had cast us being in our Beds and not able by reason of the surprize in so little a space to have past through a Gallery down a pair of Stairs into the Court if we had attempted it The Turks made direful Reflections on it as if some Calamity would inevitably fall upon the Empire quickly forgetting the great Triumphings and Rejoycings which they exprest but a few days before for the Surrender of Candia In the year 1668 in August the Earth shook more or less for forty seven days together in the lesser Asia at Anguri Ancyra and for fifteen at Bacbasar as we heard from a Scotch Merchant who liv'd there and particularly that at this latter place on the second of August between three and four of the clock in the Afternoon it lasted for a quarter of an hour several Houses were overthrown and some hundreds of Chimneys fell it being a very populous Town and yet there were but seven kill'd The Trembling being so violent both Turks and Christians forsook their Houses and betook themselves to the Fields Vineyards and Gardens where they made their abode for several days Their Punishments are very severe this being judg'd the most effectual way to prevent all publick Disorders and Mischiefs They use no great formality in their processes If the Criminal be taken in the Fact and the Witnesses ready and present to attest it and sometimes if there be but probable circumstances without full conviction condemn him and soon after Sentence sometimes an hour or less hurry him away to execution For an ordinary Crime Hanging is the usual Death but for Robbery and Murder committed upon the High-way by such as rob in Parties and alarm whole Provinces or for Sacrilege or for any hainous Crime against the Government either Gaunching or Excoriation or cutting off the Legs and Arms and leaving the Trunk of the Body in the High-way or empaling that is thrusting an Iron stake thro' the Body out under the Neck or at the Mouth in which extreme torment the miserable wretch may live two or three days if the Guts or the Heart happen not to be wounded by the pointed Spike in its passage This Punishment seems to have been in use among the Romans Seneca's Epist 14. Cogita hoc loco carcerem cruces eculeos uncum adactum medium hominem qui per os emergat stipitem And so in his Book De Consolatione ad Marciam cap. 20. Alii capite conversos in terram suspendere alii per obscena stipitem egerunt alii brachia patibulo explicuerunt Murder is seldom pardoned and especially if the Relations of the murder'd person demand Justice The Circumcision though it be a sacred Rite is perform'd in their private Houses and never in the Moschs The Women colour their Eye-brows and Lids with an ugly black Powder I suppose to set off their Beauty by such a shadow and their Nails with the Powder of Kanna which gives them a Tincture of faint red like Brick as they do the Tails and Hoofs of Horses which they look upon as a great Ornament Their great Diversion is Bathing sometimes thrice if not four times a week They do not permit them to go to Church in time of Prayer for fear they should spoil their Devotion The Turks being of so brutish a temper that their Lust is raised upon the sight of a fair Object They are call'd oftentimes by the Names of Flowers and Fruits and sometimes fantastick Names are given them such as Sucar Birpara or bit of Sugar Dil Ferib or Ravisher of Hearts and the like Their Skill in Agriculture is very mean In their Gardens they have several little Trenches to convey Water where it may be most necessary for their Plants and Flowers They know little or nothing of manuring their Grounds Sometimes they burn their Fields and Vineyards after Harvest and Vintage partly to destroy the Vermin and partly to enrich the Soil They tread
Sun without using any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the Parallax and Refraction which at that time was not necessary I found the Latitude to be 41 degrees 6 minutes And in this Latitude in the Chart I have placed Byzantium and not in that either of the Greeks or Arabians From which Observation being of singular use in the rectification of Geography it will follow by way of Corallary that all Maps for the North-East of Europe and of Asia adjoyning upon the Bosphorus Thracius the Pontus Euxinus and much farther are to be corrected and consequently the situation of most Cities in Asia properly so called are to be brought more Southerly than those of Ptolemy by almost two entire degrees and then those of the Arabians by almost four Concerning Rhodes it may be presumed that having been the Mother and Nurse of so many eminent Mathematicians and having long flourished in Navigation by the direction of these and by the vicinity of the Phoenicians they could not be ignorant of the precise Latitude of their Country and that from them Ptolemy might receive a true information Though it cannot be denied but that Ptolemy in places remoter from Alexandria hath much erred I shall only instance in our own Country where he situates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is