us into a Grotto hollowed in the Rock where he shewed us a place where it is said Elias fasted sometimes Elias's Grotto and was fed by a Raven In a hole hard by he shewed us the place where the People of the Countrey say the forty Martyrs are buried but no Tomb Bones nor Ashes are to be seen there He shewed us besides in the Roof of that Grott which is a natural Rock very hard and like to Pit-coal from which much water drops the figure of a hand which they say is the hand of Elias but which is indeed no more but the Veines of the Rock which represent but very imperfectly long and great fingers to the number of more than five or six and I cannot tell if ever Elias was there As to the forty Martyrs this is the Story they tell of them A Jewish Child having secretly left his Excrements in a Mosque the King or Basha being informed next Morning that such a Packet had been found there was highly enraged and caused enquiry to be made after the Authour The Jew who was an Enemy to the Christians told him that he knew for a certain that they had done it in contempt of his Religion whereupon he caused them all to be put into prison and some time after forty of them out of a charitable Zeal to save the rest confessed themselves guilty of the pretended Crime upon which he caused all the forty to be put to death though he knew very well they could not all have been guilty Upon the same hill but at some hundreds of paces from thence is the place of the seven Sleepers Seven sleepers as the People of the Countrey think There they shew a Grotto where there are seven holes stopt nay some say that they sleep there still but in relating these things they confound so many Histories that it is very hard to know the truth of what they believe We came back to the Town by the Gate of Paboutches To have a full view of Damascus The place for having a full view of Damascus one must go to that place of the forty Martyrs It lies towards the middle of a Mountain that is to the North of the City is long and narrow and reaches from East to West to the East it draws into a point and at the west-West-end is the Suburbs called Bab-Ullah which I mentioned before reaching in length above three or four Miles Westward This City is in the middle of a spacious Plain on all hands surrounded with Hills but all distant from the Town almost out of sight those on the North-side is where that of the forty Martyrs are the nearest On the North-side it hath a great many Gardens full of Trees and most Fruit-trees these Gardens take up the ground from the Hill of the forty Martyrs even to the Town so that at a distance it seems to be a Forest Another day I went by the Bashas Serraglio and having advanced a little North-wards in the first street to rhe left hand I found a Mosque which had formerly been a Church dedicated to St. Nicholas The Church of St. Nicholas now a Mosque I entered it and found it to have been a very large and stately Church with a spacious Court environed by a Cloyster whereof the Arches are supported by many great marble-Pillars All that Cloyster and Court which is still paved with large fair Stones belonged to the Church with a great space enclosed and covered which they have changed into a mosque and they have demolished all the Vaults which covered that which I call the Court and brought into it one of the Rivers of Damascus called Banias that runs through the length of it there they load the Camels that are to go to Mecha with Water and for that end alone they have brought the Course of the River that way There are a great many Trees also in it which render it a very pleasant place The Dervishes Being come out of that Court I went to the Dervishes which are a little farther on the same side They are very well lodged and have several Gardens through which the River Banias runs before it reaches the Church of St. Nicholas The Name of Dervish is made up of two Persian words to wit of Der which signifies Door and Vish signifying Threshold as if one should say the threshold of the door Their founder took that Name to intimate that his design was that that order should particularly make profession of humility by comparing themselves to the threshold of a door that all People tread upon Having viewed that house I kept on my way and came to the Green of Damascus that is not far from it It is a large Field or Grass-plat which they call the Meidan encompassed on all hands with Gardens and the River Banias runs through it About the middle of it there is a little Pillar in the ground The place where God made the first Man. about four foot high and they say that that is the place where God made the first Man. It is a very pleasant place and therefore when any Person of Quality passes by Damascus he pitches his Tents there The lovely Hospital of Morestan When I was come into that field I turned to the right and entered into the Morestan which is at the middle of one of the sides of that field I found my self in a square Cloyster covered with little Domes supported by marble Pillars the first bases of which are of Brass on the side I entered at and just opposite unto it there are Chambers for receiving Pilgrims of whatsoever Religion they be Every Chamber is covered with a great Dome and hath its Chimney two Presses and two Windows to wit one towards the Green and one on the other side The Cloyster has twice as many Domes as the Chambers have the side on the right hand is appointed for Kitchins where there are many great Kettles wherein daily and even during the Ramadan they boil Pilau and other such Food which they distribute amongst all that come of whatsoever Religion they be On the side opposite to the Kitchins is the Mosque and before it a lovely Portico covered with Domes as the rest of the Cloyster is but they are somewhat higher and supported by more lofty Pillars This Mosque is covered with a very great Dome having a lovely Minaret on each side and all these Domes and Minarets are covered with Lead Within the Green there is a fair Garden along the sides of the Cloyster where many Trees are planted it is railed with rails of Wood on the four sides of it which are five or six foot high so that it leaves in the middle a large Square paved with fair Free-Stone wherein there is a Bason of an oblong Figure or rather a very large Canal through which the River Banias runs This Hospital was built by Solyman the second who took Rhodes for the accommodation of
men attempted to hall her out of the water by one side that she might be emptied by the other but the weight of the water bulged one of her sides and then she overset so that despairing to recover her unless with much labour and the loss of a great deal of time and fearing besides that she might dash against the Hold of the Ship because it was then a very rough Sea they cut the Ropes and let her go though it was near a hundred Piastres loss to the Owner of the Ship This made us lose a whole hours time and in the mean while one of the Ships which the day before was to our Starboard got a Head of us About half an hour after seven in the morning we made Sail with a North Wind. About half an hour after nine we were off of an Island to our Larboard which we took to be Audarvia but we were mistaken About ten a Clock the violence of the Wind began to abate and we Steered away East South-East About two a Clock after-noon we made a little Island to the Larboard very near the main Land and knew it be Audarvia and that the other which we past about half an hour after nine in the morning and took for Audarvia was Lara This Isle of Lara is a little Desart very low place Lara close by the main Land which is the reason that it is not easily discovered it bears nothing unless it be some wild Trees and that too only at one end of it which lyes to the West north-North-West and was to us the beginning of the Isle as our Course lay it may be known by these Trees It lyes in length from West north-North-West to East South-East and is threescore and ten Leagues from Carek Audarvia The Isle of Audarvia is in like manner little low and very near the main Land and lyes in length as Lara does from West North-West to East South-East there is good water in this Island and in the middle of it some wild Trees and the Cottages of some Fishermen who come from the main Land to Fish there it being seven or eight Leagues from Lara It is worth the observing that though these two Isles be very near the Land as I have been saying yet they leave a passage betwixt them and the main Land which may admit of Ships because it is very deep water and Ships sometimes shoot that passage The Wind freshning in the afternoon at three quarters of an hour after two a Clock we were got to the farther end of the Island and an hour after made the Isle of Keis to the South-East About half an hour after four we got on Head of the Ship that was before us in the morning and at the same time we were off and on with the hithermost end of the Isle of Keis Keis which was to our Starboard side This Island is about two Leagues and a half from the main Land or three at most and about five Leagues from Audarvia though they reckon it fifteen Leagues from Lara to Keis it reaches in length from West South-West to East North-East and is about five Leagues in Circuit it is very low and flat like the two former but it is inhabited by several people who have Houses dispersed here and there upon it I was told that heretofore the Inhabitants of that Island having killed a Portuguese who had gone a shoar there for some insolence which he had committed sometime after other Portuguese Ships coming thither the Admiral called