into the lake are these From the North syde Guanicabon From the Southe Xaccoei from the East Guannabo And from the West Occoa They saye that these ryuers are great and continuall and that besyde these there are .xx. other small ryuers whiche fall into this Caspium Also on the North syde within a furlong of the lake there are aboue twoo hundreth springes occupying lykewyse about a furlong in circuite the water wherof is colde in sommer freshe also and holsome to be drunke These sprynges make a ryuer that can not bee waded ouer which neare at hande ioynyng with the other falleth into the lake Here must we staye a whyle The kyng of this region founde his wyfe praying in a Chapell buylded by the Christians within the precincte of his dominion and requyred her company to satisfie his fleshely lust His wyfe reproued him and put him in remembraunce to haue respecte to the holy place The wordes which she spake to him were these Teitoca Teitoca which is as muche to say as be quyet be quyet Techeta cynato guamechyna That is God will be greatly angry Guamechyna signifyeth God Techeta greatly Cynato angrye But the husbande halyng her by the arme sayde Guaibba that is goe Cynato macabuca guamechyna That is What is that to me if God be angry And with these wordes as he profered her violence sodeinly he became dumme and lame Yet by this myracle being stryken with repentaunce he euer after ledde a relygious lyfe insomuche that from thencefoorth he would neuer suffer the Chapell to bee swepte or decked with any other mans hande By the same myracle many of thinhabitauntes and all the Christians being moued resorted deuoutly to the Chapell They take it in good parte that the kyng suffered the reuenge of that reproche Let vs now returne to Caspium That salte lake is tossed with stormes and tempestes and oftentymes drowneth small shyppes or fyssher boates and swaloweth them vp with the maryners In so muche that it hath not been hearde of that any man drowned by shyppewracke euer plunged vp againe or was caste on the shore as commonly chaunceth of the dead bodyes of suche as are drowned in the sea These tempestes are the daintie banquets of the Tiburones This Caspium is called Hagueigabon In the myddest hereof lyeth an Iland named Guarizacca to the which they resort when they go a fishyng but it is now cultured There is in the same playne an other lake next vnto this whose water is myxte of salt and fresh and is therfore neyther apt to be drunke nor yet to be refused in vrgent necessitie This conteyneth in length twentie and fyue myles and in breadth eyght myles in some places also niene or ten It receyueth many ryuers which haue no passage out of the same but are swalowed vp as in the other Water spryngeth out of the sea into this also but in no great quantitie which is the cause that it is so commyxt In the same prouince towards the west syde there is an other lake of freshe water not farre distaunt from Caspius this the inhabitauntes call Iainagua The same salte lake hath on the North syde thereof an other named Guaccaa this is but lytle as not past three or foure myles in breadth and one in length the water of this may well be drunke On the South syde of the salt lake there lyeth an other named Babbareo of three myles in length and in maner rounde The water of this is freshe as of the two other This lake because it hath no passage out nor yet any swalowyng gulfes conueyeth the superfluous waters to the sea if it be encreased with y e streames which fal sometymes more abundantly from the mountaynes this is in the region of Xamana in the prouince of Bainoa There is an other called Guaniba lying betwene the East and the South neere vnto the syde of Caspius this is ten myles in length and almost round There are furthermore many other small standyng pooles or lakes disparsed here and there in the Iland whiche I wyll let passe lest I shoulde be tedious in remaynyng to long in one thyng I wyll therefore make an ende with this addition that in all these great plentie of fyshe and foule is nouryshed All these lakes lye in a large playne the whiche from the East reacheth into the West a hundreth and twentie miles being of breadth .xviii. miles where it is narowest and .xxv. where it is largest Lookyng toward the West it hath collaterally on the left hande the mountaines of Daiguani and on the ryght hande the mountaines of Gaigua so called of the name of y e vale it selfe At the rootes of the mountaynes of Caigua towarde the North syde there lyeth an other vale much longer and larger then that before named For it conteineth in length almost two hundreth myles and in breadth thirtie where it is largest and about .xx. where it is narowest This vale in some parte thereof is called Maguana in an other place Iguaniu and els where Hathathiei And forasmuch as we haue here made mention of this parte of the vale named Hathathiei we will somewhat digresse from the discourse of this description and entreate of a thing so straunge and marueilous that the lyke hath not been hearde of So it is therefore that the kyng of this region named Caramatexius taketh great pleasure in fyshing Into his nettes chaunced a young fyshe of the kynde of those huge monsters of the sea which thinhabitours call Manati not founde I suppose in our seas nor knowne to our men before this tyme. This fyshe is foure footed and in shape lyke vnto a Tortoyse although shee be not couered with a shell but with scales and those of such hardnesse couched in such order that no arrow can hurte her Her scales are beset defended with a thousande knobbes her backe is playne and her head vtterly lyke the head of an Oxe She lyueth both in the water on the lande shee is slowe of mouyng of condition meeke gentle associable and louing to mankynde and of a marueilous sense or memorie as are the Elephant and the Delphyn The kyng norished this fysh certeine dayes at home with the bread of the countrey made of the roote of Iucca Panycke with such other rootes as men are accustomed to eate For when shee was yet but young hee cast her into a poole or lake neare vnto his palace there to be fed with hande This lake also receiueth waters and casteth not the same foorth againe It was in tyme paste called Guaurabo but is now called the lake of Manati after the name of this fyshe which wandered safely in the same for the space of .xxv. yeeres and grewe exceeding byg Whatsoeuer is written of the Delphines of Baian or Arion are muche inferior to the dooinges of this fyshe whiche for her gentle nature they named Matum that
yet was not discouraged or despaired of the hope of his good aduenture which he afterwarde founde This doone he tooke shyppyng at Lisburne and came to Palos of Moguer where he communed with Martin Alonso Pinzon an expert Pilot who offered hym selfe vnto hym After this disclosyng the whole secretes of his mynd to Iohn Perez of Marchena a fryer of thorder of saint Frances in Rabida well learned in Cosmographie and declaryng vnto hym howe by folowyng the course of the Sunne by a temperate voyage rych and great landes myght be founde the fryer greatly commended his interpryse and gaue him counsayle to breake the matter to the Duke of Medina Sidonia Don Enrique of Guzman a great lorde and very rych and also to Don Luis of Cerda the Duke of Medina Celi who at that time had great prouision of shyps wel furnyshed in his hauen of Santa Maria. But whereas both these Dukes tooke the matter for a dreame and as a thyng deuised of an Italian deceyuer who as they thought had before with lyke pretence deluded the kynges of Englande and Portugale the fryer gaue hym courage to go to the courte of the Catholyke princes Don Ferdinando and lady Isabell princes of Castyle affyrmyng that they woulde be ioyful of suche newes And for his better furtherance herein wrote â—etters by hym to fryer Ferdinando of Talauera the queenes confessor Christopher Colon therefore repayred to the courte of the Catholyke princes in the yeere .1486 and delyuered vnto theyr handes the petition of his request as concernyng the discoueryng of the new Indies But they beyng more careful and applying al theyr mynde howe they myght dryue the Moores out of the kyngdome of Granada whiche greate enterprise they had alredy taken in hande dyd lyttle or nothyng esteeme the matter But Colon not thus discouraged founde the meanes to declare his sute to suche as had sometymes priuate communication with the kyng Yet because he was a straunger and went but in simple apparell nor otherwyse credited then by the letter of a gray frier they beleeued hym not neyther gaue eare to his woordes whereby he was greatly tormented in his imagination Onely Alonso of Quintanilia the kynges chiefe auditour gaue hym meate and drynke at his owne charges and hearde gladly such thynges as he declared of the landes not then founde desyryng hym in the meane tyme to be content with that poore enterteynment and not to despayre of his enterpryse puttyng hym also in good conforte that he should at one tyme or other come to the speache of the Catholyke princes And thus shortly after by the meanes of Alonso of Quintanilia Colon was brought to the presence and audience of the Cardinall Don Pero Gonzales