go up by Ladders and are stowed three or four together in one the rest lye upon the Ground but all horridly bad for being very numerous and lock'd in in the Night-time they do their needs where they are in Pots which raises a noysome stench besides when one has a mind to sleep some fall a talking and others a quarelling and fighting making constantly a hideous din which seems to me a Hell upon Earth In the morning this Prison is opened and those that are to work are let out who are conducted to their Labour by men that take care of it they are employed in building and other works of that nature and I have known Knights of Malta of noble Families there who have been made serve as Labourers some carrying Sand and others Stone and they were thus used to oblige them to ransom themselves the sooner and at the higher rate They who can get any thing by their own industry pay so much a day to their Master and so are not forced to work Many of them keep taverns and these live the best of all for they get money and work not but yet they must give their Master part of their Profit None but slaves sell Wine at Tunis it is all white and grows in great plenty in the Countrey about but they put Lime to it to make it intoxicate They sell their Wine cheap and it is the custome that if you go to a Tavern and call for a quart of Wine they will set Bread before you and three or four dishes of Meat or Fish with Sallads and other appurtenances and when you are to go you only pay for the Wine and at a reasonable rate too besides these Slaves have power to beat the Turks if they are rude and insolent in their Taverns and to pull of their Turban and keep it till they have payed their reckoning if they refuse to do it The Slaves who neither work nor gain any thing cannot step out of the Bath without leave from the Keeper thereof who gives them a man to wait on them to whom they ought at least to give three pence for his pains and he is to answer for them Our Knights were of the Number of those last for having written to Malta that they were forced to work the Turks that were slave at Malta were severely Bastonadoed who immediately wrote to Tunis that if they continued to make the slaves of Malta work at Tunis they would be Cudgeled to death in Malta and since that time they are no more put to work CHAP. LXXXXII Of the Dey and other Officers of Tunis MVstafa who was Dey in the year 1657. was the sixth Dey Before they had Deys the Basha commanded in name of the Grand Signior and lived in the Castle but has been turned out ever since the Moors made an Insurrection and made one Osman their first Dey This Dey is almost absolute The Dey of Tunis absolute Coins money which consists in little square pieces of Silver of the value of Maidins and obeys the Grand Signior no farther than he thinks fit nay and sometimes puts to death those whom the Grand Signior sends if the business they come about displease him as it happened to a Chiaoux sent from the Grand Signior a little before I was there And indeed when the Ambassadours of the Franks complain to the Grand Signior of the Corsairs of Barbary all the answer they have is that they must make reprisal upon them and that they are Subjects whom the Grand Signior cannot command At present the Basha of the Grand Signior is so much a slave there The Grand Signior Basha can do nothing at Tunis that he cannot stir abroad out of his House without leave from the Dey of whom he must send to ask it every time he goes out which costs him besides above an hundred Piastres that he must give to the Deys Guards and that is the reason he goes seldom abroad They have a Bey there also made by the Grand Signior his business is to go into the Countrey and gather the Caradge and other the Grand Signiors Dues which he pays in to the Basha who sends it to Constantinople but this Bey has a part in it himself gives part to the Dey and the rest to the Basha When a Dey dies his Children conceal his Death least another Dey should be chose against their will and in the morning every one coming as the custome is to wish the Dey a good day his eldest Son tells them how his Father before his Death The establishment of the Dey The death of the Dey declared to him such a one for his Successour who is commonly his Kiaya or some other Friend of theirs for they make a compact with him whom they would have to be Dey before they make any Declaration then his friends joyn with him and immediately the Imam going up to the top of the Minaret of the Mosque in the Castle publishes the death of the Dey he never goes up thither but at the usual hours unless it be at the death of a Dey and therefore whenever he is seen there at an unusual hour it is known that the Dey is dead and then a man speeds through the City on Horse-back crying God save Dey such a one and all shut up shop and stand to their Arms until the Forts be put into the hands of the Officers of the new Dey for fear some other in the mean time should usurp the Dey-ship When it is generally known who is Dey all the Cadys and others who stand in need of his favour bring him Presents but in the Night-time and in great Dishes covered with Fruit or Meat under