Roui-Fereyra-Andrada went a shoar upon the Island and taking a Sucking-Child put it into a Mortar and by an unparalelled piece of cruelty A horrid piece of cruelty of a Portuguese made the Father and Mother of the innocent Babe pound it themselves in the Mortar This General was a Devil incarnate and it was his usual way so to revenge himself on the Inhabitants of those Coasts when they had done him any displeasure his name is to this day so terrible unto them that they use it to still their little Children when they cry threatning them with Lowis de Fereyra In the mean time that inhumanity made many forsake the Island that they might not be exposed to such cruel usage nevertheless some abode still and have Cattel there I was told that heretofore there were all sorts of Fruits on this Island but that since the Portuguese have left off to go thither there are no more to be found I was likewise assured that there is excellent water in the North-West and East ends of the Isle About five a Clock in the evening we furled our Mizan Mizan-Top Main-Top and Fore-Top-Sails that we might not make so much way because on this Coast there are places where the water is very shallow About seven a Clock at night we were got off of the other end of the Isle of Keis and then the Wind slackened much half an hour after we came off and on a place of the main Land where the shoar opens towards the East and forms a Gulf in shape of a half Circle and the outmost point of that half Circle is called Gherd All that day we had kept very near the main Land which to that Gulf bears West North-West and East South-East When we were just off the beginning of this Gulf a gentle Gale blowing from East North-East made us to Steer our Course South-East and we made the Land called Gherd to the East South East About ten a Clock at night we stood away South South-East and heaving out the Lead found seventeen Fathom water within a quarter of an hour after the Wind turning North-West we bore away South but because it instantly blew too hard we furled the Main-Sail and Steered South South-East About three quarters after ten we Steered South-East and casting the Lead found fifteen Fathom water Sunday the two and twentieth of November at two a Clock after midnight we were got off of the Isle of Paloro to our Starboard Paloro our Course was then East South-East and having sounded we found thirteen Fathom water whereupon we turned the Ships Head South South-East A quarter after two we heaved the Lead several times and found betwixt six and seven Fathom water Three quarters after two we bore away East South-East and casting the Lead found first fifteen then ten and a little farther only eight Fathom water we had then to the Larboard a Mountain on the main Land Mount Sannas called Sannas Half an hour after five in the morning we had but five Fathom water At six a Clock we found twelve and then we Steered East North-East and at eight a Clock in the morning came before Congo distant from Keis fifteen Leagues by Land and thirty by Sea an hundred from Carek and an hundred and fifty from Bassora from Congo to Comoron it is twenty Leagues by Land and thirty by Sea. We came to an Anchor in the Road a long half League
hour after eight we had seven Fathom water About ten a Clock seven Fathom a Foot less About half an hour after eleven seven Fathom and then we set the Ships Head East South East but at midnight held our Course South Next morning half an hour after five we had thirteen Fathom water and were almost at an equal distance from the Isle of Queschimo which was to the North-East of us the Isle of Nabdgion or Pitombo South South-West of us and the Isle of Tonbo South East from us and we bore away East Queschimo is a great Isle but low Land though it hath several Hillocks Queschimo yet they are all so low that Sailing along this Island on any side you may see the Mountains of the main Land over it It lyes in length East and West is not very broad but twenty Leagues long it is to the East of Congo and West south-South-West from Comoron it is a fruitful and well inhabited Island the West end of it not being above a good League and a half from Congo and the East end about a League from Bender-Abassi On the East part of this Island there is a Fort before which Ships may come to an Anchor in six Fathom water to take in fresh water which is very good in this place The Portuguese formerly held this Fort and it may be worth the observing that though the Island be very near the main Land yet Barks and Galliots pass betwixt the two Nabdgion or Pitombo is a little low Desart Island lying South Nabgion or Pitombo Tonbo South-East from Queschimo Tonbo is another little low flat Island and Desart affoarding only a great many Antelopes and Conys It lyes to the East of Nabdgion or Pitombo and South from Congo from which it is but four Leagues distant Manuel Mendez who had much experience in those Seas being very young when he came into that Country where he hath during the space of many years made several Voyages made me observe that if any one should build a Fort on that Island and keep some Men of War there he might easily raise a Toll upon all the Ships that Trade in those Seas for they must of necessity Sail near to that Island on the one side or other Towards the South-East it has fifteen or twenty Wells of good water but especially one that is excellent and a good Road before it When the Portuguese were possessed of Mascate they came every year with some Galliots to the Isle of Tonbo to receive the Tribute that was paid them in all the Ports of those Seas and brought thither by those who were obliged to pay it The yearly Tribute they had from the Isle of Queschimo consisted of five Persian Horses and two Falcons Congo payed four hundred Tomans Bahrem sixteen thousand Abassis and Catif the half of the yearly profits of its Customs as for Bassora there was a Portuguese Agent that resided there who received a Chequin a day of the Basha and as often as the General came to that Town the Basha made him a Present This Island is encompassed all round with Banks under water nevertheless there is almost every where four six eight nay in some places nine Fathom water About half an hour after seven the Wind slackened much and we Steered South South East about eleven a Clock we found nine Fathom water and seeing we were almost becalmed and the Tide cast us to the Westward we were obliged to drop an Anchor half an hour after one a Clock at noon We were some three Leagues off of Sannas which was to the West North-West of us to the North-West and by West it makes a Peak but the Hill is higher than the Peak we went thither to take in water for the water is very good there though it be about two Leagues from the West point of Queschimo which was to the North-West of us About four a Clock we had a Breeze from South South-West which made us Steer our Course South-East About six a Clock we had twenty Fathom water Half an hour after seven the Wind turned North-West and we bore away East at eight a Clock we found eighteen Fathom water half an hour after that eighteen and a half and we stood away East and by North. About nine a Clock the Wind freshened a little and we had twenty Fathom water at ten a Clock we had one and twenty and about half an hour after ten we Steered our Course East Wednesday the ninth of December about day break the Wind ceased and we Steered still East the Isle of Angom was to the North-East of us and not far off and on the other side to the South-East we had a Port of Arabia Foelix called Julfar which is a good Harbour where many Indian Barks carrying mony come to buy Dates Julfar Pearl-Fishing and Pearls which are Fished all along that Coast from Mascat to Bahrem there is a good Castle at Julfar From that Port to the Cape of Mosandon the Coast of Arabia the Happy is all Mountanous bearing South-West and North-East and runs so near the Persian shoar that there is but five Leagues betwixt the main Land of Mosandon and the Isle of Lareca which is close by Comoron Betwixt Julfar and Mosandon Good Ports in the Gulf which are not set down in the Maps there are a great many good Ports that are not set down in the Maps where notwithstanding several Ships may safely Winter secure from all Winds and there is every where very good water About half an hour after seven in the morning the Wind turned North-East and we Steered our Course East South-East We were then off and on with the Point of Angom which bears West North-West Angom Angom is a little low Island to the South of Queschimo and reaches along Queschimo from West North-West to East South-East no body lives in it but two or three Fishermen who keep some Goats which they sell to Ships that come there to take in fresh water where it is very good Though this Island be very near to Queschimo yet Ships may pass betwixt them and all that take in water there shoot the Streight About noon we bore away South-East and at one a Clock having cast the Lead we had eight and thirty Fathom water we were then becalmed and made no way but by the Tide of Ebb which cast us upon Arabia so that we were obliged to stand off of it as far as we could to turn the Ships Head East North-East nevertheless towards the evening we were got very near the Mountains of Arabia wherefore to keep off of that shoar as much we could we Steered away North-East and by East and the Tide of floud did us some service About seven a Clock the Wind seemed as if it would get in to North but it blew so gentlely that it hardly curled the water Thursday the tenth of December about half an hour after four in the morning we