of Mendoza archbishop of Toledo a man of great reuenues and authoritie with the kyng and queene who brought hym before them after that he well perceiued and examined his intent And by this meanes was his sute hearde of the Catholyke princes who also redde the booke of his memorials whiche he presented vnto them And although at the fyrst they tooke it for vayne and false that he promysed neuerthelesse they put hym in good hope that he shoulde be well dispatched when they had fynyshed the warres of Granada whiche they had nowe in hande With which answere Colon began to reuyue his spirites with hope to be better esteemed and more fauorably to be hearde among the gentelmen noble men of the courte who before tooke hym onely for a craftie felowe and deceyuer and was nothyng dismayde or discouraged when soeuer he debated the matter with them although many iudged hym phantasticall as is the maner of ignorant men to cal all suche as attempt any thyng beyonde theyr reache and the compasse of theyr knowledge thynkyng the worlde to be no bygger then the cagies wherein they are brought vp and lyue But to returne to Colon. So hotte and vrgente was the siege of Granada that they presentely graunted hym his demaunde to seeke the newe landes and to bryng from thence golde syluer pearles precious stones spices and suche other ryche thynges They gaue hym also the tenth part of all the reuenues and customes due vnto the kyng of all such landes as he shoulde discouer not doyng preiudice in any thyng to the kyng of Portugale The particulars of this agreement were made in the towne called Sancta Fe and the priuiledge of the rewarde in Granada the .xxx. daye of Apryll the same yeere that the citie was woonne And whereas the sayde Catholyke princes had not mony presently to dispatch Colon Luis of S. Angel the kynges secretary of accomtes lent them syxe Quentes of Maraz whiche in a grosse summe make .xvi. thousande ducades In the scutcheon of armes geuen to Columbus by Don Ferdinando and queene Isabella these verses were written Por Castella y por Leon. Nueuo mondo hallo Colon. For Castile and for Leon. A newe worlde founde was by Colon. VVhy they were called Indies SOme thynke that the people of the newe world were called Indians bycause they are of the colour of the east Indians And although as it semmeth to me they dyffer much in colour and fashions yet is it true that of India they were called Indians India is properly called that great prouince of Asia in the whiche great Alexander kepte his warres and was so named of the ryuer Indus and is diuided into many kyngdomes confinyng with the same From this great India called the East India came great companyes of men as wrytteth Herodotus and inhabited that part of Ethiopia that lyeth betweene the sea Bermeia otherwyse called the red sea or y e gulfe of Arabia and the ryuer of Nilus all whiche regions that great Christian prince Prester Iohn doth nowe possesse The said Indians preuayled so muche that they vtterly chaunged the customes and name of that lande and called it India by reason whereof Ethiopia also hath of long tyme ben called India And hereupon came it that Aristotle Seneca and certayne other olde authours sayd that India was not farre from Spayne After this also of later dayes our west India was so called of the sayde India of Prester Iohn where the Portugales had theyr trade For the Pilot of the Carauell that was fyrst dryuen by forcible wynde to an vnknowen lande in the west Ocean called the same India because the Portugales so called such landes as they had lately discouered eastward Christophor Colon also after the sayd Pilot called the west landes by the same name Albeit some that take Colonus for an expert Cosmographer thynke that he so named them of the East India as to be the furthest and vnknowen ende thereof reachyng into the West vnder the other hemispherie or halfe globe of the earth beneath vs affirming that when he fyrste attempted to discouer the Indies he went chiefly to seeke the ryche Ilande of Cipango whiche falleth on the part of great China or Cathay as wryteth Marcus Paulus Venetus and other And that he shoulde
mountaynes be cutte it groweth agayne within the space of foure dayes hygher then wheate And forasmuche as many showres of rayne doo fall in this region whereof the ryuers and flooddes haue theyr encrease in euery of the whiche golde is founde myxt with sande in all places they iudge that the golde is dryuen from the mountaynes by the vehement course of the streames whiche fall from the same and runne into the ryuers The people of this region are geuen to idlenesse and play for suche as inhabite the mountaynes syt quakyng for colde in the Wynter season and had rather to wander vp and downe idelly then take the paynes to make them apparell where as they haue wooddes full of Gossampine cotton but suche as dwell in the valles or playnes feele no colde in Wynter When the Admirall had thus searched the beginning of the region of Cibana he repayred to Isabella for so he named the citie where leauyng the gouernaunce of the Ilande with his deputies he prepared hym selfe to search further the limittes of the Ilande of Cuba or Iohanna whiche he yet doubted to be the firme lande and distant from Hispaniola only .lxx. myles This dyd he with more speedye expedition callyng to remembraunce the kynges commaundement who wylled hym fyrst with al celeritie to ouerrunne the coastes of the new Ilandes lest any other prince shoulde in the meane time attempt to inuade the same for the kyng of Portugale affirmed that it parteyned only to him to discouer these vnknowen landes but the bishop of Rome Alexander the sixt to auoyde the cause of this dissention graunted to the kyng of Spayne by the aucthoritie of his leaden bulles that no other prince shoulde be so bolde as to make any voyages to any of these vnknowen regions lying without the precinct of a direct lyne drawen from the North to the South a hundred leagues Westwarde without the paralels of the Ilandes called Capud Viride or Cabâ—uerde whiche we thinke to be those that in olde tyme were called Hesperides these parteyne to the kyng of Portugale and from these his Pylotes whiche do yeerely searche newe coastes and regions directe theyr course to the East saylyng euer towarde the left hande by the backe of Aphrike and the seas of the Ethiopians neyther to this day had the Portugales at any tyme sayled Southwarde or Westwarde from the Ilandes of Cabouerde Preparing therfore three shyppes he made haste towarde the Ilande of Iobanna or Cuba whyther he came in short space and named the poynt therof where he fyrste arryued Alpha and O that is the fyrste and the last for he supposed that there had ben the ende of our East because the sonne falleth there and of the West because it ryseth there For it is apparant that Westwarde it is the beginning of India beyonde the ryuer of Ganges and Eastwarde the furthest ende of the same whiche thyng is not contrary to reason forasmuche as the Cosmographers haue left the lymittes of India beyond Ganges vndetermined where as also some were of opinion that India was not farre from the coastes of Spaine as we haue said before Within the prospect of the beginnyng of Cuba he founde a commodious hauen in the extreme angle of the Ilande of Hispaniola for in this part the Ilande receiueth a great goulfe this hauen he named Saint Nicholas porte beyng scarcely twentie leagues from Cuba As he departed from hence and sayled Westward by the South syde of Cuba the further that he went so muche the more the sea seemed to be extended in breadth and to bende towarde the South On the South syde of Cuba he founde an Ilande whiche the inhabitauntes call Iamaica this he affirmeth to be longer broder then the Iland of Scicile hauyng in it only one mountaine which on euery part beginning from the sea ryseth by litle and litle into the myddest of the Ilande and that so playnely without roughnesse that such as goe vp to the toppe of the same can scarcely perceiue that they assende This Ilande he affyrmeth to be very fruiteful and ful of people aswel in thinner partes of the same as by the shore and that the inhabitantes are of quicker wytte then in the other Ilandes and more expert Artificers and warlyke men For in many places where he woulde haue aryued they came armed against him and forbode him with threatnyng wordes but beyng ouercome they made a league of frendshyp with hym Thus departing from Iamaica he sayled toward the West with a prosperous wynde for the space of threescore and tenne dayes thynking that he had passed so farre by the compasse of the earth being vnderneath vs that he had ben neare vnto Aurea Chersonesus nowe called Malaccha in our east India beyonde the begynnyng of Persides for he playnely beleeued that he had left only two of the twelue houres of the sunne which were vnknowen to vs for the olde wryters haue left halfe the course of the sunne vntouched where as they haue but only discussed that superficial parte of the earth whiche lyeth betweene the Ilandes of Gades and the ryuer of Ganges or at the vttermost to Aurea Chersonesus In this Nauigation he chaunced on many furious seas running with a fall