but consisting of choice men and he follow'd him in person with the whole Army He himself got into the Citie and sent Kartzschugai-Chan to meet the Turk whom he wearied out with perpetual skirmishes for six moneths together At last he gave him battel disorder'd and defeated him forcing him to fly as far as Netzed Upon the first news of the Victory Schach-Abas left the Citie to go and meet Kartzschugai-Chan and being come neer him alighted and said to him My dearest Aga I have by thy means and conduct obtain'd so noble a Victory that I would not have desir'd a greater of God come get up on my Horse 't is fit I should be thy Lackey Kartzschugai was so surpriz'd at this discourse that he cast himself at his feet intreated his Majesty to look on him as his slave and not to expose him to the derision of all the World by doing him an honour so extraordinary as that it was impossible he could any way deserve it But notwithstanding all his intreaties he was forc'd to get up the King and the Chans following on foot onely seven paces Schach-Abas had many other Wars against the Turks but the most signal Victory he ever got over his Enemies was at the reduction of the Citie of Ormus which he recover'd from the Portuguez six years before his death Of that an account shall be given in the subsequent Travels of Mandelslo About the end of the year 1629. he took a journey to Ferabath in the Province of Mesanderan which was the place he most delighted in of any in his Kingdom but he there fell so ill that perceiving he should not escape he sent for four Lords of the chiefest of his Councel to wit Isa-Chan Kurtzibaschi Seiul-Chan Tuschmal or Councellor of State Temerbey Ouwogly or Lord High-Steward and Iusuf Aga chief Gentleman of his Chamber who being come to his Bed-side he told them That firmly believing the sickness he was then in would be his last it was his pleasure that his Grand-Child Sain Myrsa should succeed him and assume his Father's name obliging them all solemnly to promise him that after his death they would religiously execute his Last Will. The Astrologers had told Schach-Abas that Sain should reign but eight moneths at most but when these Lords would have spoke to him of that Prediction the King made answer Let him reign as long as he can though it were but three dayes it will be some satisfaction to me to be assur'd that he shall one day have on his head the Crown which was due to the Prince his Father 'T was conceiv'd he had had some poyson given him upon which presumption the Hakim Iusuf his Physician order'd him hot bathing for eight dayes together and for four dayes afterward another kind of Bath of Cows milk but all these remedies being either ineffectual or too weak he seriously prepar'd himself for death even to the appointing of the place where he would be interr'd But that the people might not certainly know it he commanded the Ceremonies of his Funeral should be Celebrated in three several places at the same time to wit at Ardebil Mesched and Babylon but the more general report is that the body was carried to Babylon and thence to the Netzef of Kufa neer the Sepulchre of Aly upon this accompt that Schach-Abas going to Kufa soon after the reduction of Babylon and looking on the Netzef said he had never seen a more delightfull place and that he should wish to be there interr'd after his death What ere became of his body certain it is that he dy'd in the year 1629. having liv'd 63. years and reign'd 45. He discover'd the strength of his memory and understanding in the order he took at his death that it might be kept secret till his Grand-Child were assur'd of the Succession commanding that they should expose his body every day in the same Hall where he was wont to administer Justice set in a Chair of State with his eyes open his back turn'd to the Hangings behind which stood Iusuf Aga who ever and anon made him lift up his Arm by means of a silk string and answer'd those things which were proposed by Temir-beg on the behalf of such as were at the other end of the Hall and who were thereby perswaded that Schach-Abas was still alive This was so well personated that his death was conceal'd for the space of six weeks While Temir-beg and Iusuf Aga expos'd at Ferabath the Carkase of Schach-Abas as we said before Seinel-Chan made all the haste he could to Ispahan whither he brought the news of the King's death to the Daruga Chofrou Myrsa and having consulted with him about the means they should use to advance Sain Myrsa to the Throne they went together to the Appartment of the Princess his Mother which is called Taberick-kale and intreated her to put the young Prince into their hands The Mother who still had before her eyes the violent death of her Husband believing it was some fiction and that they had order from Schach-Abas to Murther the Prince lock'd her self up in her Chamber and made all passages so fast that these two Lords being out of all hopes to perswade her and being afraid to let slip the opportunity of executing the deceas'd Kings last Will after they had lain three dayes at the Princesse's Chamber door sent her word that if she would not open they should be forc'd to break it Upon this message she at last opened the door and presented to them the Prince her Son but conceiving it was in order to his present execution with these words Go child to the same place where thy Father is here are the murtherers ready to dispatch thee But when she saw those Lords prostrate themselves and kissing the Prince's feet her fright was turn'd into perfect joy The Lords conducted the Prince to the Palace-Royal where they set him in the Divan-Chane upon a Table of stone on which were as many Carpets which they call Kalitse Ahdalet or Carpets of Justice as there had been Kings of Persia of his Family in as much as every King at his first coming to the Crown causes one to be made for him and having sent for all the Chans and Lords who were about Ispahan they Crown'd him kiss'd his feet and wishing him a long and happy Reign setled him in the Throne of his Ancestors Immediately after the Ceremonies of his Coronation he took the name of Sefi according to the desire of Schach-Abas and bestow'd on the Chosrou Myrsa the Dignity of Chan with the name of Rustam as desirous by that means to revive in his person the memory of the great Heroe so highly Celebrated in their Histories and Romances It is reported that Schach-Sefi came into the World with his hands all bloody and that Schach-Abas his Grand-Father hearing of it said that that Prince should often bath his hands in blood Accordingly till the time of our