When these Stones are removed you go down into a Vault by a little hole opposite to the mouth of the Well and there another great Stone is to be removed before you come at the Well which is sixteen fathom deep Cimented narrow at the top and wide at the bottom Over the aforesaid Vault there are some ruines of the Buildings of a Village two little Pillars are to be seen still standing and many Olive-Trees all round Near to that is the portion of Land which Jacob gave to his Son Joseph it is a very pleasant place and his Sepulchre is in it Mount Gerezim Mount Gerezim mentioned in holy Scripture is on the right hand as you go to that Well There is a Chappel at the foot of this Mountain where the Samaritans heretofore worshipped an Idol On the South side of the Town there is another Mount called in Arabick Elmaida that is to say Table Elmaida where they say our Lord rested himself being weary upon the Road There is a Cushion of the same Stone raised upon the Rock still to be seen and some prints of Hands and Feet and they say that in times past the figure of our Lords whole Body was to be discerned upon it This is a pleasant place having a full prospect of the Town To the West of it there is a Mosque heretofore a Church built upon the same ground where the House of Jacob stood on the other side there is a ruinated Church The House of Jacob. built in honour of St. John Baptist In this Town Travellers pay a Caffare Next day after an hour and an halfs travel you strike off the high Road to the right if you would see the Town of Sebaste standing upon a little Hill Sebaste about half a League wide of the Road where you still see great ruins of Walls and several Pillars both standing and lying upon the Ground with a fair large Church some of it still standing upon lovely Marble-Pillars The high Altar on the East end must have been very fine by what may be judged from the Dome which covers it and is still in order faced with Marble-Pillars whose Capitals are most Artfully fashioned and adorned with Mosaick Painting which was built by St. Helen as the People of the Country say This Church at present is divided into two parts of which the Mahometans hold the one and the Christians the other That which belongs to the Mahometans is paved with Marble The Sepulchre of St. John Baptist Elisha and Abdias and has a Chappel under Ground with three and twenty steps down to it In this Chappel St. John Baptist was Buried betwixt the Prophets Elisha and Abdias The three Tombs are raised four Spans high and enclosed with Walls so that they cannot be seen but through three openings a span big by Lamp-light which commonly burns there In the same place as they say St. John was put in Prison and Beheaded at the desire of Herodias Others say Macherus Samaria that it was at Macherus which is a Town and Fort where King Herod kept Malefactors in Prison This Town of Sebaste was also called Samaria from the name of Simri to whom the Ground whereon it is built belonged or from the name of the Hill on which it stands which is called Chomron Having pass'd Sebaste you are out of Samaria Genny which terminates there and pursuing your Journey you come to lodge at Genny They say that in this place our Saviour cured the ten Lepers There is a Mosque there still which was formerly a Church of the Christians the Han where you lodge is great and serves for a Fort having close by it a Fountain and a Bazar where Provisions are sold The Soil is fertile enough and produces plenty of Palm-Trees and Fig-Trees There is a very great Caffare to be payed there Next day after about two Hours march Ezdrellon you enter into a great Plain called Ezdrellon about four Leagues in length at the west end whereof you see the top of Mount Carmel where the Prophet Elias lived of which we shall speak hereafter At the foot of this Hill are the ruines of the City of Jezreel founded by Achab King of Israel where the Dogs licked the Blood of his Wife Jezebel Jezreel Brook Gison as the Prophet Elias had foretold In the middle of this Plain is the Brook of Gison where Jabin King of Canaan and Sisera his Lieutenant were slain by Deborah the Prophetess and Judge of Israel and by Barak chief of the Host of Gods People Many Battels have been fought in this Plain as may be seen in holy Scripture After you have passed this Plain and travelled an hour over Hills you come to Nazareth of which and the places that are to be seen about it I have already said enough Now I 'll set down the way from Nazareth to Damascus CHAP. LVII The Road from Nazareth to Damascus SUCH as would go to Damascus may lye at Aain Ettudgiar which is a Castle about three Leagues from Nazareth mentioned by me before in the fifty fifth Chapter and there is a Caffare to be paid there The next day you lye at Menia Menia Sephet by the Sea-side of Tiberias The day following you see from several places on the Road the Town of Sephet where Queen Esther was Born standing on a Hill. Josephs Pit. About four hours Journey from Menia you see the the Pit or Well of Joseph into which he was let down by his Brothers there is no water in it the mouth of it being very narrow but the bottom indifferent wide and may be six fathom deep It is covered by a Dome standing on four Arches to three of which so many little Marble-Pillars are joined as Butteresses for the Dome the place of the fourth Pillar is still to be seen and it appears to have been not long agoe removed Close by this Pit there is a little Mosque adjoining to an old Han. Two hours journey from that Pit you cross over Jacob's Bridge Jacobs Bridge Dgeseer Jacoub which the Arabs call Dgeser Jacoub this is the place where this Patriarch was met by his Brother Esau as he was returning with his Wives and Goods from Laban his Father in law The Bridge consists of three Arches under which runs the River of Jordan and falls afterwards into the Sea of Tiberias about three hours going from thence On that side the River runs there is a great Pond to be seen When you have passed this Bridge you are out of Galilee and there you pay a great Caffare Then you come to Lodge at Coneitra which is a little Village Coneitra wherein there is a very old large Han built in form of a Fort with three Culverines within the precinct of it there is a Mosque a Bazar and a Coffee-House Saxa and there also you pay a Caffare Next day you lye at Saxa and have bad way to it
several Works and before these Gates within the Court there is a Portico divided into two Alleys by eight great Pillars of which four are in length and four in breadth and these Pillars support Arches over which there are two other little Arches made in form of Windows separated by a little Pillar That Portico leads into the Court which is very spacious and large and all paved with great shining Marble-stones as the Mosque and Portico's are Towards the end of the Court there is a kind of a little Chappel with a Dome covered with lead which is supported by several Marble-Pillars and they say it was the Font. From that Entry on the West one may see the East Gate at the farther End of the Court and on the right hand the Body of the Mosque On the South-side Pick a measure at the Bazar of the Pick so called because Cloath is sold there by the Pick which is a measure much about two thirds of a French Aune there is an Entry into the Mosque and two lovely Gates overlaid with Brass with Chalices cut in the middle of each of them On the East-side there are three Brass-Gates and a Portico like to that I have been speaking of and then a Court towards the end of which near the West-Gate there is another kind of Chappel much higher than that on the East-side which is supported and covered in the same manner and from that Gate one sees the West-Gate and then the Mosque is on the left hand On the North-side there is also a Brazen gate by which they enter into the Court and then have the side of the Mosque opposite unto them In the Wall of this side there are several Windows after the fashion of the Windows of our Churches but they begin three or four foot from the ground and they are glazed and letticed with wire on the outside There is in that Court also a reservatory of water under a Cupulo supported by several Pillars and besides that a Lanthorn supported onely by two This is all that I could observe of this Mosque Bab-Thoma One day I went out of the Town by the gate called Bab-Thoma and close by it I saw the Church dedicated to St. Thomas The door of it was shut because it is all ruinous in the inside and looks more like a Garden than a Church being uncovered and full of Herbs Nevertheless there still remains a kind of a portall which is a Ceinture supported by two Pillars but besides that these Pillars shew not above a Foot beneath the Capital they are sunk into the Wall Underneath there are three other Ceintures supported by three Pillars on each side and the lintel of the door is also supported by a Pillar on each side all these Pillars are of Marble and Chamfered Over-against that Gate there is a little round Tower made like a Chess-board for it is built of small Stones about half a foot square but placed in such a manner that next to each stone there is a square hole of the same bigness and so alternately all over That Tower is called the Tower of heads because a few years ago several Druses Robbers on the High-way who were briskly pursued being taken were put to death and their heads placed in these holes The Temple of Serapis a Mosque The Sepulchre of St. Simeon Stilites so that they were all filled with them From thence we turned to the left and keeping a long the Walls we came to a Mosque which they say was a Temple