as it had ben the streames of floods also many whyrlepooles and shelfes with many other dangers and strayghtes by reason of the multitude of ilandes whiche lay on euery syde But not regardyng al these perylles he determined to proceede vntil he had certaine knowledge whether Cuba were an ilande or firme lande Thus he sayled forward coastyng euer by the shore toward the West for the space of CC.xxii leagues that is about a thousande and three hundred myles and gaue names to seuen hundred ilandes by the way leauyng also on the left hande as he feared not to report three thousande here and there But let vs nowe returne to suche thynges as he founde woorthy to be noted in this nauigation Saylyng therefore by the syde of Cuba and searchyng the nature of the places he espyed not farre from Alpha and O a large hauen of capacitie to harborowe many shyppes whose entraunce is bendyng beyng inclosed on both sydes with capes or poyntes whiche receiue the water this hauen is large within and of exceedyng deapth Saylyng by the shore of this porte he sawe not farre from the same two cotages couered with reedes and in many places fyre kyndled Here he sent certayne armed men out of the shyppes to the cotages where they founde neyther man nor woman but rostemeate yenough for they founde certayne spyttes of wood lying at the fyre hauyng fyshe on them about a hundred pounde weight and two serpentes of eyght foote long apeece whereat marueylyng and lookyng about if they could espye any of the inhabitauntes and that none appeared in syght for they fledde al to the mountaynes at the commyng of our men
recourse to those regions and can no lesse then declare the same albeit it may seeme incredible to some ignorant persons not knowing the power of nature to whom Plinie was perswaded that nothing was impossible We haue therefore thought it good to make this discourse by the way of argument lest on the one syde men of good learnyng and iudgement and on the other syde suche as are studious to finde occasions of quarellyng in other mens wrytynges shoulde iudge vs to be so vndiscrete lightly to geue credite to euery tale not being consonant to reason but of the force and great violence of those freshe waters whiche repulsyng the sea make so great a gulfe as we haue sayde I thynke the cause thereof to be the great multitude of floods and riuers whiche beyng geathered togeather make so great a poole and not one ryuer as they suppose And forasmuch as the mountaines are exceeding high and steepe I thinke the violence of the fall of the waters to be of suche force that this conflict betweene the waters is caused by thimpulsion of the poole that the salt water can not enter into the gulfe But here perhaps some wyll marueyle at me why I should marueyle so muche hereat speakyng vnto me scornefully after this manner Why doth he so marueyle at the great riuers of those regions Hath not Italie his Eridanus named the kyng of ryuers of the old wryters Haue not other regions also the lyke as we reade of Tanais Ganges and Danubius which are sayde so to ouercome the sea that freshe water may be drawen fourtie myles within the same These men I would satisfie with this aunswere The famous ryuer of Padus in Italie whiche they nowe call Po and was of the Greekes called Eridanus hath the great mountaynes called Alpes diuiding Fraunce Germanie and Pannonie from Italie lying at the backe therof as it were bulwarkes agger full of moysture and with a long tracte receiuyng Ticinam with innumerable other great ryuers falleth into the sea Adriatike The lyke is also to be vnderstoode of the other But these ryuers as our men were enfourmed by the kynges fall into the Ocean sea with larger and fuller channels neere hande and some there are whiche affirme this lande to be very large in other places although it be but narowe here There commeth also to my remembraunce another cause the whiche although it be of no great force yet do I entende to wryte it Perhaps therefore the length of the lande reachyng farre from the East to the West if it be narowe may be a helpe hereunto for as we reade that the ryuer Alpheus passeth through the holowe places vnder the sea from the citie of Elis in Peloponeso and breaketh forth at the fountayne or spryng Arethusa in the Iland of Sicillia so is it possible that these mountaines may haue such long caues parteynyng vnto them that they may be the receptacles of the water passing through the landes beyng farre distant and that the same waters commyng by so long a tracte may in the way be greatly encreased by the conuersion of ayre into water as we haue sayde Thus much haue I spoken freely permitting both to them which do frendly interprete other mens dooyngs and also to the malitious scorners to take the thing euen as them lysteth for hytherto I can make no further declaration hereof but when the trueth shal be better knowen I wil do my diligence to commit the same to wrytyng Nowe therfore forasmuch as we haue spoken thus muche of the breadth of this lande we entende to describe the length and fourme of the same The tenth booke of the seconde Decade of the supposed continent THat lande reacheth foorth into the sea euen as doth Italy although not lyke the legge of a man as it doth But nowe I compare a Pigmean or a dwarfe to a Giant for that part thereof whiche the Spanyardes haue ouer runne from the sayd East poynt which reacheth towarde the sea Atlantike the ende not beyng yet founde towarde the West is more then eyght tymes longer then Italie And by what reason I am moued to say eyght tymes your holynesse shall vnderstande From the tyme therefore that I fyrste determined to obeye theyr requestes who wylled me fyrst in your name to wryte these thinges in the Latine tongue I did my endeuour that al things myght come foorth with due tryal and experience whereupon I repayred to the Bishop of Burges beyng the cheefe refuge of this nauigation As we were therfore secretely togeather in one chamber we had many instruments parteining to these affaires as globes and many of those maps whiche are commonly called the shipmans cardes or cardes of the sea Of the which one was drawen by the Portugales wherunto Americus Vesputius is said to haue put to his hande beyng a man most expert in this facultie and a Florentine borne who also vnder the stipende of the Portugales had sayled towarde the South pole many degrees beyonde the Equinoctiall In this carde we founde the first front of this lande to be broder then the kynges of Vraba had perswaded our men of theyr mountaynes To another Colonus the Admiral while he yet lyued and searched those places had geuen the beginning with his owne handes whereunto Bartholomeus Colonus his brother and Lieuetenaunt had added his iudgement for he also had sayled about those coastes Of the Spanyardes lykewyse as many as thought them selues to haue anye knowledge what parteyned to measure the land the sea drewe certayne cardes in parchment as concernyng these nauigations Of all other they moste esteeme them whiche Iohannes de la Cossa the companion of Fogeda whom we sayde to be slayne of the people of Caramairi in the hauen of Carthago and another expert pylote called Andreas Moralis had set foorth And this aswel for the great experience which they both had to whom these tractes were aswel knowen as the chambers of theyr owne houses as also that they were thought to be cunninger in that part of Cosmographie which teacheth the discription and measuring of the sea Conferring therfore al these cardes togeather in euery of the whiche was drawen a lyue expressing not the myles but leagues after the maner of the Spanyardes we tooke our compasses began to measure the sea coastes after this order From that poynt or fronte whiche we sayde to be included within the lyue parteynyng to the Portugales iurisdiction beyng drawen by the paralelles of the Ilandes of Cabouerde but a hundred leagues further towarde the West whiche they haue nowe also searched on euery syde we founde three hundred leagues to the entraunce of the riuer Maragnonum and from thence to Os Draconis seuen hundred leagues but somwhat lesse by the discription of some for they doo not agree in al poyntes exquisitely The Spanyards wyl that a league conteyne foure myles by sea and but three by lande From Os Draconis
