raised vp well with earth and bedded from the brims and edges on the lower ground As for such which shall be made longer and able to receiue two vine-plants growing contrary one to the other they shall be called in Latine Alvei Aboue al the root of the vine ought to stand just in the midst of the hole or ditch but the head and wood thereof which resteth vpon the sound and firme ground as neere as possible is must beare directly into the point of the Aequinoctiall Sun-rising and withall the first props that it leaneth vpon would be of Reeds and Canes As touching the bounding and limitation of a vineyard the principall way which runneth streight East and West ought to carry 18 foot in breadth to the end that two carts may passe easily one by another when they meet the other crosse allies diuiding euery acre just into the mids must be ten foot broad but if the plot or modell of the vineyard wil beare it these allies also which lie North and South would be as largeful as the foresaid principal high way Moreouer this would be alwaies considered That vines bee planted by fiues i. that at euery fifth perch or pole that shoreth them vp there be a path diuiding euery range and course and one bed or quarter from another If the ground be stiffe and hard it must of necessitie bee twice digged ouer and therein quick-sets only that haue taken root must be replanted marie in case it be a loose mould light and gentle you may set very cuttings and sions from the stock either in furrow or in trench chuse you whether But say it be a high ground and vpon the hill better is it to cast it into furrowes ouerthwart than to dig it that by this meanes the perches or props may keep vp the ground better which by occasion of raine water would settle downeward When the weather is disposed to raine or the ground by nature drie it is good planting vine-sets or sions at the fall of the leafe vnlesse the constitution of the tract and qualitie of a country require the contrary for a dry and hot soile would be planted in Autumne or the fal of the leafe wheras a moist and cold coast may tarry euen vntill the end of Spring Let the soile be dry and hard bootlesse it will be to plant yea though it were a very quick-set root and all Neither will it do well to venter the setting of imps cut from the tree in a drie place vnlesse it be immediatly vpon a good ground shower but in low grounds where a man may haue water at will there is no danger at all to set vine branches euen with leaues on the head for they will take well enough at any time before the Mid-summer Sun-stead as we may see by experience in Spaine When you will plant a vine chuse a faire day and if possibly you can let it be when there is no wind stirring abroad for such a calme season is best and yet many are of opinion that Southern winds be good and they wish for them which is cleane contrarie vnto Cato his mind who expressely excepteth and reiecteth them If the ground be of a middle temperature there ought to be a space of fiue foot distance between euery vine and in case it be a rich and fertile soile there would bee foure foot at least from one to another but in a leane hungrie piece of light ground there should be eight foot at the most for whereas the Vmbrians and Marsians leaue twenty foot void betweene euery range of vines they doe it for to plough and sow in the place and therein they haue quarters beds and ridges called Porculeta If the place where you plant a vineyard be subiect to thicke and darke mists or to a rainie disposition of the weather vines ought to bee set the thinner but in a drie quarter it is meet they should bee planted thicke Moreouer the wit and industrie of man hath found out meanes to saue charges and in setting a nource-garden with vine-sions to goe a nearer way with small expence and no losse of ground for in replanting a vineyard with quicke-sets vpon a leuell plot onely digged and laied euen they haue with one and the same labour as it were by the way replenished the ground between euery such rooted plants with vine cuttings for store so as the quicksets may grow in his owne place appointed and the sion or cutting which another day is to be transplanted in the mean time take root between euery course and range of the said vine quick-sets before they be ready to take vp much ground Thus within the compasse of one acre by iust proportion a man may haue about 16000 quick-sets This is the difference only that such beare not fruit so soon by two yere so much later are they that be set of sions than those that were transplanted and remain stil on foot When a quick-set of a vine is planted in a vineyard and hath grown one yere it is vsually cut downe close to the earth so as but one eie or button be left aboue ground and one shore or stake must be stickt close to it for to rest vpon and dung laid well about the root In like manner ought it to be cut the second yeare By this means it gathereth strength inwardly and maintaineth the same in such wise as it may be sufficient another day to beare and sustain the burden both of branch and bunch when it shall be charged with them for otherwise if it be let alone and suffered to make hast for to beare it would prooue to be slender vinewed leane and poore for surely this is the nature of a vine That she groweth most willingly in such sort that vnlesse she be kept vnder chastised and bridled in this manner her inordinat appetite is such she will run her selfe out of heart and go all to branch and leafe As touching props and shores to support vines the best as we haue said are those of the Oke or Oliue tree for default whereof ye may take good stakes and forks of Iuniper Cypresse Laburnium and the Elder As for those perches that be of other kinds they ought to be cut and renewed euery yeare Howbeit to lay ouer a frame for vines to â—…un vpon the best poles are of Reeds and Canes for they will continue good fiue yeares being bound many of them together When the shorter branches of a vine are twisted one within another in manner of cording or ropes and strengthened with the wood of vine cuttings amongst thereof arch-worke is made which in Latine they call Funeta Now by the time that a vine hath growne three yeares in the vineyard it putteth forth apace strong branches which in time may make vines themselues these mount quickly vp to the frame and then some good husbands there be who put out their eies that is to say with a cutting hook turning the edge