of Serapis Nevertheless it is pretended that the Body of St. Simeon Stilites rests there having been brought thither from Antioch However it be the Turks say that the Muesem cannot call to prayers there as at other Mosques and that when he offers to cry his Voice fails him they have a great Veneration fot it and I was told that one day a Venetian having corrupted the Servants of the Scheik who has the charge of that place with money would have taken away the Body of St. Simeon to carry it to Venice but that the Scheik having had some suspicion of it made that Venetian pay a great mulct of several thousand Crowns and since that time they have caused a Grate to be made over the Sepulchre of that Body besides there are always Scherifs there reading the Alcoran Spittle for Lepers From that Temple we went to a place where three Rivers that run through Damascus meet at the end of the Town and turn Water-mills We went next to the Spittle of Lepers which is betwixt the Gates Bab-Thoma and Bab-Charki but nearer and almost close by this last it is but a few paces distant from the City-Walls The People of the Countrey say that it is the same Hospital which Naaman Lieutenant of the King of Damascus built for Gehazi the Servant of the Prophet Elisha Naaman's Hospiral whose History is recorded in the fifth Chapter of the second Book of Kings This Hospital hath great Revenues Being come back again into the Town in the Taylers street I saw through an Iron-grate a Room where there are two Bodies which the Mahometans say are the Bodies of two Saints of their Law. A little farther there is another where there is also a Body to which they render the same honours I could not learn the Names of these false Saints There are a great many lovely Fountains in Damascus and among others that which is opposite to the gate of the great Mosque that looks to the East and covered with a Dome almost flat It is a round Bason of about two fathom in Diametre in the middle whereof there is a Pipe that throws up a great deal of Water at a time and with so much force that it spouts up almost as high as the Dome and if they pleased they might easily make it play higher because the source lies far above it in level CHAP. V. A Continuation of Observations at Damascus HAving taken a resolution whilst I was at Damascus to see what was most curious and worth the seeing in the Countrey about it I made an appointment with some Friends to go to the place which is called the Forty Martyrs We went out of the City by the Serraglio gate The forty Martyrs and crossing the horse-Market kept our way along a fair broad and long paved Street which does not a little resemble the Avenue of the Porta di Popolo at Rome It led us almost to the Village called Salain Crache Having passed this we went up a very rough and barren Hill being nothing but a natural Rock It behoved us to alight from our Asses and march on foot ascending by ways so steep that they were almost perpendicular With much trouble at length we came to the place of the forty Martyrs distant from the City a good half-League I never in my life-time mounted a steeper Hill. There is a little house on it where a Scheik liveth who led
no Bark to come to Bassora laid an Embargo also upon all Vessels that were at Bassora loaded with Goods for Bagdad They had other false News at that time at Bassora to wit that the King of Persia was coming to Besiege it False News from Persia and some people of Fashion asked me the News at the Custom House but I put them out of trouble as to that assuring them that in Persia there was no appearance that the King had any thoughts of making War which was true enough They then told me how much they were troubled at the News they had of twenty French Corsairs being at Sea False News of the French raised by the Dutch. which very much terrified all the Merchants This report was raised by the Dutch who purposely broached it that all the Merchants might put their mony on board of Dutch Ships and not in Mahometan and this News was the more easily believed that it was known every where now that the French were coming to settle a Trade in the Indies and they were persuaded that all our Vessels were Pirats French Corsairs because three Years before two French Corsairs came to Moca just about the time that the Vessels put out from the Port of Moca carrying nothing but mony to Surrat from whence they bring Goods which is at the end of August The French took all these Vessels and went off If they had had a little more skill in those Seas they might have done more for they might have come into the Gulf of Persia about the end of October and there waited for the Ships of Bassora at which time they carry a great deal of mony for Trafficking in the Indies and they might easily have made themselves Masters of them and therein of several millions in ready mony there being none but Indians on Board of all these Vessels who make no resistance and that being done they might as easily have got away but they did not do it in short they left such a terrible consternation on all these Seas Fear of the French. that to name but the French to them is enough to make them all shake for fear CHAP. X. Of Bassora The situation of Bassora BAssora the Capital Town of the Kingdom or Bashaship of that name lies at the farther end of Arabia the Desart which is to the West of it and near Arabia the Happy that lies to the South two days Journy below the place where the two Rivers Euphrates and Tygris joyn upon the Banks of Schat-El-Aarab which is no other than Euphrates and Tygris joyned into one it is eighteen Leagues from the Sea The Latitude of Bassora The variation of the Loadstone The distance of Bagdad from Bassora and in the thirtieth or one and thirtieth Degree ten Minutes North Latitude The Needle declines there about thirteen Degrees and a half from North to West and from thence to the Indies it always declines about eleven Degrees and a third some say a half from North to West It is two days Journy by Land from Bagdad and by water they come from Bagdad to Bassora in great Barks in fifteen or sixteen days time and most commonly in eighteen but the Barks that go from Bassora to Bagdad are commonly fifty sixty and sometimes fourscore days in the Voyage The Circuit of Bassora because they are only drawn by men This is a great Town encompassed with Walls of Earth that are about six hours march in Circuit but they contain a great many void spaces where there are neither Houses nor Gardens It hath two Gates The Gates of Bassora the one called the East Gate and the other the West and the Gate of Bagdad because by it they go out of the Town when they are bound for Bagdad The situation of Bassora advantageous This Town in my Opinion is so advantageously seated that it might be made one of the richest and most lovely Cities in the World It would certainly be very pleasant if it were a little better built and Gardens made all along the sides of the Canal that comes from Schat-El-Aarab and runs through the whole Town For the Land about if they would Manure it and Plant Trees therein I believe it would bear any thing for the Climate is hot and the Soil of a greyish colour which seems to me to be very fertile being twice a day moistened by the River-water which the Tide carries up four days Journy and a half from Bassora the water rising at the Town a Fathom and a half but yet not salt some have told me that the Ground is too salt to bear any thing but Palm-Trees which thrive much in salt Ground Abundance of Palm-Trees and grow in greater numbers in the Country about Bassora than in any other Country in the World and to shew that it is really salt they say that if one dig two Fathom deep in the Earth they will find salt-water but perhaps it is not so in all places However it be it is certain that from November forwards that Country produces a great many Herbs as Succory Spinage Herbs and Fruits at Bassora and other Pot-Herbs and in several Gardens there are very good Apricots which last all June and July and in July and August also many Grapes as in October Melons water-Melons Pomegranats and Limons the truth is none of these Fruits will keep because of the South-East Wind that reigns during that time and is hot and moist There are pretty enough publick places in Bassora and amongst others the Meidan which is before the Bashas Palace and is very large The Meidan of Bassora there are in it twelve pieces of Cannon or Culverines mounted on their Carriages near that Palace and there are also several very fair Bazars in the Town I said that this might be made one of the richest Cities in the World The Port. of Bassora commodious for all Countries because of the Commerce that might be settled there with all parts almost of the Habitable World. Its Port is good and very safe being twelve Leagues from the Sea in the fresh water of Schat-El-Aarab and it is so broad and deep that the greatest Vessels may come to it without danger all the Goods of Europe might be brought thither by the Mediteranean because being once come to Aleppo it would not be difficult to Transport them to Bi r which is but four days Journy from Aleppo and there they might be embarked on the Euphrates on which they might in ten days time come to Rousvania from whence there is but a days Journy to Bagdad where they might embark them on the Tygris and in fifteen or sixteen days time they would come to Bassora nay and with a very little pains and industry the River Euphrates might be made Navigable for great Vessels only by clearing the Channel in some places where it is choaked up with great stones and that is the reason