and whole head besyde being couered therewith and thus entreth hee into the poole euen vnto the chynne For being from theyr infancie exercised in swymmyng and accustomed to the waters they refuse not to continue therein a long space the foules thynking this Gourde to bee one of the other that swymme vppon the water the fouler goeth softly to the place where hee seeth the greatest flocke of foules and with waggyng his head counterfeyting the mouyng of the waueryng Gourdes draweth neare to the foules where softly puttyng foorth his ryght hande he sodainly snatcheth one by the legges and plungeth her into the water where hee putteth her into a bagge whiche hee hath with hym of purpose The other foules supposyng that this dyued into the water of her owne motion to seeke for foode as is theyr maner are nothyng moued heereby but goe forwarde on their way as before vntyll they also fall into the same snare I haue heere for this cause entred into the declaration of theyr maner of huntyng and foulyng that by these more pleasaunt narrations I may somewhat mittigate and asswage the horrour conceyued in your stomake by the former rehearsal of theyr blooddy actes and cruell maners Let vs nowe therefore speake somewhat agayne of the newe and later opinions as concernyng the swyft course of the sea towarde the West about the coastes of Paria also of the maner of geatheryng of golde in the golde myne of Dariena as I was aduertised of late and with these two quiet and peaceable thinges we will make an ende of the tragicall affayres of the Ocean and therewith byd your holynesse farewell So it is therfore that Andreas Moralis the pilot and Ouiedus of whom wee haue made mention before repayred to mee at my house in the towne of Matrite As we met thus togeather there arose a contention betweene them two as concernyng this course of the Ocean They both agree that these landes and regions parteynyng to the dominion of Castile doe with one continual tract perpetual bond embrase as one whole firme lande or continent all the mayne lande lying on the North side of Cuba the other Ilands being also Northwest both from Cuba Hispaniola Yet as touching the course of the water they varry in opinion For Andreas wil that this violent course of water be receiued in the lappe of the supposed continent which bendeth so much and extendeth so farre towarde the North as wee haue sayde and that by the obiect or resistance of the lande so bending and crookyng the water should as it were rebounde in compasse and by force thereof bee driuen about the North syde of Cuba and the other Ilands excluded without y e circle called Tropicus Cancri where the largenes of y e sea may receiue the waters falling from the narow streames therby represse that inordinate course by reason that the sea is there very large and great I can compare his meanyng to nothing more aptely then to the swyft streame commyng foorth of a myll and fallyng into the myll poole For in all such places where waters runne with a violent fall through narowe chanelles and are then receyued in large pooles they are sodeynly disparcled and theyr violence broken So that whereas before they seemed of suche force as to ouerthrowe all thinges beyng in theyr way it can not then be perceyued which way they runne The Admirall him selfe Diegus Colonus sonne and heyre to Christiphorus Colonus the fyrst fynder of these landes who had nowe in commyng and going foure tymes passed through these seas being demaunded of me what he founde or perceyued in saylyng too and fro answered that there was muche difficultie in returnyng the same way by the which they goe But whereas they fyrst take the way by the mayne sea towarde the North before they directe theyr course to Spayne he sayth that in that tract hee felt the shyppe sometymes a lyttle dryuen backe by the contrary course of the water Yet supposeth that this chaunceth onely by the ordinary flowyng and reflowyng of the sea and the same not to bee enforced by the circumflection or course of the water reboundyng in compasse as wee haue sayde But thinketh rather that this mayne lande or supposed continent should somewhere bee open and that the sayde open place should bee as it were a gate entrie or streyght diuyding the North partes of that lande from the South by the which also the Ocean runnyng towarde the West may by the rotation or impulsion of the heauens bee dryuen about the whole earth Ouiedus agreeth with Andreas Moralis as touchyng the continuall adherence and closenesse of the sayde continent Yet neyther that the waters should so beate agaynst the bendyng backe of the West lande or bee in such sort repulsed and driuen into the mayne sea But sayth that he hath diligently considered that the waters runne from the deepest and myddest of the mayne sea towarde the West Also that saylyng neere vnto the shore with small vessels hee founde the same waters to returne againe towarde the East so that in the same place they runne togeather with contrary course as we oftentymes see the lyke to chaunce in ryuers where by the obiect of the bankes dyuers whirlepooles and turnynges aryse in the water By reason whereof if any chaffe strawe wood or any other thyng of lyght substance be cast in any such places in ryuers it foloweth that all suche as runne with the water in the myddest of the chanell proceede well forwarde but suche as fall into the bendyng gulfes and indented margentes of the crooked bankes are caryed ouerthwart the chanell and so wander about vntyll they meete with the full and directe course of the ryuer Thus haue we made you partener of suche thinges as they haue giuen vs and written their dyuers opinions We will then giue more certayne reason when more certayne trueth shal be knowne We must in the meane tyme leane to opinions vntill the day come appointed of God to reueale this secrete of nature with the perfect knowledge of the pointe of the pole starre Hauyng sayde thus muche of the course of the Ocean a briefe declaration of the golde mynes of Dariena shall close vp our Decades and make an ende of our trauayles Wee haue sayde that niene myles distant from Dariena are the sydes of the hylles and the drye playnes in the whiche golde is geathered both on the drye lande and also on the bankes and in the chanelles of ryuers Therefore to all suche as are wyllyng to geather golde there is of ordinarie custome appointed to euery man by the suruoyers of the mynes a square plotte of grounde conteynyng twelue pases at the arbitrement of the chooser so that it be not grounde alredy occupyed or left of other The portion of grounde being thus chosen as it were assigned of the augures to buylde a temple they inclose their slaues within the same whose helpe the
had been that attempted the first voyage the yeere before At the fyrst they were gentlye receiued and required to resort to the towne but shortly after they repented that they had bydden them and thereupon willed them to stay about a stones cast from the towne and to proceede no further When our men desired that they myght make prouision for freshe water before theyr departure they assigned them to a certayne well whiche they had left behynde them declaring further that it shoulde be lawfull for them to take water there or els no where Our men rested that nyght in the feelde adioyning to the well the whiche thyng the Barbarians suspectyng assembled an army of three thousand men and encamped not farre from them Both partes passed a way the nyght without sleepe they fearyng lest our men shoulde breake into the towne and our men lest the Barbarians shoulde inuade them sodenly on the one part with Trumpettes and on the other syde with the noyse of Tymbrels kept them styll wakyng that were disposed to sleepe At the spryng of the day the Barbarians approched to our mens campe and called for the interpretours of Cuba whose language is much agreable vnto theirs They had deuised to lyght a Torche of franckensence and to place the same betweene both the armies to the intent that yf our men dyd not depart before the Torche were consumed to stand to theyr peryll The Torche was wasted and the matter came to hand strokes They slue only one of our men with an arrowe because his Target failed him but many were wounded After this conflict our men resorted to theyr ordinaunce whiche they had planted neere vnto the wel When they had discharged certayne peeces the Barbarians fled backe into the towne and our men were of fierse and greedie courrage to haue pursued them but that Grisalua the gouernour would not suffer them From thence they proceeded to the last ende of Iucatana which they founde to reach more then two hundred myles from the East to the West Here they founde a commodious hauen and named it Portus desideratus From hence they sailed to other landes came to the region next to Iucatana Westward which they doubt whether it be an Iland or part of the fyrme lande but thinke it rather to be annext to y e continēt in this there is a gulfe whiche they suppose to be incompassed with both the landes but of this there is no certentie The inhabitauntes call this region Caluacam or otherwise Oloan. They found here also a great riuer whiche by his violent course and fall driueth freshe water two myles into the sea this they called Grisalua after the name of the gouernour The Barbarians marueylyng at the huge greatnesse and mouing of our shyps came swarmyng on the bankes of both sydes the riuer to the number of syxe thousande men armed with targettes and brest plates of golde bowes and arrowes brode swoordes of heauie wood and long iauelyns hardened at the endes with fyre Thus standyng in battayle raye to defende theyr coastes and with proude countenaunces forbyddyng our men to come alande both parties watched all that nyght in armes In the dawne of they daye our men espyed about a hundred Canoas whiche we haue sayde to bee theyr boates full of armed men Here also the language of thinterpretours of Cuba agreed well yenough with theirs When they had admitted the peace profered them by thinterpretours al the Canoas staied except