it be guilded all ouer semblably there standeth in the courtly pallace of Octauia the image of Cupid holding a thunderbolt or lightning in his hand ready to shoot but it is a question who was the maker of him And yet this is affirmed That the same Cupid was made by the liuely patterne of Alcibiades who at that age was held to be the fairest youth that the earth did beare In the same place and namely in the schoole or gallerie of learned men there be many more images highly commended and yet no man knoweth who wrought them As for example four that resemble Satyres of which one seemeth to carry on his shoulders prince Bacchus arraied like a girle in a side coat or gown another likewise beareth yong Bacchus in the same order clad in the robe of his mother Semelle the third maketh as though he would stil the one Bacchus crying like a childe the fourth offereth the other a cup of drink to allay his thirst furthermore there be two images in habit and form foeminine representing gales of wind these seem to make sail with their owne clothes As doubtfull also it is who made the images within the railed inclosure in Mars field named Septa which do represent Olympus Pan Chiron and Achilles and yet so excellent pieces they be that men esteeme them worthy to be kept safe satisfaction to be made with no lesse than their death vnder whose hands and custody they should miscarrie But to returne againe vnto Scopas he had concurrents in his time and those that thought themselues as good workmen as himselfe to wit Bryaxis Timotheus and Leochares of whom I must write jointly together because they joined all foure in the grauing and cutting of the stately monument Mausoleum This Mausoleum was the renowned tombe or sepulchre of Mausolus a petty king of Caria which the worthy lady Artemisia somtime his queene and now his widow caused to be erected for the said prince her husband who died in the second yeare of the hundredth Olympias and verily so sumptuous a thing it was so curiously wrought by these artificers especially that it is reckoned one of those matchlesse monuments which are called the seuen Wonders of the world from North to South it carrieth in length 63 foot the two fronts East and West make the bredth which is not all out so large so as the whole circuit about may containe foure hundred and eleuen foot it is raised in heigth fiue and twenty cubits and inuironed with sixe and thirty columnes on the East side Scopas did cut Bryaxes chose the North end that front which regardeth the South fell to Timotheus and Leochares engraued at the west side but Queene Artemisia who caused this rich sepulchre to be made for the honour and in the memoriall of her husband late deceased hapned her selfe to depart this life before it was fully finished howbeit these noble artificers whom she had set aworke would not giue ouer when she was dead and gone but followed on still and brought it to a finall end as making this account that it would be a glorious monument to all posterity both of themselues and also of their cunning and in truth at this day it is hard to judge by their handyworke who did best There was a fifth workman also came in to them for aboue the side wall or wing of the tombe there was a Pyramis founded which from the very battlements of the said wal was carried to the heigth of the building vnderneath it the same grew smaller still as the worke arose higher and from that heigth at euery degree which in the whole were 24 was narrowed and taken in vntill at last it ended in a pointed broch in the top whereof there is pitched a coach with foure horse swrought curiously in marble and this was the worke of Pythis for his part So that reckoning this charriot with the sharp spire the Pyramis vnder it vnto the battlements and the body of the sepulchre founded vpon the bare ground the whole worke arose to an 140 foot in heigth But to come to some particular works of Timotheus beforesaid his hand wrought that statue of Diana in marble which standeth at Rome in the chappell of Apollo scituate in mount Palatine and yet the head belonging thereto which now this image carrieth Aulanius Evander set vnto it in place of the former As touching Menestratus men haue in high admiration Hercules of his making as also Hecate which standeth in a chappell at Ephesus behinde the great temple of Diana the sextons or wardens of which chappell giue warning vnto those that come to see it that they looke not too long vpon it for dazling and hurting their eyes the lustre of the Marble is so radiant and resplendent I cannot range in a lower degree vnto these the three Charites or Graces which are to bee seen in the Basse court before the Citadell of Athens the which Socrates made I meane not that Socrates whom I reckoned among painters although some thinke he was the same man As for Myro whom I commended for a singular imageur in brasse there is in marble of his portraying and ingrauing an old woman drunken which he made for them of Smyrna a piece of worke as much esteemed and spoken of as any other And here I cannot but thinke of Pollio Asinius who as he was a man of