transparent body the water winding and turning as it mounted up and now and then the thickness of it decreased sometimes at the top see the Figure G and sometimes at the Root see the Figure H. At that time it exactly ressembled a Gut filled with some fluid matter and pressed with ones Fingers either above to make the liquor descend or below to make it mount up and I was persuaded that the violence of the Wind made these alterations making the water mount very fast when it forced upon the lower end of the Pipe and making it descend when it pressed the upper part after that the bigness of it so lessened that it was less than a Mans Arm like a Gut when it is strained and drawn perpendicularly out in length then it grew as big as ones Thigh and afterwards dwindled again very small At length I perceived that the boyling on the surface of the Sea began to settle and the end of the Pipe that touched it separated from it and shrunk together as if it had been tied see the Figure I and then the light which appeared by the blowing away of a Cloud made me lose fight of it however I still lookt out for some time if I might see it again because I had observed that the Pipe of the second on that side had appeared to us three or four times to break short off in the middle and that immediately after we had seen it whole again one half of it being only hid from us by the light but it was to no purpose for me to look sharply out for this appeared no more so that there was an end of our Spouts and I gave God thanks as all the other Franks did that he had delivered us from them They attributed that mercy to the Holy Gospel which I had said wherein I arrogate nothing to my self being not so unreasonable as to think that my merit contributed any thing but perhaps God had some respect to our good intention and the trust that all of us reposed on his Holy Gospel In fine there is nothing more certain than that notwithstanding the inconstancy of the Wind which shifted all Points none of these Spouts came nearer us than the place where first they began and this I may with sincerity affirm that in all dangers of Storms Pirats and other accidents wherein I have been often engaged it was always my practise to rehearse this Holy Gospel and God in his great mercy hath preserved me from all The effects of Spouts These Spouts are very dangerous at Sea for if they come upon a Ship they entangle the Sails so that sometimes they will lift it up and then letting it fall down again sink it to the bottom which chiefly happens when the Vessel is small but if they lift not up the Ship at least they Split all the Sails or else empty all their water into it which sinks it to rights and I make no doubt but that many Ships that have no more been heard of have been lost by such accidents seeing we have but too many instances of those which have been known to have perished so of a certain Besides the Devotion of the Holy Gospel the human remedies which Sea-men use against Spouts is to furle all the Sails and to fire some Guns with shot against the Pipe of the Spout and that their shot may be surer to hit instead of Bullet they charge the Gun with a cross-bar-shot wherewith they endeavour to cut the Pipe if the Spout be within shot of them and when they have the good luck to level their shot just they fail not to cut it short off this is the Course they take in the Mediteranean Sea but if that succeed not they betake themselves to the Superstition which I would not practise though I knew it having learned it in my former Travels One of the Ships Company kneels down by the Main-Mast and holding in one Hand a Knife with a Black Handle without which they never go on Board for that reason he Reads the Gospel of St. John and when he comes to pronounce those Holy words Et verbum caro factum est habitavit in nobis he turns towards the Spout and with his Knife cuts the Air athwart that Spout as if he would cut it and they say that then it is really cut and lets all the water it held fall with a great noise This is the account that I have had from several French Men who as they said had tried it themselves whether that hath succeeded so or not I know not but for the Knife with the black Handle it is a foul Superstition which may be accompanied with some implicit compact with the Devil and I do not think that a Christian can with a good Conscience make use of it as to the vertue of these Holy words which as I may say put God in mind of the Covenant that he hath made with Man I make no doubt but that being said with Devotion without any mixture of Superstition they are of great efficacy to draw a blessing from God upon us on all occasions And so much for the Spouts by which we were more affraid than hurt but the Storm did our Ship more prejudice in its Course for we were obliged to lye at Anchor all that day and the night following until next morning when though it blew very hard from North-East we weighed at seven a Clock and stood away East South-East About nine a Clock we Sailed along Lareca which was to the Windward or Larboard of us About three quarters after nine we saw the Sky on Head over cast and the Air black with stormy Clouds and flurries but they were to the Leeward of us and therefore at first we dreaded them not but having more attentively considered them we found that they came from South to North and seeing it blew fresher and fresher perhaps because of the resistance it met with from those Clouds driven by a contrary Wind we furled our Mizan Sail and Steered away South-East and by East that we might avoid the Storm About a quarter after ten we took in all our Sails except the Main Course and Sprit-Sail About half an hour after ten it cleared up to the South and we made the biggest of the four Isles of Cape Mosandon called Selame which bore South and by West of us and at the same time we made the fourth of these little Isles which we had not seen before to the South and by East This little Isle lyes to the Southward of the biggest and is not far from it it seemed to me to reach North and South and is very low Land except at the end towards the big Island where it rises a little About three quarters after ten we set our Mizan and Main-Top-Sail again and stood our Course South-East the Wind being then North-East and by East and immediately after we had a shower of Rain For two hours after the
hundred Sail great and small having Two hundred thousand Men on board Threescore thousand of them being Pioneers and the Grand Signior in Person who much raised their Courage not only by his Promises but Threatnings and besides that daily succours came to them from Anatolia which is close by This Siege is at length described in the History of the Knights of St. John to which I refer the Reader both it and that of Malta deserving very well to be read which assuredly are two of the most memorable Sieges that any History mentions in regard of the many brave Actions performed by the Knights The Turks Attacked the place with great fury and the Knights most valiantly Defended it so that the Grand Signior despairing of taking it was about to pack up and be gone Andrea d'Amaral a Portuguese Traitor and his Army already began to dislodge When Andrea d'Amaral a Portuguese Prior of Castile and Chancellour of the Order being vexed that he was not chosen Great Master at the last Election and thereupon bearing a great spight to his Order gave him notice by a Letter which being fastned to an Arrow he shot into his Camp That the Besieged were quite spent and informed him of a weak place in the Town whereat he ought to give the Assault promising him an easie Conquest of the place if he had but patience to abide some days longer before it The Grand Signior having followed this Counsel the Town was taken by Composition for the Knights were reduced to that pass that they were not able to hold out any longer And indeed the Great Master received a great deal of Honour by this Siege having been praised by the Grand Signior himself who both honoured and pittied him offering him every thing that he stood in need of This place was surrendred to the Turks about the end of the Year 1522. after it had been kept by the Knights for the space of Two hundred and some odd Years The Town hath two Harbours the one which is the great Port being square and spacious enough but it is not very safe when it blows from East North-east or South-east and we found it bad enough for two days time that a North-Wind blew When the Knights were in possession of that Isle they designed to have made another in the corner near the Town by the Castle St. Angelo and this would have proved a safe Port from all Winds but they lost the place before they could put their design in execution On the right-hand of the entry into the Port there is a new Tower built by the Turks in place of the old one which was called the Tower of St. Nicholas it is square has a pretty Dungeon or Plat-form in the upper part of it and a Sentry-place at each Angle This Tower is well furnished with Cannon it hath a Bastion adjoyning to it behind and a Courtine that reaches to the Walls of the Town and makes one of the sides of the Port Over against this Tower on the other side of the Port there is an old Castle which when the Knights were Masters there was called the Castle of St. Angelo but it is somewhat Ruinous The Colossus of the Sun. The Castle and Tower which are above fifty Fathom distant are built upon the two places where stood the Feet of that great Colossus of Brass one of the Seven Wonders of the World betwixt the Legs of which Ships passed under Sail. This Colossus which represented the Sun