one which approched towarde the shyppes A certayne ruler that was in this Canoa demaunded of our men what they sought in other mens landes They answeared Gold and that for permutation of other ware and not of gift or violently The Canoa returned and the ruler certified the king hereof who came gladly to the shippes When he had saluted the gouernor he called his chamberlaine vnto him commaundyng hym to bryng his armur and other ornamentes of gold wherewith he armed Grisalua from the toppe of the head to the sole of the foote insomuche that what so euer any man of armes armed at all partes is among vs accustomed to weare of Iron or steele when he commeth into the fielde all such kynde of furnitures made of golde and wrought with woonderfull art the kyng gaue to the gouernour He recompenced hym with vestures of sycke cloth lynnen and other of our thynges In the begynnyng of this Iucatana when they sayled to Cozumella they chaunced vpon a Canoa of fishermen to the number of niene fyshyng with hookes of golde they tooke them all prysoners One of them was knowen to this kyng who promysed the day folowyng to send the gouernour as much gold for his raunsome as the man hym selfe waighed But the gouernour denied that he could release hym without the consent of his felowes and therefore kept hym styll to proue what he coulde further knowe of hym Departyng from hence and saylyng styll westwarde they founde a great gulfe in the which three small Ilandes were situate Of these they went to the byggest But oh abhominable crueltie oh most corrupted myndes of men and diuilyshe impietie Let euery godly man close y e mouth of his stomake lest he be disturbed They offer young chyldren of both kyndes to their Idoles of marble earth Among their Idoles of marble there standeth a Lion hauyng a hole through the necke into the whiche they poure the blood of the miserable sacrifyce that it may from thence runne downe into a syncke of marble Let vs nowe declare with what ceremonies they sacrifice the blood of these poore wretches They cut not theyr throtes but open the very brestes of these seelye soules and take out theyr hartes yet pantyng with the hot blood whereof they annoynt the lippes of theyr Idoles and suffer the resydue to fall into the syncke This doone they burne the harte and bowels supposyng the smoke thereof to be acceptable to theyr goddes Of theyr Idoles one is made to the shape of a man bowyng downe his head and lookyng towarde the syncke of blood as it were acceptyng the offeryng of the slayne sacrifyce They eate the fleshe of the armes thyghes and legges especially when they sacrifice an enimie taken in the warres They founde a streame of coniealed blood as though it had runne from a boochery For this mischeuous purpose they bring these wretches from the next Ilandes They sawe also innumerable heades and trunkes of bodies thus mangled besyde many other yet remainyng whole and couered with certayne mattes Al the tractes of these regions abound with gold and pretious stodes One of our men wandryng in the Ilande chaunced to fynde two water pottes of alabaster artificially wrought and full of litle stones of dyuers colours They say also that they founde a stone of the value of two thousande Castellans of golde which the sent to the gouernour This Iland they named the Iland of sacrifice Thinhabitauntes are circumcised There
northerne lande but suche a one that ether is not to be traueyled for the causes in the first Obiection alleaged or cleane shut vp from vs in Europe by Groenland the South ende whereof Moletius maketh firme lande with America the north parte continent with Lapponlande and Norway Thyrdly the greatest fauourers of this voyage can not deny but that if any such passage be it lyeth subiect vnto Yse and snow for the most parte of the yeere whereas it standeth in the edge of the frostie zone Before the Sunne hath warmed the ayre and dissolued the Yse eche one well knoweth that there can bee no saylyng the Yse once broken through the continuall abode the Sunne maketh a certayne season in those partes how shall it be possible for so weake a vessell as a shyppe is to holde out amyd whole Ilandes as it were of Yse continually beatyng on eche syde and at the mouth of that goulphe issuyng downe furiously from the North safely to passe whan whole mountaynes of Yse and Snow shal be tombled downe vpon her Wel graunt the west Indies not to continue continent vnto the Pole graunt there be a passage betwyxt these two landes let the goulph lye neare vs than commonly in cardes we fynde it set namely betwyxt the .61 .64 degrees north as Gemma Frisius in his Mappes and Globes imagineth it and so left by our countriman Sebastian Cabote in his table the which my good Lorde your father hath at Cheynies and so tryed this last yeere by your Honours seruaunt as hee reported and his carde and compasse doe witnesse Let the way bee voyde of all difficulties yet doeth it not folowe that we haue free passage to Cathayo For examples sake You may trende all Norway Finmarke and Lapponlande and than bow Southwarde to sainct Nicolas in Moscouia you may lykewyse in the Mediterranean sea fetche Constantinople and the mouth of Tanais yet is there no passage by sea through Moscouia into Pont Euxine now called Mare Maggiore Agayne in the aforesayde Mediterranean sea we sayle to Alexandria in Egypt the Barbares bryng theyr pearle and spices from the Moluccaes vp the read sea and Arabian goulph to Sues scarsely three dayes iourney from the aforesayde hauen yet haue we no way by sea from Alexandria to the Moluccaes for that Isthmos or litle streicte of lande betwyxt the two seas In lyke maner although the northerne passage bee free at .61 degrees latitude and the West Ocean beyonde America vsually called Mar del zur knowen to be open at .40 degrees eleuation for the Ilande Giapan yea .300 leagues northerly aboue Giapan yet may there bee lande to hynder the through passage that way by sea as in the examples aforesayde it falleth out Asia and America there beyng ioyned togeather in one continent Ne can this opinion seeme altogeather friuolous vnto any one that diligently peruseth our Cosmographers doynges Iosephus Moletius is of that mynde not onely in his playne hemispheres of the worlde but also in his sea carde The French Geographers in lyke maner bee of the same opinion as by their Mappe cut out in fourme of a harte you may perceyue as though the West Indyes were parte of Asie Whiche sentence well agreeth with that olde conclusion in the scholes Quidquid praeter Africam et Europam est Asia est Whatsoeuer land doeth neyther appertayne vnto Afrike nor to Europe is parte of Asie Furthermore it were to small purpose to make so long so paynefull so doubtfull a voyage by such a new founde way if in Cathayo you should neyther be suffred to lande for silkes and siluer nor able to fetche the Molucca spices and pearle for piracye in those seas Of a lawe denying all Aliens to enter into China and forbiddyng all the inhabiters vnder a great penaltie to let in any stranger into that countreys shall you reade in the report of Galeotto Perera there imprisoned with other Portugalles as also in the Giaponyshe letters howe for that cause the woorthie traueyler Xauierus bargayned with a Barbarian Marchaunt for a great sum of Pepper to be brought into Cantan a porte in Cathayo The great and daungerous piracie vsed in that seas no man can be ignorant of that listeth to reade the Giaponishe and East Indian historie Finally all this great labour would bee lost all these charges spent in vayne if in the ende our traueylers myght not be able to returne agayne and bryng safely home into theyr owne natyue countrey that wealth and ryches they in forreyne regions with aduenture of goodes and daunger of theyr lyues haue sought for By the Northeast there is no way the Southeast passage the Portugalles doe hold as Lordes of that seas At the Southwest Magellanus experience hath partly taught vs and partly we are persuaded by reason howe the Easterne currant stryketh so furiously on that streicte and falleth with such force into that narrow goulphe that hardely any shyppe can returne that way into our West Ocean out of Mar del zur The which if it be true as truly it is than may we say that the aforesayde Easterne currant or leuant course of waters continually folowyng after the heauenly motions looseth not altogeather his force but is doubled rather by an other currant from out the Northeast in the passage betwyxt America and the North lande whyther it is of necessitie carryed hauyng none other way to maintaine it selfe in circular motion and consequently the force and fury thereof to be no lesse in the streict of Aniaâ— where it striketh South into Mar del zur beyond America if any such streicte of sea there be than in Magellane frete both streictes beyng of lyke breadth as in Belognine Zalterius table of new France and in Don Diego Hermano di Toledo his carde for nauigation in that region we doe fynde precisely set downe Neuerthelesse to approue that there lyeth a way to Cathayo at the Northwest from out of Europe we haue experyence namely of three brethren that went that iourney as Gemma Frisius recordeth and left a name vnto that streicte whereby nowe it is called Fretum trium Fratrum We do reade againe of a Portugal that passed this streicte of whom M. Furbisher speaketh that was imprisoned therefore many yeeres in Lesbona to veryfie the olde Spanyshe prouerbe I suffer for doyng wel Likewise An. Vrdaneta a fryer of Mexico came out of Mar del zur this way into Germanie his Carde for he was a great discouerer made by his owne experience and trauayle in that voyage hath been seene by gentelmen of good credite Now yf the obseruation and remembrance of thyngs breedeth experience and of experience proceedeth art and the certeine knowledge we haue in al faculties as y e best Philosophers that euer were do affyrme truly the voyage of these aforesayd trauaillers that haue gone out of Europe into Mar del zur and returned thence at the Northwest doo moste euidently conclude that way to be nauigable and that