a stirring spirit and quick conceit delighted to haue his librarie and monuments to be inriched with such antiquities as these for among them a man shall see the Centaurs carry behind them vpon their croup the Nymphs which Archesitas wrought the Muses named Thespiades of Cleomenes his cutting Oceanus and Iupiter done by the hand of Eutochus the statues on horse back resembling women called Hippiades which Stephanus wrought joint Images of Mercurie and Cupid called Hermerotes the workmanship of Tauriscus I meane not the grauer of whom I spake before but another Tauriscus of Tralleis Iupiter syrnamed Xenius or Hospitalis which came out of the hands of Pamphilus an apprentice to Praxiteles as for the braue piece of worke to wit Zetus Amphion Dirce the Bull and the bond wherewith Dirce was tied all in one entier stone which was brought from Rhodes to Rome it was done by Apollonius and Tauriscus these men made question of themselues who should be their fathers professing in plaine termes that Menocrates was taken and supposed their father but indeed Artemidorus begat them and was their father by nature in the same place among other monuments the statue of father Bacchus made by Eutychides is much commended Moreouer neare vnto the gallerie of Octauia there is the Image of Apollo wrought by Phyliscus the Rhodian and hee standeth in a chappell of his owne Item Latona Diana the nine Muâ—…es and another Apollo naked As for that Apollo who in the same temple holdeth in his hand a harp Timarchides was the workman of it but in
but couetousnesse neuer consider that the same might with more safetie be performed by skill and learning And therfore seeing there be so many thousand poore sailers that hazard themselues on the seas I will treat of the winds more curiously and exquisitly than perhaps beseemes the present worke that is begun CHAP. XLVII ¶ Many sorts of Windes MEn in old time obserued foure Windes only according to so many quarters of the world and therefore Homer nameth no more a blockish reason this was as soone after it was iudged The Age ensuing added eight more and they were on the other side in their conceit too subtill and concise The Modern sailers of late daies found out a meane betweene both and they put vnto that short number of the first foure windes and no more which they tooke out of the later Therefore euery quarter of the Heauen hath two windes a piece From the equinoctiall Sunne-rising bloweth the East-winde Sub-solanus from the rising thereof in the Mid-winter the South-east Vulturnus The former of these twaine the Greekes call Apeliotes and the later Eurus From the Mid-day riseth the South winde and from the Sun-setting in Mid-winter the South-west Africus They also name these two Notus and Libs From the Equinoctiall going down of the Sun the West winde Fauonius commeth but from that in Summer season the North-west Corus And by the same Greekes they are termed Zephyrus and Argestes From the North waine or pole Ar cticke bloweth the North winde Septentrio betweene which and the Sun rising in Summer is the North-east winde Aquilo named Aparctias and Boreas by the Greekes A greater reckoning than this for number is brought in by some who haue thrust in foure more betweene namely Thracias betweene the North and the Summer setting of the Sunne in like manner Caecias in the midst betweene the North-east Aquilo and that of the Sun rising in the Equinoctiall Sub-solanus Also after the Sun-rising in Sommer Phoenicias in the middest betweene the South-east and the South Last of all betweene the South and the South-west Lybonotus iust in the middest compounded of them both namely betweene the Noonestead and the Sunsetting in Winter But here they could not lay a straw and see to make an end For others haue set one more yet called Mese betweene the North-east winde Borias and Caecias also Euronotus betweene the South and the south-Southwest winds Besides all these there be some winds appropriate and peculiar to euery nation which passe not beyond one certaine tract and region as namely Scyros among the Athenians declining a little from Argestes a winde vnknowne to other parts of Greece In some other place it is more aloft and the same then is called Olympias as comming from the high hill Olimpus But the vsuall and customable manner of speech vnderstandeth by all these names Argestes only Some call Caecias by the name of Hellespontias and giue the same winds in sundry places diuers names In the prouince likewise of Narbone the most notorious winde is Circius and for violence inferiour to none driuing directly before it very often the current at Ostia into the Ligurian sea The same wind is not only vnknown in all other climats of the heauen but reacheth not so much as to Vienna a citie in the same prouince As great boisterous a wind as he is otherwise yet a restraint he hath before he come thither and is kept within few bounds by the opposition of a meane and small hill Fabianus also auouches that the South winds enter not so far as into Aegypt Whereby the law of Nature sheweth it selfe plainely that euen windes haue their times and limits appointed To proceed then the Spring openeth the sea for sailers in the beginning whereof the West winds mitigate the Winter weather at what time as the Sun is in the 25 degree of Aquarius and that is the sixt day before the Ides of February And this order holdeth in manner with all other winds that I will set downe one after another so that in euery leape yeare ye anticipate and reckon one day sooner and then againe keep the same rule throughout all the foure yeares following Some call Fauonius which beginneth to blow about the 7 day before the Calends of March by the name of Chelidonius vpon the sight of the first Swallows but many name it Orinthias