which there may be five six seven or eight Purses so that the first night he receives above two hundred Purses in Presents They bring them in the night-time that they may not be perceived least it should be said that he was corrupted by Bribes and if they were brought to him by day he would refuse them and fall into a great Passion against him that should offer to bring him a present they come then in the Night-time and only kiss his Vest having one or more Servants carrying dishes of Fruit or Meat with the present at the bottom and as they kiss his Vest they whisper to him what they have brought in these Dishes After all the Dey keeps no great Court nor carrys it out with any great Majesty but shews himself familiar enough with every Body I saw him once as he was coming back from a Mosque in the City he walked on foot was cloathed in a scarlet Justacors lined with Samour and had but a small Retinue The Dey cannot procure that his Son should succeed him after his Death having asked Don Philippo the reason of that he told me it was because when Young-men find themselves all of a sudden advanc'd to so great power they fall into such debauched courses that they render
on another t on the third d gim and on the fourth h a but nothing on the ends He that demands the response roles it three times and at each time they observe the Letter that turns up then they look into a Book which they call Fal that 's to say a Fortune-book what these three Letters put together signifie and that is the Response CHAP. XXVII Of the Diseases of the Turks and their Remedies THe Turks are long Liv'd little subject to Diseases The Turks Heath and whence that proceeds and we have many dangerous Distempers that are not known amongst them as the Stone and many more I beleive this great Healthfulness proceeds partly from their frequent Bathings and partly from their Temperance in eating and drinking for they eat moderately and feed not upon so many different things as Christians do for the most part they make no Debauches in Wine The Turks Sober and use Exercises so that they have no Physicians and perhaps that may be one cause of their Health and long Life too When they are sick Who are the Physicians among the Turks they commonly make use of Christian or Jewish Physicians and when there are none to be found they have their recourse to Renegado's amongst whom there are always some Physicians that learn their Skill at the cost of many Besides that the Turks have some Receipts that all know which somtimes succeed and they often enough make use of them The Medicines of the Turks They very willingly use Hony in their Medicines They are commonly Renegado's that let them Blood though there are Turks that can do it very well but with Butcherly Launcets nay some with such Fleems as they use for Horses in Christendom and others with sharp-pointed Canes When they are troubled with a pain in the Head they Scarifie the place where the Pain is and having let out a pretty quantity of Blood The Turks way of Blood-leting they put a little Cotton to the Wound and so stop it or otherwise they give themselves five or six little Cuts in the Fore-head Fire used amongst the Turks for several Distempers They make also great use of Fire as I saw a Man who having the Head-ach caused a red-hot Iron to be applied above his Ear to the place of the Pain which actually seared it then he clap'd a little Cotton upon the Place and so was Cured And for all Diseases in several Members they apply to them a large Match or piece of Stuff or Cloath twisted and well Lighted and patiently suffer the pain till the Match goes out of it self And at Constantinople a Turk told me that he knew one who having a Rheumatism or some such Distemper in the region of his Reins had a mind to apply a burning Match to that part but that fearing it would hurt him the rest Laughed at him so that having at length resolved and bending himself downward that he might the more conveniently apply the Match to his Reins he clap'd it to and suffered the Pain so long and with so much Patience that he burn'd a Nerve and when he had a mind to raise himself upright again he could not but continued ever after bent down in that manner In short it is no Country for Physicians to get Estates in because as I have said they are subject to few Diseases and besides are but very bad Pay-masters to those that Cure them and if the Physicians should prove unsuccessful and the Patient Die they are so far from Paying them that they put them many times to Trouble and somtimes to Charges Physicians are in danger amongst the Turks accusing them of having Killed the Patient as if the Life and Death of Men were in the hands of Physicians and not of God. But let us proceed to their Religion CHAP. XXVIII Of Mahomet and the Alcoran THe Turks Religion is so full of Fopperies and Absurdities that certainly it is to be wondered at that it hath so many Followers and without doubt if they would but hearken it would be no hard matter to undeceive and convince them of the Brutality of their Law Mahomet but they are so resolutely deaf that they have Ears but will not hear and indeed Mahomet took care of that for