was cast by Chares the Lyndian Chares the Lyndian it was Seventy Cubits high and carried in one Hand a Light-house where every Night a light was kindled to direct the Vessels that were abroad at Sea. At length since the solidest thing that can be is subject to the decays of Time this Colossus which seemed immortal Being overthrown by an Earth-quake lay there till the Saracenes having made themselves Masters of Rhodes beat it in pieces and sold it to a Jew who loaded Nine hundred Camels with the Mettal and carried it to Alexandria in the Year 954. and 1461. years after it had been made There is a Bastion on the Sea-side behind the Tower of St. Nicholas to which it is joyned on which Nine very great Guns are Mounted that defend the entry of the Port on all sides and it is Railed in with Wooden-Rails to the Land-side Next to that is the Port of the Galleys which toward the Sea is covered by a Tongue of Rock joyned to the Main-Land whereon there is a Castle built called in time of the Knights the Castle of St. Erme This is a good Harbour and able to contain many Galleys but the Mouth of it is so narrow that one Galley only can enter at a time it looks to the East north-North-east It 's every Night shut with a Chain that is fastned to a little Tower at the farther end of a Mole which runs out Five and twenty or thirty Paces into the Sea over against the Castle St. Erme the other end of the Chain is made fast to a piece of Rock on the Shoar seven or eight Paces from the Castle St. Erme This Mole I have been speaking of hath another little Tower on the end of it towards the Land and hard by about fifty Paces further up on Land there is a Burying-place and in it fifteen or twenty Domes of Free-stone well built most of them supported by four Arches and these are the Sepulchres of the Beys and other Persons of Quality in Rhodes who have been killed in the Wars There is a Piazza or place on the side of the Galleys Port with some Trees and a Fountain in it and at the end of that place near the bottom of the Port is the Arsenal where the Galleys and Saiques are built The Town as I said is small but very strong towards the Port it hath high and strong Walls well planted with Faulcons on the top and below there are Port-holes for great Cannon There is besides over against the Bastion that is betwixt the two Ports a good Tower with a Ditch which hath three great pieces of Cannon mounted aloft that hinder any Vessels from coming near the Port. In the middle of the Frontispiece of this Tower there is a little Statue of St. Paul The Statue of St. Paul at Rhodes with his Sword as the Inscription by his Head shews underneath this Statue is the Mitre with the two Keys which are the Arms of the Church then underneath that there are three Escutcheons one of a plain Cross another of a Cross Anchred and a third in the middle bearing a Tree which I know not It is as strong on the Land-side but strangers have less liberty to view it on that side because they have less to do there This Town hath three Gates one towards the Sea where Corn is sold and two on the Land-side through one of which I passed and it looks towards the Den of the Dragon which
long during which the Wind was very high and stormy which exceedingly tossed us Sunday about break of day we tacked about and stood North East that we might make Candie after two hours sailing the Seamen made something dark on head which they believed to be the Land of Candie we steered our course that way all day long but could not make it plain because of Clouds We continued the same course still till eleven of the clock at night and then began to tack and beat to and again that we might bear in with the Land of Candie It blew very hard all that night and we had a violent storm Munday by break of day we had the Wind at North which being quite contrary for Candie made us resolve to quit our design of standing towards that Island which we had made but very obscurely and to bear away towards Alexandria in Egypt The distance of Candie from Alexandria four hundred miles distant from Candie and therefore we steered our course South-East Towards Evening the Wind abated and we were becalmed until Tuesday Morning when there blew a gentle breeze from South-East which made us turn the ship's head towards the North we were obliged to keep so upon tacks that we might not over shoot Alexandria from which we were not above two hundred fourscore and ten miles Then did every one blame and curse the Sea-man whose errour was the cause that we were not in the Port of Alexandria About six a Clock at Night we tacked about and stood away South-South-West it blew so hard that our Vessel shipped the Sea on both sides one after another Wednesday Morning February the sixth the Wind was so violent that we were afraid we should sail our Masts because the Stays were very slack being loosened by the force of the Wind the day before the Stay is a great Cable that holds the Mastraunt each Mast has one the main Stay which is the biggest is made fast one end to the ship's head and the other to the round top of the main Mast To prevent that disaster all the Sails were furled the ship's head turned North-East and a quarter of an hour after the Stayes being well bent we bore away west-south-West-South-West with the missen and foresail the Wind being a little fallen after dinner we spread the main Sail and about six a Clock at Night having tacked about we stood East-North-East the Wind then slackening more and more Thursday Morning we were almost becalmed but about ten of the Clock a South-East Wind blowing again we tacked and bore away South-South-West about six a Clock at Night we tacked again and stood East-North-East Friday about two or three of the Clock in the Morning immediately after the Moon was set the South-East Wind ceased and the so much desired West and North Wind came in place of it which made us turn the ship's head South-East and make all the sail we could but we made but little way for all that the Wind being so easie that it was almost a calm It continued so till about five of the Clock at Night and then the Wind changed to North-West but was so easie that the Sea was very smooth about ten a Clock at Night the Wind chopping about to the North-West in five or six hours time we made a great deal of way there being very little or no Sea going but the Wind freshened afterwards and then we spared sail that we might not run to the Lee-ward of Alexandria the ship's head in the mean time lying still South-East Saturday Morning the Weather was very hazy and a little after we were almost in a calm About eleven a Clock he that looked out made a sail and shortly after another which were known to be Saicks coming from Egypt About two a Clock after Noon the Wind turned South-East and we stood away North-East an hour after it shifted about to the North-East again but was so easie that the Sea was smooth and we steered our course South a few minutes after it turned South-East again but so gentle that the Sea was as smooth as a Looking-glass We sailed South-South-West till six at Night when having tacked we stood away East-North-East About midnight the Wind turned West-South-West and we steered our course South-South-East after an hours sailing we found the Water to be whitish which made us think we were not far from Egypt The Land of Egypt that being the onely mark that can be had for the Land is so low that one cannot make it till he be just upon it especially when it is dark as it was then and that whiteness is occasioned by the Nile which carries it a great way into the Sea. Sunday the tenth of February about break of day it was thought we had seen the Light of Alexandria but it proved onely to be a Saick and because we were apprehensive that we were to the Lee-ward of Alexandria about nine in the morning we tacked about and stood North-West and about three a Clock after Noon tacked again and bore away South-West we had afterwards several Flurries that brought great showers of rain with them which were soon over About five in the Evening the Wind turned West-North-West and we tacked about that we might get to the windward of Alexandria from which we were still about an hundred and ten Miles distant and therefore we bore away North. In this manner we plied to and again against our will and it was our misfortune that we knew not where we were onely because we had not made the Island of Candie An errour of calculation in the sailing from whence with that Wind we might easily have come to Alexandria in two Days and one Nights time and the reason why we made it not plainly was that the Ship had run two hundred Miles more than we had reckoned and that when we thought our selves to be at the beginning of Candie we were almost quite past it as we since observed The Wind blew hard and we had several gusts in the Night time We held on the same course still untill Munday when about eleven a Clock in the Fore-noon we tacked and bore away South-West In the Evening the Moon three hours after the full was eclipsed I cannot tell at what hour that Eclipse began of how many parts it was nor how long it continued because she rose overcast with Clouds so that we could not see her but when she was coming out of the Eclipse as near as I could guess she had then been up near an hour and the Sun had not been set half an hour at which time she was almost half eclipsed The Eclipse decreased from the time we perceived it and ended half an hour after The Almanacks of Marseilles foretold it to be very great about two or three a Clock after Noon and by consequence affirmed that it could not be seen In the Night the Wind abated much and so did the Sea which in the
