the Alms of Rice Millet and other Grains which the charitable bestow upon them The Bramin marks the forhead of all both Men and Women that come to pray in the Pagod with a kind of Vermillion wherewith he also besmears the Idol for being thus mark'd they believe the evil Spirit cannot hurt them as being then under the protection of their God Number I is that part where the Bramins paint their Idols such as Mamaniva Sita Madedina and others whereof they have a great number Numb 2 is the figure of Mamaniva which is in the Pagod Numb 3 is another Pagod neer the former There stands a Cow at the door and within stands the figure of their God Ram. Numb 4 is another Pagod into which the Faquirs that do Penance often retire Numb 5 is another Pagod dedicated to Ram. Numb 6 is a Hut into which a Faquir makes his retirement several times a year there being but one hole to let in the light He stays there according to the height of his devotion sometimes nine or ten days together without either eating or drinking a thing which I could not have believ'd had I not seen it My curiosity carri'd me to see one of those Penitents with the President of the Dutch-Company who set a Spy to watch night and day whether any body brought him any victuals But he could not discover any relief the Faquir had all the while fitting upon his Bum like our Taylors never changing his posture above seven days together not being able to hold out any longer by reason that the heat and stench of the Lamp was ready to stifle him Their other sorts of Penance out-doing this might be thought incredible were there not so many thousand witnesses thereof Numb 7 is the figure of another Penitentiary over whose head several years have past and yet he never slept day nor night When he finds himself sleepy he hangs the weight of the upper part of his body upon a double-rope that is fasten'd to one of the boughs of the Tree and by the continuance of this posture which is very strange and painful there falls a humour into their legs that swells them very much The Figure of a Penitent as they are represented in little under the Banians great Tree Numb 9 is the posture of another Penitent who every day for several hours stands upon one foot holding a Chasing-dish in his hand into which he pours Incense as an Offering to his God fixing his eyes all the while upon the Sun Numb 10 and 11 are the figures of two other Penitents sitting with their hands rais'd above their heads in the air Numb 12 is the posture wherein the Penitents sleep without ever resting their arms which is certainly one of the greatest torments the body of man can suffer Numb 13 is the posture of a Penitent whose arms through weakness hang flagging down upon his shoulders being dry'd up for want of nourishment There are an infinite number of other Penitents some who in a posture quite contrary to the motion and frame of nature keep their eys always turn'd toward the Sun Others who fix their eyes perpetually upon the ground never so much as speaking one word or looking any person in the face And indeed there is such an infinite variety of them that would render the farther discourse of them more then tedious True it is that I have hid those parts which modesty will not suffer to be expos'd to view But they both in City and Countrey go all as naked as they came out of their Mothers wombs and though the Women approach them to take them by the fingers-ends and to kiss those parts which modesty forbids to name yet shall you not observe in them any motion of sensuality rather quite contrary seeing them never to look upon any person but rowling their eyes in a most frightful manner you would believe them in an extasie CHAP. VII Of the Idolaters belief touching the estate of the Soul after death 'T IS an Article of the Idolaters Faith that the Souls of Men departing out of the body are presented to God who according to the lives which they lead orders them another body to inhabit So that one and the same person is born several times into the World And that as for the Souls of wicked and vicious persons God disposes them into the bodies of contempt'ble Beasts such as Asses Dogs Cats and the like to do Penance for their crimes in those infamous Prisons But they believe that those Souls that enter into Cows are happy presuming that there is a kind of divinity in those creatures For if a man dye with a Cows-tail in his hand they say it is enough to render him happy in the other World The Idolaters believing thus the transmigration of the Souls of men into the bodies of other creatures they abhor to kill any creature whatever for fear they should be guilty of the death of some of their kindred or friends doing Penance in those bodies If the Men in their life-time are famous for their vertuous deeds they hold that their Souls pass into the bodies of some Potent Raja's where they enjoy the pleasures of this life in those bodies as the reward of those good works which they did This is the reason why the Faquirs put themselves to such horrible Penances But because that all are not able to endure so much torment in this World they labour to supply the defect of that cruel Penance by good works And besides they charge their Heirs in their Wills to give Alms to the Bramins to the end that by the powerful effect of their Prayers their God may assign them the body of some Noble Personage In January 1661 the Broaker belonging to the Holland-Company whose name was Mondas-Parek dy'd at Surat He was a rich Man and very charitable giving his Alms very liberally as well to the Christians as to the Idolaters the Capuchins at Surat living one part of the year upon the Rice Butter and Pulse which he sent them This Banian was not sick above four or five days during all which time and for eight days more after he was dead his Brothers distributed nine or ten-thousand Roupies and in the burning of his body they mix'd Sandal-wood and Lignum-Aloes with the ordinary wood believing that by that means the Soul of their Brother transmigrating into another body he would come to be some great Lord in another Countrey There are some that are such fools that they bury their treasure in their life-time as it is the usual custom of all the rich Men in the Kingdom of Asen to the end that if they should be condemn'd to the body of some poor miserable person they might have wherewithal to supply their necessities I remember one day that I bought in India an Agate-Cup half a foot high he that sold it me assur'd me that it had been buried under ground above 40 years and that he kept it to