al their merchandise and wares for India Ethiope and Arabie as appeareth by the wrytyng first of Strabo who wryteth that he was in Egypt and then by Plinie who was in the tyme of Domitian Strabo also speaking of the saide fosse or trenche whiche was made towarde the redde sea wryteth thus There is a trenche that goeth towarde the red sea the gulfe of Arabie and to the citie of Arsinoe whiche some call Cleopatrida and passeth by the lakes named Amari that is bytter because in deede they were fyrste bytter but after that this trenche was made and the ryuer entred in they became sweete and are at this present ful of foules of the water by reason of their pleasantnesse This trenche was fyrste begunne by king Sesostre before the battaile of Troy Some say that it was begunne by king Psammiticus while he was a childe and that by reason of his death it was left imperfect also that afterwarde king Darius succeeded in the same enterprise who woulde haue finished it but yet brought it not to the ende because he was enfourmed that the redde sea was higher then Egypt and that if this lande diuiding both the seas were opened all Egypt shoulde be drowned thereby King Ptolomeus woulde in deede haue finished it but yet left it shut at the head that he myght when he woulde sayle to the other sea and returne without peryll Here is the citie of Arsinoe and neare vnto that the citie called Heroum in the vttermost parte of the gulfe of Arabie towarde Egypt with many portes and habitations Plinie likewise speaking of this trenche sayth In the furthest part of the gulfe of Arabie is a porte called Danco from whence they determined to bryng a nauigable trenche vnto the riuer of Nilus whereas is the firste Delta Betweene the saide sea and Nilus there is a streict of lande of the length of .lxii. miles The firste that attempted this thing was Sesostre king of Egypt after him Darius king of the Persians whom Ptolomeus folowed who made a trenche a hundred foote large and thirtie foote deepe being CCC miles in length vnto the lakes named Amari and durst proceede no further for feare of inundation hauing knowledge that the red sea was higher by three cubites then all the countrey of Egypt Other say that this was not the cause but that he doubted that yf he shoulde haue let the sea come any further all the water of Nilus shoulde haue been thereby corrupted whiche onely ministreth drynke to all Egypt But notwithstanding all these thinges aforesayde all this viage is frequented by lande from Egypt to the redde sea in whiche passage are three Causeyes or hygh wayes The fyrst begynneth at the mouth of Nilus named Pelutio All whiche way is by the sandes insomuche that if there were not certayne hygh Reedes fyxt in the earth to shew the ryght way the Causey could not be found by reason the wynde euer couereth it with sand The seconde Causey is two myles from the mountayne Cassius And this also in the ende of threescore myles commeth vpon the way or Causey of Pelusius inhabited with certayne Arabians called Antei The thyrde begynneth at Gerro named Adipson and passeth by the same Arabians for the space of threescore miles somewhat shortter but full of rough mountaynes and great scarcenesse of water Al these Causeyes leade the way to the citie of Arsinoe builded by Ptolomeus Philadelphus in the gulfe Carandra by the redde sea This Ptolomeus was the fyrst that searched all that part of the red sea whiche is called Trogloditica Of this trench described of Strabo and Plinie there are seene certeyne tokens remaynyng at this present as they do affyrme whiche haue been at Sues beyonde the citie of Alcayr otherwyse called Babylon in Egypt But the merchauntes that of later dayes trauayle this viage by lande ryde through the drye and barren desartes on Camels both by day and by nyght directyng theyr waye by the starres and compasse as do mariners on the sea and carying with them water sufficient for many dayes iorneys The places of Arabie and India named of Strabo and Plinie are the selfe same where the Portugales practyse theyr trade at this day as the maners and customes of the Indians doo yet declare for euen at this present their women vse to burne them selues alyue with the dead bodyes of their husbandes Whiche thyng as wryteth Strabo in his .xv. booke they dyd in olde time by a lawe for this consyderation that sometyme being in loue with other they forsooke or poysoned their husbandes And for as muche as accordyng to this custome the olde Poet Propertius who lyued about an hundred yeeres before the incarnation of Christ hath in his booke made mention of the contention that was among the Indian women whiche of them shoulde be burned aliue with theyr husbandes I haue thought good to subscribe his verses whiche are these Faelix Eois lex funeris vna maritis Quos aurora suis rubra colorat equis Namque vbi mortifero iacta est fax vltima lecto Vxorum fusis stat pia turba comis Et certamen habent lethi quae viua sequatur Coniugium pudor est non licuisse mori Ardent victrices flammae pectora praebent Imponuntque suis ora perusta viris As touchyng these viages both by sea and by lande to East India and Cathay many thinges are wrytten very largly by diuers autours which I omit because they parteyne not so much vnto vs as doth the viage attempted to Cathay by the north seas and the coastes of Moscouia discouered in our tyme by the viage of that excellent young man Rychard Chaunceller no lesse learned in al mathematicall sciences then an expert pilotte in the yeere of our Lorde .1554 As concernyng this viage I haue thought good to declare y e communication which was betweene the sayd learned man Galeatius Butrigarius and that great philosopher and noble gentleman of Italie named Hieronimus Fracastor as I fynd written in the Italian histories of nauigations As they were therefore conferryng in matters of learnyng and reasoning of the science of Cosmographie the saide learned man hauyng in his hand an instrument of Astronomie declared with a large oration howe much the worlde was bound to the kinges of Portugale rehearsing the noble factes done by them in India and what landes and Ilandes they had discouered and howe by theyr nauigations they made the whole worlde to hang in the ayre He further declared of what partes of the ball the earth remayned yet vndiscouered and sayde that of the landes of the inferior hemispherie or halfe compase of the ball towarde the pole Antartike there was nothyng knowen but that litle of the coaste of Brasilia vnto the streyght of Magellanus also a part of Peru also a litle aboue Affrike towarde the cape of Bona Speranza Also
dominion remayned whiche opened licentiousnesse to thiniurie of the subiectes this folowed thereof that whereas the Danes by this occasion had no further trust or ayde in the loue of the people they prouided for thindempnitie of theyr owne estate by forcible extenuatyng the goods and power of them whom they desired to keepe in subiection This is the fortune of Norway whose edefices townes and cities can not defende theyr auncient amplitude and dignitie neyther is there any hope of repayryng theyr state For there are no consultations admitted for the redresse of the common welth No man dare shewe his aduice or attempte any thyng vncertayne of the myndes and consent of other To this difficultie is added the qualitie of the place For the Danes haue in theyr power al the nauigations of Norway wherby it may exercise no trade by sea neyther cary forth wares to other places So that in fine it may seeme most vnfortunate as lackyng the fauoure of heauen the sea and the lande From hence is brought into all Europe a fyshe of the kyndes of them whiche we call haddockes or hakes indurate and dried with cold and beaten with clubbes or stockes by reason whereof the Germans call them stockefyshe The takyng of these is most commended in Ianuarie that they may be sufficiently dryed and hardened with colde For suche as are taken in the more temperate monethes do corrupt and putrifie and are not meete to be caryed forth The description of the west coaste with the part thereof lying most towarde the north Wardhus that is the watche house or watche towre 54.70.30 It is a stronge Castell or fortresse appoynted to the Lapones The coaste folowyng .48.50.70 Matthkur