London in 54 degrees of Latitude and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the middle of the Isle of Wight which in the printed Copies is falsly termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but in the MSS rightly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in 52 degrees and 20 minutes of Latitude Whereas London is certainly known to have for the Altitude of the Pole or Latitude of the place only 51 degrees and 32 minutes and the middle of the Isle of Wight not to exceed 50 degrees and some minutes But in my judgment Ptolemy is very excusable in these and the like Errors of several other places far distant from Alexandria seeing he must for their position necessarily have depended either upon relations of Travellers or Observations of Mariners or upon the Longitude of the day measured in those times by Clepsydrae all which how uncertain they are and subject unto Error if some celestial Observations be not joyned with them and those exactly taken with large Instruments in which kind the Ancients have not many and our times excepting Tycho Brahe and some of the Arabians but a few I say no man that hath conversed with modern Travellers and Navigators can be ignorant Wherefore to excuse these Errors of his or rather of others fathered by him with a greater absurdity by asserting the Poles of the World since his time to have changed their site and consequently all Countries their Latitudes as Mariana the Master of Copernicus and others after him have imagined or else to charge Ptolemy being so excellent an Artist with Ignorance and that even of his own Country as Cluverius hath done from which my Observations at Alexandria and Memphis may vindicate him the former were too great a stupidity and the latter too great a Presumption But to return to Rhodes an Island in Eustathius's Comment upon Dionysius's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 920 furlongs circuit where according to Ptolemy the Parallel passing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath 36 degrees of Latitude and so hath Lindus and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the chief Cities of the Island the same is confirmed by the MS but where the printed Copy and Eustathius read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Mercator renders Talyssus the MS renders 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Abulfeda in some Copies situates the Island Rhodes for he mentions no Cities there in the Latitude of 37 degrees and 40 minutes And the Geography of Said Ibn Aly Algiorgany commended by Gilbertus Gaulmyn in 37 degrees if it be not by a transposition in the MS of the numerical Letters in Arabic 37 for 36. which by reason of their similitude are often confounded in Arabick MSS. By my Observations under the Walls of the City Rhodes with a fair Brass Astrolabe of Gemma Frisius containing 14 inches in the diameter I found the Latitude to be 37° and 50′ A larger Instrument I durst not adventure to carry on shore in a place of so much jealousie And this Latitude in the Chart I have assigned to the City Rhodes from the Island so denominated upon which on the North-east side it stands situated better agreeing with the Arabians than with Ptolemy whom I know not how to excuse CHAP. VI. Some Observations made in a Voyage to Aegypt By M. Belon IN our sailing between Rhodes and Alexandria a sort of Falcon came and sate two hours upon our Sails Abundance of Quails flying from the North Southwards fell into our Ship We observ'd in our sailing many Pelecans and some unknown Birds At Alexandria I observ'd them to burn the Kali for Fuel Wood being scarce they calcine Lime with the Ashes then call it Soda and sell it to the Venetians who melt it with a particular Stone brought from Pavia by the River Tesino and so make their famous Crystal Glass at Muran but the French find the Sand brought from Estampes to serve as well as the Pavian Stone From this place they send their Commodities and Merchandise into all parts of the World In my passage to and from Grand Cairo and during my abode there I observ'd besides other things the Animals and Plants As the Garaffa or Camelopardalus the Bubalus of Africk different from the Buffalo Flocks of the Oryx and of Gazells which they shoot the Axis a most beautiful Creature by the Description it may be the Zebra or Zembra of Africk great varieties of Monkeys at Caire the Hippopotamus about the Lakes and Rivers Goats with very long Ears hanging down almost to the Ground Sheep with great Tails and vast Laps under their Chin the Ichneumon tame in their Houses like Cats this Animal destroys Rats and Mice like Weasils hunts Serpents which the People eat destroys Chamaelions and other Lizzards it creeps and darts upon its Prey 't is bigger and much stronger than a Cat. I observ'd at Caire many Civet-Cats Two kinds of Camelions frequently sitting on the Rhamnus catching of Insects with their Tongues as they fly by Crocodiles common in the Lakes and Rivers the little Lacerta Chalcidica hunts Insects under the Walls the Stellio or Swift Lizzard is common about the Pyramids and the other Sepulchres where it runs after Flies the Excrement of this Animal is sold up and down for an excellent Cosmetick I saw also the Serpent call'd Cerastes The great Batts abound in the Caves Amongst the Birds the Ostrich whose Skins and Feathers are in use amongst the Turks the Pelecan with whose Bills and Bags the Watermen of the Nile throw the Water out of their Boats the Vulp-Anser is common in the watery places I observ'd also the Crex and the Ibis The Inhabitants never hatch their Eggs under Hens but all in Ovens or Furnaces The common Trees are the Tamarisk