serve his occasions after death but that it was to him a thing indifferent whether he buried his Cup or his Money In my last Voyage I bought of one of these Idolaters sixty-two Diamonds of about six grains a-piece and while I was wondring to see so fair a parcel he told me I needed not to wonder for he had been fifty years getting them together to serve him after his death but that having occasion for Money he was forc'd to part with them This buried treasure stood the Raja Seva-Gi in great stead when he took Arms against the Great Mogul and the King of Visapour For that Raja having taken Callian Biondi a small City in the Kingdom of Visapour by the advice of the Bramins who assur'd him he should find great store of treasure buri'd caus'd the greatest part thereof to be demolish'd and found so much wealth as to maintain his Army which was above thirty-thousand Men. It is impossible to convince these poor Idolaters of their errors in regard they will hear no reason but submit themselves altogether to their old forms and customs CHAP. VIII Of the Custom among the Idolaters to burn the Bodies of their Dead THE custom of burning the Bodies of the dead is very ancient among the Gentiles which Ceremony they most commonly perform by the banks of Rivers where they wash the dead which is the last purgation of them from their sins Nay their superstition is so great sometimes that they will carry the sick person death approaching to the bank of some River or Pond and put his feet in the water As nature fails they dip him deeper and deeper till at length they hold him expiring up to the chin in the River to the end that at the same time that the Soul departs out of the Body both Body and Soul may be cleans'd from all defilement and then plunging the newly dead Body over head and ears they bring it out and burn it in the place appointed which is generally neer some Pagod There are some persons that make it their business to fetch Wood and agree what they shall have for their pains An Idolater being dead all those of his Caste or Tribe assemble together at the House of the deceas'd and laying the Body upon a Beer cover'd with clean fine Linnen according to his Quality and Estate they follow the Beer which is carri'd by such as are appointed for that purpose to the place where the Body is to be burn'd As they go along they sing certain Prayers to their God pronouncing several times the words Ram Ram while another going before the Beer sounds a little Bell to advertize the living to pray for the dead The Body being set down by the bank of the River or Pond they first plunge it into the water and then they burn it According to the quality of the deceas'd they also mingle with the ordinary wood Sandal-wood and other Sweet-woods But the Idolaters do not only burn the Bodies of the dead but the Bodies of the living They scruple to kill a serpent or a louse but account it a meritorious thing to burn a living Wife with the Body of the deceas'd Husband CHAP. X. How the Wives are burnt in India with the Bodies of their deceas'd Husbands IT is also an ancient custom among the Indians that the Husband happening to dye the Wife can never marry again So that as soon as the Man is dead the Wife retires to bewail her Husband some days after that they shave off her hair she lays aside all the ornaments of her apparel she takes off from her arms and legs the Bracelets which her Husband put on when he espous'd her in token of her submission and her being chain'd to him and all the rest of her life she lives slighted and despis'd and in a worse condition than a Slave in the very House where she was Mistress before This unfortunate condition causes them to hate life so that they rather choose to be buri'd alive with the body of their deceas'd Husbands then to live the scorn and contempt of all the World Besides that the Bramins make them believe that in dying after that manner they shall revive again with him in another World with more honour and more advantages than they enjoy'd before These are the motives that perswade the Women to burn with their Husbands besides that the Priests flatter them with a hope that while they are in the midst of the flames before they expire Ram will appear and reveal wonderful visions to them and that after their Souls have transmigrated into various Bodies they shall at length obtain a high degree of Honour to eternity However there is no Woman that can burn with her Husband's body till she has the leave of the Governor of the place where she inhabits who being a Mahumetan and abhorring that execrable custom of Self-murder is very shy to permit them Besides there are none but Widows that have no children that lye under the reproach that forces them to violent death For as for the Widows that have children they are by no means permitted to burn themselves but quite the contrary they are commanded to live for the education of the children Those Women whom the Governour will not permit to burn themselves spend the rest of their lives in doing Penance and performing works of Charity Some make it their business to sit upon the Road to boyl certain Pulse in water and to give the liquor to Travellers to drink Others sit with fire always ready for them to light their Tobacco Others make vows to eat nothing but the undigested grains which they find in Cow-dung The Governour finding no perswasions will alter the Woman's resolution but more especially perceiving by the sign which his Secretary makes him that he has receiv'd the Coin in a surly manner gives the Woman leave bidding the Devil take her and all her kindred When they have got this leave their Musick begins to strike up and away they ding to the House of the deceas'd with Drums beating and Flutes playing before them and in that manner they accompany the person that is to be burnt to the place appointed All the kindred and friends of the Widow that is to dye come to her and congratulate her for the happiness she is to enjoy in the other World and for the honour which the Caste she is of receives by her generous resolution she dresses her self as she were going to be marri'd and she is conducted in triumph to the place of execution For the noise is loud of Musical Instruments and Womens Voices that follow her singing Songs in honour of the miserable creature that is going to dye The Bramins that accompany her exhort her to give publick testimonies of her constancy and courage and many of our Europeans are of opinion that to take away the fears of death which naturally terrifies humanity the Priests do give her a certain Beverage to stupify and
opens it reads it and finds that the Prince demands his head He makes no other answer to that Order then what he does in these few words Let the Will sayes he of my Emperour be done only give me leave to say my Prayers which is granted him His Prayers being ended the Capigis seize him by the Arms and the chief of them presently takes off his Girdle or Sasche and casts it about his Neck That Girdle consists of several small strings of Silk with knots at both ends which two of the company immediately catch hold of and one drawing one way and the other t'other-way they dispatch him in an instant If they are unwilling to make use of their Girdle they take a handkerchief and with the Ring which they use in the bending of their Bowes and which they ordinarily wear on the right-hand Thumb they thrust the hand between the handkerchief which is ty'd very close and the Throat and so break the very Throat-Bone Thus they make a shift to strangle a man in an instant suffering him not to languish in pain that he may dye a faithful Mahumetan and not have the time to enter into despair the Turks thinking our way of hanging Criminals who are so long in torment upon the Gibbet a strange kind of Execution Though I have often us'd this expression That the Grand Seignor sends to demand When and how they strike of the Head in Turkey the Head of any person whom he would rid out of the way yet they never cut it off but when he expresly declares his desire to see it and then it is brought to him If it be