of is that of Guoffiquia which is built upon an Eminency with four Bastions of stone yet is it but a small one and irregular in regard that for want of place they could not make all the Bastions of the same bigness nor extend the Curtain as far as it should have been The Fort of Taffaso is also upon an ascent and hath four Bastions but it is bigger then the other and distant from the Sea about a hundred and sixty paces These two Forts have neither Wells nor Cisterns save that near the top of the ascent on which Taffaso stands there is a Well within a Half-moon which serves for a fifth Bastion to the place Tabillola hath but two Bastions so far one from the other that they cannot command all the Curtain so that there is no great account to be made thereof This Island is about seven Leagues in compass and subject to the King of Ternate It is very populous able to raise two thousand and two hundred fighting Men and it hath Sagu and other provisions sufficient for the Inhabitants and yields as much Cloves as any of the other Islands Besides the five Islands properly called the Molucques there are others to the number of seventy two subject to the King of Ternate scituate in the same Archipelago from Mindanao on the North-side and Bina and Corca which are on the South and between the Continent of New Guiny towards the East The chiefest are Motir Machiam Cajoa Xula Burra Na Noloa Meao Tufure Doe Saquite Totole Baol Guadupa Gorontano Ilibato Tamsne Manado Doudo Labague Iaqua Gabe Tobuquo Buto Sanguien c. amongst which some lye seventy Leagues from Ternate The Kings of all these Islands are Tributaries to the King of Ternate and tyed to find him such a number of Souldiers which the Author of the History of the Molucquez whom we mentioned before raises to sixscore thousand North of the Molucques lye the Isles now call'd the Philippins discovered by Ferdinand Magellanus when he compass'd the World in the year 1520. and had doubtless given them his own name had he lived till this new discovery Sebastian del Cano his Camerade in this stupendious Navigation not daring to hazard an establishment after the death of Magellanus who was slain in these Islands as we said before return'd for Spain After this there was no mention of these Islands till that in the year 1565. D. Luâ—â— de Valasco Viceroy of New Spain sent the Adelantado Michel de Laguaspe into this Sea where he put into haven in these Islands which in honour of King Philip the Second who then reigned in Spain he called by the name of Philippines His first Conquest was the Isle of Zebue where he remain'd six years after that he went to Luson now called Manille from its chief City whereof Velasco after a sleight opposition became Master This City lies in a Canton of Land incompassed all about with the Sea fourteen Degrees on this side the Line in the most Southerly part of the Isle which is in compass thee hundred and fifty Leagues On the North it hath China from which it is distant seventy Leagues on the North-East the Isle of Iapan which is two hundred and seventy Leagues distant from it Eastward the Ocean and towards the South the great Archipelago which is as it were divided into five Seas filled with so many Islands Kingdoms and Provinces that it may be said they are in a manner innumerable The Chineses who were heretofore possessed thereof have now deserted them but still trade thither The Inhabitants in their labour answer the fertility of the soyl which produces Corn Rice all sorts of Fruits and Drugs and it breeds Neat Buffler Deer Goats and Swine so as they want nothing necessary to livelihood and the Chineses take care they shall want nothing that is superfluous as Silk Purcelane and Lacque They have also Date-wine but they make it of a different manner to other places for they draw it from their Cocoes by cutting off one of the boughs whence there distils a Liquor which they suffer to work till it grows as strong as Spanish wine They have the best Lemmons and Oranges in the World and the most excellent Figs and Pears all sorts of Birds of prey and domestick Falcons Tercels Parrots Eagles c. but principally such abundance of Crocodiles that they are constrain'd to kill them to extirpate the breed for you have here Men of sufficient courage to encounter a Crocodile single though as big as an Oxe For the Combat they Gantlet their left Arm to the Elbow taking in that hand a Truncheon of a foot long pik'd at both ends and a Dagger in the other and in this posture they go into the River up to the Waste The Crocodile no sooner spies his Man but he comes on with open mouth to swallow him the Indian presents him his left hand and thrusting it down his throat hinders his jaws from shutting and in the mean time gives him so many wounds in his throat with his Poniard that he kills him This Creature is in form like a Lizard but covered with Scales so hard that he is invulnerable all over but in the throat and belly It layes abundance of Eggs which are so hard that they will not break with throwing against a Stone and to hatch them they thrust them into the Sand on a River side that heat and moisture the principles of Generation may hatch them These Islands breed more Tigers Lions Bears and other wild Beasts then Africk does but especially the Algalias which are the Creatures from which they get the Musks and Civet-Cats All these Islands are very populous and so rich that not only the Chineses continue their trading thither with great advantage but also the Spaniards who heretofore brought thither money from New Spain by which they gain'd two Marks of Gold for eight of Silver having given over that Trade in regard they make far greater advantages by their other Merchandizes the return whereof many times come to a thousand for a hundred by the traffick they have there with the Chineses who bring all sorts of Cottons and Silk-Stuffes Purcelane Gun-powder Sulphur Iron Steel Quicksilver Copper Meal Nuts of several kinds Bisket Dates Linnen-cloath Cabinets Ink-horns and things made of Lacque which the Spaniards come and snatch up to be carried into the West-Indies where they have money for nothing The Spaniards have in the City of Manilla an Arch-bishop who hath spiritual Jurisdiction over all the Philippine Islands which he exercises by three Suffragan Bishops and some Priests These are so highly respected by the Inhabitants who have not shaken off their Original simplicity that they govern the Country and keep it in subjection to the Spaniards They are indeed such absolute Masters of these Islands that though in several of them there is not so much as one Spaniard yet is there not one of the Inhabitants refuses
is not of any certain weight save only in gross or when it amounts to such a sum from the value of seven pence to six shillings or better There is also a great difference in the value of the Caxias for of some of them a thousand are worth but Crown whereas of others the same number may amount to three Crowns and a half Much about the time of our Travels the Emperour had ordered them to be caried down intending to have a new Money made of Brass and that the poorer sort might not be ruined thereby he caused the bad Money to be called in and made good the value of it to such as brought it in This Country wants not any kind of Cattel but is so much the more abundant therein out of this respect that they do not geld any Creature Thence it comes they are well stor'd with Houses Bulls Kine Swine Deer wild Boars Bears Dogs c. as also with all sorts of Fowl as Swans Geese Ducks Herns Cranes Eagles Falcons Pheasants Pidgeons Woodcoocks Quails and all the other sorts of small Birds that we have in these parts There are also in this Country several sorts of Mineral Waters very good against divers Diseases Some have the taste and qualities of Copper others that of Saltpeter Iron Tin Salt and there is among others a Source of hot water which hath the taste of Tin and issues out of a Caye which is about ten foot diameter at the mouth and hath both above and below several picked Stones like Elephants teeth so that it somewhat resembles that figure by which some would represent the Jaws of Hell The Water which comes out of it in great