Jurisdiction As I return'd from Persia in the Year 1655 I came to the Three Churches about the end of February the Caravan stay'd there eleven Days as well by reason of the great Snows that stop'd up the Ways as for that the Armenians resolv'd to keep their Carnival there and after that to perform their Devotions The next day I went to visit the Patriarch who was sitting cross-leg'd upon a Mat. There were four Archbishops and nine Bishops sitting about him in the same posture among whom there was one that spake very good Italian I stay'd with him three Hours and while we were discoursing together in came one of the Monks of the Convent who had not spoken to any person whatsoever in Two and twenty Years by reason of a Penance that was impos'd upon him Never did Man appear so meager and deformed but the Patriarch sent for him and by his Authority commanded him to break Silence which he did by speaking at the same Instant The Saturday before Shrove-Sunday the Patriarch invited all the Caravan as well Masters as Servants to hear Mass the next day and then to dine at the Covent Mass being concluded the People were brought into a long Gallery about 15 or 20 Foot broad there being a Table on both sides made of several Stones and Benches next the Walls At the upper end of the Gallery stands a Table four Foot square over which is a vaulted Roof sustain'd with four Pillars which serves for a Canopy in the midst whereof is a Chair set for the Patriarch who from thence has a full view of both sides the Gallery with two other Chairs of each hand for two Archbishops the other Archbishops Monks and Guests sate at the long Tables The Meat which they brought us was several sorts of Pilaw and several Dishes of Fish among the rest excellent Trouts The Pilaw was brought in forty wide Plates so well fill'd and so large that they were every one as much as a Man could carry They were all set down upon the Ground before the Patriarch who then Pray'd and gave Thanks Then six Bishops with Ladles took out the Meat out of the great Platters and putting it into lesser serv'd both the Tables Every one had also his earthen Pot of Wine which was very good and was fill'd again when it was empty The Patriarch and the two Archbishops eat nothing but two Eggs and a few raw Herbs no more did the other Archbishops that sate at the Table At the end of the Feast a Bishop comes with a Paper and Pen and Ink in his Hand and asks of every one what he pleases to Subscribe for the Benefit of the Church then every one proposing according to his Devotion the Bishop writes down the Names of the Persons and the Sum which they mention which he comes and gathers the next day There are some rich Merchants that will give two Tomans but the meanest Servant will give an Or. The Bishop having done writing the Table was clear'd and then they brought us Melons and other Fruits In a short while after the Bells rung to Evening Service and the People went to Church After Evening Service the Patriarch sent for me to behold a Combat of Bufalo's of which there are great store in that Country some serving to Till their Ground while the Female ones yield store of Milk of which they make Butter and Cheese and which they mingle with all sorts of other Milk There are some of these female Beasts that will give two and twenty Pints of Milk a day They brought us into a wide Enclosure to behold the Sport wherein there were eight Bufalo's To provoke them one against another they shew them a Red Cloth which puts them into such a Rage that there were two that dy'd with the stroke of their Horns upon the place and there were none of the rest which were not very much lam'd The Sport being at an end they bring a great quantity of Wood which they pile together on purpose to set it on Fire When the Wood was heap'd in as big a Pile as they intended one of the Archbishops presented a Taper of white Wax to all the Company both Masters and Servants who every one agreed with him what they should give the next day for their Tapers The Tapers being lighted the Patriarch with a Stick like a Bishop's Crosier march'd before singing an Hymn attended by all the Persons both Ecclesiastical and Secular till they had in that manner walk'd three times about the Pile When the Pile came to be lighted there was great striving who should have the Honour One of the Merchants offer'd a quantity of Oyl for Lamps for the Church another out did him and a third proffer'd more than he and the Honour of Lighting the Pile was given to him that offer'd most Immediately upon that every one put out his Taper For they esteem it a most precious business believing that the lighting of one of those Tapers in a Sterm and throwing it into the Sea is a present Charm against Shipwrack For say they The Virgin Mary forty days after she was brought to Bed went to Jerusalem with Joseph and her Son and going into the Temple met old Simeon who taking the Child in his Arms began to sing the Song Lord now let thy Servant c. the Song being ended all the People began to cry that Christ was born and to publish it about the City Now in regard it was Night every one ran out with Torches in their Hands and some made Fires before their Doors where Christ was to pass along This Festival among the Armenians is like that of Candlemas-day and they call it in their Language Ter en Areche Where is the Lord The Armenians Masters and Servants drank all Night to make an end of their Carnival while the Patriarch was busie in dressing up the Church with its gayest Ornaments Ten Leagues from Erivan toward the North appears a great Lake wherein there is an Iland upon which is built a very fair Covent The Monks that live there live so austere a Life that they never eat Fish or Flesh above four times a Year neither do they speak one to another but upon those four Days The rest of the Year they feed only upon Herbs which they gather out of the Garden for say they it is not Fasting to eat either Butter or Oyl The Bread which they eat is brought from the neighbouring Villages and the Iland is replenish'd with all sorts of excellent Fruits On the one side of the Lake nearer to Erivan is a large Plain wherein there are six Monasteries One of which is entirely hewn out of the Rock with the Pillars that sustain it being seated in a very hard Rock The Armenians call that Church Kickart in their Language and the Turks in theirs Guieurghieche that is See and away In this Church according to the Traditions of the Armenians is kept the Lance wherewith the Side
though it be Gold by reason the King ofttimes enhances the value of it The places where Cloves grow are Amboyna Ellias Seram and Bouro The Islands of Banda also in number six viz. Nero Lontour Poulcay Roseguin and Grenapuis bear Nutmegs in great abundance The Island of Grenapuis is about six Leagues in compass and ends in a sharp point where there is a continual fire burning out of the Earth The Island Damme where there grows great store of Nutmegs and very big was discover'd in the year 1647 by Abel Tasman a Dutch Commander The price of Cloves and Nutmegs as I have known them sold to the Hollanders at Surat was as follows The Mein of Surat contains forty Serres which make thirty-four of our Pounds at sixteen Ounces to the Pound A Mein of Cloves was sold for a hundred and three Mamoudi's and a half A Mein of Mace was sold for a hundred and fifty-seven Mamoudi's and a half Nutmegs for fifty-six Mamoudi's and a half Cinnamon comes at present from the Island of Ceylan The Tree that bears it is very much like the Willow and has three Barks They never take off but the first and second which is accounted the best They never meddle with the third for should the Knife enter that the Tree would dye So that it is an art to take off the Cinnamon which they learn from their youth The Cinnamon Spice is much dearer to the Hollanders than people think for the King of Ceylan otherwise call'd King of Candy from the name of his principal City being a sworn Enemy to the Hollanders sends his Forces with an intention to surprize them when they gather their Cinnamon so that they are forc'd to bring seven or eight hundred men together to defend as many more that are at work Which great expence of theirs very much enhances the price of the Cinnamon There grows upon the Cinnamon Tree a certain fruit like an Olive though not to be eaten This the Portugals were wont to put into a Caldron of Water together with the tops of the Branches and boil'd it till the Water was all consum'd When it was cold the upper part became a Paste like white Wax of which they made Tapers to set up in their Churches for no sooner were the Tapers lighted but all the Church was perfum'd Formerly the Portugals brought Cinnamon out of other Countries belonging to the Raja's about Cochin But the Hollanders have destroyd all those places so that the Cinnamon is now in their hands When the Portugals had that Coast the English bought their Cinnamon of them and usually paid for it by the Mein fifty Mamoudi's Drugs that are brought to Surat and brought from other Countries with the price of every one by the Mein Salt Armoniack according to the usual price costs by the Mein twenty Mamoudi's Borax comes unrefin'd from Amadabat as does Salt Armoniack and costs by the Mein thirty-five Mamoudi's Gum-Lack seven Mamoudi's and a half Gum-Lack wash'd ten Mamoudi's Gum-Lack in sticks of Wax forty Mamoudi's There are some of these Sticks that cost fifty or sixty Mamoudi's the Mein and more when they mix Musk in the Gum. Saffron of Surat which is good for nothing but for colouring four Mamoudi's and a half Cumin White eight Mamoudi's Cumin Black three Mamoudi's Arlet small three Mamoudi's Frankincense that comes from the Coast of Arabia three Mamoudi's Myrrh that which is good call'd Mirra Gilet thirty Mamoudi's Myrrh Bolti which comes from Arabia fifteen Mamoudi's Cassia two Mamoudi's Sugar Candy eighteen Mamoudi's Asutinat a sort of Grain very hot one Mamoudi Annise-Seed Gross three Mamoudi's and a half Annise-Seed small and hot one Mamoudi and a half Oupelote a Root fourteen Mamoudi's Cointre five Mamoudi's Auzerout from Persia a hundred and twenty Mamoudi's Aloes Succotrine from Arabia twenty eight Mamoudi's Licorice four Mamoudi's Lignum Aloes in great pieces two hundred Mamoudi's Lignum Aloes in small pieces four hundred Mamoudi's Vez-Cabouli a certain Root twelve Mamoudi's There is a sort of Lignum Aloes very Gummy which comes to by the Mein four thousand Mamoudi's Gum-Lake for the most part comes from Pegu yet there is some also brought from Bengala where it is very dear by reason the Natives fetch that lively Scarlet colour out of it with which they paint their Calicuts Nevertheless the Hollanders buy it and carry it into Persia for the same use of painting That which remains after the colour is