from some place at a great distance they take out the Bruins and fill the empty place with Hay and it was my fortune to see two Heads so order'd at the same time which they carried in a Bag. They were the Heads of the Bassa's of Kars and Erzerom It is further to be observ'd That when the Sentence of death is pass'd by the Prince against any one what quality soever he may be of the Turks make no further account of him and when they speak of him treat him no otherwise than they would do a Dog The Bostangi who had been commissionated to bring those two Heads to the Grand Seignor finding himself weary and indispos'd at a Village in Armenia where it was my chance to be at that time and having understood that there was a French-man in the Inne ask'd one of my Servants whether I had any Wine and would be content to let him have any to cheer up his spirits I immediately sent him some in a large Flaggon whereupon having intreated me to come and take a Glass with him which I thought it not fit to deny he would needs shew me whether I would or no the Heads of those two Bassa's a sight I had no great curiosity to see When there is no order given for the bringing of the Head they bury the Body about Mid-night without any ceremony and the memory of the Bassa who had made so much noise before is soon extinguish'd and laid in the dust But it is moreover to be A Prohibition against shedding the blood of the Mahumetans who are condemn'd to death noted That it is the Custome in Turkey not to cut off the Head of any one till after they have strangled him and that the blood is quite cold it being against their Law That the blood of a Mussulman that is one of the Faithful should be spilt upon any occasion but in Warr. The execution being over he who brought the Order for it makes an immediate Seizure of all that belong'd to the deceas'd Bassa and after he has set aside what he The Inventories of the Goods of Bassa's deceas'd not faithfully taken liked best for his own use whether in Gold or Jewels he brings the same persons who had been at the precedent Councel to proceed to the Inventory of his Goods which are afterwards as I have said elsewhere transmitted to the Chambers of the Treasury They who are assistant at the taking of that Inventory know well enough that many things which belong'd to the deceas'd are embezill'd but they are so far from repining or murmuring at it that they sign and attest that there was not any more found They are afraid if they demean'd themselves otherwise lest that Officer of the Seraglio whom the Grand Seignor has sent and who possibly is in favour should do them ill offices at the Court and spread some false report of them whence according to the example they have then before their eyes might happen in like manner the loss of their Charges and Lives They therefore think it prudence to connive at what ever is done by that Envoy as being otherwise perswaded that he will not be disown'd by the Grand Seignor who is not ignorant of what 's done upon those occasions Nay on the contrary whatever he may have dextrously secur'd to himself of the Bassa's Goods they make him some additional Presents of their own at his departure from them engaging him thereby to speak well of them to the Grand Seignor and to the Grand Vizir at his return to the Port. And then also not accounting what he had taken before-hand and what Custome tolerates he receives new marks of the Liberality of his Prince who is satisfy'd that he has so faithfully executed his Orders and so he participates of what is set down in the Inventory when the Bassa's Goods are brought into the Seraglio Some possibly will be apt to imagine that this Sentence of Death pass'd in the Grand Seignor's Letter should raise some disturbance and astonishment in the Soul of The Causes inducing the Turks to defie Diath with so much constancy him who reads it and who reading therein his own Condemnation knowes that it must be immediately executed Yet is it not apparent in his Countenance that he is much startled at it he is not surpriz'd therewith he sees that few of his Companions escape the same sate and he has dispos'd himself for such an end assoon as he first took possession of his Charge Besides the Turks have a strong perswasion That the Decrees of Predestination are irrevocable and that it is impossible to avoid them which makes them look Death in the face with such a degree of constancy and intrepidity as renders them in a manner insensible To which reflection we may adde this That that ready and implicite obedience and submission of the Turks to the Orders of their Soveraign is rather a principle of Religion than of State which has been instill'd into them by a most subtle piece of Politicks and they believe That if they dye by the Command of their Prince they go streight into Paradise As for the opportunity of making an escape out of Turkey by any one who might The Difficulties of making an Escape out of Turkey have some presentiment of his destruction it
are a great number of Boys and Servants to guide the Ships of the Sun and Moon Besides they have the Picture of a Barque which they say belong'd to the Angel Becan whom God sends to visit the Sun and Moon to see whither they move right or no and keep close to their duty In reference to the other World and life to come they believe there is no other World but where Angels and Devils the Souls of good and bad reside That in that World there are Cities Houses and Churches and that the Evil Spirits have also Churches where they pray singing and rejoycing upon Instruments and Feasting as in this World That when any one lies at the point of death three hundred and sixty Demons come and carry his Soul to a place full of Serpents Dogs Lyons Tygres and Devils who if it be the Soul of a wicked man tear it in pieces but being the Soul of a just man it creeps under the bellies of those Creatures into the presence of God who sits in his seat of Majesty to judge the World That there are Angels also that weigh the Souls of Men in a Ballance who being thought worthy are admitted immediately into Glory That the Angels and Devils are Male and Female and beget Children That the Angel Gabriel is the Son of God engender'd upon Light and that he has a Daughter call'd Souret who has two Sons That the Angel Gabriel has several Legions of Demons under him who are instead of Souldiers and others that are his Officers of justice whom he sends from Town to Town and from City to City to punish the wicked In reference to Saints they hold that Christ left twelve Apostles to Preach to the Nations That the Virgin Mary is not dead but that she lives somewhere in the World though there be no person that can tell where she is That next to her St. John is the chiefest Saint in Heaven and next to them Zacharias and Elizabeth of whom they recompt several miracles and Apocryphal tales For they believe that they two begat St. John only by embracing that when he came to be of age they Marry'd him and that he had four Sons which he begat upon the waters of Jordan That when St. John desir'd a Son he pray'd to God who drew him one out of the water so that St. John had no more to do with his Wife but only to give her the Child to bring up That he dy'd a natural death but that he commanded his Disciples to Crucifie him after his death that he might be