bubbles day and night constantly is not so hot but that it may be endured as soon as it is out of the Source so that there is no need of mixing any other water therewith There is in this Country in a spacious Plain at the foot of a Mountain not far from the Sea-side another Source which gives Water but twice in four and twenty hours and that during the space of an hour at each time unless it be when the East-wind blows for then it gives water four times a day This water comes out of a hole which Nature hath made in the ground and which they have cover'd with several great Stones but when the time of its floud as I may call it is come the water is forced out with such violence amidst the Stones that it shakes them all and makes a cast twenty or twenty four foot high with such noise as would drown that of a great Gun It is so hot that it is impossible fire should raise ordinary water to so high a degree of heat as the earth gives this for it immediately burns the stuffes on which it falls and keeps its heat much longer then the water that hath been boil'd over the fire The Well is inclosed with a high Wall having at the bottom thereof several holes through which the water runs into certain Channels and so is brought into the houses where they bath themselves reducing it to such a degree of warmth as may be endured Some affirm that their Physicians are so able that there is no Disease which they cannot discover by the Pulse They are perfectly well skill'd in the vertues of Simples and Drugs especially those of the Radix Chinat and Rhubarbe whereof they make use in their Recipe's which for the most part consist in Pills with very good success They are also very fortunate in the curing of ordinary Diseases but Chirurgery is not as yet known among them The Mineral Waters we spoke of before are a sufficient demonstration that there are in Iapan Mines of all sorts of Metals Accordingly there is found Gold Silver Copper Tin Iron and Lead The Country brings forth also Cotton Flax and Hemp wherewith they make very fine Cloaths It produces also Silk and affords abundance of Goat and Deer skins the richest Works of Wood and Lacque of any in the World all sorts of Provisions and medicinal Drugs They have among others a particular Invention for the melting of Iron without the using of any fire casting it into a Tun done about on the inside with about half a foot of Earth where they keep it with continual blowing and take it out by Ladles full to give it what form they please much better and more artificially then the Inhabitants of Liege are able to do So that it may be said Iapan may live without its Neighbours as being well furnish'd with all things requisite to life The Portuguez came to the knowledge of Iapan by means of the Trade they drove in the Kingdom of Siam and Cambodia They found it no hard matter to settle themselves there in as much as the Iaponneses had not at first any aversion for their Ecclesiastical Ceremonies so that in a short time the Roman Catholick Religion got such footing there that they were permitted to build Churches in several places of the Kingdom and particularly at Nangasacky But the Spaniards too soon discover'd the Design they had to establish themselves there and had not the reservedness to smother that haughty homour which would reign all over the World which occasion'd the Iaponneses first to set upon and afterwards to burn their Ships in so much that in the year 1636. they banish'd them the Country with Prohibitions upon pain of Death not to return into it The Dutch have traded thither ever since the year 1611. and still continue it so much to their advantage that their Commerce to Iapan is worth what they carry on all over the rest of the Indies They affirm in the Relation of the Voyage they made thither in the year 1598. that the City of Meaco is one and twenty Leagues about but that it had been much ruined by the precedent Civil Wars That Ossacks and Boungo are Cities which for Wealth may be compared to any other in the Indies That the Emperours of Iapan were ordinarily interr'd in the City of Coyo of if they made choice of any other place for their Sepulture yet were some of their Bones carried thither though it were but a Tooth That the City of Piongo eighteen Leagues from Meaco was in some part ruined during the Civil Wars of Nobananga who was defeated by Faxiba the Predecessour of Taicko and that what remained of it was partly destroy'd by an Earthquake that happened in the year 1596. and partly by the fire which consumed the wretched remainders of it some time after The Cities of Sacay Voluquin Founay Tosam and several others are also very considerable ones The Air is good and healthy though more inclin'd to cold then heat and yet the Iaponneses sow their Corn at the beginning of May but cut not the Rice till September They have neither Butter nor Oyl and have an aversion against Milk out of an imagination that the Souls of Beasts
to make use of it With their soft beds they also cover them with a Hair-cloath lined with a kind of soft coarse cloath They also fasten them by the hinder feet to a stake that in case they should break or slip their Haltars they may not get away or hurt the other horses All the manage they bestow on them consists only in accustoming them to start away as Lightning at the beginning of a Race and they call those Horses which exceed in swiftness Bad-pay that is Windy-heel'd If their Horses be White or Grey they colour the Main and the Tail and sometimes also the Leggs with Red or Orenge wherein the Polanders and Tartars are wont to imitate them They do not in any thing make so great ostentation of their expence as in what is employ'd about the harness of their Horses which they sometimes cover with Plates of Gold or Silver and adorn the Reins Saddles and covering-Cloaths with Goldsmiths Work and Embroidery Yet is not this custom of so late a beginning but that there may somewhat of this kind be observ'd out of the most antient Authors of the Greek History They have also a great number of Mules which for the most part are used only for Riding The King himself and the Chans ordinarily Ride upon these and they stood us in good steed when all other kind of Riding had been very troublesome to us in our sickness They yield as good a rate as Horses so that a Mule though none of the best nor very handsome is sold at least for a hundred Crowns I was told there were some white ones but they are very rare and highly Valu'd and I must confess I never saw any Asses are very common all over the East but in Persia more than any where and especially at Ispahan where there is an infinite number of them in regard they allow not Carting within the City Those who drive them have at the end of their Whip a great Bodkin fasten'd with a chain wherewith they make a noise and are perpetually pricking of this Creature which seems to be more cold and heavy in this Country than any where else The heats are so great in Persia and the weather so constantly fair and clear in the Summer that it is not to be much wondred they should have such good and excellent Fruits As for those which are spent in the Kitchin they are there in greater abundance but incomparably better and more savoury than in Europe Among others the Onions are so big in the Province of Tarum near Chalcal that one of them will weigh three pound The Cabbages are there curled very tender and