comming the 71 day after the shortest day in winter by occasion of the comming of birds which wind bloweth for nine dayes Opposite vnto Fauonius is the VVind which we called Sub-solanus Vnto this VVind is attributed the rising of the Vergiliae or seuen stars in as many degrees of Taurus six daies before the Ides of May which time is a southerly constitution and to this Winde the North is contrarie Moreouer in the hottest season of the Sommer the Dog-star ariseth at what time as the Sun entreth into the first degree of Leo which commonly is the 15 day before the Calends of August Before the rising of this star for eight daies space or thereabout the Northeast winds are aloft which the Greekes call Prodromi i. forerunners And two daies after it is risen the same winds hold still more stiffely and blow for the space of fortie daies which they name Etesiae The Suns heate redoubled by the hotnesse of that star is thought to be asswaged by them and no winds are more constant nor keep their set times better than they Next after them come the Southerne winds againe which are vsually vp vntill the star Arcturus riseth and that is nine daies before the Aequinoctiall in Autumne With it entereth Corus and thus Corus beginneth the Autumne And to this Vulturnus is contrarie After that Aequinoctiall about 44 daies the Virgiliae go downe and begin winter which season vsually falleth vpon the third day before the Ides of Nouember This is the winter Northeast wind which is far vnlike to that in Sommer opposit and contrary to Africus Now a seuen night before the Mid-winter day and as much after the sea is allaied and calme for the sitting and hatching of the birds Halciones whereupon these daies tooke the name Alcionis the time behind plaieth the part of Winter And yet these boisterous seasons full of tempests shut not vp the sea for pyrats and rouers at the first forced men with present perill of death to run headlong vpon their death and to hazard themselues in Winter seas but now a daies couetousnesse causeth men to do the like The coldest winds of all other be those which we said to blow from the North-pole and together with them their neighbor Corus These winds do both allay and still all others and also scatter and driue away clouds Moist winds are Africus and especially the South wind of Italy called Auster Men report also that Caecias in Pontus gathereth draweth to it selfe clouds Corus and Vulturnus are dry but onely in the end when they giue ouer The Northeast and the North engender snow
said to be in circuit 20 miles and Mutians 160. Oliaros Paros with a towne 38 miles from Delos of great name for the white marble there which at first men called Pactia but afterwards Minois From it seuen miles and a halfe is Naxus 18 miles from Delos with a towne which they called Strongyle afterwards Dia within a while Dionysias of the plentifull vines and others Sicily the lesse and Callipolis It reacheth in circuit 75 miles and is halfe as long again as Paros And thus far verily they obserue note for the Cyclades the rest that follow for the Sporades And these they be Helenum Phocussa Phaecasia Schinussa Phalegandros and 17 miles from Naxos Icaros which gaue name to the sea lying out as far in length with two towns for the third is lost before-time it was called Dolichum Macris and Ichtyoessa It is scituate Northeast from Delos 50 miles and from Samos it is distant 35 miles Between Euboea and Andros there is a frith 12 miles ouer From it to Gerestum is 112 miles and a halfe and then no order forward can be kept the rest therefore shall be set downe huddle by heapes Ios from Naxus 24 miles venerable for the sepulchre of Homer it is in length 25 miles and in former time called Phaenice Odia Letandros Gyaros with a town 12 miles about It is from Aneros 62 miles From thence to Syrnus 80 miles Cynethussa Telos famous for costly ointment Callimachus calls it Agathussa Donysa Pathmos in circuit 30 miles Corasiae Lebinthus Leros Cynara Sycinus which before-time was Oenoe Heratia the same that Onus Casus otherwise Astrabe Cimolus alias Echinussa Delos with a towne which Aristides nameth Byblis Aristotle Zephyria Callimachus Himallis Heraclides Syphnus and Acytos and this of all the Islands is the roundest After it Machia Hypere sometime Patage or after some Platage now Amorgos Potyaegos Phyle Thera when it first appeared it was called Calliste From it afterwards was Therasia plucked and between those twain soone after arose Automate the same that Hiera and Thia which in our daies appeared new out of the water neere Hiera Ios is from Thera 25 miles Then follow Lea Ascania Anaphe Hippuris Hippurissusa Astipalaea of free estate in compasse 88 miles it is from Cadiscus a promontory of Creta 125 miles From it is Platea distant 60 miles And from thence Camina 38 miles then Azibnitha Lanise Tragia Pharmacusa Techidia Chalcia Calydna in which are the townes Coos and Olymna From which to Carpathus which gaue the name to the Carpathian sea is 25 miles and so to Rhodes with a Southerne winde From Carpathus to Casos 7 miles from Casos to Samonium a promontorie of Crete 30 miles Moreouer in the Euboike Euripe at the first entrance wel-neere of it are the foure Islands Petaliae and at the end thereof Atalante Cyclades and Sporades confined and enclosed on the East with the Icarian sea coasts of Asia on the West with the Myrtoan coasts of Attica Northward with the Aegaean sea and South with the Creticke and Carthaginian seas and take vp in length two hundred myles The gulfe Pegasicus hath before it Eutychia Cicynethus and Scyrus aboue said but the vtmost of all the Cyclades and Sporades Gerontia Scadira Thermeusis Irrhesia Solinnia Eudemia Nea which is consecrate vnto Minerua Athos before it hath foure Peparethus with a