like Christ. Lastly that he dy'd in the City of Fuster and that he was bury'd in a Chrystal Tomb brought by miracle to the City and that this Sepulchre was in a certain House near the River Jordan They highly honour the Cross and sign themselves with it but they are very careful of letting the Turks observe them and during their Ceremonies they set a Watch at their Church doors for fear the Turks should enter and lay some unjust Fine upon them When they have ador'd the Cross they take it in two pieces which they never put together again 'till their Service rebegins The reason why they so adore the Cross is drawn out of a Book which they have Entitul'd The Divan Where it is written that every day early in the Morning the Angels take the Cross and put it in the middle of the Sun which receives his light from it as the Moon also doth hers They add that in the same Book are Pictur'd two Ships one of which is nam'd the Sun the other the Moon and thaâ— in every one of these Ships there is a Cross full of Bells And moreover that if there were not a Cross in those two Ships the Sun and Moon would be depriv'd of Light and the Ships would suffer Shipwrack Their chief Festivals are three The one in Winter that lasts three days in memory of our first Parent and the Creation of the World The other in the Month of August that also lasts three days which is call'd the Feast of St. John The third which lasts five days in June during which time they are all re-baptiz'd They observe Sunday doing no work upon that day They neither Fast nor do any penance They have no Canonical Books but a great number of others that treat of nothing but Witchcraft in which they believe their Priests to be very crafty and that the Devils are at their beck They hold all Women to be unclean and that it is not at all available for them to come to the Church They have one Ceremony which they call the Ceremony of the Hen of which they make great Accompt which is not lawful for any to perform but a Priest Born of a Virgin at the time of her Marriage When a hen is to be kill'd the Priest puts off his ordinary habit and puts on a Linnen Cloth girding his waste with a second and throwing a third about his shoulders like a Stole Then he takes the Fowl and plunges it in the water to make it clean after which he turns toward the East and cuts off the head holding the Body in his hand 'till it has bled out all the blood While the Hen bleeds with his Eyes lifted up to Heaven as if he were in an extasie he repeats in his own Language these words following In the name of God may this flesh be profitable to all that eat of it They observe the same ceremony when they kill Sheep For first they cleanse the place very carefully where the Sheep is to be kill'd washing it with water and strewing it with boughs nor is the number of people small that assists at this Ceremony as if it were at some solemn Sacrifice If you ask them why it is not lawful for the Laity to kill Fowls They answer that it is no more lawful for them to kill than to consecrate them and that is all the reason which they bring They eat of nothing drest by the Turks and if a Turk ask them for drink so soon as he has drank they break the Cup. And to make the Turks more hateful they Picture Mahomet like a great Gyant shut up in Prison in Hell with four more of his Parents and they say that all the Turks are carry'd into the same place full of wild Beasts to be there devour'd They pretend all to Salvation For say they after the Angel Gabriel had fram'd the World by the command of God he thus discours'd him Lord God said he behold I have built the World as thou didst command me It has put me to a great deal of trouble and my Brethren also to raise such high Mountains that seem to sustain Heaven And who indeed was able to make way for Rivers through Mountains without vast labour and to give every thing its proper place Moreover great God by the aid of thy powerfull Arm we have brought the World to so much perfection that
and compound it with a Water which they cause them to drink who have committed any Sin after they have been at Confession for it They call that Water the Cazi's Water which Urin ought to be preserv'd forty days with an infusion of Willow-Bark and certain Herbs When any person is confess'd of his Sin if it be a crying Sin the party is bound to stay ten days in the Cazi's House and not to eat or drink but what the Priest gives them And in order to Absolution the Priest strips him naked and tyes a little Dog to his right great Toe which he leads with him about the Cazi's House wherever he goes sometimes a whole day sometimes longer according to the hainousness of the crime In that posture he desires the Cazi to purifie him telling him that for his part he believes himself to be purify'd The Priest makes answer that it is the Dog that must purifie him and not he After that he powrs the compounded water seven times upon his head then gives him a draught to drink and so he is absolv'd This penitence costs the criminal Sawce who is afterwards bound to feast all his friends at the Cazi's House Being surpriz'd at this superstition I ask'd whether the women were shrifted thus by the Cazi but I found that the Cazi's Wives confess and absolve the women and maids One more strange custom they have that when a man is upon the point of death they take a little Dog and set it upon the expiring parties brest When he is just breathing his last they put the mouth of the Dog to the mouth of the person dying and cause him to bark twice in that posture that the Soul of the deceas'd may enter into the Dog who they say will deliver it into the hands of the Angel appointed to receive it Moreover when any Dog happ'ns to dye they carry him out of the City and pray to God for the Carrion as if the Beast receiv'd any kindness after death by their Prayers Of the Beasts which they love or hate THere are some Beasts which the Gaurs do mightily respect and to which they give a great deal of Honour There are others which they as much abhor and which they endeavour'd to destroy as much as in them lies believing that they were not created by God but that they came out of the body of the Devil whose ill nature they retain The Beasts which they principally admire are the Cow the Oxe and the Dog They are expresly forbid to eat of the flesh of a Cow or an Oxe or to kill them The reason why they so esteem these Creatures is because the Oxe labours for man and Ploughs the Ground that produces his food As for the Cow they more dearly affect her for the Milk she gives but especially for the purifying quality of her Urine The Creatures which they abhor are Adders Serpents Lizards Toads Frogs Creyfish Rats Mice but above all the rest Cats which they say are the resemblance of the Devil who gave them so much strength that a man can hardly kill them so that they rather suffer the inconveniency of Rats and Mice than ever to keep a Cat in their Houses As for the other Animals before-mention'd if any of the Gaurs fall sick they hire poor people to go and find those Creatures out and kill them which they reck'n in the number of those good works that comfort the Souls of the deceas'd The reason why they hate them so is because they believe the Devils make use of them to torment the Damn'd and therefore they do a work of charity that destroy