being a Man of Wit he foresaw very well that his Sect would go down if they once came to Dispute about it and therefore he commanded that whosoever contradicted it should be put to Death So many have written the Life of Mahomet that one can hardly say any thing but what hath been already said and therefore I 'll wave it only I shall observe that Mahomet who was an Arabe and an Illiterate Man for the Turks themselves confess that he could neither Read nor Write having struck in with a Greek Monk called Sergius who had forsaken his Monastery this Monk who had some smattering in Learning made him lay the foundation of that great and damnable Sect which hath hitherto infected a great part of the World. He made use of the Old and New Testament in composing of the Alcoran The Alcoran sent from Heaven in the Month Ramadan The Alcoran in great Reverence but in a very confused manner that so he might draw in both Christians and Jews Nevertheless that Book hath got such great Credit amongst all these People that they say it was Written in Heaven and sent from God to Mahomet by the Angel Gabriel in the month of Ramadan not all at once but chapter by chapter and they have so great reverence for it that they never touch it but presently lift it up to their head before they read it and if a man should sit upon an Alcoran he would be guilty of a great crime If a Christian touched an Alcoran he would be soundly bang'd for that would be a prophanation of the book They say that they gain great indulgences by reading it all over and in the schools when a scholar hath made an end of reading over the Alcoran he treats the rest They say that whosoever reads it over so many times in his life shall after death go strait to Paradise This word Alcoran signifies Reading it is written in most excellent pure and exact Arabick The Turks believe that it cannot be translated into any other language and look upon the Persians as Hereticks purely because they have translated it into Persian This Book contains all their Law both canon and civil but it is full of fables and follics taken for the most part from the Rabbins who are excellent at such ridiculous stuff CHAP. XXIX Of the Belief of the Turks The Belief of the Turks THE Turks believe in and worship one God the Eternal and Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth but they believe not at all the Trinity they believe that Jesus Christ was conceived by the Breath of God this Breath is in Arabick expressed by the word Rouahh which signifies aswell as in
four times When they pray they may be all Naked except their privy parts and so may their Slaves both Men and Women but Free-women are not permitted to do so for they are to be covered all over when they pray unless it be one half of the Cheek and Chin. This is the difference betwixt the Ceremonies of the Men and of the Women when they pray the Men lift up their Hands to their Shoulders say Allah ekber and then lay them on their Navil the Women lift them up but half way to their Shoulders and then lay them upon their Breasts saying their Prayers as the Men do and performing their Ablutions in the same manner Great Devotion of the Turks When Prayers are ended all both Men and Women bow first to the right side and then to the left as saluting the two Angels Kerim Kiatib In short none can be more Devout than they are for when they are in the Mosque they pray so affectionately that they turn neither this way nor that way what ever may happen And in my time a Fire breaking out one Night of the Ramadan in Constantinople at the hour of Prayer a Renegado told me next day that those who were at that time in the same Mosque where he was which was not far from the place where the Fire was consulted which was best not to break off their Prayers or go and put out the Fire and at length they resolved upon the latter The Reverence of the Turks in their Mosques They are never seen to Prattle and Talk in their Mosques where they carry themselves always with great Reverence and certainly they give us a Lesson for Devotion There are but few who go not every day to Prayers at least to those of Noon Quindy and Ackscham for many perform the other two at Home nor does Travelling excuse them for when they know that it is about the hour of Prayer they stop in the Fields near to some Water and having drawn Water in a tinned Copper-Pot which they carry always purposely about with them they do the Abdest then spread a little Carpet upon the ground without which they never Travel and say their Prayers upon it They have Chaplets also which they often say for most part have them always in their Hand whether it be at Home or abroad in the Streets talking with their Friends Buying or Selling or drinking Coffee and at every Bead they turn they say Allah which is the Name of God. CHAP. XXXVIII Of the Charity of the Turks and the Pilgramage to Mecha Charity of the Turks THE Turks Fourth Command is Charity by that Command they are obliged to give yearly to the Poor the fortieth part of their Goods if they have poor Kindred they ought to prefer them before others if they have none they should give their Charity to their poor Neighbours