People about in the Plain The Pilgrims being returned to Mecha divide themselves in several Caravans because of the different Countries they come from and are to go back to them again The Caravan that met at Damascus upon their return pass by Medina and visit Mahomet's Tomb seeing it is upon their Road Of the rest those who are prompted by Devotion go thither but a great part return back to their several Countries without turning out of their way to visit the said Sepulchre their Law not obliging them to that as it does to visit the other places above mentioned So that they are grosly mistaken who have affirmed that the Pilgrimage of the Turks is to the Sepulchre of Mahomet who obliged them to it For that false Prophet told his Followers when he drew near his death that if any one returning from Mecha had the curiosity to come and see his Sepulchre he should say a Fatha for his Soul which is a Prayer taken out of the Alcoran resembling in some manner our Pater Noster and be gone Mecha is the place of Mahomet's Birth Medina of his Burial An Extract of a Journey through part of Arabia Felix from the Copy in Ramusio's Collection WE travell'd in most places of Arabia by the help of a Compass and were forty days and forty nights in going between Damascus and Mecha Port Ziden is forty miles distant from Mecha from whence it receives the greatest part of its Provisions by the Red Sea from Aegypt Aethiopia and Arabia Felix the numbers of Pilgrims and Camels being incredible and fresh Water very scarce and as dear as Wine in Europe I stole away secretly from Mecha in the disguise of a Mammaluke to Ziden in order to pass round Arabia by Sea into Persia Ziden contains about 500 Houses there lay at Anchor in the Haven almost 100 Brigantines and Foysts with divers Barks of sundry sorts both with and without Oars After six days sailing we came to Gezan a fair commodious Port full of Vessels the Soil is very fruitful and delicious abounding with many rare Fruits and Flowers The Inhabitants for the most part go naked Leaving Gezan in the space of five or six days we reach'd an Island named Camaran ten miles in circuit In it is a Town of 200 Houses the Inhabitants are Mahometans it hath great store of Flesh and fresh Water The Haven is eight miles from the Continent and is subject to the Sultan of Arabia Felix In two days sailing we came to the mouth of the Red Sea The day after our arrival at Aden I being suspected for a Portuguese Spy was cast into heavy Chains and thrown into Prison After fifty five days Imprisonment I was set upon a Camel with my Shackles and in eight days Journey came to Rhada a City where the Sultan then lay with 30000 men to make War against the Sultan of Sana three days distant from Rhada The Sultan's Guard were Aethiopians with short broad Swords painted Targets and Darts Slings and Ropes made of Cotton Having obtain'd â—y Liberty I pass'd through Almacaran and Laghâ— to Aden where I embark'd for Persia In this Journey I observ'd many Monkeys Lyons Sheep with prodigious great Tails variety of Spices Sugars and a sort of Grape without Stones very delicious Many strange Gum Trees as the Balsam the Myrrhe Frankincense Coffee Coco's c. Some Observations made by Sir Henry Middleton and other English-men in Arabia Felix when they were most treacherously seized and led Prisoners from Moha and Aden up to Zenan Also Capt. Payton's and Capt. Heyn's Observations in some parts of Arabia Felix WE were fifteen days in going from Moha to Zenan which is about 180 miles distant N. N. W. it lies in 16 degrees and 15. min. Lat. We were carried about our Christmas time and were almost starved with cold there being hoary Frosts and Ice at Zenan Some of our men got Furrs this was wonderful in such a Latitude We fed much upon Dates and Plantanes Zenan appeared to me bigger than Bristol its situation is in a Stony Valley encompass'd with high Hills with many Gardens and places of Pleasure The Buildings are of good Stone and Lime February the 17 th we obtained our Liberty and began on the 18 th our Journey from Zenan to Moha That night we came to Siam 16 miles some on Asses others on Camels On the 19 th to Surage 18 miles On the 20 th to the City Damare in a plentiful Country 20 miles from Surage On the 21 st we arrived at Ermin 15 miles here we staid the 22 d. On the 23 d we came to Nagual Samare