them whereby they mitigate the pains and torments of Souls in Hell The last King of these Gaurs was Sha-Iesherd who was driv'n out of his Country by Omar the second successor to Mahomet Of the RELIGION of the ARMENIANS and of their Principal CEREMONIES CHAP. IX How the Armenians Consecrate and Administer the Sacrament SInce the Armenians Traded into Europe and began to be Travellers their Churches are better set out then they were heretofore They spare no cost to adorn the Choir and the Altar you tread upon rich Carpets and for the structure and embellishments of it they employ the best Workmen and the choicest Materials they can meet with From the body of the Church to the Choir there is usually an ascent of five or six Steps Nor is there above one Altar in any Church upon which they set the Consecrated Bread before they set the Chalice where the Wine is When the Mass for the Ceremony is said by an Arch-bishop at the reading of the Gospel they light an abundance of Wax Tapers which Tapers are like Torches After the Gospel is read several of the Noviciates take sticks in their Hands about five foot long at the end whereof are Latten Plates with little Bells hanging about them which when they are shak'd imitate the sound of Cymbals Other Noviciates there are which hold a Copper Plate in their Hands hung about with Bells which they strike one against another and at the same time the Ecclesiasticks and Laity sing together indifferent Harmoniously All this while the Archbishop has two Bishops of each side of him who are in the room of a Dean and a Sub-dean and when it is time he goes and unlocks a Window in the Wall on the Gospel side and takes out the Chalice where the Wine is Then with all his Musick he takes a turn about the Altar upon which he at length sets down the Chalice saying certain Prayers After that with the Chalice in his hand and the Bread upon the Chalice he turns toward the people who presently prostrate themselves upon the Ground beat their Brests and kiss the Earth while the Arch-bishop pronounces these words This is the Lord who gave his Body and Blood for you Then he turns toward the Altar and eats the Bread dip'd in the Wine for they never drink the Wine but only dip the Bread in it That done the Arch-bishop turns once more toward the people with the Bread and Chalice in his hand and they that will receive come one after another to the bottom of the Choir whither it is not lawful for any Lay-person whatsoever to ascend to whom the Arch-bishop gives the Bread dip'd in Wine that is in the Chalice which Bread is without leven flat and round about as thick as a Crown and as big as the Host of the Mass being Consecrated the day before by the Priest whose Office it is They never put Water in their Communion-Wine affirming that Water is for Baptism and that Christ when he instituted the Holy Supper drank it pure without any mixture of Water When the Armenians come to the Communion the Arch-bishop or the Priest says these words I confess and believe that this is the Rody and Blood of the Son of God who takes away the sins of the World who is not only ours but the Salvation of all Mankind The
about his having alighted at which time the Athemadoulet and other Lords remounting him the two Kings rode together upon the Silks the King of Persia giving the left hand to the Tartar The King of Persia very generously lent him a considerable assistance of 15000 Horse and 8000 Foot and sixty thousand Tomans in Money The Tartar in Exchange gave him one of his Provinces bordering upon Persia which yeilded him a very good Revenue in regard the Inhabitants were all Shepherds or Turcomans that breed an infinite number of Cattel wherein the wealth of that Province consists While he reign'd he had a present made him from the Governour of Schiras of a wild Ass whose Skin was as red as Scarlet having a Horn growing out of his forehead about a foot long Sha Abbas reign'd about twenty-four years and dy'd at Tehzon of an inflammation in his throat which came by excessive drinking His body by his own order was buri'd at Kour So soon as he was dead the Lords that were about him sent advice of his death to the Prince that now reigns by the Topigi-Basha who is General of the Musqueteers and Mirza Bayad the Cheif of the Astrologers So soon as they came to the door of the Haram they desir'd to speak with the Mother and the Son who believ'd them come upon some dismal design But they presently confirm'd them to the contrary For as soon as the Prince came forth of the Haram they fell at his feet and saluted him King declaring the death of his Father Whereupon the Prince immediately tore his Garment according to the custom And indeed they have another custom that as soon as the new Prince comes after much entreaty out of the Haram he throws himself to the ground at the door of the Haram and then rising and sitting upon his heels one of the Lords that are sent girds the Scimiter about his waste saying these words May it please your Majesty to remember your Slave that had the Honour to grid you with this Scimiter Which done he goes and sets the Trumpets a sounding and the Drums beating whereupon all the people in the morning come running to the Gate of the Palace crying out Patsha Salamalek I salute thee Emperor Which is all the Ceremony us'd when any King of Persia ascends the Throne For I never saw any Crown set upon the head either of Sha Abbas or Sha Sefi Only in Persia they gird on the Scimiter as in Turky they put on the Bonnet of the Sophi's which is very richly set with Jewels but has not the least resemblance of a Crown The same Ceremony of girding on the Scimiter is us'd to the Mogul the Kings of Visapour and Golconda and they also put the Bonnet upon their heads which is set with the richest Jewels in the possession of those great Monarchs Sha-Sefi the second some time after his coming to the Throne fell dangerously sick not having ever enjoy'd a perfect health before Now it is the custom in those Countries that upon such an occasion all the Lords of the Court and Governors of Provinces give a sum of money according to their willingness and liberality This sum is usually in Gold which they put into a Bason very richly set with pretious Stones and bear it three times over the Kings head pronouncing these words Patsha Bashena Olson This money is sacrific'd for the health of the Kings head If the King recover all that money is giv'n to the poor to which the King and his Haram add very liberally But if the King dies the money is put into the Treasury and the poor have nothing The twentieth of August 1667 was the critical day of his distemper and every one thought he would have dy'd Upon which all the Grandees of the Court seeing him in that condition went to the Mosquee call'd Babaron which is without the City to pray for his health and altogether gave near a thousand Tomans to the poor The next day they commanded the Christian Armenians to pray for the recovery of the King Whereupon as well the Ecclesiasticks as the Laity went to their prayers upon the side of the River which is between Ispahan and Zulpha They also sent their Kelonter with fifty Tomans in Gold to bear over the Kings head though the Armenians pronounce not the same words as the Persians saying only Berai te Sadduk destin'd for Alms. Thus the danger being over