town somtime called Euonos 9 miles off Scyathus 5 miles and Iulios with a town 88 miles off The same is from Mastusia in Corinthos 75 miles is it self in circuit 72 miles Watered it is with the riuer Ilissus from thence to Lemnos 22 and is from Athos 87. in compasse it containeth 22 miles and a halfe Townes it hath Hephaestia and Marina into the Market place wherof the mountain Athos casteth a shadow in the hottest season of sommer Thassos a free State is from it fiue miles in times past it was called Aeria or Aethria From thence Abdera in the continent is 20 miles Athos 62 the Isle Samo-Thrace as much being a free priuiledged state and lying before Hebrus From Imbrus 32 miles from Lemnus 22 miles and a halfe from the coast of Thracia 28 miles in circuit it is 32 miles and hath the rising of the hill Saoces for the space of ten miles and of all the rest is fullest of hauens and harbors Callimachus calleth it by the old name Dardania Betwixt Cherrhonesus and Samo-Thrace is Halomesus about 15 miles from either of them beyond lieth Gethrone Lamponia Alopeconesus not farre from Coelos an hauen of Cherrhonesus and some other of no name or regard In this sea let vs rehearse also the desart and vnpeopled Isles such as we can finde names for to wit Desticos Larnos Cyssicos Carbrusa Celathusa Scylla Draconon Arconesus Diethusa Scapos Capheris Mesate Aeantion Phaterunesos Pateria Calete Neriphus and Polendus The fourth of those great seas in Europe beginning at Hellespont endeth in the mouth of Moeotis But briefly we are to describe the forme of the whole sea to the end the parts may be sooner and more easily known The vast and wide Ocean lying before Asia and driuen out from Europe in that long coast of Chersonesus breaketh into the maine with a small and narrow issue and by a Firth of 7 stadia as hath been said diuideth Europe from Asia The first streights they call Hellespontus this way Xerxes the King made a bridge vpon ships and so led his armie ouer From thence there is extended a small Euripus or arme of the sea for 86 miles space to Priapus a city of Asia wheras Alexander the great passed ouer From that place the sea grows wide and broad and again gathereth into a streight the largenesse thereof is called Propontis the streights Bosphorus halfe a mile ouer and that way Darius the father of Xerxes made a bridge ouer and transported his forces The whole length of this from Hellespont is 239 miles From thence the huge main sea called Pontus Euxinus and in times past Axenus takes vp the space between lands far dissite and remote asunder and with a great winding and turning of the shores bendeth back into certain horns and lieth out-stretched from them on both sides resembling euidently a Scythian bow In the very mids of this bending it ioineth close to the mouth of the lake Moeotis and that mouth is called Cimmerius Bosphorus 2 miles and a halfe broad But between the two Bosphori Thracius and Cimmerius there is a direct strait course between as Polybius saith of 500 miles Now the whole circuit of all this sea as Varro and all the old writers for the most part do witnesse is 2150 miles Nepos Cornelius addes thereto 350 miles more Artemidorus maketh it 2919 miles Agrippa 2360 miles Mutianus 2865 miles In like sort some haue determined and defined the measure on Europe side to be 4078 miles and a halfe others 1172 miles M. Varro taketh his measure in this manner from the mouth of Pontus to
arose and in that mutinie or insurrection forsooke the city and withdrew themselues to the fort Ianiculum made a law published it within a certain groue hard by called Esculetum where there grew a number of trees named Esculi and the said statute ran in this forme That whatsoeuer ordinance should be enacted by the said Commonaltie it should bind all Citisens of Rome whomsoeuer to obserue and keepe In those daies the Pine and Fir and generally all trees that yeeld pitch were held for strangers and aliéns because none of them were knowne to grow neere vnto the city of Rome wherof now we will speak the rather because the beginning whole maner of confecting and preseruing wines might be thereby throughly knowne First and formost some of the trees aforesaid in Asia or in the East parts do bring forth pitch In Europe there be six sorts of trees seeming all of one race which yeeld the same Of which the Pine and the Pinaster cary leaues thin and slender in manner of haires long also and sharp pointed at the end The Pine beareth least rosin of all others howbeit otherwise some it hath in the very fruit thereof which we call Pine nuts or apples wherof we haue already written yet so little it is that hardly a man would reckon the Pine among those kinde of trees that yeeld rosin The Pinaster is nothing els but the wild Pine it growes wonderful tall putting forth arms from the mids of the trunk or body vpward wheras the other Pine brancheth only in the head This of the twain is more plentifull in rosin whereof we will speake more anon These wild Pines grow also vpon plains There be trees vpon the coast of Italy which mencal Tibuli and many think they be the same although they carry another name slender they are and shorter altogether without knots and little Rosin they haue in them or none but they serue well for shipwrights to build frigats brigandines The Pitch tree loueth the mountains and cold grounds a deadly and mournful tree it is for they vsed in old time to sticke vp a branch thereof at the dores of those houses where a dead corps was to giue knowledge therof abroad and commonly it grew green in churchyards and such places where the maner was to burn the bodies of the dead in funeral fires but now adays it is planted in courtyards and gardens neer our houses because it may be easily kept with cutting and shredding