drawn off is only fit to make sealing Wax That which comes from Pegu is not so dear though as good for other Countries The difference is only this that it is not so clean in Pegu where the Pismires soul it as in Bengala where it grows in a heathy place full of Shrubs where those Animals cannot so well come at it The Inhabitants of Pegu never make any use of it in painting being a dull sort of people that are in nothing at all industrious The Women of Surat get their livings by cleansing the Lake after the Scarlet colour is drawn from it After that they give it what colour they please and make it up into Sticks for sealing Wax The English and Holland Company carry away every year a hundred and fifty Chests The price is about ten Sous the pound Powder'd Sugar is brought in great quantities out of the Kingdom of Bengala it causes also a very great Trade at Ougeli Patna Daca and other places I have been told it for a very great certainty by several ancient people in Bengala that Sugar being kept thirty years becomes absolute poison and that there is no Venome more dangerous or that sooner works its effect Loaf-Sugar is also made at Amadabat where they are perfectly skill'd in refining it for which reason it is call'd Sugar Royal. These Sugar-Loaves usually weigh from eight to ten pound Opium is brought from Brampour a Town of good Trade between Agra and Surat The Hollanders buy great quantities which they truck for their Pepper Tobacco also grows in abundance round about Brampour sometimes there has been so much that the Natives have let vast quantities rot upon the ground for want of gathering Coffee grows neither in Persia nor in India where it is in no request but the Hollanders drive a great Trade in it transporting it from Ormus into Persia as far as Great Tartary from Balsara into Caldea Arabia Mesopotamia and other Provinces of Turky It was first found out by a Hermite whose name was Scheck-Siadeli about twenty-years ago before which time it was never heard of in any Author either ancient or modern Deceits in Silk Wares Plain Silk Wares may be alter'd in length breadth and quality The quality shews it self when they are of an even thread when the weight is equal and when there is no Cotton thread in the West The Indians not having the art of guilding silver put into their strip'd Wares threads of pure Gold so that you must count the quantity
to the Sword after he had given them his Word to the contrary and promis'd to spare their Lives CHAP. IV. A Continuation of the same Road from Erivan to Tauris IT usually takes up ten days journey for the Caravan to go between Erivan and Tauris and Nacksivan is almost in the mid-way between both The first days journey you travel thorough large Plains sow'd with Rice and water'd with several Rivulets The next day you continue to travel through Plains of the same nature in sight of the Mountain Ararat which is full of Monasteries leaving it upon the South The Armenians call this Mountain Mesesoufar The Mountain of the Ark because the Ark of Noah rested upon it It is as it were unfasten'd from the other Mountains of Armenia and from the half-way to the top it is continually cover'd with Snow It is higher than any of the neighbouring Mountains and in my first Travels I saw it for five days journey together So soon as the Armenians discover it they kiss the Earth and lifting up their Eyes to Heaven say their Prayers Yet you are to take notice that the Mountain is hid in Clouds for two or three Months together In the Plains that you cross in this second days journey to the Southward a League and a half from the High-way is to be seen a Work of great Art being the Ruines of a Magnificent Castle where the Kings of Armenia were wont to reside in the time of their Hunting Divertisements more especially when they continu'd their Sports at the Mallard and Heron. The next day we lodg'd near to a Village where there was good Water which constrain'd the Caravan to stay there there being none to be met with for ten Leagues farther The next day you must travel one by one through the Pass of a Mountain and cross a large River nam'd Arpa-sou which falls into Aras It is fordable when it is low but when the Snow melts and swells the Stream you must go a League out of your way to the Southward to cross it over a Bridge of Stone From thence you go to lodge near a Village call'd Kalifakiend where you are forc'd to fetch your Water a good way off The first days journey is through a Plain at the end whereof you meet with an Inn call'd Kara-bagler standing upon a Rivulet which was finish'd in 1664. The Head of this Rivulet springs three or four Leagues higher toward the North and half a League below Kara-bagler the Water congeals and petrifies and of those Stones is the Inn built The Stone is very slight and when they have need of it they make Trenches all along the Stream and fill them with the same Water which in eight or ten Months turns into Stone The Water is very sweet and has no bad tast yet the Country-men thereabouts will neither drink it nor water their Grounds with it The Armenians say that Sem the Son of Noah caus'd the Rock to be hollow'd out of which this River issues which four or five Leagues from its Head and two from the Inn falls into Aras From this Inn to Naksivan is but a small Journey Naksivan according to the Opinion of the Armenians is the most ancient City of the World built about three Leagues from the Mountain upon which the Ark of Noah rested from whence it also takes its Name for Nak in the Armenian Tongue signifies a Ship and Sivan resting or reposing 'T was a great City now wholly ruin'd by the Army of Sultan Amurath There are the Remains of several rare Mosquees which the Turks have destroy'd for the Turks and Persians destroy one anothers Mosquees as fast as they fall into one anothers possession This City is very ancient and the Armenians report that it was in this place where Noah went to live when he went out of the Ark. They say further that he was Buried here and that his Wife has a Tomb at Marante upon the Road to Tauris There runs a little River by Naksivan the Water whereof is very good the Spring whereof is not far distant from the Head of the River of Karabagler The Armenians drove a great Trade in Silk formerly in this Town which is now very much abated however there is a Kan which has the Command there All the Country between Erivan and Tauris was wholly destroy'd by Sha-Abas King of Persia and the first of that Name to the end that the Armies of the Turks not meeting with any subsistance might perish of themselves To this purpose he sent all the Inhabitants of Zulfa and the Parts adjoyning into Persia Old and Young Fathers Mothers and Children with which he planted new Colonies in several parts of his Kingdom He sent above 27000 Families of Armenians into Guilan whence the Silks come and where the harshness of the Climate kill'd abundance of those poor People that were accustom'd to a milder Air. The most considerable were sent to Ispahan where the King put them upon the Trade of Silk and lent them Commodities for which they paid upon the return of their Markets which suddenly set the Armenians upon their Feet again These are they that built the City of Zulfa which is only separated from Ispahan by the River of Senderou calling it New Zulfa to distinguish it from the old City which was the Habitation of their Ancestors A third part of the People were dispers'd into other Villages between Ispahan and Sciras But the old People dying the young ones generally turn Mahumetans so that now you can hardly meet with two Christian Armenians in all those fair Plains which their Fathers were sent to manure Among the Ruines of Naksivan appear the Ruines of a great Mosquee which was one of the most stately Buildings in the World which some say was built in memory of Noah's Burying-place As you depart out of the City near to the River that runs by it appears a Tower which is an excellent piece of Architecture It is compos'd of four Duomo's joyn'd together which support a kind of Pyramid that seems to be fram'd of twelve little Towers but toward the middle it changes its figure and lessening like a Spire ends in a Point The Building is all of Brick but as well the out-side as the in-side is over-spread with a kind of Varnish of Parget wrought into Flowers like Emboss'd Work 'T is thought to have been an Edifice set up by Temur-leng when he had Conquer'd Persia. THE PLATFORME OF BAGDAT A League and a half from the chief of these Covents there is a high Mountain separated from all the rest which rises like a Sugar-loaf as doth the Pike of Tenariff At the foot of this Mountain are certain Springs that have the virtue to heal those that are bit by Serpents in so much that Serpents carry'd to that place will dye immediately When the Caravan is ready to set out from Naksivan for Zulfa which is not above a days journey from thence the principal Armenians usually
Near the Pagod stands the Tomb of one of their Prophets whose name was Cabir to whom they give great honour You are to take notice also that their Idols stand upon a kind of Altar encompass'd with Iron Bars For no persons are to touch them but only certain Bramins appointed for that service by the chief Bramin Next to that of Jagrenate the most famous Pagod is that of Banarous being also seated upon the Ganges in a City that bears the same name That which is most remarkable is that from the Gate of the Pagod to the River there is a descent all of Stone near to which are certain Platforms and small blind Chambers some for the Bramins lodging others where they dress their victuals for so soon as the Idolaters have said their Prayers and made their Offerings they dress their food not suffering any person to touch it but themselves for fear lest any unclean person should come neer it But above all things they passionately desire to drink of Ganges water for as often as they drink it they are wash'd as they believe from all their sins Great numbers of these Bramins go every day to the cleanest part of the River where they fill their little round earthen-pots full of water the mouths whereof are very small and contain every one of them a Bucket-full Being thus fill'd they bring them before the great Priest who covers them with a fine piece of flame-colour'd Calicut three or four times doubl'd to which he sets his Seal The Bramins carry these pots some six of them ty'd together with six little cords fasten'd to the end of a stick as broad as a lath shifting their shoulders often travelling sometimes three or four hunder'd leagues with those precious burthens up into the Countrey Where they sell it ro present it but that is only to the rich from whence they expect great rewards There are some of these Idolaters who when they make any great Feast