of an excellent rast Their most precious Fruits are Melons and as their care in the ordering of them is extraordinary so they have every year great quantities of them They sow them all only in good mold yet are there not any but what are very excellent There are two sorts of them to wit those which they call Kermek from the work Kerm which signifies hot in regard they are eaten in Summer and they come betimes and are fully ripe in Iune These are as yellow as Gold and the sweetest of any The other sort they call Charbusei pasi and they come not to perfect maturity till Autumn These are very big and weigh thirty forty or fifty pound weight They are kept not only all the Winter but even till there are new ones to be had and this is done with such industry that to distinguish them from the new ones a man must put his finger to them and see whether the Rind gives way and by this means they are never without Melons They have a way also to keep Grapes by wrapping them up in green Reeds and hanging them up to the roof of their Chambers There is yet a third sort of Melons which they call Scammame and are no bigger than Orenges but these are wrought or embroider'd having amidst the embroidery red yellow and green spots They are not very good to eat but the scent is very pleasant and for that reason the Persians carry them in their hands There is yet another sort of water-Melons which they call Hinduane in regard the first of them were brought out of the Indies as we said elsewhere iâ— the description of the City of Astrachan where we had some occasion to speak of this kind of Fruit. It is very big and yet the stalks of it are so small that the Persian Poets use them in their Inventions to make a comparison between them and the Wall-nut Tree which being a great and lofty Tree yet brings forth but a Small Fruit to shew that many times a person of Mean Birth may do very noble actions and that on the contrary a Great Prince may do things that are poor and unsuitable to his extraction They have also several sorts of Citrulls or Citrul-Cowcumbers and among the rest one which they call Kabach and may be found among the Herbarists under the name of Cucurbita Lagenaria They are about â—he bigness of a man's Head and sometimes bigger and have a long Neck They are eaten green and before they are come to their full Maturity for when they are ripe the Rind dries and grows as hard as the Bark of a Tree or boyled Leather and the meat within is so consum'd that there being nothing left but the Seed the Persians use them instead of Flaggons and make Drinking Cups of them They have yet another kind of fruit not known in Europe which they call Padintzan They are like little Melons or rather Cowcumbers The fruit is green save that at the end towards the stalk it is somewhat of a Violet Colour The Seed is round and long and of a pretty bigness This is not eaten raw because it is a little bitter but being boyl'd or fry'd in Butter it is a delicate Dish The Climate of Persia is excellently good for the Vine There is no Province in the whole Kingdome which doth not bring forth excellent Grapes but in regard the Mahumetan Law forbids them the use of Wine they accordingly neglect the cultivation of the Vine They say that the Prohibition made in the Alchoran against their drinking of Wine is grounded on a reason which they think very good and seems to us pleasant enough to deserve a small Digression in this Relation They say then that God desirous to comfort Mankind especially the poor for the injuries and affronts which Great Lords and Wealthy Men are apt to do those who have any dependence on them sent into the World two Angels named Haroth and Maroth and forbad them particularly three things to put any person to Death to do any wrong and to drink Wine Now it happened that a young and very handsome Woman liv'd in some discontent with her Husband would needs have these Angels to undertake the arbitration of the difference that was between them and to gain
that of Chan of Kesker but he could not avoid the punishment which so base a complyance too well deserv'd For the first journey the king made to Caswin after that we spoke of before he commanded Bebut to go and cut off with his own hands his Son's head and to bring it him He was forc'd to obey and Schach-Abas seeing him coming into the Room with his Son's head ask'd him how he did Bebut made answer Alass my Liege I think I need not tell you I have been forc'd with my own hands to kill my only Son whom I lov'd above any thing in the World the grief I shall conceive thereat will bring me to my Grave The king reply'd Go thy wayes Bebut and consider how great must have been my affliction when thou broughtst the news of my Son's death whom I had commanded thee to put to death But comfort thy self my Son and thine are no more and reflect that thou art in this equal to the King thy master Not long after this unhappy Paricide Bebut ended his life after an extraordinary manner For soon after he had taken possession of the Government of Kesker one of his servants giving him water to wash after Dinner according to the Persian custom pour'd it on so hot that it scalded his hands which incens'd him so that he threatned to have him cut to pieces but the Slave prevented him and considering that he who had been so barbarous as to murther his Prince and his own Son would make no great difficulty to rid the World of a servant he conspir'd with some of his Gamerades who expected no better treatment from their Master and kill'd him the night following in his drink Schach-Abas was not much troubled that that hatefull object was remov'd out of his sight and would not have prosecuted the Murtherers had not the other Chans represented to him that if they were not made examples no Lord could think himself secure among his servants after he had given them some theatning language But Schach-Abas's affliction and the regret he express'd for his Son's death how great soever they might be took not off the just apprehensions the Widdow conceiv'd that he had a design to put to death his Grand-Child Sain Myrsa Whence it came that she kept him a long time conceal'd and would not suffer him to be brought to Court though the King who saw his two younger Sons whose eyes he had caus'd to be put out were excluded the Government by the Laws of the Kingdom design'd that little Prince to succeed him 'T is reported he had a great tenderness for him and yet lest he should appear to soon and the vivacity of his spirit revive the affection which the people had express'd towards his Father he endeavour'd to have his senses dull'd and commanded there should be given him every day about the begness of a Pea of Opium the use whereof is very common in Persia as we have said elsewhere but that the Mother instead of giving him that Drug made him often take Treacle and several other preservatives against the poyson which she conceiv'd she had some cause to suspect might be given him While Schach Abas was in Kilan Tamaras-Chan taking advantage of his absence entred again with an Army into Georgia and recover'd all those places out of which he had been forc'd The King sent thither Aliculi-Ghan Mahumed-Chan Kasack and Mortusaculi Chan of Talisch and several other Chans who could do no good there but brought word back that they had found the Enemy so advantageously posted that they durst not set upon him The King punish'd