in a few days they made it their business to recover him to a perfect habit of health but in regard the King continu'd in a languishing condition and for that the Physicians could not discover the cause of the distemper the King began to beleive that it proceeded from the ignorance of the Physicians for which reason some of them had receiv'd none of the best entertainment already At length it came into the thoughts of some others of the Physicians who were afraid for themselves that in regard Persia was thus doubly afllicted with Famine and the Sickness of the King both at one time it must of necessity be the Astrologers fault that miss'd the favourable hour when the King should have ascended the Throne Thus being troubl'd at their disgrace pretending to have no less skill in future knowledg than the Astrologers who had not chos'n a true time for the King to ascend the Throne they concluded that for the perfect recovery of his health and the restoring of plenty to the Nation it was necessary to renew the Ceremony at a lucky hour and to change his name This proposition pleas'd the King and his Council The Physitians and Astrologers joining together observ'd the first unlucky day which would certainly be follow'd by another that would prove fortunate Now there being among the Gaures some that pretend themselves descended from the Rustans who were ancient Kings of Persia and Parthia that very morning one of those Gaures setting himself upon the Throne with his back against a wooden Figure which represented him to the life all the Grandees of the Court came and did him homage as their King as he had order'd them to do This action lasted till the favourable hour was come which happen'd a little before Sun-set Then it was that an Officer of the Court came behind and cut off the head of the wooden Figure while the Gaure immediately took his heels and fled Presently upon that the King appear'd in the Hall upon whose head when they had put the Bonnet of Sophi and re-girt him with the Scimitar he ascended the Throne and took the name of Soliman He was forc'd to act this Comedy to satisfie the Law which contriv'd that he should change his Name and take a new possession of his Throne by ejecting a Usurper that had wrongfully claim'd it For which reason the Gaure was set up as Pretender as laying claim to the ancient Lineage of the Persian Kings and being of a different Religion From that time the King recovering and the Famine
to Asouf-Kan his Generalissimo and prime Minister of State who was Protector of the Empire He commanded also all the Officers of the Army to acknowledg him for King as being the lawful Heir declaring Sultan Komrom a Rebel and incapable of the Succession Moreover he made Asouf-Kan to swear in particular that he would never suffer Boulaki to be put to death which way soever affairs went which Asouf-Kan sware upon his Thigh and as religiously observ'd as to the Article of not putting him to death but not as to that of helping him to the Crown which he design'd for Cha-jehan who had married his eldest Daughter the Mother of four Princes and two Princesses The news of the Kings death being known at Court caus'd a general lamentation And presently all the Grandees of the Kingdom set themselves to execute the Kings Will and Testament acknowledging Sultan Boulaki for Emperor who was very young That Prince had two Cousin-Germans who were both of them by the Kings consent turn'd Christians and made publick profession thereof Those two young Princes being very apprehensive perceiv'd that Asouf-Kan Father-in-Law to Cha-jehan and Father of Cha-Est-Kan had no good intentions toward the young King and gave him notice of it which cost them their lives and the King the loss of his Dominions For the young King having no more with than was agreeable to his age openly declar'd to Asouf-Kan what his Cousins had reveal'd to him in private and ask'd the General whether it were true that he had a design to set up his Uncle against him or no. Asuof-Kan immediately accus'd the Reporters of salsity and impudence and protested his fidelity to his King and vow'd to spend the last drop of his blood to preserve him in the possession of the Empire However seeing his Conspiracy discover'd he resolv'd to prevent the punishment to which end having got the two Princes into his possession he put them both to death But before that in regard of his power in the Army and in the Empire he had already brought over to Cha-jehans party the greatest part of the Commanders and Lords of the Court and the better to play his game and deceive the young King he rais'd a report that Cha-jehan was dead and because he had desir'd to be buried near his Father Gehan-guir the body was to be brought to Agra This Stratagem being cunningly manag'd Asouf-Kan himself gave advice of the feign'd death to the King telling the King withall that it would be but a common civility for him to go and meet the Corps when it came within a League or two of the City being an Honour due to a Prince of the Blood of the Moguls All this while Cha-jehan kept himself incognito till coming within sight of the Army that lay about Agra he caus'd himself to be put into a Coffin wherein there was only a hole left for him to breath at This Coffin being carri'd under a moving Tent all the principal Officers who were of the plot with Asouf-Kan came to perform the usual Ceremonies of State to the body of the deceas'd Prince while the young King was upon the way to meet the body But then Asouf-Kan finding it seasonable to execute his design caus'd the Coffin to be open'd and Cha-jehan rising up and shewing himself to the eyes of all the Army was saluted Emperor by all the Generals and other principal Officers who had their Cue ready so that the name of Cha-jehan running in a moment from one mans mouth to another the Acclamation became publick and the Empire was setled upon him The young King hearing the news by the way was so surpriz'd that he thought of nothing but how to save himself by flight being upon a sudden forsaken by all his followers And Cha-jehan not believing it any way necessary to pursue him suffer'd him to wander a long time in India like a Fakir At length he retir'd into Persia where he was magnificently receiv'd by Cha-Sefi who allow'd him a pension fit for so great a Prince which he still enjoys Cha-jehan having thus usurp'd the Crown the better to secure himself and to stifle all Factions that might arise during the life of the lawful Prince whom he had so unjustly despoiled of his right by degrees put to death all those that had shew'n any kindness to his Nephew So that the first part of his Reign was noted for many acts of cruelty that blemish'd his reputation No less unfortunate was the end of his Reign For as he had unjustly depriv'd the lawful Heir of the Empire which belong'd to him he was himself while he yet liv'd depriv'd of his Crown by Aureng-zeb his own Son who kept him Prisoner in the Fortress of Agra For after Dara-Cha had lost the Battel against his two Brothers Aureng-zeb and Morat-Bakche in the Plain of Samonguir and was treacherously abandoned by the principal Officers of the Army he retir'd into the Kingdom of Lahor with all the Treasure which the confusion of his affairs would suffer him to get together In the King to resist the violence of his