c. All the coast from hence and the places neere about vnto the degree .45.69 beyng sometyme lefte desolate by the sedition and destruction of Norway the Lapones chose for their habitations as comming to amore beneficial heauen From y e castel of Wardhus vnto the degree .40.30.64.10 al the coast in the spring tyme is daungerous to passe by reason of whales of such huge byggenesse that some of them growe to an hundred cubites for these fyshes at that tyme of the yeere resort togeather for generation Such shyppes as chaunce to fall eyther vppon theyr bodies or into suche whyrlepooles as they make by theyr vehement motions are in great peryll The remedie to auoyde this daunger is to power into the sea Castoreum that is oyle made of the stones of the beaste called the Beuor myngeled with water For with this the whole hearde of whales vanysheth suddeynely to the bottome of the sea They make a terrible roryng and haue two breathyng places in the hyghest part of theyr forheads standyng foorth ryght a cubite in length and are brode at the endes beyng couered with a skynne through the whiche they blowe waters lyke showers or stormes of raine The prickes of theyr backes are founde conteynyng three els in circuite and euery knotte betwene them of one ell They are at the leaste of .lx. cubites in length and are salted and kept in store houses The greatest are vnprofitable to bee eaten by reason of theyr ranke and vnsauery taste whiche can not be qualified Nidrosia standyng vppon the south syde of the sea banke was the chiefe citie and Metropolitane churche throughout all Norway Iselande Gronlande and the Ilandes there about This citie was noble at the fyrst vnder the floryshyng Empire of Norway conteynyng in circuite .xxiiii. paryshes but it is now brought in maner to a village and is called in the Germane tongue Truthaim as the house of the Dryides There remayneth at this day a Cathedrall churche in token of the auncient felicitie beyng such that in bygnesse and workmanshyp of wrought stone the lyke is not in all Christendome The greeses or compasse about the Altar was destroyed by fyre and repared at the same time that we wrote this historie The charge of the reparation was esteemed to be seuen thousand crownes by which small portion an estimate may be made of the excellencie of the whole Churche The tract of all the sea coastes of Norway is very quiet and meeke the sea is not frosen the snowes endure not long This lande hath also a peculiar pestilence which they call Leem or Lemmer This is a litle foure footed beaste about the byggenesse of a Ratte with a spotted skynne these fall vppon the grounde at certayne tempestes and soddeyne showres not yet knowen from whence they come as whether they are brought by the wyndes from remote Ilandes or otherwyse engendred of thycke and feculent clowdes But this is well knowen that as soone as they fall downe greene grasse and hearbes are found in theyr bowels not yet digested They consume al greene thyngs as do Locustes and such as they only byte wyther and dye This pestilence lyueth as long as it doth not tast of the grasse newely sproong They come togeather by flockes as do Swalows and at an ordinarie time either die by heapes with great infection of the land as by whose corruption y e aire is made pestiferous and molesteth the Noruegians with swymmyng in the head and the Iaundies or are consumed of other beastes named Lefrat Towards the East it is included within the lyne that is drawen by the mountaynes whose endes or vttermoste boundes they are that lye toward the South aboue the mouthes of the riuer Trolhetta but that part that lieth toward the North passeth by the castel of Wardhus and is extended to the vnknowen lande of the Lapones The Lake called Mos and the Ilande of Hosfuen in the myddest therof is in the degree .45 30 61. In this Lake appeareth a straunge monster whiche is a serpent of huge byggenesse And as to all other places of the worlde blasing starres do portend thalteration and chaunge of thynges so doth this to Norway It was seene of late in the yeere of Christ .1522 appearyng farre aboue the water rowlyng lyke a great pyller and was by coniecture farre of esteemed to be of fyftie cubites in length Shortly after folowed the reiectyng of Christiernus kyng of Denmarke Suche other monstrous thyngs are sayd to be seene in diuers places of the world And doubtlesse except we should thynke that the diuine prouidence hauyng mercy vpon mortall men and hereby warnyng them of theyr offences doth send such strange thynges as also blasing starres and armies fyghtyng in the ayre with suche other portentous monsters whereof no causes can be founde by naturall thynges we myght els suspect that such syghtes were but imaginations of the sense of man deceyued On the East syde are exceedyng rough mountaynes which admit no passage to Suetia The sea betweene Norway and the Ilandes is called Tialleslund Euripus or the streyghtes The Iland of Lofoth whose middest .42 67 10. Langanas whose middest .41 67 Vastrall whose middest .41 30 67 30. The sea betwene these
three Ilands is called Muscostrom that is boyling At the flowing of the sea it is swalowed into the Caues and is blowne out agayne at the reflowing with no lesse violence then the streames of ryuers fall from mountaines This sea is nauigable vntyl it be lower then the mouthes of the rockes Such as chaunce into it out of due time are caried headlong into Whyrpooles The fragmentes of the lost shyps are seldome cast vp agayne But when they are cast vp they are so brused and fretted against the rockes that they seeme to be ouergrowne with hoare This is the power of nature passing the fabilous Simpleiades the fearful Malea with the dangerous places of Silla and Caribdis and all other miracles that nature hath wrought in any other sea hytherto knowen to man The Ilands about Norway are of such fruitful pasture that they bryng not theyr beastes into the stables before the moneth of Nouember and do in many places wynter them abrode Suecia or Suethlande SVecia is a kyngdome ryche in Golde Syluer Copper Leade Iron fruite cattayle and exceedyng increase of fyshe of the ryuers lakes and the sea and hath no lesse plentie of such wylde beastes as are taken with huntyng Towarde the West it is ended with the mountaynes of Norway from the Castel of Wardhus vnto th ende .51.63.40 Towarde the South with the line from this ende vnto the degrees 53.30.61 And from thence vnto the degrees 61.60.30 Aboue the gulfe of Suecia towarde the north with the south end of Lapponia from the castel of Wardhus vnto the ende .62.70 Towarde the East it is ended with the line from this ende vnto the degree .63.69 c. Stokholme the chiefe citie .64.61 This is the chiefe mart towne of Suecia and is strongly defended by art and nature It is situate in maryshes after the maner of Uenice and was therfore called Stokholme forasmuch as beyng placed in the water the fundation is fortified with stockes or piles The sea entreth inâ—o it with two armes or branches of such largenesse and depth that shyps of great burden and with maine sayles may enter by the same with theyr ful fraight This suffered of late yeeres greeuous spoile and destruction to the singular exemple of cruel hostilitie and such as the lyke hath not been lyghtly shewed to any other citie receiued by league and composion In al the tract from Stokholme to the lake aboue the ryuer of Dalekarle whiche is in the degree .56 30 63 50. are mountaynes fruiteful of good syluer copper and lead They get great ryches by the salmons and plentie of other fyshes whiche they take in certayne great lakes The dukedome of Agermannia occupieth the north syde to the confines of Laponia This tract is ful of wods in the which they hunt the beastes called Vros or Bisontes which in theyr tongue they call Elg that is wylde Asses These are of such heyght that the hyghest part of theyr backes are equal with the measure of a man holdyng vp his armes as hygh as he may reach c. Vpsalia the chiefe citie .62.62.30 here is buryed the body of saint Henricus kyng and martyr Copperdalia that is the copper valley is a Dukedome southwarde from the Dukedom of Iemptia Under this is the valyant nation of the people called Dalekarly Oplandia is a Dukedome and the nauil or myddest of Scondia The citie of Pircho on the North syde of the lake of Meler â–ª was once a great citie and able to arme .xiiii. thousande men to the warres but is nowe brought to a vyllage All the tracte of Oplandia hath mynes of Syluer Copper and Steele Of the Ilandes and rockes that lye about Suecia the myddest is .67.30.61.30 These were called of the olde writers Done the reason of which name remayneth vnto this daye For there are in these innumerable multitudes of byrdes insomuch that thinhabitauntes of the next coast sayle thyther in the moneth of May whyle the byrdes syt on theyr egges which they steale and reserue them in salt for a long tyme. Bothnia BOthnia is so named of the pretious furres of all sortes that are caryed from thence into foraigne regions For by these and theyr fyshyng they haue great commoditie Salmons of the best sort are taken in these seas are great riches among these nations