their seeming prudence with death and went the next year in person into Georgia protesting at his departure that if he return'd victorious from that VVar he would sell the Georgians at an Abas or fifteen pence a head Upon which occasion they say it hapned that the King being Master of the Field and having taken a great number of Prisoners a Souldier came to him with two Abases in his hand and desir'd him to sell him two handsom young Maids who were among the Prisoners and that the King remembring his Oath permitted him to take his choice It was about this time that most of the Georgian Christians who liv'd at Ispahan at the time of our being there came out of their Country to settle themselves in the Metropolis of the Kingdom Much also about the same time was it that Schach-Abas receiv'd Letters from Bekirkcha who under the Grand-Seignor commanded the Garrison of Bagdat or Babylon This man dissatisfy'd with the Court upon his being deny'd the Government of that place at the Bassa's death under whom he had had the Lieutenancy proffer'd Schach-Abas to deliver up the City to him The King hearkned to that Proposition and immediately took his march with a good Army towards those parts but ere he got thither Bikirkeha's discontent was over so far that he sent Schach-Abas word that he had only Powder and Bullets at his service He was so netled at the affront that he protested not to return thence till he had taken the City though it should cost him his life Accordingly having pass'd over the Ditch after a siege of six months and having set fire to a Mine which work the Persians are very excellent at he caus'd an assault to be given entred the breach and became Master of the City without any composition Bikirkeha being found among the Prisoners was sown up in a raw Ox-Hide and in that condition plac'd near the High-way where the King order'd him to be sed till such time as the heat of the Sun having made the Hide shrink together he died a very painful death His Son cast himself at Schach-Abas's feet and satisfy'd him so far of his being wholly unconcern'd in his Father's proceeding that having begg'd his Pardon he by that submission obtain'd the Government of Schiras which Schach-Abas made no difficulty to bestow on him in regard that lying at a great distance from the Frontiers of Turkey he fear'd not his proving unfaithful to him The year following the Emperour of the Turks caus'd Bagdat to be besieg'd by the Bassa Hasis Ahmed but Abas forc'd him to raise the siege and continu'd eight moneths together in sight of the Turkish Army till such time as sickness having consum'd a great number of the Turks who were not so well able to endure the great heats as the Persians Hasis was oblig'd to retreat to Constantinople At his return from this expedition Schach-Abas began to build the Citie of Ferabath in the Province of Mesandran upon occasion of a Village named Tahona situated upon a pleasant River which not far thence falls into the Caspian Sea This Victory procur'd him but two years rest For the Turkish Emperour desirous to recover Bagdat sent Chalil Bassa with an Army of five hundred thousand men to reduce it Schach-Abas commanded Cartzschugai-Chan to march to the relief of the Citie with a small Brigade
engraven upon a square pillar certain unknown characters which have nothing common with either the Greek Hebrew or Arabian nor indeed with any other language There are twelve lines of these characters which as to their figure are triangular Piramidal or like obelisques but so well graven and so proportionate that those who did them cannot be thought Barbarians Some believe they are Telesmes and that they contain some secrets which Time will discover Besides these there is also a great Court upon the same ground-work which is ninety paces square having on each side two gates whereof some are six others but three paces wide all built of a very well polish'd marble whereof the several pieces are eight foot in length and three in breadth In another Court there are represented in carv'd-work in marble battels triumphs and Olympick games very well done and with an exact observance of proportion Upon every gate is represented a man with a graceful countenance sitting and holding in one hand a Globe in the other a Scepter though the Kings of Persia never sate in that posture I had the curiosity to get up on high where I found the figure of a King at his devotions adoring the Sun Fire and a Serpent It is not easie to affirm whether the Architecture of this Palace be of the Ionick Dorick or Corinthian order the building is so ruin'd though there be yet as much left as would find work for a good able Painter for six months 'T is a thousand pities that no body hath yet had the curiosity to have it graven had it been only out of this motive that the barbarous people thereabouts ruine it daiâ—â— more and more and convey away the stones to carry on private buildings Aeâ—ian sayes that the Grand Cyrus was grown famous for the Palace he had built in the City of Persepolis whereof he had himself laid the foundation Darius for that built by him at Susa and Cyrus the younger for the pleasant Gardens which he had himself planted and cultivated in Lydia If this be the same place which Diodorus Siculus makes mention of it is certain that both as to greatness and magnificence it exceeded all those of that time He sayes it was encompass'd with three walls of Marble whereof the first was 16. the second 32. and the third 60. ells high with the gates and balconies of brass The work of so many years and all that wealth were destroy'd in a few hours by Alexander the great who upon the perswasion of a common Prostitute caused it to be fired as Quintus Curtius gives an account of it in his History Having view'd these Antiquities which with those of Derbent were all we met with in our Travels I prosecuted my journey the 28. of Ianuary and got that day ten Leagues to the City of Sehiras In this City I met with four Italian Carmelites who have a very handsome well built Monastery there and enjoy an absolute liberty of conscience under the jurisdiction of the King of Persia. There had also been heretofore a Monastery of Austin-Friers but they were forc'd thence with the other Portuguez when the City of Ormus was taken from them Schiras is the chief City of the Province of Fars at 29. degrees 36. minutes seated in a very pleasant place at the foot of certain Mountains upon the River Sendemer heretofore called Arâ—xes which disembogues it self into the Persian Gulf. We were told the City had been much bigger then it is now though there be in it at present above ten thousand houses which I the more easily credited in that we found all about it and half a league beyond the ruines of the gates and walls of a great City Whatever Nature supplies mankind withall not only for necessity but also for pleasure is here to be had in great abundance as Wheat Wine Oranges Lemmons Pomegranats Almonds Dates Pistachoes c. and the lovely Cypress-trees afford a pleasant shade against the excessive heats The best Wine of all Persia grows hereabouts and in such abundance that it is transported all over the Kingdom especially to the Court where the King and great Lords drink not any other 'T is more sprightly and more pleasant then Canary but in regard no person of quality but drinks of it and is willing to treat his friends with Schiras Scharab