and if they have no poor Neighbours they give it to the first they meet This Command is not ill observed among the Turks for they are very charitable and very willingly help the wretched without minding Religion whether they be Turks The reason why there are few Beggars among the Turks Christians or Jews I will not say that the Charity alone of the Rich hinders the beggary of the Turks there are in my opinion other causes for most part of the Turks have pay from the Grand Signior they live at a cheap rate and make good chear of a small matter so that a little Pilau a bit of Meat and a small portion of water will make to them a considerable Feast Charitable Donations of the Turks But after all they perform great acts of charity some in their life-time relieve the Poor with their Goods and others at their death leave great Estates for the founding of Hospitals building of Bridges Kervanserrais or Inns for the Caravans bringing Water to the High-ways and such other publick Works nay many of them see them done in their own life-time others again at their death give their Slaves their liberty They who can't be charitable with their Purses do good with their Hands employing themselves in mending the High-ways filling the Cisterns that are there standing by the Waters when they are out that they may shew Travellers the Foard and all this for Gods sake refusing money when it is offered them for they do it as they say for the sake of God and not for the sake of Money Their Charity extends also even to Beasts and Birds The charity of the Turks toward Beasts and all Market-days there are a great many who go and buy Birds which they presently set at liberty saying that the Souls of these Birds will come at the Day of Judgment and declare in the presence of God the kindness that they have received from them and indeed they cannot endure to see a Beast kept in pain for when they kill their Pullets they cut of their head at one blow and if they saw a man kill any after the French way they would not forbear to cudgel him nay they reckon it cruelty to kill a Louse or Flea with the nail they do no more but give them one or two turns betwixt the finger and thumb and then throw them away dead or alive There are others who at their death leave considerable Means for the feeding so many Dogs or Cats so many times a week and give the money to Bakers or Butchers for performing that charity which is faithfully and punctually enough put in execution and it is very pleasant to see every day Men loaded with meat go and call the Dogs and Cats of the Foundation and being surrounded with them distribute it among them by commons I could here give an hundred Instances of the charity of the Turks towards Beasts An instance of the charity of the Turks toward Beasts I have seen them often practice such as to us would seem very ridiculous I have seen several Men in good garb stop in a street stand round a Bitch that had newly puppied and all go and gather stones to make a little wall about her lest some heedless person might tread upon her and many such like Examples but it is not my design to trouble the Reader with such trifles In fine Sultan Amurath who in all appearance had no Religion and who made so slight a matter of the life of a man that if a day past wherein he had not put some body to death he was out of humour this cruel Prince I say was affected with that superstitious and bestial compassion for seeing a man one day stop at the corner of a street in Constantinople to dine on a piece of Bread and a bit of roast Meat which he had bought hard by and hold his Horse that was loaded with Goods he had to sell by the bridle he ordered the Horse to be unloaded and the load put upon the Master's back obliging him to continue so all the while that
pieces and a certain Sicilian who had waited upon him ever since he arrived in Sicily Don Philippo whose Turkish name is Mahomet is the Eldest Son of the late Dey Ahmet fourth Dey of Tunis who was a very austere Man but yet fond of this Son that was the Eldest of several other Boys he had This Prince Mahomet being very young was made General of the Galleys of Biserta and made an Expedition with them after which being as yet but seventeen or eighteen years of Age his Father Married him to the Daughter of the Basha of Tripoly against his Inclination who loved not the Lady though she was very Beautiful but he was forced to Dissemble for fear of provoking his Father who was so violent a Man that his Anger was always Fatal The Marriage was Celebrated with all imaginable Magnificence and for the space of three days there was nothing but Feasting Plays Tilting and other Diversions the Father sparing no Charges in Celebrating the Solemnity of the Wedding In the mean time though this Prince was greatly Respected yet he resolved to quit all his Hopes and escape into a Country where he never had been and was unknown he carried on his Design so cunningly and secretly that nothing of it was suspected till he was gone Pretending one day to go take the Air in some place beyond Goletta he went into a little Boat with four or five Christian Slaves and some Moors to row them When he was past