The 24 th to Mohader 13 miles from Nackelsamar On the 25 th to Rabattamain 16 miles from Mohader Here they make Opium of a Poppy but it is not good The 26 th we came to Coughe called Meifadine 16 miles from Rabattamain On the 27 th we were at Tayes half as large as Zenan here they make Indigo out of an Herb. March the 1 st we travelled from Tays to Eufras 16 miles distant March the 2 d to Assambine 11 miles On the 3 d to Accomoth The 4 th to Mousa 17 miles Here we observ'd them steeping the Indigo Plant. On the 5 th we got to Moha Moha is less than Tayes but very populous it stands close by the Sea in a Salt and Sandy Soil unwalled yet it hath Platforms and Forts Abundance of Shipping resort thither from India and great Caravans by land from Syria and Mecha to trade and exchange Commodities Aden is the greatest Port of Arabia Felix 't is situated at the foot of vast high Mountains which rise up with Pikes and run with great Promontories into the Sea These Hills were called Cababarre according to the Journal of Don John of Castro the Portuguese Capt. Dunton of Sir Henry Middleton's Fleet observ'd Aden to lye in 12 deg 35 min. of N. Lat. The variation Westerly was 12 degrees and 40 minutes It flows upright between 6 and 7 foot Water on the change day The Canoos came about the English Ships with Indigo Olibanum and Myrrhe but no trade with them by reason of their treachery Aden has been a great City of above 6000 Houses but Capt. Dounton found the Buildings much decay'd and many of them sunk Capt. Sharpeigh was the first Englishman that ever landed at Aden he had been there 16 months before in the year 1610. The aforementioned parts of Arabia Felix were at that time under the subjection of the Turks who had got possession of them from the Arabians by tricks and treachery whom they kept in awe by many Castles built on Hills and Passes and by the many Captives they always kept as Pledges Sir Henry Middleton observ'd many of the mountainous parts to be under the Dominion of the Arabians who are very populous in all the places where he passed and are at frequent Wars with the insolent Turks who pretended secret Orders from the Grand Signior to destroy all
the Christians that came ashore lest they should go up to Mecha and Medina to ransack and burn them Cap. Walter Payton in the year 1613 found great Hospitality and Ingenuity in some Ports of Arabia Felix nearer the Persian Gulf especially at Doffar a very good Road for Ships and a fair City where the Arabians presented his Crew with Bullocks Sheep Hens Goats Sugar-Canes Plantans and Coco's This Cape stands in 16 degrees 38 min. of N. Lat. and is free from the Turkish Yoke Capt. Edward Heyns anchored before Moha or Mocha in Arabia Felix An. Dom. 1618. the Governour sent him as Presents a young Bullock two Goats Mangoes Limes Cucumbers Water Melons Quinces Rack made of Rice c. He went freely ashore and found it a very neat populous and flourishing Town built of Brick and Stone curiously plaister'd over like Paris two Stories high with flat Roofs and Terrasses on the top whereon they build Summer-houses with Canes and Matts wherein they sleep and receive the fresh Breefes in the great heats They excus'd the Cruelty to Sir H. Middleton laying it on the cruel Governor at that time Of the Ways and Roads between Egypt and Ethiopia IN the month of October an Ambassador of Ethiopia came to Caire with several Presents for the Grand Signior and among others an Ass that had a most delicate Skin if it was natural for I will not vouch for that since I did not examine it This Ass had a black List down the Back and the rest of its Body was all begirt with white and tawny streaks a finger broad a piece The Head of it was extraordinarily long striped and partly coloured as the rest of the Body Its Ears like a Buffles were very wide at the end and black yellow and white Its Legs streaked just like the Body not long ways but round the Leg in fashion of a Garter down to the Foot and all in so good proportion and symetry that no Lynx could be more exactly spotted nor any Skin of a Tyger so pretty this may be the Zembra The Ambassador had two more such Asses which dyed by the way but he brought their Skins with him to be presented to the Grand Signior with the live one He had also several little black Slaves of Nubia and other Countries confining on Ethiopia Civet and other costly things for his Present These little Blacks serve to look after the Women in the Seraglio after that they are gelded The Ambassador was an old man and had the end of his Nose part of the upper and under Lip cut off but was otherwise a shapely man and of a very good presence He was cloathed after the Cophtish fashion wearing a Turban like them and spoke very good Italian which gave me the opportunity of conversing with him He told me his name was Michael that he was a Native of Tripoly in Syria and that he had made three or four Voyages into Christendom That eighteen months before he had parted from Gontar the Capital City of Ethiopia and was so long