was advised to it by other Portuguese for he answered haughtily that he would not be taught by any man what he was to do Nevertheless his bravery not succeeding according to his expectation Unseasonable bravery and finding himself hard put to it he became calmer and gave consent but too late to follow that Counsel for the Enemies were under the Walls and at length he was forced to Surrender the place So soon as the Persians became Masters of it they opened the Canal as well knowing the importance of it Oisters at Ormus They catch excellent Oisters about the Isle of Ormus they are as small as English Oisters but so hard that it is not possible to open them with a Knife nay it is not very easie neither to break them with a Hammer The Sand of Oâ—â—…s The Sand of Ormus is also much talked of for the dusting of writing and for that end a great deal of it is Transported into Christendom Lareca A League to the south-South-West of Ormus is the Isle of Lareca which is longer than Ormus but the Ground as bad and Sandy It reaches in length from North North-West to South South-East and there is nothing remarkable in it unless it be the Fort and that is no great matter neither The Dutch began it under colour of settling a Factory there but the Persians smelling out their design drove them off and finished it it is at present kept by a very few men A little farther off to the West Error in Geography Quesomo South-West about a League and a half from Lareca though it be marked five in the Map is the Isle of Quesomo which is twenty Leagues in length it is Fruitful and well Inhabited and stretches from East to West The Land about Gomron or Bender-Abassi is no better than that of Ormus The Land about Bender-Abassi or Gomron is good for nothing for it is all Sand the water they drink there is brought from a Cistern without the Town they drink also of another which is esteemed better water and that out of a Well three Parasanges distant from the Town in a place called Isin both are very dear because of the trouble in bringing them so far nevertheless the water is very unwholesome because of little Worms that are in it which if they be drank down with the water slide betwixt the Flesh and the Skin Worms between the Skin and the Flesh and fall down into the Legs where they grow to the full length of the Leg and are never bigger than a Lute-string as I have been told for I never saw any of them this causes a great deal of pain they make a little hole in the Skin through which they shew their Head and for a Cure they must be drawn by little and little out of that hole drawing only a little every day and twisting it about a stick according as they draw it out until it be wholely out but this requires a great deal of patience for if they draw too much out at one time or draw too hard it breaks and what remains in the Leg causes racking pains for which there is no other remedy but to lay open the Leg and make the Incision as long as that which remains to be taken out This water has another bad quality in that it swells the Testicles The meat is also very unwholesome at Bender-Abassi and they scarcely eat any but Kids Flesh which is the best of the bad and Pullets In fine the best way to preserve ones Health at Bender-Abassi is to keep a very regular Diet Remedies for keeping ones Health at Bender eating so moderately that one hath always an Appetite to quench a red hot Iron in the water to strain it afterwards through a Linnen Cloath and to be always chearful There is no Pasture-Ground in all that Territory and therefore the Cows Hogs and other Beasts live hardly upon any thing else but Fish-Heads Shell-Fish stones of Dates and a little Hay which is brought some Parasanges off and indeed the Milk tasts altogether Fishy for I speak by experience their Horses they feed with Hay and Barley After all there cannot be a more dangerous Air than that of Comoron especially in Summer when it is so excessively hot Cruel and dangerous heat at Bender-Abassi that the Inhabitants are forced to leave it and remove three or four Parasanges off where most of them live in Tents nay the very Garison of the Fort removes leaving only a few men who are weary of their lives Nevertheless that place so abandoned is in no danger of being surprised because that time is the Winter of the Indies wherein there is such terrible Rain Great Thunderings at Bender Wind and Thunder that it would seem the World were to be reduced to its first Chaos so that during that Season no Ship can keep the Sea where Shipwrack is inevitable And indeed there is but one Season for crossing over to the Indies which the Portuguese have named Mouson Mouson and which they have certainly borrowed from the Arabick word Mouson which signifies Season but in short that word is used in all Languages to signifie the time of Sailing which lasts one half of the Year to wit from the end of October to the end of April Bender has a pretty safe Road for to the North it hath the main Land of Persia The Road of Bender-Abassi to the South the Isle of Ormus and to the south-South-West Lareca which is to the Westward of Ormus from which it is but a League distant Vessels come to an Anchor in it near to the Isle of Ormus on the West side and to go to the Indies they Sail betwixt the Isle of Ormus which is to the South of Bender-Abassi and the Coast of Arabia Foelix A Parasange to the East of Comoron there is one of those Trees called the Banians Trees because the Banians make commonly Pagods under them Banians Trees the Portuguese call it the Tree of Roots because Roots come out of every Branch that fasten in the Ground and grow as other Trees do in so much that one of these Trees may make a whole Forest I shall not describe it because I never saw it since there was no going thither by reason of the excessive heat The Author saw it since in his Travels in the Indies where he has given a description of it and therefore I refer the Reader to Linschot and Jonston who have given a description of it Under this there is a Pagod or Temple of the Banians I stayed but a week at Bender-Abassi and then was obliged to turn back again there being no probability that I could embark there for the Indies seeing I must have run too great a danger if I had stayed longer for a favourable occasion There were but six Vessels there which were bound for the Indies four Dutch Ships one Armenian and a Moor as for the
and at the Guard four Fingers broad at least but growing broader and broader it is five Fingers broad at the end and draws not into a point this man seems to present to the Woman a Posie of Flowers with the Right Hand and rests his Left Hand upon the Handle of his Sword. A little farther about ten Fathom from thence and at the same height of Ground Two other Figures there are two other Figures of the same bigness of which the first is of a young Man without a Beard whose curled Locks hang backwards behind his Head on it he carries a great Globe it might be taken for a Turban but in my Opinion it appears not to be his Head-attire though he hath no other he looks towards the neighbouring Figure and hath the Left Hand shut wherein he seems to hold somewhat the Right Hand is stretched out as if ready to receive what is presented to him The Figure that is by him seems to be of a Woman for she hath pretty round Breasts nevertheless she wears a Sword by her side like to that which I have just now described her Head-attire seems to be the Cap of a Dervisch somewhat long and all round upon her Left Shoulder she hath a little Basket or perhaps it is only the Tresses of her Hair she seems to present something with her Right Hand to the man who is looking towards her and her Left Hand is upon the Handle of her Sword. All these Figures seem to have the Body naked and only some few foldings of a Garment towards the Legs In short the two last are almost in the same posture and action as the two first but one cannot tell what it is they present to one another for the extremities of their Hands as well as many other parts of their Bodies are worn out and eaten by the weather The Work appears very well hath been good though all the proportions be not exactly observed I looked about all along the side of the Hill but could see no more and I believe there has been some Temple there This place is so covered with Trees and encompassed by Marishes by reason of the many Springs thereabouts that few people know of it and of all the Franks the Reverend Father Athanasius a bare-Footed Carmelite living at Schiras Father Athanasius was the first that found it out by chance as he was walking in that place and it being my fortune to pass by Schiras sometime after he led me to it The people of the Country call that place Kadem-Ghah that is to say the place of the step Kadem-Ghah because say they I know not what old Man walking in that place a Spring of water gushed out under his Foot it is but a few steps wide of the High-way that leads to the Salt-Lake an Agatsch distant from thence Though all these Antiquities be curious enough yet they are not that which they call the Antiquities of Tschehel-minar so much mentioned in Relations and which are in effect the same at present in Persia as the Pyramids are in Egypt that is to say the finest thing in its kind that is to be seen and the most worthy of observation One may go thither in coming from Ispahan by Main The way to Tschehel-Minar or Abgherim and the way is not long but the way to it from Schiras is by Badgega which is the first Kervanseray upon the Road to Ispahan and after two hours march from