especially when they marry their children will drink four or five-hunder'd Crowns in this water They never drink of it till the end of their meals and then a glass or two according to the liberality of the Master of the Feast The chief reason why they esteem the water of Ganges so highly is because it never putrifies nor engenders any vermin though I know not whether they may be believ'd considering the great quantity of dead bodies which they fling into the Ganges The body of the Pagod of Banarous is made like a Cross as are all the rest of the Pagods the four parts whereof are equal In the midst there is a Cupola rais'd very high the top whereof is pyramidal at the end also of every four parts of the Cross there is a Tower to which there is an ascent on the out-side Before you come to the top there are several Balconies and Niches wherein to take the fresh air and round about are figures of all sorts of creatures but very Leud work Under the Duomo in the middle of the Pagod there is an Altar like a Table eight foot long and six foot broad with two steps before that serve for a footstool which is cover'd sometimes with a rich Tapestry sometimes with Silk sometimes with Cloath of Gold or Silver according to the solemnity of their Festival Their Altars are cover'd with Cloath of Gold or Silver or else with some painted Calicuts Approaching the entry of the Pagod you see the Altar right before ye together with the Idols which are upon it For the Women and Virgins worship without not being permitted to enter the Pagod no more than is a certain Tribe which is among them Among the Idols that stand upon the great Altar there is one plac'd upright some five or six foot high but you can see neither arms nor legs nor body nothing appears but the head and neck all the rest being cover'd down to the Altar with a Robe that spreads it self below Sometimes you shall see the neck set out with some rich Chain either of Gold Rubies Pearls or Emraulds This Idol was made in honour and likeness of Bainma-dou who was heretofore a very great and holy Personage among them whose name they oft'n have in their mouths Upon the right-side of the Altar stands the figure of a Chimera part Elephant part Horse part Mule It is of massive Gold and they call it Garou not suffering any person to approach it but the Bramins They say it is the resemblance of the Beast which carri'd that holy person when he liv'd upon earth And that he travell'd long journeys upon his back to see if the people remain'd in their duty and whether they did no wrong one to another Between the great Gate and the great Altar upon the left-hand there is a little Altar upon which there stands an Idol of black Marble sitting cross-legg'd about two foot high While I was there a little Boy who was the Son of the High-Priest stood upon the left-side of the Altar and all the people threw him certain pieces of Taffata or embroider'd Calicut like Handkerchiefs all which he return'd to the people again after he had wip'd them upon the Idol Others threw him Bracelets of Coral others of yellow Amber others threw him fruits and flowers whatever they threw him he rubb'd it upon the Idol put it to his lips and then restor'd it to the people This Idol is call'd Morli-Ram that is to say God-Morli and was the Brother of him that stands upon the great Altar Under the Portal of the Pagod sits one of the principal Bramins with a great Bason by him full of a yellow colour mix'd with water All these poor Idolaters come and present themselves before him who gives them a mark from between the eyes to the top of the nose then upon the arms and upon the stomach by which marks they know who have wash'd themselves in Ganges and who not Those that never wash'd themselves but in the waters of their own Wells or have only sent for it from the River they do not believe to be perfectly purifi'd and by consequence they are not to be mark'd with that colour By the way take notice that these Idolaters are mark'd with different colours according to the Tribe they are of But in the Empire of the Great Mogul they who are painted with yellow compose the biggest Tribe and are the least defil'd For when they are necessitated to the deeds of nature some think it not enough to wash the part defil'd but they first rub the part with a handful of sand and then scour it with water After so doing they affirm their bodies to be clean and that they can eat their food without fear Neer to this great Pagod upon the Summer-west stands a kind of a Colledg which the Raja Jesseing the most Potent of all the Idolaters in the Mogul's Empire built for the education of the youth of the better sort I saw two of the children of
If you travel in May when the Grass is high it costs nothing to seed the Horses and Camels For as soon as the Caravan is lodg'd the Servants go and cut the Grass from off the Hillocks where it is much better then upon the Plains But while the Beasts feed only upon Grass they are much weaker and cannot travel so far as at other times From the Mountain where the Armenians were set upon you come to Almous a little Village upon a River which you cross over a Bridge of Wood. Going out of Almous you cross a large Plain at the end whereof you lodge upon the Bank of a fair River call'd Toufanlou-sou which falls into the River of Tocat Having pass'd this River you ascend a high Mountain which the People of the Country call Kara-bchir-boguiendren or the Mountain that stops the Grand Signors for it is very rugged and you must of necessity alight to ascend it In that bad Way two Horses that carry'd each of them two Bales of English Cloth burst under their Burthen which prov'd excellent Food for several Tartars that were before us and were pitch'd in the place where we intended to have lodg'd our selves so that we were forc'd to go a quarter of a League farther These Tartars when they heard of our two dead Horses made immediately to the Mountain fifteen or sixteen of them with all joy imaginable to devour it They flea'd the Horses and when they came back for I stay'd to see them they brought every one a great piece of Flesh between the Saddle and their Horses backs For by that means the Flesh mortifies and bakes as it were through the motion and heat of the Horse and so they eat it without any more a-do I saw one of them that took a piece of those Horses Flesh and after he had beaten it soundly between two nasty Linnen Clothes with a piece of a Stick set his Teeth in it and devour'd it with a very greedy appetite Upon the top of the Mountain which I have mention'd there is a Plain and in the mid'st of the Plain a Fountain call'd Chesmé-beler or A Fountain of Crystal near to which on the South-side there stands a Village From the place where we lodg'd we came to a little Town called Adras the Inhabitants whereof are all Armenians Aspidar is but two Leagues from Adras and is but a Village Isbeder is another Village in the Mountains where the Caravan generally stays one or two days as well to pay the Custom which is the fourth part of a Rixdollar upon every Camel and half as much for every Horse as for the excellency and cheapness of the Wine where every Man provides for himself Twice we pass'd by and paid nothing in regard that the Caravan was too strong for the Toll-gatherers and were it not that they stay for the Wine they might go directly forward without paying any thing Leaving Isbeder we came to another great Town in the Mountains all the Houses are hewn out of the Rock upon which it is seated as are also all the Stair-Cases From this Village having pass'd a River over a wooden Bridge at the end whereof there stands an Inn you come to Zacapa another Village from whence through very narrow passages where you are forc'd to unload the Camels and carry your Goods upon Mens shoulders for thirty Paces together you come to encamp in a little Plain It lyes at the foot of a high Mountain which they call Dikmebell beyond which lies the Town Kourd-Aga after which you cross three Rivers one fordable the other over two Bridges and then you come to a Village call'd Garmeru From Garmeru you go to Seukmen another Village from Seukmen to Louri from Louri to Chaouqueu which are two very handsom Towns I saw an Old Man at Chaouqueu who was above a Hundred and Thirty Years old who when Sultan Amurath besieged Bagdat gave his whole Army as much Oats as serv'd them one whole day In recompence whereof the Sultan exempted him and his Children from all Taxes and Tolls for their Lives Leaving Chaouqueu you come to a high craggy Mountain which is call'd Aaggidogii or The Bitter Mountain The Ways being narrow the Caravan is forc'd to travel single and then it is that they count all the Horses and all the Camels every Horse and every Camel paying to the Caravan-Master a certain Duty which amounts to a good Sum if the Caravan be numerous One part of that Money is to pay seven or eight Armenians that guard the Caravan all the way another part defrays the Expences upon the Road and the remainder is the Captain of the Caravan's Profit Having pass'd this Mountain you come to lodge in a Plain which they call Gioganderesi and from thence to Erzerom you meet only with three Villages by the way Achikala Ginnis and Higia which are the Caravan's Stages During these three last days journeys you keep all along the Banks of Euphrates for the most part which is yet but narrow taking its source Northward of Erzerom 'T is a wonderful thing to see the vast quantities of large Asparagus that grow all along the River with which you may load several Camels A League on this side Erzerom the Caravan is constrain'd to stop for the Officer of the Custom-House accompani'd with the Basha's Lieutenant comes here and tyes all the Bales and Chests with a cross Cord upon which he puts a Seal to the end that when the Merchants come to the Town they may not be able to take out any Bags of Money or any pieces of Stuff on purpose to hide them till they go away The particular Business of the Basha's Lieutenant in meeting the Caravan is to see whether the Merchants be well provided with Wines And if he desire any Bottles whether it be then or in the City where they are not asham'd to visit every Merchant there is no refusing them For there grows no Wine at Erzerom all that is drank there being a small Wine of Mingrelia which is always green which forces the Merchants to furnish themselves with Wine at Tocat which they may do sufficiently to last them into Persia. The Officer of the Custom-House generally allows the Caravan three days to rest during which time he sends to the principal Merchants some Fruit and other small Refreshments by which he is no loser After the three days are over he comes and opens all the Bales and Chests and takes a particular account of all the Merchandizes This Search and the changing of Beasts causes the Caravan to stay generally twenty or five and twenty days at Erzerom Erzerom is a frontier Town of Turkie toward Persia. It is situated at the end of a large Plain environ'd with Mountains the Plain being beautifi'd with many fair Villages If you take in the Castle and the Suburbs it may pass for a City but the Houses are ill built of Wood without any neatness or proportion There are some Remains of