retarded by the way because of the contrary Winds he met with on the Red Sea by which he came That of an hundred Persons whom he had brought with him of his own Servants and the Slaves he was to present to the Grand Signior thirty or forty were dead If he had come by Land he had not been so long by the way for from Gontar to Schouaquen it is about six weeks Journey and from Schouaquen to Caire forty or fifty days by Camels but he could not take that way because of his Train He told me many things relating to the Kingdom of Ethiopia which I shall here give the Reader an account of But first of the ways of passing out of Egypt into Ethiopia The Merchants setting out from Grand Caire are carried up the Nile against the Stream as far as Monfallot and thence travelling in Caravans first come to Siint and so in order to the following Towns Wack three days Journey Meks two days Scheb three Sellim three Moschu five Dungala five accounted the Metropolis of Nubia then they come into the Kingdom of Sennar From Dungala they travel to Kshabi three days Journey Korti three more Trere three Gerry one Helfage one Arbatg three Sennar four From Sennar in fourteen days they arrive at the Confines of Habessinia the Entrance is called Tshelga The passage by Sea is various for the Merchants embark in several Ports on the Red Sea as Suesso Gidda Alcossir and so coast it to Suaquena and Matzua The safest way of travelling into the Kingdom of Prester John is with some Metropolitan or Ambassador Some land at Baylar a Port belonging to the King of Dengala in amity with the Habessins but the Journey thence by Land is tedious and infested by the Gallons 'T is but three months travel by Land from Grand Caire to Gontar the chief City of Ethiopia Of Ethiopia By Michael of Tripoly Ambassador from the Habessine Emperor to the Grand Signior EThiopia or the Country of the Abyssins called in Arabick Abesch from whence comes the word Abyssin is a great Empire being above seven months travel in circuit On the East side it is bordered by the Red Sea and Zanguebar on the South with Zeila Avousa Naria c. On the West by the Country of the Negros and Nubia and on the North with the Country of Nubia and Bugia because to come from Ethiopia into Egypt one must cross Nubia down the Nile About an hundred years ago Greyu Mahomet King of Zeila of which the Inhabitants are all Moors invaded Ethiopia and forced the King to save himself on a Mountain from whence he sent to demand assistance of the King of Portugal who immediately sent it him but hardly was he who commanded these Auxiliaries enter'd the Country when he resolved to return back again finding that they ate raw Flesh there However his Brother Don Christopher had more Courage and would not return without doing some Exploit He marched up into the Country with about Three hundred Musqueteers fought vanquished and killed the Moorish King and then re-established the lawful King of Ethiopia For reward of which Service the King of Ethiopia gave Lands and Estates to all the Portuguese that stayed within his Dominions and their Offspring are still in that Country The Father of this present King was a Catholick but he dying some thirty odd years ago the Queen his Wife who was a great Enemy to the Jesuits and no Catholick and who suffer'd impatiently that they should govern as they pleased the late King her Husband wrought upon her Son that succeeded him to persecute all the Roman Catholicks in such a manner that the Jesuits were obliged to make their escape and he put to death all the Capucins whom he found Since that time three Capucins more were put to death at Schouaken for the King of Ethiopia knowing that they had a mind to come into his Kingdom sent to the
Governor of Schouaken praying him to put to death those three religious Franks The Governor of Schouaken caused their Heads to be immediately struck off and sent them to the King of Ethiopia who as a Reward made him a Present of three Bags of Gold Dust promising him as many Bags of Gold Dust as he should send him Heads of Franks And fifteen or sixteen years since two others have been put to death in the Province of Oinadaga whose Names were Father Fioravanti and Father Francesco In short this King is a declared Enemy to all Franks whom he accuses of being Hereticks and of having conspired to put the Crown upon the Head of one of his Enemies So that a Frank who would go into that Country must pass for an Armenian or Cophte for the King and his People are of the Cophtish Religion They believe but one Nature in Jesus Christ At the end of eight day they circumcise as the Jews do and baptise Fortnight after Before the Jesuits went thither they baptised none before they were thirty or forty years of age They say Mass as the Cophtes do but their Church-books are in the Ethiopick Language Their Patriarch depends on the Patriarch of Alexandria and when the Patriarch of the Abyssins dies they send Deputies to Alexandria to entreat the Patriarch to send them another and he convocating his Clergy chuses