it brancheth so well This tree puts forth great aboundance of rosin with white grains or kernels comming between so like vnto frankincense that if it be mixt therwith vnneth or hardly a man may discern the one from the other by the eye And hereupon it commeth that Druggists and Apothecaries do sophisticate frankincense and deceiue folk with it All the sort of these trees are leaued with short thick and hard pricky bristles in manner of the Cypres The Pitch tree beginneth to shoot forth branches euen from the very root almost and those be but small bearing out like armes and sticking one against another in the sides Semblably do the Fir trees which are so much sought for to serue shipping and yet this tree delighteth in the highest mountains as if it fled from the sea of purpose and could not away with it and surely the form and maner of growing is all one with the pitch tree The wood thereof is principal good timber for beams and fitteth our turn for many other necessaries of this life Rosin if it be found in the Fir is thought a fault in the wood whereas the only commoditie of the pitch tree is her rosin and yet somtime there frieth and sweateth out a little thereof in the extreme heate of the sun The timber of them both is not alike for that of the Fir is most faire and beautifull the pitch tree wood serueth only for clouen lath or rent shindles for coopers to make tubs and barrels and for some few other thin boords and painels As for the Larch tree which is the fift kind of those that beare rosin like it is to the rest and loueth to grow in the same places but the timber is better by ods for it rots not but will last and endure a long time the tree wil hardly be killed besides it is red of colour caries an hoter and stronger sme than the other There issueth forth of the tree as it growes good store of liquid rosin in colour like hony somwhat more clammy which will neuer grow to be hard A sixt sort there is of these trees and it is properly called Teda 〈◊〉 the Torch tree the same yeelds more plenty of moisture and liquor than the rest lower it is of growth than the Pitch-tree but more liquid and thin very commendable also to maintain fire at sacrifices to burn in torches for to giue light These trees I mean the male only bring forth that strong and stinking rosin which the Greeks call Syce Now if it happen that the Larch tree proue Teda i. to be Torch-wood it is a signe that it doth putrifie and is in the way of dying The wood of all these kinds before named if it be set a fire maketh an exceeding grosse and thick smoke and presently turneth into a cole spitting and sparkling a far off except that only of the Larch tree which neither burneth in light flame nor maketh cole ne yet consumeth in the fire otherwise than a very stone All these trees whereof we speake continue greene all the yeare long and very like they are in leafe that men otherwise of cunning and good experience haue enough to do to discern one from the other by it so neere of kin they be and their race so much intermingled But the pitch tree is not so tall as the Larch for the Larch is thicker in body of a thinner and lighter barke more shag leaued and the said leaues fattier growing thicker more pliable and easier to wind and bend whereas the leaues of the pitch tree hang thinner they be of a drier substance more slender and subiect to cold and in one word the whole tree is more rough and hideous to see to and withall full of rosin the wood also resembleth the Firre rather than the Larch The Larch tree if it be burnt to the very stumpe of the root will not spring againe and put forth new shoots whereas the pitch tree liueth stil for all the fire and wil grow afresh the experience whereof was seen in the Island Lesbos at what time as the Forrest Pyrrhaeum was set on fire and clean burnt to the ground Moreouer euery one of these kinds differ in the very sex for the male of each kind is shorter and harder the female taller hauing fattier leaues and the same soft and plain nothing stif and rugged The wood of the male is tough and when it is wrought keepeth not a direct grain but windeth and turneth so as
is that hee beareth downe before him the roofe of many a house and carrieth it cleane away CHAP. III. ¶ The societie of the skie and aire with the earth respectiue to trees SOme men do force the skie for to be obedient conformable to the earth as namely when planting in dry grounds they haue regard to the East and North and contariwise when in moist places they respect the South Moreouer it falleth out that they be driuen otherwhiles to follow the nature of the very Vines and thereby to be ruled wherupon in cold ground they plant such as be of the hastie kind and soone ripen their grapes to the end that they may come to their maturity and perfection before cold weather comes As for such Vines and trees bearing fruit as canot abide dews those they set in to the East that the Sun may soon dispatch and consume the said dew but looke what trees do loue dewes and like well therewith those they will be sure to plant against the West or at leastwise toward the North to the end they may inioy the full benefit thereof All others againe grounding in manner vpon natural reason only haue giuen counsell to set as well Vines as Trees into the Northeast And Democritus verily is of this mind that such fruits will bee more pleasant and odoriferous CHAP. IIII. ¶ The quality of sundrie regions AS touching the proper seat of the Northeast wind and of all other winds we haue spoken already in the second booke and our purpose is in the next following to treat of the rising and falling of signes and notable stars of other Astronomical points also concerning heauen Now in the mean time for this present it is sufficient that in the former