go out of the way to the Covent of St. Stephen which lyes to the South Now the Road from Naksivan to St. Stephen's lyes first to a great Village call'd Ecclisia where live the richest Armenians that drive a great Trade in Silk and have built them a very fair Church Two Leagues from Ecclisia you must cross the River Aras in a Ferry-Boat being as it were squeez'd between two Mountains in that place Once I went over upon the Ice About two Musket-shots from thence you must cross over a Bridge another River that falls into the Aras From the foot of the Bridge you begin to ascend a little Hill at the top whereof you meet with a great Village call'd Shambé all the Inhabitants whereof as well Men as Women grow Mad at 18 years of age but it is such a Madness that is not mischievous Some believe it to be the Punishment of Heaven for that their Forefathers in these Mountains persecuted St. Bartholomew and St. Matthew From hence to St. Stephen's it is not above a League but the Way is very troublefom St. Stephen's is a Covent built not above 30 Years ago It stands upon the Mountains in a barren place and of difficult access But the reason why the Armenians chose that place before any other is because that St. Bartholomew and St. Matthew retir'd thither in the time of their Persecution They add that St. Matthew did a Miracle in that place for that there being no Water there before he only strook his Stick upon the Ground and presently there arose a Spring This Spring is about half a quarter of a League from the Covent under a Vault with a good Door to it to keep the Water from being wasted The Armenians go to visit this Spring in great Devotion having laid the Water into the Covent with Pipes They also say that in this place they found several Relicks which St. Bartholomew and St. Matthew left there to which they add a great many others among the rest a Cross made of the Basin wherein Christ wash'd his Disciples Feet In the middle of the Cross is a white Stone which as they report if you lay upon a Sick person will turn black if the person be likely to dye and recover its former whiteness after the death of the party A Jaw-Bone of St. Stephen the Martyr The Scull of St. Matthew A Bone of the Neck and a Bone of the Finger of St. John Baptist. A Hand of St. Gregory who was the Disciple of Dionysius the Areopagite A little Box wherein they keep a great number of pieces of Bones which they believe to be the Relicks of the Seventy Two Disciples The Church is built in the form of a Cross as are all the Churches of the Armenians in the middle whereof rises a fair Duomo round about which stand the Twelve Apostles Both the Church and Covent are of Free-stone and though the whole Edifice be not very big there has been abundance of Gold and Silver wasted upon the Walls many Armenian Families have been very much endamag'd thereby for the Women were so devout that unknown to their Husbands they sold their Jewels and their very Cloaths to defray the Expences of Building The first time that I was at St. Stephen's in the company of some Armenians two Bishops attended by several other Monks came out to meet us and led us into a great Hall where we were very well treated For it is the custom of the Armenians a little before Meals to present their Guests a large Cup of Aqua-vitae with Sweet meats of all sorts besides Citron and Orange-peels candy'd in seven or eight Porcelan-dishes laid in a great China-Basin This is a little Prelude to exoite the Appetite for the Armenians both Men and Women will empty great Cups of Aqua-vitae After Dinner they go to Church where they sing certain Hymns when you return there are a sufficient number of Mattresses or Quilts to lye upon for they use no other sort of Beds over all Asia only at Night you spread a Carpet upon a Quilt and shut the Door We saw not the Archbishop all that Evening only at Church About Midnight all the Bells rang and every body rose to go to Church I believe it was more than usual because it was Shrovetide for both the Office and the Missa were both concluded by break of day Between eight and nine in the Morning the Cloth was laid before which time we saw abundance of the neigbouring Country People who brought Wine Fruits and other Provisions and presented all to the Archbishop While we were at Breakfast news came that a certain Bishop was dead in his return to the Three Churches whither he was sent by the Patriarch to gather certain Duties due from the Villages Immediately the Archbishop rising from the Table with all his Assistants and having made a Prayer for the Dead sent a Bishop and six Monks to fetch the Corps who returning a little after Midnight the Body was presently laid in the Church upon a Carpet spread upon the Ground with the Face turn'd toward the Altar In the mean time a great number of Wax-candles were lighted and all the rest of the Night two Monks watch'd by turns to Pray for the Dead Early in the Morning the Archbishop the Bishops and all in Religious Orders said the Office for the Dead which lasted half an Hour and at the end of the Mass they brought the Corps to the Altar so that they made the Feet of the Corps to touch it Having so done they took off the Linnen Cloth that cover'd his Head at which time the Archbishop anointed him in six places with the Holy Oyl saying certain Prayers every time Then they cover'd him again and said other Prayers which lasted half an Hour These Ceremonies perform'd they carry'd the Corps out of the Church with Crosses and Banners and every one a Taper in his Hand As the Corps pass'd by one of the Bishops put a Paper in his right Hand containing these Words I came from the Father and I return to the Father Being brought to the Grave upon a little Mountain near the Covent and set down they said other Prayers which lasted a quarter of an Hour In the mean time a Bishop going down into the Grave took away all the Stones and made the place smooth after which the Corps was let down wrapt in a large Linnen Sheet Then the Bishop according to their custom rais'd his Head a little higher than his Body turning his Face to the East Which being done the Archbishop and Assistants took every one a handful of Earth which the Archbishop blest and giving it to the Bishop he strew'd it over the Body Then the Bishop coming out again the Grave was fill'd up From St. Stephen's there is a descent for a League together to Aras by the side whereof you are to keep along till you come to Zulfa where you come into the high Road again There
Mountain he demanded who built it and what was his design To whom the Mollah return'd this Answer Sir said he I built that Bridge that when your Majesty came to Tauris you might inform your self from the mouth of him that built it By which it appear'd that the Mollah had no other ambition than to oblige the King to speak to him A League from Tauris to the West in the middle of a Field stands a great Brick Tower call'd Kanhazun It is about fifty Paces in Diameter and though it be half ruin'd yet it is very high It seems to have been the Dungeon of some Castle there being very high Walls round about it which though they be but of Earth nevertheless appear to be very ancient It is not certainly known who built this Tower but the Arabian Letters upon the Gate afford us some reason to conclude that it was a Mahometan Structure In the year 1651 there happen'd a terrible Earthquake in Tauris and the parts thereabout by which many Houses were overturn'd and this Tower then cleaving from the top to the bottom a good part of it fell down and fill'd up the hollow within-side Besides the little River that runs by Tauris there is another bigger to be cross'd about half a League from the City over which there is a very fair Stone-Bridge Near to it stands a Sepulcher cover'd with a little Duomo where the Persians say that the Sister of Iman-Riza lyes interr'd and they have it in great veneration The River that runs under the Bridge comes from the Mountains of the North and falls into the Lake Roumi thirteen or fourteen Leagues from Tauris They call it Aggisou or Bitter-water for the Water is very bad and without any Fish The Lake which is fifteen Leagues in compass has the same quality the Water being blackish the Fish that happen into it out of other Rivers that fall into it presently become blind and in a short while are found dead by the Shoar This Lake takes its name from a Province and a little City which are both call'd Roumi being not above eleven Leagues from Tauris In the middle of the Lake upon the way that leads to a little City call'd Tokoriam there is a little Hill that rises insensibly the ascent whereof is very smooth and out of it there rise many little Springs The farther they run from the Head the wider grow the Streams and the Earth which they water is of two distinct qualities the first Earth that is dig'd serves to make Lime the next to that is a hollow spungy Stone that is good for nothing but under that again is a white transparent Stone which you may see through as through Glass which being smooth and polish'd serves to adorn the Houses This Stone is only a congelation of the Waters of these Streams for sometimes you shall meet with creeping Animals congeal'd within The Governour of the Province sent one piece to Sha-Abas as a great Present wherein there was a Lizard congeal'd of a Foot long He that presented it to the Governour had twenty Tomans or three hundred Crowns afterwards I offer'd a thousand for the same Piece In some parts of the Province of Mazandran where the Euxin Sea stretches farthest into the Persian Territories these congeal'd Stones are to be found but not so frequently as near the Lake Roumi and you shall many times find pieces of Wood and Worms congeal'd in the Stones I brought away a Camels-loading of these Stones and left them at Marseilles till I could find what use to put them to CHAP. V. A Continuation of the Constantinopolitan Road from Tauris to Ispahan through Ardevil and Casbin FRom Tauris to Ispahan the Caravan makes it generally twenty-four days journey The first day you cross over dry Mountains and four Leagues from Tauris you meet with one of the fairest Inns in Persia. This Inn Sha-Sefi caus'd to be built it is very convenient and large enough to lodge a hundred persons with their Horses Over all Persia especially from Tauris to Ispahan and from thence to Ormus you meet every day