it is dear enough at Ispahan where it is sold at half a Crown a pottle The soil hereabouts is very fertile and produces abundance of Wheat and Fruit. The Sheep which are of an Ash-grey colour with an eye of white have their wooll curled or frizled and their tails are so big and so fat that they weigh 18. or 20. pound The adjacent Forrests afford abundance of Mastick which the Country people gather in dishes fastned to the Trees It is at first green but the Air in time corrupting it gives it the brown colour it is of when brought into Europe I stayed eight dayes at Schiras as well to rest my Horses as to fortifie my self against the hardship I was to expect in my future travel it being a hundred Leagues to Ormus through a Country where I should not find what I left behind me at Schiras which is doubtless the principal City of Persia for Wine and Women and affords so great enjoyments to those who can use these two things with moderation that the Persians are wont to say that if Mahomet had tasted the pleasures of Schiras he would have desired God to make him immortal there I left it the fifth of February and passed by two Caravanseras and took up my lodging at the third having travell'd that day ten Leagues through a fair even way The sixth I got seven Leagues having a very bad way but in sight of many Villages whereof the prospect was the more pleasant by reason of the Date-trees all about them The seventh I passed by one of these Caravanseras and got that day ten Leagues taking up my quarters in the little City of Scharim in the middle of a Forrest of Date-trees The five dayes following were the most troublesome of all my life For the eighth of February we got but five Leagues through the most horrid way in the world I cannot imagine how people made a shift to travel that way before Imanculi Chan of whom somewhat hath been said elsewhere who was so cruelly put to death with all his children by Schach Sefi caus'd it to be repaired with incredible expence when at this day a man cannot pass but in great danger of his life by reason of the uneven and narrow wayes between steepy mountains on the one side and dreadful precipices on the other where I very narrowly avoided a mis-fortune which happens there very often For my Horse's hoof which I was leading by the bridle being fill'd with snow he stumbled upon me forc'd me out of the way so as that had I not caught hold of a wild Almond tree which
upon the stairs leading up to them several Figures of Wood Stone and Paper representing their deceased Kindred whose lives had been remarkable for some extraordinary good fortune They do their greatest Devotions in the moneth of August during which they mortifie themselves by so great abstinencies as might pass elsewhere for no less then miraculous it being certain that there are some who for the space of fifteen dayes or three weeks nay sometimes a moneth or six weeks live without taking any thing but water into which they put the scrapings or thavings of a certain bitter Wood which is conceived to have somewhat of nourishment in it I must confess this will not easily be credited but it is so acknowledged a Truth in the Indies that it is not disputed by their greatest Enemies They have also about that time many Assemblies in their Mosqueys where their discourse is concerning the lives of their departed Saints and there are read certain Legends the people standing about the Braman who sits down in the midst of them having his mouth cover'd with a Linnen-cloath As they go into the Mosquey they bestow their Charities casting them into a great Copper basin which they place before the Pagode and in requital they receive a mark with the Sandal-wood which is made in their Foreheads or upon their Clothes While they are discoursing about their Saints which lasts for the most part four or five hours they are entertain'd with Musick which is paid for out of the Charities that had been collected among them for the poor They burn the bodies of aged persons but bury those of Children who dye under three years of age Their Widows are not obliged to burn themselves with their departed Husbands but they promise perpetual Widowhood All that make profession of this Sect may be admitted to Priesthood Nay Women are receiv'd into that Function provided they be above twenty years of age but the Men are admitted into it at seven eight and nine years of age To become Priests all they have to do is to put on the habit to accustom themselves to the austerity of that kind of life and to make a vow of Chastity Any one of the married couple hath the priviledge to become a Priest and by that means to oblige the other to celibate for the remainder of his or her life There are some make a Vow of Chastity in the state of marriage but this is seldom seen and when it is those who make such Vows are not overstrict in the observance of them All the other Castes or Sects of the Benjanes have an aversion and contempt for this and condemn it so much that their Doctors continually exhort their Auditours to shun the Conversation of those people so that they will not only not eat or drink with them but they would not so much as set a foot in their Houses though it were to avoid an imminent and inevitable danger and such as are so unhappy as to touch them are obliged to do a publick and severe pennance The second Sect of the Benjans called Samarath hath this common with the former that it permits not the killing of any Creature or Insect that hath life nor the eating of any thing that hath had it This Sect consists of Lock-makers Smiths Farriers Carpenters Taylors Shooe-makers Furbishers and all other Tradesmen admitting among them even Souldiers Clerks and other Officers Their Religion is different from that of the former in that they believe that this World was created by a first cause which governs and preserves all with a soveraign and unchangeable power They call him in their Language Permiseer and assign him three Substitutes who have their several Functions under his Superintendency The first who is called Brama hath the disposal of all Souls which he sends into such Bodies as Permiseer appoints either of Men or Beasts The second whom they call Buffiuna teaches the World to live according to Gods Commandments which they have disposed into four Books He hath also the oversight of Provisions and advances the growth of Wheat Herbs and Pulse after Brama hath endued them with Souls The third named Mais exercises his power over the dead He is also Secretary to Permiseer and takes the good and bad works of the deceased into examination that he may make a report thereof to his Master who having examin'd both the one and the other sends the Soul into a Body where she doth more or less pennance proportionably to the good or ill she hath done in the former Those that are sent into the body of a Cow are accounted the most happy in regard that that Beast having something Divine in it according to their opinion they hope in a short time to be purified of the sins which they had committed during their continuance in the former body But those which are forc'd to take up their second habitations in the bodies of Elephants Camels wild Oxen Goats Asses Leopards Swine Serpents or any other unclean Beast are on the contrary thought most unhappy inasmuch as at their departure out of them they pass into the bodies of other Beasts either tame or less wild