out the fittest among them whom he sends but is never any more heard of in Egypt till he be dead There are four Kings that pay Tribute to the King of Ethiopia to wit the King of Sennar who pays his Tribute in Horses Sennar is a very hot Country The King of Naria who pay his Tribute in Gold The King of Bugia and King of Dangala Naria is a good Country and in that Country are the Mines out of which they have the Gold that passes on the Coasts of Soffala and Guiney These Mines are not deep as in many other Countries From that Country also comes the Civet I think it will not be amiss here to say somewhat of Civets which are so rare in our Country as that they deserve to be taken notice of where one can find them They are called Civet-Cats come from Naria as I just now said and are taken in Snares The Jews in Caire keep many of them in their Houses where for buying a few drachms of Civet one may see them It is a Beast almost as big as a good Dog It hath a sharp Snout small Eyes little Ears and Mustachios like a Cat The Skin of it is all spotted black and white with some yellowish specks and hath a long bushy Tail almost like a Fox It is a very wild Creature and I believe the bite of it would put a body to no small pain The Jews keep them in great square Wooden Cages where they feed them with raw Mutton and Beef cut into small pieces When they would get from them that which is called Civet and is the Sweat of this Beast that smells so sweet they make him go back with a stick which they thrust in betwixt the Bars of the Cage and catch hold of his Tail When they have that fast they take hold also of his two hind Legs pulling him half out of the Cage by the Door which falls down upon his Back and keeps him fast there then another opens a certain Cod of Flesh that these Beasts have which is shaped like a split Gyserne and with an Iron Spatula scrapes all the Sweat off it within The Males have that piece of Flesh betwixt their Stones and Yard which is like a Cats The Females have it betwixt their Fundament and Privities and it is emptied of the Sweat but twice a week each Beast yielding about a drachm at a time by what I could discern When that Sweat or Excrement is taken out it is of a whitish grey but by little and little in some short space it turns to a very brown colour It smells very sweet at a distance but near hand it stinks and causes a Head-ach There are as many kinds of Civet-Sweat as there are of Civet-Cats for it is more whitish greyish or yellowish and dryer in some than in others and yet they mingle all together After all it is in vain to think to have pure Civet for the Jews falsifie it and if a man imagine it to be pure because he has seen it taken from the Beast he is mistaken for before People come to their Houses they rub the inside of that piece of Flesh with a little Oyl or some such Stuff that so the Sweat and it together may make more weight but when no body is present they take it out pure and mingle it afterwards To find out the truth of this I went one day to the House of a Jew that kept Civet-Cats without giving him notice before for because I had bought a little of him and promised to come again another time he asked me as often as he saw me what day I would come and having desired him to get me some fresh Civet he told me that it was not the day he used to take it out and having returned without acquainting him before upon one of the days when he said he was accustomed to gather it he refused then also to do it pretending Business which confirmed all that had been told me of that matter In the mean time they hold these Beasts very dear for having asked that Jew and others also how much they would have of me for a Civet Cat they all told me an hundred Chequins Dangala is the capital City of Nubia the King of Dangala is King of the Barberins who are a kind of Blacks of the Musulman Religion that came in Crowds to Caire to get Services they are somewhat silly but very faithful and serve for a small matter for two Maidins a day or a Maidin and their Dyet You may make them do whatsoever you please They wear a blew Shirt plat all their Hair in Tresses and then rub it over with a certain Oyl to keep their Head from being lousie At Caire when they have any falling out they go before the Scheiks of their own Nation who make them Friends and if they think it convenient adjudg them to pay a Fine with which they feast and make merry together They are great lovers of Crocodiles Flesh and when any Frank has got one for the Skin they come and beg the Flesh which they dress with a pretty good Sawce When these Blades have scraped together ten or twelve Piastres they return home again wealthy to their own Country provided they escape being robbed by the Arabs upon the way who many times serve them so therefore they commonly return in companies as they came The King of Dangala pays his Tribute to the King of Ethiopia in Cloth The Provinces of Ethiopia are Gouyan where the King keeps a Viceroy Beghandir Dambia Amara which is a great Province full of