thence there are two ways whereof that to the Left goes to Ispahan you must leave it and take the way to the Right Hand which leads to Tschehel-minar Having Travelled about two hours and a half that way in a pretty good Road amongst Heath there is a Village on the Right Hand where one may stop and bait Having passed this Village you enter into a great Plain where after you have Travelled three quarters of an hour you pass over a Causey a Fathom and a half broad and about an hundred paces in length a little after you find another three hundred paces long and a little beyond that just such another having Travelled a little farther you go over another Causey five hundred paces in length beyond which after three quarters of an hours Journy you come to a great Bridge of two large Arches which is called Pouli-Chan in the middlemost Pillar of it there is a Room with some steps to go down to it which would be very delightful to take the fresh Air in if it were not uninhabitable by reason of the prodigious swarms of Gnats that haunt it The River of Bendemir runs under this Bridge and is at that place broad deep and full of Fish the water looking very white they assured me that it swells so high in the Winter-time that it reaches over the Arches almost level with the Parapet after you have passed that Bridge and Travelled an hour longer in a Plain you leave a Village upon your Left Hand and an hour after another to the Right and then within another hour you come to the Village called Mirchas-Chan near to which is Tschehel-minar being but a quarter of an hours Journy from it This Village stands in a most spacious and Fruitful Plain watered with a great many waters there you have a Kervanseray to Lodge in because in the Winter-time it is the way from Ispahan to Schiras and going Eastward but somewhat to the South from this Village you arrive at Tschehel-minar CHAP. VII Of Tschehel-minar and Nakschi Rustan I Am of their Opinion who will have Tschehel-Minar to be part of the Ancient Persepolis which was built in the place where at present stands the large Burrough of Mirkas Chan not only because of the River which Diodorus Siculus and others mention to be there under the name of the little Araxes which is now called Bendemir but also of many other marks that cannot be called into question All Tschehel-Minar is built upon the skirt of a Hill. The first thing that presents to view upon ones arrival is a great Wall of blackish stones four Foot thick which supports a large Platform or Terrass reaching from South to North about five hundred Paces in length to the West side it hath the Plain to the East beyond a great many magnificent ruins of Buildings whereof it makes the beginning it hath the Hill which bending into a Semicircle forms a kind of Amphitheatre that embraces all those stately ruins to ascend to the top of this Terrass you must go to the farther end of it towards the North where at first you will find two Stair-Cases The first Stairs of Tschehel-Minar or rather one Stair-Case of two ascents or if you please a double Stair-Case which on each side hath fix and fifty steps of a greyish stone and are so easie that Horses go up them without any difficulty having ascended by one of the sides of that double Stair-Case up to a square Landing-place where one may
again to the square Building I mentioned which is upon that Terrass where there are twelve ranges of Pillars of nine a piece and from thence walking streight East when you have gone about an hundred paces you find another Building of the same dimensions standing directly opposite to that you came from and at the end of this Building you find a second A Building The Figures in Demi-relief which are upon the sides of the Doors of these and of the same bigness with the Figures on the other Doors are not the same as to what they represent Here you have a Man sitting in a Chair with a Batton in his Hand and under his Feet three ranges of little Arches made by Figures of a Foot height laying their Arms upon one anothers Shoulders over his Head there is an Idol that represents a Man with Wings his body through a ring and sitting upon an Arch behind the Chair of the Man that sits there is a servant holding a kind of Chalice Two Buildings Next to these Buildings you find two others and their Doors adorned with Figures much like to those I have already described On some are Men holding Pikes on others you shall see an old Man with a servant coming after him and carrying a kind of Umbrello over his Head in fine there are Fights represented on some of them Another Terrass When you come out of these Buildings you find a Terrass directly opposite to to that which I have mentioned which puts a period to the first rank of Buildings and is of the same contrivance there also are to be seen several round Bases it buts upon the same open place that is at the Foot of the other and into which I told you one may go down by a pair of Stairs cut out of the Rock that is betwixt these two Terrasses You must then go back again by all these Buildings till you come to the first of this second rank out of which you come on the East side in the same manner as you did when you came from the first Buildings to these and you come to other Buildings Two Buildings where you see on the Jams of the Doors Figures in Demi-relief much like to those you saw in the former that is to say on some Men with Pikes and on others Combats represented in very great Figures on several of them also there is a Man sitting in a Chair but the Figures about somewhat different from those of the other Buildings for these in some places have several persons before and behind that look towards the Man and of those who are behind him one holds a Crosier over his Head. Over all there is a winged Idol such as I have described under the Feet of it there are five Ranges of Figures two Foot high which make so many ranks of little Arches by laying their Arms upon one anothers Shoulders In one of the Fronts of one of these last Buildings there is but one person behind the Man that is sitting who holds a Crosier over his Head Three Buildings the winged Idol is the same but hath only three ranges of little Arches under its Feet In fine after you have considered all these different Fabricks or to say more properly all these ruins you are to go streight to the Hill which fronts to the West and there you see a kind of Frontispiece of a Temple cut in the Rock and two stories high of which the lowermost hath five Fathom in Front and about two in height this is the order of it There are four Pillars that reach from the Ground to the top of this first Frontispiece their Capitals on each side being the Bust The Frontispiece of a Temple that is to say the Head and Neck of an Ox. In the middle of these Pillars to wit betwixt the second and third there is an Oblong square Door about a Fathom high and three Foot wide though it opens not so high by a third part because the rest of the opening is only a counterfeit upon the Rock these Pillars support an Architrave resembling much the Dorick Order and at several distances there are Lions all along it Over this first part of the Frontispiece there is a second The second Frontispiece a Fathom and a half high and of the same breadth but of pretty odd Architecture for below there are two stories of Arches made up of the Figures of Men about two Foot high a piece holding their Arms upon one anothers Shoulders in the middle above there is the Idol of a winged Man in the posture that we have already represented upon five steps on the Right Hand there is another Man Praying to him and on the Left there is a Pedestal on which nothing is to be seen but a Globe on the top at the two extremities there is a piece of a round very smooth Pillar which carries the Head of a Bull and lower on each side of that second range there are two Men one above another the lowermost resting on the first rank and each of them holding a Pike There is no going in at the Door below because it is always full of water but a little farther towards the South there is alike Frontispiece with just such another Door into which one may enter and there you see three Sepulchres cut in the Rock which are square and have a pretty near resemblance to the Basons of a Fountain Sepulchres in the Rock and in the middle of this Cave there is a stone that seems to be a Grave-stone About thirty steps from thence you see a kind of a smooth Table two Foot high from the Ground upon the Rock that looks to the South and reaches from East to West but there is nothing upon it though it seems there have been some Figures struck off with a Hammer or Chizzel on the farther side of that broad Table there is another with Demi-reliefs Bas-reliefs half buried under the Ground that is gathered about it it is three Fathom long and seems to be half as high there you see three Gigantick Figures the first seems to be a Woman with a Necklace of large Pearls and her Hair wound up in form of a long Perewinckle on her Head she hath a Crown and over it I cannot tell whether it be her Hair or the ends of Feathers she pulls towards her a Ring which on the other side draws towards it a Figure that appears to be of a Man though it hath a Necklace of Pearls he hath a very high Cap and round at the top shaped below like a Crown and long Curled Hair behind him there is another Man with a thing like a Mitre on his Head and some other ruinous Figures Fifty paces from thence there is a Frontispiece like the former but neither it nor those that follow are above a Fathom from the Ground which in this place is much raised with the time under this