rule of the North wind we seem to rest and resolue vpon the apparent and euident argument of the wholesome and healthfull climate of the heauen forasmuch as we see that euermore all such trees as stand into the South soonest shed their leaues the same reason also is to be giuen of those that grow vpon the sea coasts and albeit in some places the winds blowing from thence and the very aire of the sea be hurtfull yet in most parts the same are good and profitable Certaine plants and trees there are which take pleasure to be remot from the sea and ioy to haue the sight of it only a farre off set them neerer to the vapors and exhalations ascending from thence they will take harm and mislike therewith The like is to be said of great riuers lakes and standing pooles As for those which we haue spoken of they either burn their fruit with such mists or refresh and coole such as be hot with their shade yea take joy and prosper in the frost and cold And therfore to conclude this point the surest way is to beleeue trust vpon experience thus much for this present concerning the heauen our next discourse will be of the Earth and Soile the consideration whereof is no lesse difficult to be handled than the other First and formost all grounds are not alike good for trees and most kinds of corne For neither the black mould such as Campain standeth vpon much as in all places best for Vines or that which â—…umeth and sendeth vp small and thin mists neither is the red veine of earth any better how soeuer there be many that commend it The white earth or chalkie marle the clay also within the territory of Alba and Pompeij for a vineyard are generally preferred before all other countries although they be exceeding fat which in that case is otherwise vsually reiected On the other side the white sand about * Ticinum likewise the blacke mould or grit in many places as also the red sandy ground although it be wel mingled tempred with fat earth are all of them nothing to the purpose for increase fruitfulnesse And herein must men take heed because oftentimes their judgement may faile when it goeth but by the eie for wee must not streight waies conclude that the ground is rich battle wheron we see goodly faire tall trees to grow vnlesse it be for those trees only for where shal we meet with any higher than the Fir is there a tree again that possibly can liue where it doth No more is rank grasse plentifull forrage a true token alwaies of a good ground for there is no better pasture nor grasing to be found than in Almaine and yet dig but vp the greene sourd and the thinnest coat of turfe that may be ye shal presently come to barren sand vnder it ne yet is it by by a moist ground that hath vpon it deepe grasse and hearbes shooting vp in height no more verily than a fat and rich soile is knowne by sticking to one fingers as appeareth plainly in all sorts of clay And verily no earth doth fill vp the trenches euen againe out of which it was cast that therby a man might find out whether the ground be sad or hollow and generally all sorts thereof will cause yron to rust that shal be put into it Moreouer there is no weighing of earth in ballance to know by that means which is lighter or heauier for who could possibly euer set down the iust weight that earth should haue Againe the ground that is cast vp into banks by the ouerflow of great riuers is not alwaies commendable seeing that some plants there be that decay if they be set in water And say that some such bank were ground good enough yet it continueth not so long vnlesse it be for Willowes and oisiers onely But if you would know a rich ground indeed one of the best arguments and signes therof is this when you see it to bring forth a thick strong haulme or straw such as vsually groweth in that noble territorie Laborine within Campaine which is of that bignesse that the people of the country vse it for fewell in stead of wood Now this ground so good as it is where whensoeuer we haue found it is hard enough to be tilled and requireth great labour and husbandry putting the poore husbandman to more paines in manner with that goodnesse of it than possibly he could haue with any defects and imperfections thereof For euen the hot earth called by the name of Carbunculus which vseth to burn the corne sown therupon may be helped remedied as it is thought by setting it with plants of poore hungry vines The rough grauell stone which naturally will crumble as grit many writers there bee that allow and commend for vines As for Virgil he findeth no fault with the ground that beareth fern and brake for a Vineyard The earth that is brackish and standeth much vpon salt pâ—…tre is thought to be more found for many plants than others and in regard of vermine that vse to breed therein much safer also Neither do high banks and hils remaine vntilled and naked for want of
The North winde also bringeth in haile so doth Corus The South wind is exceeding hot and troublous withall Vulturnus and Favonius be warme They also be drier than the East and generally all winds from the North and West are drier than from the South and East Of all winds the Northern is most heathfull the Southern wind is noisome and the rather when it is drie haply because that when it is moist it is the colder During the time that it bloweth liuing creatures are thought to be lesse hungry the Etesiae giue ouer ordinarily in the night arise at the third houre of the day In Spaine and Asia they blow from the East but in Pontus from the North in other quarters from the South They blow also after the Mid-winter when they be called Orinthiae but those are more milde continue fewer daies Two there be that change their nature together with their site and place the South winde in Affrick bringeth faire weather and the North