with Inns at an equal distance The next day you descend a Mountain in very rugged and narrow way At the foot of this Mountain there are two ways for the Merchants to choose that will go to Ispahan They that will go the ordinary road and the direct way through Kom and Kachan leave a Lake upon the left hand that parts the two Roads and they that will go through Ardevil and Casbin two other good Cities leave the Lake upon the right hand and coast along by the side of the Mountain From Tauris to Ardevil it is not above a dozen Leagues and having pass'd the Lake the Country is very good Which is the Road I intend to describe first Ardevil being at so small a distance from Tauris lyes almost in the same Degrees and Minutes of Longitude and Latitude This City is famous as well for being the first Market of Silks that come from Guilan from which it is not far off as also for the Sepulcher of Sha-Sefi the first of that Name King of Persia. The avenues to it are very pleasant being as it were Alleys of great Trees which are call'd Tchinar planted in a streight line at a due distance It is of a moderate bigness and seated in a lovely opening of the Mountains The next to the City which is call'd Sevalan is the highest in all Media The Houses of Ardevil are built of Earth as are most of the Houses in the Cities of Persia but the Streets are very uneven dirty and narrow There is but one which is handsom at the end whereof is built the Armenian Church A little River runs through the middle of the City which descending from the neighbouring Mountains runs from East to West It is by Industry brought into many Cutts to water the Gardens and in many places there are very fair Trees planted which are very delightful to the Sight The Meydan or Market-place is a very great one more long than round where stands a very fine Inn upon one side which the Kan caus'd to be built There are several others in several parts of the City which have the Prospect over several lovely Gardens especially that which belongs to the King to which you go through a long and stately Walk of four rows of Trees at the end whereof stands a large Gate that gives you entrance Though the Country about Ardevil be proper to bear Vines yet there are none thereabouts nor is there any Wine made till about four or five Leagues from the City The Armenians that dwell in the City are very well stor'd with it though there be no place in all Persia where there is so much Caution to be us'd either as to the Importing it or the Drinking it both which must be done very privately Which proceeds from the Mahometan Superstition the Persians having so peculiar a Veneration for that place that they
believe it a Sin to suffer Wine to be publickly drank therein The People come in Pilgrimage from all parts of Persia to the Sepucher of Sha-Sefi which together with the vast Trade of Silk makes Ardevil one of the most considerable Cities of all Persia. There are several other Buildings added to the Mosquee wherein he lyes interr'd the Entry whereof faces the Meydan to which it is joyn'd upon the South-side with a large Portal The Gate is chain'd with Chains fasten'd a-cross with great Rings which if any Criminal Offender can but touch and enter into the first Court he is safe for no person can apprehend him This is a large Court yet more in length than breadth without the Wall whereof that looks upon the Market-place several Shops are built for Merchants and Tradesmen Out of this Court you pass into another which is less and pav'd with broad Stones with a Rivulet running through the middle The Entry into it is through a Door fortifi'd with Iron Chains like the former and is made at a corner of the great Court upon the left hand It brings you presently under a Portico where there are fair Balconies rais'd after the fashion of the Country Those Balconies are full of several People either Pilgrims or persons whose Crimes constrain them thither for Sanctuary In that place you must leave your Stick and your Sword before you go any farther and give something besides to a Moullah who is always attending there with Books In that second Court through which the Rivulet glides on the one side are Baths on the other Granaries for Rice and Corn and upon the left hand at the end of the same Court there is a little Door which brings you to a place where the Royal Alms are distributed to the Poor Morning and Evening being just against the King's Kitchin This Gate is cover'd with Plates of Silver and in the Kitchin there are about thirty Ovens contriv'd in the Wall with as many great Caldrons to dress Pilaw and other Food as well for the Poor as for the Officers of the Mosquee While these Alms are distributing the Master-Cook who commands all the rest sets upon a Chair cover'd with Plates of Silver and sees that every thing be done in order He sees to the measuring out the Rice every day for the Kettles and causes the Victuals to be divided in his own sight For there is an excellent Oeconomy in the King's House At the end of the Portico beyond the first Court there are two Gates one beyond another both cover'd with Plates of Silver between those two Gates on the right hand appears a little Mosquee where are the Tombs of several Persian Princes of the Blood Royal. You must have a great care not to tread upon the Thresholds of the Gates for it is a Crime not to be expiated without a severe Punishment From hence through a little I le you come into the Body of the Church richly hung with Tapestry and set about with high Desks where lye a great many Books wherein the Moullahs or Doctors of the Law read continually having Stipends to Officiate in the Mosquee At the end of the Body of the Mosquee is a little Octagonal Monument like the Choir of a Church in the midst whereof stands the Monument of Sha-Sefi It is only of Wood but curiously carv'd and inlaid It exceeds not the height of a Man of an ordinary stature and seems like a great Chest having four Apples of Gold set up at each corner It is cover'd with a Crimson Satin purfl'd with Gold and all the other Tombs that are by it are cover'd with Silks as rich As well in the Choir as in the Body of the Church there are abundance of Lamps some of Gold some of Silver but the biggest of all is of Silver gilded and vermilion'd and neatly engrav'd There are also six great Branches of a curious sort of Wood cover'd with Silver with great Wax Candles in them which are never lighted but at their great Festivals From the Duomo where stands the Tomb of Sha-Sefi you go under a little Vault which encloses another Monument of another King of Persia whose Name I could not learn It looks like another great Chest curiously wrought and cover'd with Satin The Roof of the Mosquee is adorn'd within with a Painting of Gold and Azure a la Moresque on the outside with a fair Varnish of several Colours like the stately Mosquee at Tauris In the adjacent Parts round about Ardeüil are several Monuments worth a Man's sight being very ancient and some which are ruin'd shew by what remains the care which they took to enrich them with curious Workmanship A quarter of a League from the City stands a Mosquee in which are the Tombs of the Father and Mother of Sha-Sefi It is a fair Structure with Gardens and Courts in one of which there is a very clear Fountain where they keep Fish Ardeüil is not only famous as I have said already for the Royal Sepulchers which are in it and for the Pilgrimages which have been made to it from all parts of Persia but the numerous Caravans of Silk which sometimes consist of eight or nine hundred Camels add very much to its Grandeur For being near to Guilan and Shamaqui from whence those vast quantities of Silk come and for that the Road from both those places to Constantinople and Smyrna lyes through this City there is a continual confluence of Merchants and all sorts of Merchandizes are here to be had as well as at Tauris From Ardeüil to Casbin you travel through a good Country for every three or four Leagues you meet with little Rivers that fall from the Northern Mountains and water the Earth The Caravan is usually five days between Ardeüil and Arion between Arion and Taron two between Taron and Casbin two more Half a League on this side Taron you must cross a great River over a stone Bridge and half a League beyond you come to Kalkal Arion is a little City Taron and Kalkal are two great Towns and there are but these three places in all Persia where there grow any Olives or that they make any Oyl Leaving Kalkal you travel over a Plain for three hours at the end whereof is a Way which you cannot get over in less than four hours The way is so bad that the Horses and Mules can hardly get up but for the Camels they must take the lower Road which is also very tedious and full of Stones which the Torrents tumble down and it is three or four Leagues about When you are up the Country is level and you have not above three Leagues to Casbin Casbin lyes in 87 Degrees and 30 Minutes of Longitude and 36 Degrees and 15 Minutes of Latitude It is a great City the Houses whereof are low and ill built except seven or eight which are next to the King's Gardens It has no Walls and indeed the best half of the City is