the Goletta and got a pretty way from it he put ashoar some of his Moors upon pretext of sending them for something and then going off to Sea and a little after making a sign to the Christians that it was now time for them to declare themselves and begin he shot one of the Moors that remained with an Arrow and the Christians assisting him all the rest were quickly killed or forced to leap into the Sea of whom some swam ashoar They then directed their Course towards Sicily and succeeded so well in it that in two days time they arrived at Mazara The Vice-Roy of Sicily was no sooner informed of it but he sent for the Prince to Palermo where he was lodged in the Profess-House of the Jesuits and being there instructed in the Christian Religion he was afterwards Baptised in the Cathedral Church by the Arch-Bishop of Palermo the Vice-Roy being God-Father and the Vice-Queen God-Mother who named him Don Philippo He went from thence to Rome where he was well received and much honoured by the Pope who gave him good Presents He went to Spain where the King allowed him a Pension and retiring to Valentia he fell in love with a Spanish Lady of no great Fortune but very Witty who played very well on the Lute and Sung to admiration which was enough to engage the Prince who is a passionate lover of Musick he Married her privately and was at some Charges about it In the mean time the King of Tunis being informed that his Son was fled into Christendom fell into such a Rage that he put about twenty to Death Slaves and others and among the rest the unfortunate Wife of this Prince Mahomet whom for the future we shall call Don Philippo whom he caused to be strangled as having favoured the flight of his Son. But then it being out of his Power to Chastise his Son in Person he Disinherited him leaving him not so much as one Farthing Now the Mother of Don Philippo who was no less afflicted for the loss of her Son whom she passionately loved bethought her self of all ways how she might recover him and prevailed so far with an English Captain that he promised to bring him back This Traytor in execution of his design came to Valentia where having soon got acquaintance of this Prince he found that he wanted Money and supplied him Don Philippo having got Money made an Equipage and soon squandered away two or three Thousand Crowns that were lent him But some time after the Captain demanding payment of his Money put the Prince to a great plunge He offer'd the Captain a Letter to his Mother who would pay him all that he had Borrowed of him but the Captain would not have it Saying That he was no more owned in that Country now he was turned Christian but that he advised him to return to Rome where he had been well received that his Holiness would still receive him in the same manner and quickly put him in a condition to repay him offering him at the same time to carry him thither in his Ship. The Prince embraced the offer and taking his Wife and some Christian Servants on board with him put to Sea but the Captain in stead of directing his Course toward Rome stood away for Tunis so that the Prince was all in amaze when he knew Goletta He had had intelligence in Sicily of the death of his Father and therefore finding himself betrayed he made a Vertue of Necessity and writing a Letter privately to some Friends that he had at Tunis he sent it ashoar by some of the Ships Company who secretly brought him an answer He acquainted those his Friends with his arrival and asked their advice what way he should enter Tunis They sent him back an answer That they would come next day with a Brigantine and carry him away as by force Wherefore next Morning he went out in the Ships Boat that he might go Fish near the shoar and took with him the Sicilian I mentioned before who hath always served him This Man who was made believe that they were cast upon Tunis by foul Weather would have dissuaded him from that Fishing telling him that he might be known But he answered That he was so much altered that he did not at all fear that for he had now been several Years absent They were no sooner got off from the Ship but a Brigantine full of Armed Men came up towards them who having fired some shot in the Air entred the Boat and with great respect saluted the Prince But the poor Sicilian who steered the Boat was much surprised not knowing what to do Immediately they were carried to Tunis where being arrived Don Philippo went to see the Dey first and then his Mother who expected him with great impatience The Dey ordered him as a Punishment for his flying into Christendom to walk through the Town in the Spanish Apparel he then wore so that he was a Laughing-stock to all the People but if he had not had good Friends he had lost his Head for his flying After he had seen his Mother they put him into Turkish Apparel But when they came to cut off his Hair which was very lovely and long he told me he had much ado to consent to it and thought that he could more willingly have suffered Death than parted from his Hair. Nevertheless having sent for direction from his Confessor concerning the matter His Confessor sent him this Resolution That the Christian Religion