wind there is cloudy All winds keep their course in order for the more part or els when one ceaseth the contrary beginneth When some are laid the next to them do arise they go about from the left hand to the right according to the Sun Of their manner and order monthly the prime or fourth day after the change of the Moone doth most commonly determine The same windes wil serue to saile contrariwise by means of setting out the sailes so as many times in the night ships in sailing run one against another The South winde raiseth greater billowes and more surging waues than the North for that the South wind ariseth below from the bottome of the Sea the other blustereth aloft and troubleth the top of the water And therfore after Southern winds earth-quakes are most hurtful The South wind in the night time is more boisterous the Northerne wind in the day The winds blowing from the East hold and continue longer than those from the West The Northern winds giue ouer commonly with an odde number which obseruation serueth to good vse in many other parts of naturall things and therfore the male winds are iudged by the odde number The Sun both raiseth and also laieth the windes At rising and setting hee causeth them to be aloft at noon-tide he represseth and keepeth them vnder in Summer time And therefore at mid-day or mid-night commonly the winds are down and lie still for both cold and heat if they be immoderate do spend and consume them Also rain doth lay the winds and most commonly from thence they are looked for to blow where clouds break and open the skie to be seen And verily Eudoxus is of opinion if wee list to obserue the least reuolutions that after the end of euery fourth yere not only all winds but other tempests and constitutions also of the weather return again to the same course as before And alwaies the Lustrum or computation of the fiue yeres beginneth at the leap yere when the Dog-star doth arise Thus much touching general winds CHAP. XLVIII ¶ Of sudden Blasts NOw wil we speake of sudden blasts which being risen as hath bin said before by exhalations of the earth and cast downe againe in the meane while appeare of many fashions enclosed within athin course of clouds newly ouercast For such as be vnconstant wandering and rushing in manner of land flouds as some men were of opinion as wee haue shewed bring forth thunder and lightening But if they come with a greater force sway and violence and withall burst and cleaue a dry cloud asunder all abroad they breed a storme which of the Greeks is called Ecnephias but if the clift or breach be not great so that the wind be constrained to turne round to roll and whirle in his discent without fire i. lightening it makes a whirle puffe or ghust called Typhon i. the storme Ecnephias aforesaid sent out with a winding violence This takes with it a piece broken out of a congealed cold cloud turning winding and rolling it round and with that weight maketh the owne fall more heauie and changeth from place to place with a vehement and sudden whirling the greatest danger and mischiefe that poore sailers haue at sea breaking not onely their crosse saile yards but also writhing and bursting in pieces the very ships and yet a small matter is the remedy for it namely the casting of vinegre out against it as it commeth which is of nature most cold The same storme beating vpon a thing is it selfe smitten backe againe with a violence and snatcheth vp whatsoeuer it meeteth in the way aloft into the skie carrying it back and swallowing it vp on high But if it breake out from a greater hole of the said cloud by it so borne down and yet not altogether so broad as the abouenamed storm Procella doth nor without a cracke they call this boisterous wind Turbo casting downe and ouerthrowing all that is next it The same if it be more hot and catching a fire as it rageth is named Prester burning and withall laying along whatsoeuer it toucheth and encountereth CHAP. XLIX ¶ Other enormious kindes of Tempests NO Typhon commeth from the North ne yet any Ecnephias with snow or while snow lieth on the ground This tempestuous winde if when it brake the cloud burned light withall hauing fire of the owne before and catched it not afterward it is very lightning and differeth from Prester as the flame from a cole of fire Againe Prester spreadeth broad with a flash and blast the other gathereth round with forcible violence Typhon moreouer or Vortex differeth from Turben in flying backe and as much as a crash from a cracke The storme Procella from them both in breadth and to speake more truly rather scattereth than breaketh the cloud There riseth also vpon the sea a darke mist resembling a monstrous beast and this is euer a terrible cloud to sailers Another likewise called a Columne or Pillar when the humour and water ingendred is so thicke and stiffe congealed that it standeth compact of it selfe Of the same sort also is that cloud which draweth water to it as it were into a long pipe CHAP. L. ¶ In what Lands Lightenings fall not IN Winter and Summer seldome are there any Lightnings and that is long of contrary causes because in Winter the aire is driuen close together and thickened with a deeper course of clouds besides all the exhalations breathing and rising out of the earth being stark congealed and frozen hard do extinguish cleane what firie vapour soeuer otherwise they receiue which is the reason that Scythia and other cold frozen quarters thereabout are free from lightenings And Aegypt likewise vpon the contrarie cause and exempt from Lightnings namely exceeding heate for the hot and dry exhalations of the earth gather into very slender thin and weake clouds But in the Spring and Autumne lightnings are more rife because in both those seasons the causes as well of Summer as