where they compleat the expiation of the Crimes for which they were condemned to those punishments The same thing happens also to those souls which are in the bodies of some Creatures that dye before they have compleated their Purification which being absolutely consummated Mais presents the Souls so purified to Permiseer who receives them into the number of his Servants They burn the bodies of the deceasâ—d save only those of Children under three years of age but they have this particular Ceremony that these Obsequies are performed on the side of a River or Brook whither they carry the sick persons when they are past hopes of recovery that they may expire there There is no Sect in which the Women sacrifice themselves so cheerfully to the memory of their Husbands as in this Sect of Samarath For they are perswaded that the promise which Buffiuna makes them in the Law he gave them from Permiseer is infallible to wit that if a Woman hath so great an affection for her Husband as to burn her self with him after his death she shall live with him in the other World seven times as long and shall enjoy him with seven times as much satisfaction as she had done in this which hope makes them look on death but as a passage through which they are to enter into a beatitude and bliss whereof they had in this world but a small earnest As soon as the Women are delivered there is presented to the new born Child an Inkhorn Paper and Pens and if it be a Boy they add a Bow and Arrows to signifie that Buffiuha will write his Law in his understanding and that one day he shall raise his Fortunes by the Wars For as we said before this Sect admits of Souldiers but those among
wherewith they continually rub them but also by their abstinences which as they are greater so are they withall much more frequent then those of the Benjans of the Sect of Ceurawath There are some Women become Goêghys but in regard that Sex is too tender and delicate to accustom themselves to so great austerity their number is not very great The Benjans oblige their Proselytes that is the Mahumetans who embrace their Religion to a very extravagant manner of life For to renew their whole body which according to their Opinion is defiled by the flesh they had eaten they oblige them for the space of six moneths together to mix amongst what they are to eat a pound of Cow-dung out of this reason that that Creature having as they hold some thing divine in it here is nothing can purifie the body so well as that kind of nourishment which their Proselytes are permitted to diminish by degrees after the three first moneths of their conversion They also condemn to that kind of Diet those of their own Sect who having been prisoners among the Mahumetans or Christians or conversing ordinarily among them have been perswaded to eat flesh or drink wine and receive them not into their communication till such time as they have been purified in that manner All the Benjans are extreamly superstitious For they never go out of their houses till they have said their Prayers and if at their going out they meet with any ill presage they return into their houses and do not any business of importance that day They take to presage ill Fortune the meeting of an empty Cart a wild Oxe an Ass a Dog if he be not eating somewhat a Goat an Ape a Deer a Goldsmith a Carpenter a Lock-smith a Barber a Taylor a beater of Cotton a Widow a company of People going to the enterment of a dead Body or a Man returning from the same Ceremony as also that of a Man or Woman carrying Butter Oyl Milk brown-Sugar Citrons or any other sharp things Apples Iron or any thing relating to War They are on the contrary well pleased with the meeting of an Elephant or Camel whether they be loaden or not as also of a Horse a Cow an Oxe a wild Oxe loaden with water a He-Goat a Dog eating a Cat coming on the right hand of them and Persons loaden with Provisions Curds and white-Sugar but above all that of a Cock or a Hare and then they cheerfully go about what they have to do as being prepossess'd with the opinion they have that the success of their Affairs will be answerable to their expectations There are some who put the Rasboutes into the number of the Benjans and affirm that they are a branch of the Sect of Samarath with which they believe the transmigration of Souls and several other things But they believe this in particular that the Souls of Men go into Birds who afterwards give their Friends notice of the good and evil which is to befall them upon which account it is that they so superstitiously observe the flight and singing of those Creatures Their Widows burn themselves with the bodies of their deceased Husbands unless it be that at the contract of Marriage there was some promise made that they should not be forc'd thereto But whereas all the other Benjans are of a mild and reserv'd disposition abhorring the effusion of bloud even that of Beasts these on the contrary are a sort of violent and daring people who eat flesh and live only by murther and rapine and never mind any other profession then that of Arms. The Mogul makes use of these Men as do also most of the other Princes of the Indies because they are undaunted and entertain not the least fear of death To this purpose there is a Story of five Rasboutes who forc'd by weariness to rest themselves in a Country mans house there happened to be a Fire in the Village which by reason of the wretchedness of the houses soon came to that where they were They had notice of it but one of them said to the rest that having never turn'd their backs from danger it would be the greatest shame in the world to them to shun death which they had never fear'd That it were baseness in them to stir thence but that they were to make the Fire as much afraid of them as others were of it and force it to stop its progress when it came near them and they were so earnestly engag'd in these temerarious and extravagant discourses that the Fire getting into the Room where they were one only had the time to get out and to drag along with him one of his Camerades who could never afterwards be recover'd out of the melancholly regret he had conceiv'd at his not having follow'd the example of the others It is related also of another Rasboute who going into the Country in the company of two others came in his way to a Pit at the sight whereof his Horse stood still but the Rasboute condemning the caution of the Beast as if it had proceeded from fearfulness told him that he was very much to blame to entertain any fear having on his back a Man that never knew any and thereupon beating him he would have made him leap over the Pit but both Horse and Man falling they were both drown'd the Man acquiring among them by this inconsiderable and brutish action the reputation of a Man heroically courageous They have no compassion but what they have towards irrational Creatures especially Birds which they take the pains to keep and feed out of a perswasion that one day when their Souls shall be lodg'd in Creatures of that kind some or other will have the same charity towards them And this is their employment particularly on Holy-dayes as also for ten or twelve dayes after the decease of their nearest Kindred and upon the anniversary dayes of their death They have this common with the other Benjans that they marry their Children very young which is the less to be wondred at inasmuch as it is very certain that the Indians of both Sexes are capable of engendring much sooner then any other Nation so that there are not any but are fit for the work of generation at ten or twelve years of age To this purpose I have a Story which may seem fabulous but I have it from such grave persons that I shall make no difficulty to communicate it upon their credit Not many years since even in the reign of Scach Choram who is yet living a certain Rasboutes Wife who liv'd at Agra was brought to bed of a Daughter which at two years of age had Breasts as big as those of any Nurse A Lock-smith neighbour to the Rasboute advised the Father and Mother to permit that the hot Iron might be apply'd thereto which is the ordinary remedy they make use of against superfluous humours They consented thereto but as soon