victorious Sons shut himself up in the Castle of Agra to the end he might not be surpriz'd but have time and leisure to observe how far the insolence of his children would transport them As for Aurengzeb who had Morat Bakche safe enough he enters Agra feigning to believe a report that Cha-jehan was dead that he might have liberty to get into the Fortress where he said one of the Omra's would make it out The more he reported the death of Cha-jehan the more did the King endeavour to let the people know he was alive But finding both Power and Fortune had taken Aureng-zeb's party and being also in great necessity for want of water he sent Fazel-Kan grand Master of his Houshold to assure his Son that he was alive and withal to tell him that it was the King's command that he should retire to his Vice-Roy-ship in Decan without putting him to any more vexation and that upon his obedience he would forgive whatever had past Aurengzeb firm in his resolution return'd for answer to Fazel-Kan that he was certain that the King his Father was dead and that upon that account he had only taken Arms to secure the Crown to himself which he thought he deserv'd as well as the rest of his Brothers That if his Father were living he had too great a respect for him to undertake the least enterprize that should displease him and therefore that he might be certain he was not dead he desir'd to see him and to kiss his feet and having so done he would retire to his Government and punctually obey his Commands Fazel-Kan return'd this answer to the King who declar'd that he should be glad to see his Son and sent back Fazel-Kan to tell him he should be welcome But Aureng-zeb more cunning than Cha-jehan assur'd Fazel-Kan that he would not set his foot in the Castle till the Garrison
be eaten But the deceit is harder to be discover'd when they make little Purses of the skin of the belly of the Beast which they sow up with strings of the same skin which are like the true bladders and then fill those Purses with what they have taken out of the right bladders and the other fraudulent mixture which they design to put among it True it is that should they tye up the bladder so soon as they cut it off without giving it air or time to lose its force the strength of the perfume would cause the blood to gush out of the nose so that it must be qualifi'd to render it acceptable or rather less hurtful to the brain The scent of the Beast which I carri'd to Paris was so strong that I could not keep it in my Chamber for it made all peoples heads ake that came neer it At length my Servants laid it in a Garret and cut off the bladder and yet the scent remain'd very strong This creature is not to be found in 65 degrees but in 60 there are vast numbers the Countrey being all over cover'd with Forrests True it is that in the months of February and March after these creatures have endur'd a sharp hunger by reason of the great Snows that fall where they breed ten or twelve foot deep they will come to 44 or 45 degrees to fill them themselves with Corn and new Rice And then it is that the Natives lay gins and snares for them to catch them as they go back shooting some with Bows and knocking others o' the heads Some have assur'd me that they are so lean and faint with hunger at that time that you may almost take them running There must be surely a prodigious number of these creatures none of them having above one bladder no bigger than a Hen's-egg which will not yield above half an ounce of Musk and sometimes three or four will not afford an ounce and yet what a world of Musk is bought up The King of Boutan fearing that the cheats and adulterations of Musk would spoil the Musk-Trade order'd that none of the Bladders should be fow'd up but that they should be all brought to Boutan and there after due inspection be seal'd up with his Seal Yet notwithstanding all the wariness and care of the King they will sometimes cunningly open them and put in little pieces of Lead to augment the weight In one Voyage to Patna I bought 7673 bladders that weigh'd 2557 ounces and an half and 452 ounces out of the bladder Bezoar comes from a Province of the Kingdom of Golconda toward the Northeast It is found among the ordure in the paunch of a wild-Goat that browzes upon a certain Tree the name whereof I have forgot This shrub bears little buds round about which and the tops of the boughs the Bezoar engenders in the maw of the Goat It is shap'd according to the form of the buds or tops of the branches which the Goats eat which is the reason there are so many shapes of Bezoar-Stones The Natives by feeling the belly of the Goat know how many Stones she has within and sell the Goat according to the quantity This they will find out by sliding their hands under their bellies and then shaking both sides of the paunch for the Stones will fall into the middle where they may easily count them all by their feeling The rarity of Bezoar is in the bigness though the small Bezoar has the same vertue as that which is larger But there is more deceit in the large Bezoar for the Natives have got a trick to add to the bigness of the Stone with a certain Paste compos'd of Gum and something else of the colour of Bezoar And they are so cunning too to shape it just like natural Bezoar The cheat is found out two ways the first is by weighing the Bezoar and then steeping it in warm water if neither the water change colour nor the Bezoar lose any thing of its weight the Stone is right The other way is to thrust a red-hot Bodkin of Iron into the Stone if the Bodkin enters and causes it to fry there is a mixture Bezoar is dearer according to the bigness of the Stones advancing in price like Diamonds For if five or six Bezoars weigh an ounce an ounce will be worth fifteen or eighteen Franks but if it be a Stone of one ounce that very ounce is well worth 100 Franks I have sold one of four ounces and a half for 2000 Livres I have been very curious to inform my self of all things that concern'd the nature of Bezoar but could never learn in what part of the body of the Goat it was to be found One time among the rest having oblig'd several Native Merchants by putting off for them a great quantity of Bezoar upon my request though it be death without mercy to transport any of these Goats out of the Countrey they brought me six Goats by stealth to my lodging When I ask'd the price of them I was surpriz'd when they told me one was worth but three Roupies that the two other were worth four Roupies and the three others four and three quarters a piece I ask'd them why some were more worth than others but I found afterwards that the first had but one Bezoar that the rest had two or three or four The six Goats had in all seventeen Bezoars in them and a half one as big as the half of a Hazel-nut The inside was like the soft ordure of the Goat the Bezoar lying among the dung which is in the belly of the Goat Some averr'd that they grew right against the liver others right against the heart but I could never find out the truth As well in the East as West there are a great quantity of Bezoars that breed in the same manner in Cows of which there have been some that have weigh'd seventeen or eighteen ounces For there was such a one that was giv'n to the Great Duke of Tuscany But those Bezoars are little esteem'd six grains of the other Bezoar working more powerfully than thirty of this As for the Bezoar which breeds in Apes as some believe it is so strong that two grains work as effectually as six of Goat's-Bezoar but it is very scarce as being only sound in those Apes that breed in the Island of Macassar This sort of Bezoar is round whereas the other is of several fashions as I said before As the Apes Bezoar is stronger and scarcer than the Goats so it is dearer and more sought after a piece as big as a nut being sometimes worth a hunder'd Crowns The Portugals make great account of this Bezoar standing always upon their guard for fear of being poison'd There is another Stone in great esteem that is call'd the Porcupine's-Stone which that creature is said to carry in its head and is more precious than Bezoar against poison If it be steep'd in water a quarter of an