you will beleive the Armenians they will tell you that there were in Sultanie near eight hundred Churches and Chappels Three Leagues from Sultanie stands an Inn and a League farther a great Town call'd Ija where there is another very commodious Inn and most excellent Wine From thence you go to Habar an ancient City and of a large extent but very much ruin'd inhabited by Armenians for the most part Here for the good Wines sake the Travellers stay to recruit their Bottles From Habar after seven hours travel you come to a Village call'd Partin From Zangan to Partin you reach in two days It stands in a fertil Plain where there are several other Villages It is not above three Leagues broad being enclos'd on each side to the East and West with a row of high Mountains Having pass'd this Plain you come to a barren Country and ill inhabited which lasts all the day till you come to Sexava You pass by the Ruines of a Village where there are but two Houses standing with the Tower of a Mosquee which is very high and slender Then you come to a Mud-wall'd-Inn built some few years since and near to that a Castle call'd Khiara upon the peek of a Hill but very ill built Sexava is a little City in a Soil that bears excellent Nuts The Inns that are there being built of Earth and being but little are very handsom and convenient their number supplying the defect of their smalness From Sexava after seven hours travel you come to a great Inn call'd Idgioup which was formerly a nobler place than now it is standing alone in a Field Three Leagues from thence you meet with another spacious Inn call'd Cochkeria and four hours farther you come to the Inn Denghé where the two Roads meet which I spake of in the foregoing Chapter From Denghé to Kom are three days journey over a barren dry and desert Country where there is no Water but Cistem-water except in some very few places where it is very good Four Leagues from Denghé is a fair Inn and three Leagues farther stands another about a Mile from a Village to the South where there grows excellent good Wine white and red From this last Inn to Sava is not above three hours travel with the Caravan Sava is a good City in a fertil Plain where there are several Villages The greatest Trade of the Town is in little grey Lamb-skins the curl whereof is very neat of which they make Furrs Two or three Leagues beyond Sava the Country is very well manur'd and after you have forded a River half a League from the City after two hours travel you come to one of the fairest Inns in all Persia which was finish'd when I went last to Ispahan From thence to Kom it is about seven or eight hours journey through a dry and sandy Road but half a League on this side Kom the Land is very good and fruitful Kom is one of the great Cities of Persia in a fat Country abounding in Rice There grow also excellent Fruits particularly large and excellent Granates The Walls are only of Earth with little Towers close one to another and the Houses being only of Earth are never the handsomer within-side At the entry into the Town you must cross a River over a stone Bridge and then turning to the right hand over a fair Key you come to an Inn very well built and very convenient That which is most remarkable in Kom is a large Mosquee no less in veneration among the Persians than the Mosquee of Ardeüil There it is that you may see the Sepulchers of Sha-Sefi and Sha-Abas the Second as also the Tomb of Sidi-Fatima the Daughter of Iman-Hoven who was the Son of Haly and Fatima-Zuhra the Daughter of Mahomet The great Gate of the Mosquee answers to a Piazza more long than broad where stands an Inn and certain Shops which without-side are somewhat beautiful One of the sides of the Piazza is clos'd up with a low Wall over which appears the Shore and a River which you cross at the end of the Piazza Over the great Portal of the Mosquee stands an Inscription in Letters of Gold in the Praise of Sha-Abas the Second The first place that you enter into is a Court of more length than breadth which may be term'd a Garden in regard that on each side of the Alley in the middle which is pav'd there are several square Beds of Flowers yellow Jasmin and other Plants which are rail'd in by a Rail that runs all the length of the Alley on each side It is not an easie thing for the Christians to get in to this Court especially such whose Habits and Aspect they do not like But as I cloth'd and carry'd my self I never was deny'd entrance into any place either in Persia or India In this first Court on the left hand as you enter are little Chambers where they that receive the Alms which by the Foundation of the Mosquee are to be distributed every day come and eat their proportion and then go their ways Those Chambers serve as an Asylum to those that cannot pay their Debts as at the Mosquee of Ardeüil Neither are these Priviledg'd places like ours where they that retire must live at their own Charge For in Persia they are fed at the Expence of the Mosquee and being in that manner freed from Care their Friends more easily bring their Creditors to Composition Out of the first Court you pass into a second which is larger and all pav'd and from that into a third which is square and rais'd like a Terrass You enter into it through a large Gate at the end of an open Passage where stand the Lodgings of the Moullah's Out of that Court by an ascent of Brickwork of ten or twelve Steps you enter into a fair Court which is also rais'd like a Terrass in the midst whereof is a fair Fountain It is continually fill'd by little Pipes of Water which run into it and is empty'd by others that carry the Water into several parts of the whole Enclosure There are some Buildings in this Court but one of the sides of it is taken up with the Front of the Mosquee which is no displeasing Structure There are three large Gates belong to it very well expanded according to the mode of the Country with a Brick-wall before about the height of a Man with Holes in it for Light made like a Lozange The Threshold of the middle Gate is cover'd with a plate of Silver and between these three Gates and that of the Duomo are several Doctors that hold Books in their hands and read perpetually This Mosquee is Octagonal and at every angle is a small wooden Door of Walnut-tree varnish'd with grey and yellow The Tomb of Sidi-Fatima is at the farther part of the Mosquee there being only room for one Man to pass between the Wall and the Tomb. It is encompass'd with a large Silver Grate sixteen
were generally more than in any other Port. But the Captains who rejected his Proposition of fighting against the Venetians believing that he would put some force upon them suddenly hois'd Sail and got away it being at a time when he could not keep them in having no Castle then built to command them The Grand Visier nettl'd at the refusal of the Captains as an affront done to his Master and to see that the Ships could come in and go out without any let or molestation bethought himself to the end he might keep them for the future under subjection of building a Fort upon the Gulf in such a part where the Vessels must necessarily touch where now there lye great Cannons level with the Water which no Vessel can escape Ever since the Convoys will not come to Smyrna as they were wont to do but lye out at Sea out of the reach of the Fort. Near to the Sea are yet to be seen some Remains of a Church two sides whereof seem to have been distinguish'd into Chappels by little Walls which are yet standing But the Natives doubt whether they be the Ruines of a Church dedicated to St. Polycarp or of an ancient Temple of Janus Smyrna has been oftentimes ruin'd either by the Wars or by the Earthquakes which often happen there One time that I staid there there happen'd one which did not last long but was very terrible About sixty Paces from the Sea are to be discern'd the Ruines of great Walls two Foot under Water and at the end of the City that looks toward the Winter-West near to the Sea appear the Ruines of a Mole and certain ancient Magazins The English Merchants have dig'd among the Ruines of Smyrna and have found great store of fair Statues which they transported into their own Country There are still found some or other every day but when the Turks find any they disfigure them presently It may be conjectur'd that there was one of a prodigious bigness by a great Toe broken off of some one and for which I paid sufficiently out of the desire I had to buy it I sent it to Paris to a Person of Quality who look'd upon it as a great Curiosity This Toe was of a hard white Stone and well shap'd and by the proportion whereof the Figure could not be judg'd to be less than the Colossus of Rhodes Upon that side of the City where the Mole was stands an old Castle of no defence at the foot whereof the Sea makes a small Creek where sometimes the Gallies of the Grand Signor lye The City is well peopl'd containing no less than fourscore and ten thousand Souls There are reckon'd no less than 60000 Turks 15000 Greeks 8000 Armenians and about six or seven thousand Jews As for the European Christians that Trade there their number is very small Every one of these Nations has the exercise of their Religion free to themselves The Turks have in Smyrna fifteen Mosquees the Jews seven Synagogues the Armenians but one Church the Greeks two and the Latins three There are also French Jesuits and Italian Observantins or a sort of Grey Franciscans The Turks the Greeks the Armenians and Jews live upon the Hill but all the lower part toward the Sea is inhabited only by the European Christians English French Hollanders and Italians The Greeks have also in the same Quarter an old Church and some few small Houses where Sea-men make merry All these different People of Europe are generally known in Smyrna by the Name of Franks Every Nation has its Consul and the French Consul has two Vice-Consuls under him the one at Scalanova the other at Chio. Scalanova or the New Port is two Leagues beyond Ephesus and being a good Haven the Vessels were wont to unlade there but the Turks would not permit it any longer For that Place being the Dowry of the Grand Signor's Mother the Vice-Consul agreed with the Governour of Scalanova who permitted the Transportation of Goods to Smyrna which is not above three little days journey with the Caravan A thing that spoil'd the Trade of the City and injur'd the Officers of the Custom-House Whereupon they Petition'd the Grand Signor that no more Goods might be unladed at Scalanova so that now no more Vessels go thither unless it be to take in fresh Victuals Chio is one of the greatest Ilands in the Archipelago of which in another place but the Vice-Consul that lives there has no more business there than the other at Scalanova for the Vessels that touch there neither unlade nor export any Goods from thence The Quarter of the Franks is only a long Street one side whereof lyes upon the Sea and as well for the Prospect as for the convenience of Unlading Goods the Houses upon the Sea are much dearer than those that lye upon the Hill The Soil about Smyrna is fertil and abounds in all things necessary for humane support but particularly in good Oyl and good Wine There are Salt-Pits also half a League from the City toward the North. The Sea affords great store of good Fish Fowl is very cheap and in a word Smyrna is a place of great plenty There is a lovely Walk all along the Sea to the Salt-Pits where generally abundance of People walk in the Summer-time to take the fresh Air and there being more liberty at Smyrna than in any other part of Turkie there is no necessity of taking a Janisary along when a man goes abroad If a man loves Fowling it is but taking a Boat which lands him two or three Leagues from the City toward the Mountains where there is so much Game that he can never return empty For the value of three Sous you may buy a red Partridge at Smyrna and all other Fowl is proportionably cheap But if Smyrna have these great advantages it has also its inconveniences the Heats are very excessive in Summer and indeed they would be insupportable were it not for the Breezes that come off the Sea these Breezes rise about ten in the Morning and continue till the Evening but if they fail t is very bad for the Inhabitants Besides there hardly passes a Year but the City is infested with the Plague which however is not so violent as in Christendom The Turks neither fear it nor flie it believing altogether in Predestination Yet I believe if the Inhabitants of Smyrna would take care to drain away the standing Puddles that gather in the Winter about the City they would not be so frequently molested with the Plague as they are It is most rife in May June and July but the malignant Fevers that succeed it in September and October are more to be fear'd more People dying of them than of the Pestilence In all my Travels I never was in Smyrna at these unfortunate Seasons There is no Basha in that City it being govern'd only by a Cady who is not so severe to the Christians as in other places For should he