they wear a Hat Great honours are done to them after their death and after their Corps hath been attended certain dayes they are burnt with Sandale-wood they cast the Ashes into the River and inteâ—r the â—ones near the place they liv'd in Pegu yields no Corn at all but in recompence they have more Rice then they can spend in so much that they can afford some to their Neighbours They have a custom to make a Drug of certain little Fishes which they pound in a Mortar and being so brought to a Paste they lay it in the Sun to putrifie till it be quite corrupted and grows moist and then they use it in their Sauces instead of Oyl or Butter making a dainty of that which it were not possible for us to endure the smell of Sodomy was heretofore so common in those parts that to extirpate this Vice which had near destroy'd the whole Species one of the Queens of Pegu ordain'd by Edict that every Man should carry in his Yard a little Bell which would make it swell in such sort that he should not be able to do Nature any violence And to the end the Women should not be frustrated of their due their Virginity was to be taken away while they were yet very young by means of a Composition of contrary operation to that used by common Women to heighten the pleasures of their Gallants These little Bells are put in betwixt the skin and the flesh and to effect the operation they cast them into a sleep with a certain Drink to make them insensible of the pain they are put to by the Incision whereof notwithstanding they are cur'd in few dayes For their greater aversion from Sodomy they paint the Boyes at seven or eight years of age with a certain blew which extending with the skin as it grows changes into another colour and makes them look most horribly The Women on the contrary do all they can to appear lovely and attract the Men covering their privy parts only with a thin piece of Linnen which sits not so close but the least wind shews all they have All of them in general make their Teeth black and Men when they ride on horseback fill their Mouths with something that puâ—fs out their Checks They who marry buy their Wives of their Parents and when they are cloy'd send them home again but the money belongs to the Wife who on her side is obliged to restitution if shâ— part with her Husband without cause The King is Heir to all that dye without Children and they who have Children can leave them but two thirds of their Estate the rest belongs to the King The best Commodities to be brought to Pegu and which may be sold to greatest profit are Stuffes and Linnen-clothes from Saint Thomas Musulipatam and Bengala Pepper Cinnamon Nutmegs Optum and Sandale-wood c. by reason they have no other Spices then Ginger At Pegu they take in no other Merchandizes then Silver and Rice which they transport to Malacca In bargaining they make no words at all they do no more but give their Hand cover'd with a Handkerchief and in grasping or moving their Fingers they make their meaning known For borrowing of money they stick not to pawn their Wives and Children but if the Creditour enjoyes them carnally during that time he is then paid and the Debtour acquitted Siam one of the most considerable Kingdoms of the Indies lying at eighteen degrees on this side the Line hath on the North the Kingdoms of Pegu and Auva on the West the Gulf of Bengala from the Haven of Martanan to the Town of Tavaga towards the East Patana whence the Coast runs first Northwards to thirteen degrees and a half comprehending in this space the Gulf of Siam And lastly Southward to twelve degrees lying more at a distance from the Sea it joyns Eastward on the Desarts of Cambodia and the Kingdoms of Iangoma Tangou and Lansiaugh to eighteen degrees towards the forementioned Kingdoms of Pegu and Auva making as it were a semi-circle containing near upon four hundred and fifty Leagues The Country in some parts is rough and mountainous in other parts covered with Woods and to the Seawards 't is low and marshy and generally flat good and fertile yielding in abundance all necessaries for livelihood and having on the Gulfes divers Isles Rivers Bayes Harbours and Roads commodious for the transportation of such things as they themselves can spare The River called Menam that is Mother of the waters is one of the greatest India hath The breadth of it is not great but its length such that hitherto no man hath discovered the head of it It sends its Current from North to South passing through the Kingdoms of Pegu and Auva and at last running through Siam by three Streams it falls into the Gulf of Siam One quality it hath common with the Nile and Ganges that it yearly overflows the adjacent Country for the space of five moneths together destroying in that time all Worms and Insects and leaving when it retires a slime or moist soil proper for the increase of Rice That Channel of this River which is most commodious for Barks or Vessels is that which lies most Eastwards at thirteen degrees and a half elevation but what makes it almost useless is that there lies a Shelf a League in length or better at the mouth of the River which at low-water holds not above five or six foot water At high-water it holds fifteen or sixteen foot and in September October and November seventeen or eighteen foot Vessels of greater burthen ordinarily stay in the Road two Leagues from the Shelf where having at no time less then five or six fathom water they ride secure They who venture to come over the Shelf with the Tide may go up along the River to the City of Banckock six Leagues from the Sea and thence may pass by boat in five or six dayes as high as the City of India twenty four Leagues within the Land except in the moneths before mentioned during which season the River is innavigable The Provinces of this vast Kingdom are all very populous though not equally for such as have the Commodity of Rivers and Havens far exceed those that lye more remote It would be very difficult to reckon all the Towns of this great Dominion wherefore we will here give only an account of the principal and most considerable either for greatness or as the most considerable of the several Provinces The chief of the Kingdom is India by some called Odya then Camboya Campaa Sincapura Picelouck Surkelouck Capheng Soucethay Kephinpet Conseywan Pytsyay Pitsedi Lidure Tenou Mormelon Martenoy Lygor Bordelong Tanasserim where the Portuguez drive a good Trade Banckock Pipry Mergy c. Besides which there are many more which rather deserve a place in a Map then in the Relation of a particular Mans Travels The City of India the ordinary Residence