Bothnia is diuided into two partes as Northbothnia South Bothnia called Ostrobothhia Northbothnia is termined with the South ende of the Lapones vnto the ende .78.30.69 Towarde the East it is termined with this ende and vnto the degree .78.30.68.20 Towarde the West with the line terminyng the East syde of Suecia And towarde the South with the residue of the gulfe of Suecia from th ende that hath degrees .63.69 Ostrobothnia towarde the East is termined from the sayde ende of the most East coast And towarde the South with a line extended by the mountaynes from this ende vnto the degree .71 66 Towarde the North and West with part of the gulfe of Suecia c. Gothia or Gothlande GOthia is by interpretation good For the holy name of God is in the Germane tongue Goth that is Good At what tyme the Gothes vpon a generall consent sent foorth theyr ofspring or sucession to seeke new seates or countreys to inhabite and when they possessed the coastes of Meotis and Asia none of the olde wryters haue made mention as farre as I know But they haue been knowen since the tyme that the Romanes dilated theyr Empire by Illirium now called Slauonie vnto the ryuer of Danubius and were also famous from the time of Cesar Dictator and Octauianus Augustus by reason of their great warres at Danubius being the vtermost bound of Thempire Neuerthelesse in that renowme what Gothia was vnder what part of heauen it was scituate or of whom the Gothes tooke their original it hath been vnknowen almost to this age This is termined toward the North with the South ende of Suetia and towarde the West with the other mountaynes of Norway whiche continue from the boundes of Suetia to the mouthes of the ryuers of Trolheta c. It hath many goodly Townes Cities Castles Mines c. The citie of Visba being in the degree .61.30.54.15 was an ancient and famous mart Towne as is Genua in Italie at this day but afterward being afflicted by y e incursions of the Pirates of the Danes and Moscouites it was left desolate There remayne to this day certayne ruines whiche testifie the auncient nobilitie In this place were the firste stations of the Gothes that possessed Meotis It is at this day of fruiteful soyle and famous by many goodly and strong Castles Monasteries There is among other a Monasterie of the order of Saint Benedict in the whiche is a librarie of about two thousande bookes of old auctors About the yeere of Christe fourescore and eyght the Gothes vnto whom resorted
Paulus Centurio a citizen of Genua with letters whereby you doe exhort vs to ioyne in power counsayle with you other Princes of Christendome against the enemies of the christian fayth that a free passage redy way may bee opened for both your Ambassadours ours to come go to fro wherby by mutual dutie and indeuour on both parties we may haue knowledge of the state of thinges parteynyng to the wealth of vs both VVe certes as we haue hytherto happely by the ayde and helpe of almightie God constantly and earnestly resisted the cruell wicked enemies of the christian faith so are we determined to doe hereafter and are likewise redy to consent with other christian princes to graunt free passage into our dominions In consideration wherof we haue sent vnto you our faithful seruant Demetrius Erasmus with these our letters with him haue remitted Paulus Centurio desiring you also shortly to dismisse Demetrius with safegard and indemnitie vnto the borders of our dominions And we wil likewise do the same if you send your Ambassadour with Demetrius whereby both by communication and letters we may be better certified of thorder and administration of such things as you require so that being aduertised of the mindes and intent of all other christian princes we may also consult what is best to be done herein Thus fare ye wel Giuen in our dominioÌ„ in our citie of Moscouia in the yeere from the creation of the world .vii. thousand and .300 the third day of Aprill But Demetrius as he is experte in diuine and humane thinges and especially of holy scripture seemed to haue secrete commaundement of greater matters whiche we thinke he will shortly declare to the senate in priuate consultations For he is now deliuered of the feuer into the which he fell by change of ayre and hath so recouered his strength natiue colour that being a man of .lx. yeeres of age he was not only present at the Popes masse celebrated with great solemnitie in the honour of S. Cosmus Damian but came also into the Senate at such tyme as Cardinal Campegius commyng first from the legacie of Pannonia was receiued of the Pope all the nobilitie of the court And furthermore also viewed the Temples of the holy citie with the ruines of the Romane magnificence and with woondring eyes beheld the lamentable decay of the auncient buildinges So that we thinke that shortly after he hath declared his message he shal return to Moscouia with the byshop of Scarense the Popes legate not vnrecompensed with iust rewardes at the handes of his holinesse The name of the Moscouites is nowe newe although the Poete Lucane maketh mention of the Moschos confynyng with the Sarmatians and Plinie also placeth the Moschos at the sprynges of the great ryuer of Phasis in the region of Colchos aboue the sea Euxinus towarde the East Theyr region hath very large boundes and is extended from the Aultars of great Alexander about the sprynges of Tanais to the extreme landes and North Ocean in maner vnder the North starres called charles wayne or the great Beare beyng for the most parte playne of fruitfull pasture but in sommer in many places full of marishes For whereas all that lande is replenyshed with many and great ryuers which are greatly increased by the wynter snowe and I se resolued by the heate of the sunne the playnes and fieldes are thereby ouerflowen with marishes and all iourneys incombred with continuall waters and myrie slabbynesse vntyll by the benefite of the newe wynter the ryuers and marishes be frosen agayne and giue safe passage to the sleades that are accustomed to iourney by the same The wood or forest of Hercynia and not Hyrcania as is red in some false copies occupyeth a great parte of Moscouia and is heere and there inhabited with houses builded therein and so made thinner by the long labour of men that it doeth not now shewe that horrour of thicke impenetrable woods and landes as many thinke it to haue But beyng replenished with many wylde beastes is so far extended through Moscouia with a continuall tract betweene the East and the North towarde the Scythian Ocean that by the infinite greatnesse thereof it hath deluded the hope of suche as haue curiously searched the ende of the same In that parte that reacheth towarde Prussia are founde the great and fierce beastes called Vri or Bisontes of the kynde of Buâ—les Also Alces lyke vnto Hartes which the Moscouites call Lozzi and are called of the Germaynes Helenes On the East syde of Moscouia are the Scythians which are at this day called Tartars a wandryng nation and at all ages famous in warres In the stead of houses they vse wagons couered with beastes hydes whereby they were in olde tyme called Amaxouii For cities and townes they vse great tentes and pauilions not defended with trenches or walles of tymber or stone but inclosed with an innumerable multitude of archers on horsbacke The Tartars are diuided by companyes which they call Hordas which worde in theyr tongue signifieth a consentyng company of people geathered together in forme of a citie Euery Horda is gouerned by an Emperour whom eyther his parentage or warlyke prowes hath promoted to that dignitie For they oftentimes keepe warre with theyr borderers and contende ambiciously and fiercely for dominion It doeth hereby appeare that they consist of innumerable Hordas in that the Tartars possesse the most large desartes euen vnto the famous citie of Cathay in the furdest Ocean in the East They also that are nearest to the Moscouites are knowen by theyr trade of marchaundies and often incursions In Europe neare vnto the place called Dromon Achillis in Taurica Chersoneso are the Tartars called Precopites the daughter of whose prince Selymus the Emperour of the Turkes tooke to wyfe These are most infest to the Polones and waste the regions on euery syde betweene the ryuers of Boristhenes and Tanais They that in the same Taurica possesse Caffam a colonie of the Ligurians called in olde tyme Theodosia doe both in religion and all other thinges agree with the Turkes But the Tartars that inhabite the regions of Asia betweene Tanais and Volga are subiect to Basilius the kyng of the Moscouites and choose them a gouernour at his assignement Among these the Cremii afflicted with ciuile seditions where as heeretofore they were ryche and of great power haue of late yeeres lost theyr dominion and dignitie The Tartars that are beyonde the riuer of Volga do religiously obserue the frendship of the Moscouites and professe them selues to be theyr subiectes Beyond the Cassanites towarde the North are the Sciambani rych in heardes of cattaylle and consistyng of a great multitude of men After these are Nogai whiche obteyne at this day the chiefe fame of ryches and warly affayres Theyr Horda although it