no Water but what is drawn out of three deep Wells for which reason the place is call'd Euche-derin-giu The eighteenth we travel'd not above five hours through desert Countries and took up our Stage in a kind of a Bog near a pitiful Village The nineteenth after we had travel'd eight hours through spacious desert Plains we pass'd through a large Village the Inhabitants whereof were gone with their Cattel into the Mountains for the cool Air during the Summer time according to custom There is an indifferent handsom Mosquee of Free-stone and indeed the Village the Name whereof the People told me was Tshaciclou has been much bigger than now it is as may appear by the Ruines In two hours after we came to lodge beyond it in a Meadow near a Rivulet The twentieth we cross'd over desert Plains but which seem'd to have been formerly well manur'd and after ten hours travel we stop'd in a Bottom near a bad Water The twenty-first for ten hours the Country was all barren and desert and we came to lodge at the end of a long Plain near two Wells the Water whereof was good for nothing The twenty-second we travel'd through the fore-mention'd Plain and met with little Valleys where there was very good Pasturage The Caravan stop'd near to a pitiful Village and a nasty Well The twenty-third we travel'd not above five hours because it was the time of the Turks Beiram or Easter which our Caravan consisting of Turks would needs solemnize That day we travel'd through an indifferent good Country and well till'd where we discover'd several fair Villages and we lodg'd upon a rising Ground from whence we had a very fair and far distant Prospect The twenty-fourth we travel'd six hours and came to lodge in a Meadow where the Water was bad Near to that place we discover'd a Plain that extends it self eight or ten Leagues in length though it be not above one or two in bredth it seem'd like a Lake and indeed it is only a salt Water congeal'd and thickn'd into Salt which you can hardly dissolve but in fair Water This Lake furnishes almost all Natolia with Salt where you may buy a Wagon-load drawn by two Bufalo's for 45 Sous It is call'd Deuslag or The Place for Salt and the Basha of Coushahar about two days journey from it gets by it 24000 Crowns a Year Sultan Amurath caus'd a Dike to be cut quite thorough it when his Army march'd to the Siege of Bagdat which he took from the Persian The twenty-fifth we travel'd nine or ten hours and met not with one Village the Country being all desert We lodg'd upon a rising Ground near a good Fountain call'd Cara-dache-cesmé or The Fountain of the Black Stone The twenty-sixth we pass'd through a great Village call'd Tshekenagar in a pleasant situation but very ill built and after we had travel'd eight hours we came to lodge in a delightful Meadow near another Village call'd Romcouché The twenty-seventh we travel'd nine hours through Countries full of Licorice and having pass'd a great Town call'd Beserguenlou we lodg'd in a Meadow The twenty-eighth we cross'd a great River call'd Jechil-irma over a long well built stone Bridge At the end of the Bridge call'd Kessré-kupri stands a great Village wherein the greatest part of the Houses are built under Ground like Foxes Holes We put on farther and after seven hours travel we lodg'd below another great Village call'd Mouchiour where there are abundance of Greeks which they constrain ever and anon to turn Turks The Country being inhabited by Christians and fit for the Plantation of Vines there is Wine good store and very good but it has the scent of the Wines of Anjou The Village is well situated but ill built most of the Houses being under Ground in so much that one of the Company riding carelesly had like to have faln into a House The twenty-ninth we rode for seven hours through a pleasant Country where we saw several Villages near to one of which the Caravan lodg'd in a Meadow close by a Fountain The thirtieth we rode through a flat Country well manur'd and stop'd near a River wherein there was but very little Water it is call'd Cara-sou or The Black River For two or three days together at every two Leagues distance we observ'd little Hillocks of Earth artificially rear'd which they told us were rais'd during the the Wars of the Greeks to build Forts upon for Watch-Towers The thirty-first we travel'd a very uneven Country but abounding in Wheat and after we had travel'd nine hours we lodg'd in a Meadow near a River which we cross'd next Morning before day over a stone Bridge The thirty-second after we had travel'd eight hours we lodg'd by a River where we saw a great number of Turcomans They are a People that live in Tents like the Arabians and they were then leaving that Country to go to another having their luggage in Wagons drawn by Bufalo's The thirty-second we met again with Mountains and Woods which we had not seen in 18 days before which had constrain'd us to carry Wood upon our Camels to dress our Provision We were very sparing of it and sometimes made use of dry'd Cows dung or Camels dung when we came near the Waters where they were wont to drink We travel'd eight hours that day and lodg'd in a Meadow where the Grass was very high yet where there had been Houses formerly standing The thirty-fourth we forded a deep and rapid River call'd Jangou from the Name of the Town next to it A little above the place where we forded it we saw a ruin'd Bridge which had been built over it The thirty-fifth we travel'd eight hours through a fair Valley well manur'd and upon the left hand we left a Castle rais'd upon a Rock The Caravan lay that night upon a rising Ground near a Village The thirty-sixth we travel'd through the same Valley for eight or nine hours longer in this Valley were several pleasant Villages but we lay by a small River The thirty-seventh we travel'd six hours among the Mountains where there are some very narrow Passages but store of Water and we lay in a Vale abounding in Pasturage The thirty-eighth we rode for four or five hours over a rugged Mountain in craggy way at the foot whereof we met with a Village call'd Taquibac from whence it is but five Leagues to Tocat And these are all the Roads from Paris to Ispahan through the Northern Territories of Turkie CHAP. VIII How the Author was robb'd near Tocat and of a certain sort of rare and fine Wool which he first brought into France TAquibac is the place where the Persian Caravan uses to meet when it departs from Tocat to Smyrna and this is the only place in all the Road where a Traveller ought to stand upon his guard by reason of Thieves who haunt these Quarters and are great Masters in their Trade Once as I came out of Persia they
gave him fifteen days Thereupon the King did go to the Treasury next morning according to Mahomet's desire and found all things in good order having heard before what became of the Scimitar From thence he went to Mahomet's House who made the King a mean Present For it is the custom that he whom the King honours with a Visit must make a Present to his Majesty After the King had receiv'd it he walk'd up and down and view'd the Chambers Halls Parlours and Rooms of State and wonder'd to see them so ill set out with plain Felts and course Carpets whereas in other Lords Houses a man could not set his Foot upon any thing but Cloth of Gold and Silk For the King as they had set the Nazar out expected to have found other things which made him admire at so great a Moderation in so high a degree of Honour Now at the end of a Gallery there was a Door lockt with three great Padlocks Of this the King took no notice whereupon the Meter who is the White Eunuch and chief of his Chamber as he came back shew'd the King the Door that was so strongly Padlock'd which made the King curious to have it open'd withal asking Mahomet what he had got there lock'd up with so much care Oh Sir said he it behoves me to keep that lockt for there is all the Estate I have in the World All that your Majesty has seen in this House is yours but all that is in that Chamber is mine and I dare assure my self your Majesty will be so gracious as never to take it from me Those words inflam'd the King's curiosity so that he commanded the Door to be open'd But he was strangely surpriz'd when he saw nothing more within than Mahomet's Sheep-hook that lay upon two Nails his Scrip wherein he us'd to put his Victuals his Bottle for his Water his Pipe and his Shepherd's Weeds all hanging against the Wall The Nazar beholding the King's astonishment at such a Sight Sir said he when the King Sha-Abas found me in the Mountain keeping Goats then that was all I had and he took nothing from me I beseech your Majesty that you would not deprive me of these things neither but rather if you please let me resume them again and fall to my old Calling The King touch'd at so high a piece of Virtuo caus'd himself to be disapparel'd and gave his Habit to the Nazar which is the greatest Honour that the King of Persia can bestow upon a Subject Thus Mahomet continu'd and dy'd honourably in his Employment This brave Person was the Protector of all the Franks in Persia and if any one had done them wrong upon complaint he did them Justice immediately One day as I was shooting Ducks upon the River of Ispahan near the Nazar's Gardens with two Servants some of the Nazar's people that did not know me set upon me and would have taken away my Gun which I would not let go till I had broke the Stock about the Shoulders of the one and flung the Barrel at the other 's Head Thereupon I took some of the Franks along with me and complain'd to the Nazar He testifi'd his sorrow for what had happen'd and gave us evident Proofs thereof by the blows which he caus'd to be laid upon those that had done me the injury Another time Sha-Sefi being upon his return from Guilan his Tents were set up near Zulfa in Armenia where the King staid to hunt two or three days Now among the rest of the Courtizans that follow'd the Court to divertise the King with Dancing and Mummery there was one who was perfectly handsom to whom the King had already sent Presents which could not be unknown to any Lord i' the Court. But the Nazar's Son for all that being in the heat of Youth got this Courtizan to