disorder the senses which takes from her all apprehension of her preparations for death 'T is for the Bramins interest that the poor miserable creatures should continue in their resolutions for all their Bracelets as well about their legs as their arms the Pendents in their ears their Rings sometimes of Gold sometimes of Silver for the poor wear only Copper and Tin all these belong to the Bramins who rake for them among the ashes when the party is burn'd I have seen Women burnt after three several manners according to the differrence of the Countrey In the Kingdom of Guzerat as far as Agra and Dehli they set up a little Hut about twelve foot square upon the bank of a Pond or River 'T is made of Reeds and all sorts of small Wood with which they mingle certain pots of Oil and other Drugs to make it burn more vehemently The Woman is plac'd in the middle of the Hut in a half-lying-down posture leaning her head upon a kind of a wooden Bolster and resting her back against a Pillar to which the Bramin tyes her about the middle for fear she should run away when she feels the fire In this posture she holds the body of her deceas'd Husband upon her knees chewing Betlé all the while and when she has continu'd in this posture about half an hour the Bramin goes out and the Woman bids them set fire to the Hut which is immediately done by the Bramins and the kindred and friends of the Woman who also cast several pots of Oil into the fire to put the Woman the sooner out of her pain After the Woman is burnt the Bramins search the ashes for all her Bracelets Pendants and Rings whether Gold Silver Copper or Tin which is all free booty to themselves In Bengala they burn the Women after another fashion In that Countrey a Woman must be very poor that does not accompany the Body of her deceas'd Husband to the Ganges to wash his Body and to be wash'd her self before she is burnt I have seen dead Carkasses brought to the Ganges above twenty days journey off from the place and smelt 'em to boot for the scent of them has been intollerably noysom There was one that came from the Northern Mountains neer the Frontiers of the Kingdom of Boutan with the body of her Husband carri'd in a Waggon she travell'd twenty days a-foot and neither eat nor drank for 15 or 16 days together till she came to the Ganges where after she had wash'd the body that stank abominably and had afterwards wash'd her self she was burnt with him with an admirable constancy Before the Woman that is to be burnt goes the Musick consisting of Drums Flutes and Hautboys whom the Woman in her best Accoutrements follows dancing up to the very Funeral-pile upon which she gets up and places her self as if she were sitting up in her Bed and then they lay a-cross her the body of her Husband When that is done her kindred and friends some bring her a Letter some a piece of Callcut another pieces of Silver or Copper and desire her to deliver them to their Mother or Brother or some other Kinsman or Friend When the Woman sees they have all done she asks the Standers-by three times if they have nothing more of service to command her if they make no answer she ties up all she has got in a piece of Taffata which she puts between her own belly and the body of her Husband bidding them to set fire to the Pile which is presently done by the Bramins and her Kindred I have observ'd because there is scarcity of Wood in Bengala that when these poor Creatures are half griddl'd they cast their bodies into the Ganges where the remains are devour'd by the Crocodiles I must not forget a wicked custom practis'd by the Idolaters of Bengala When a Woman is brought to bed and the Child will not take to the Teat they carry it out of the Village and putting it into a Linnen Cloth which they fast'n by the four Corners to the Boughs of a Tree they there leave it from morning till evening By this means the poor Infant is expos'd to be tormented by the Crows insomuch that there are some who have their eyes pickt out of their heads which is the reason that in Bengala you shall see many of these Idolaters that have but one eye and some that have lost both In the evening they fetch the child away to try whether he will suck the next night and if he still refuse the teat they carry him again to the same place next morning which they do for three days together after which if the Infant after that refuses to suck they believe him to be a Devil and throw him into Ganges or any the next Pond or River In the places where the Apes breed these poor Infants are not so expos'd to the Crows for where the Ape discovers a Nest of those Birds he climbs the Tree and throws the Nest one way and the Eggs another Sometimes some charitable people among the English Hollanders and Portugals compassionating the misfortune of those Children will take them away from the Tree and give them good education All along the Coast of Coromandel when the Women are to be burnt with their Husbands they make a great hole in the ground nine or ten foot deep and twenty-five or thirty foot square into which they throw a great quantity of Wood and Drugs to make the fire burn more fiercely When the fire is kindled they set the body of the man upon the brink and then presently up comes the Woman dancing and chewing Betlé accompany'd by her Friends and Kindred with Drums beating and Flutes sounding Then the Woman takes three turns round the hole and every time she has gone the round she kisses her Friends and Kindred After the third time the Bramins cast the Carcass of her Husband into the flame and the Woman standing with her back to the fire is pusht in by the Bramins also and tumbles backward Then her Kindred and Friends cast Oil and other combustible Drugs upon the fire to make it burn more vehemently that the Bodies may be the sooner consum'd In most places upon the Coast of Coromandel the Women are not burnt with their deceas'd Husbands but they are buried alive with them in holes which the Bramins make a foot deeper than the tallness of the man and woman Usually they chuse a Sandy place so that when the man and woman are both let down together all the Company with Baskets of Sand fill up the hole above half a foot higher than the surface of the ground after which they jump and dance upon it till they believe the woman to be stifl'd When some of the Idolaters upon the Coast of Coromandel are upon the point of death their Friends do not carry them to the side of a River or Lake to cleanse their Souls but they carry them to the