his Tent and there lay with her which came to his Father's Ears next day The Nazar whether out of his zeal to the Ring or whether it were an effect of his prudence to prevent the King's anger which would have certainly been the death of his Son caus'd him to be drub'd after the manner of the Country and bastinado'd all over till the Nails of his Toes dropt off and that his Body was almost a perfect Gelly Which when the King understood together with the Young Man's Crime he said no more but that the Nazar had done wisely by punishing his Son himself to prevent his Justice But to return to the Road from Kerman to Ispahan The first day that I set out from Kerman at my Stage in the Evening I met with a rich Moullah who seeing I had Wine civilly offer'd me some of his Ice to cool it In retaliation I gave him some of my Bottle He invited me to his House which was well built with a handsom Garden with Water in it He entertain'd me with Spoon-meat according to the mode of the Country and when I took my leave he fill'd my Boracho with very good Wine The following days I saw nothing worthy observation the Country being as I have already describ'd it Yezd lyes in the Road almost in the mid-way between Kerman and Ispahan in 93 Deg. 15 Min. of Longitude and 13 Deg. 45 Min. of Latitude It is a great Town in the middle of the Sands that extend themselves for two Leagues round it so that when you leave Yezd you must take a Guide for upon the least Wind the Sand covers the Highway whereby a man may be apt to fall into Holes which seem to have been either old Cisterns or the Ruines of ancient Buildings Between the Town and the Sands there is a little good Soil which produces excellent Fruits but above all Melons of several sorts the Pulp of some is green of others yellow and vermilion and some there are the meat whereof is as hard as a Renneting There are also very good Grapes and good Wine but the Governour will not permit the Inhabitants to make Wine Some therefore they dry and of the rest they make a kind of Confection to cat with Bread There are also abundance of Figs which are large and well tasted They distil vast quantities of Rose-water and another sort of Water with which they dye their Hands and Nails red which they squeeze out of a certain Root call'd Hina There are three Inns i' th' City and several Bazars or Market-places cover'd and vaulted which are full of Merchants and Workmens Ware-houses They also make at Yezd several Stuffs of Silk intermix'd with Gold and Silver which they call Zerbaste and another sort of Stuff of all pure Silk call'd Daraï like our smooth strip'd Taffata's Other Stuffs they make half Silk half Cotton others all of Cotton like our Fustians They make also Serges of a particular Wool which is so fine and delicate that it looks handsomer and is much better than Silk Though I had nothing to do I staid in Yezd three days because I met with
Arabian Prince who most certainly had none such in his Kitchin yet he did not seem contented with his Present and demanded above four hundred Crowns We contested seven or eight days to have kept our Money in our Pockets but in vain so that we were forc'd to rate one another and to raise him his Sum which being paid he treated the chief of the Caravan with Pilaw Honey and Dates and when he went away gave them five or six Sheep ready boyl'd Three days after we had left this Arabian Prince we met with two Wells near certain old decay'd Brick Buildings The Water of those Wells was so hitter that the Camels would not drink it however we fill'd our Borache's thinking it would have left its bitterness by being boyl'd but we found the contrary From those two Wells that were good for nothing we travel'd six days before we met with any Water which with the three days before made nine and all that time the Camels never drank as I have hinted already At the end of nine days we cross'd a Hilly Country for three Leagues together at the feet of three of which Hills there were three standing Pools The Camels that smelt the Water half a League off put themselves upon their great trot which is their manner of running and no sooner came to the Pools but they crouded in all together which caus'd the Water to be thick and muddy Thereupon the Caravan-Bashi resolv'd to stay there two or three days together 'till the Water was setl'd Here we had also the opportunity to boyl us some Rice there being good store of Bushes that grew about the Lake But above all the People were over-joy'd that they had an opportunity to make Bread which they do after the following manner First they dig a round Hole in the Ground half a Foot deep and two or three in diameter which they croud full of Bushes and then set them on fire covering them with Bricks or Stones 'till they are red-hot In the mean while they prepare their Dough upon a Sofra or round piece of Copper which serves at other times for Table and Table-Cloth to eat upon Then they take away the Ashes and Bricks and making the Hole very clean put in their Dough and cov'ring it again with the hot Bricks or Stones leave it so 'till the morning The Bread thus bak'd is very well tasted not being above two Fingers thick and as big as an ordinary Cake While we stay'd at the three Ponds I spent my time in killing Hares and Partridge of which there was very great plenty in those parts The night before we departed we fill'd our Boracho's again the Water being very good and clear though it be nothing but Rain-water preserv'd in those Cavities which in the Summer are dry again But now the Caravan-Bashi seeing we had travel'd already nine days without finding any Water resolv'd to leave the South and to keep to the West and if he met not with Water in two or three days to take to the North-East or Winter-East in quest of the River Euphrates Two days after we had chang'd our Road we pass'd between two little Hills where we met with a Pond near to which were two Arabians each with his Wife and Children tending a Herd of Goats and a Flock of Sheep They told us they were going toward Moussui and put us in the best Road to find Water and indeed from that place to Balsara we never travel'd three days together but we met with enough Five days after we had left those two Arabians we discover'd a large Palace all of Brick which shew'd some probability that the Country had been formerly sow'd and that the Bricks had been burnt with the Straw To the Palace belong'd three large Courts in every one of which were fair Buildings with two Stories of Arches one-upon another Though this large Pile was standing yet no body liv'd in it nor could the Arabians very ignorant in Antiquity tell us by whom it was built Before the Gate of the Palace there is a Lake with a Channel the bottom whereof is brick'd as also the Arch which is even with the Ground This the Arabians believe to have been a conveyance of Water from Euphrates which surely could never be in regard that Euphrates is above twenty Leagues distant From that Palace we kept to the North-East and after we had travel'd five days we arriv'd at a pitiful Town formerly call'd Cufa now Meched-Ali where Ali Mahomet's Son-in-law lyes buried in a plain Mosquee Generally there stand four Tapers lighted about the Tomb and certain Lamps burning over-head which are fasten'd to the Roof Though the Persians have Ali in so much veneration yet they rarely go in Pilgrimage to his Tomb. The reason is because that there being no way to come at it but through Bagdat which is under the Dominion of the Great Turk there is a demand of eight Piaesters from every Pilgrim which is an Imposition that no way pleases the King of Persia. Sha-Abas scorning that his Subjects should be tributary to the Turks endeavour'd to divert them from this Pilgrimage by another sort of Devotion which he set up at Meshéed upon the Road from Tauris to Candahar Nor have the Kings his Successors been less unwilling to give their Subjects leave to visit their Prophet Ali taking it for an Affront to pay Tribute to the Grand Signor Which is the reason that this Mosquee is no more enrich'd by the Persians For besides the Lamps and Tapers that burn continually there are only two Moullah's that read the Alcoran according to custom In this Town there are only three or four bad Wells of brackish Water and a dry Channel which they say Sha-Abas made to bring the Water of Euphrates to the Town for the benefit of the Pilgrims As for Food we met with nothing but Dates Grapes and Almonds which the people sold at a dear rate When any Pilgrims come thither which is very rare and that they want Victuals the Sheck causes a distribution to be made among them of Rice boyl'd with Water and Salt and a little Butter pour'd a top For there is no Pasturage for Cattel and by consequence there can be no store of Food Two days journey from Ali's Town by nine of the Clock in the morning we met two young Arabian Lords that took upon them the name of Sultans They were two Brothers one of the age of seventeen years the other of thirteen and as we pitch'd our Tents they pitch'd theirs close by us which were of a very fine Scarlet Cloth and among the rest there was one cover'd with Purple Velvet lac'd with a rich Galoon-lace So soon as they were setl'd in their Tents the Caravan-Bashi and I went to wait upon them who understanding that there were Franks in the Caravan ask'd me whether I had any Curiosities to sell them but when I made them answer that I had nothing worthy their purchase they would
at the Inn but the two Capuchins and I lay at a private Christian's House who carry'd us to the Church where was then the Vertabet or Bishop of Merdin It was a pitiful poor Church where they had nothing but two Planks supported with four Sticks instead of an Altar They dare not leave any Furniture in it but as soon as the Priest has said Service he must have a care to take away every thing as well the Planks as the Covering of the Altar which was only a Painted Cloth For the Turks that travel that way if it be foul weather will break open the Door put their Horses there burn the Altar and take away whatever they find In the Village where we lay there was a Pond the sides whereof were surrounded with fair Free-stones which were fetch'd from the Christian Churches and the Tombs of the Christians thereabouts Among the rest there was one very large Stone with an Epitaph upon it in large Latin Letters whereby we knew it to be the Tomb-stone of a Norman Gentleman who had been a Captain of Foot The Bishop inform'd us that it is recorded in the Armenian Stories that the French were a long time in this Country at what time the Christians were Masters of Syria This Country is all a large Plain about twenty Leagues in length which might be well manur'd and make the Inhabitants rich did not the Tyranny of the Turks and the Incursions of the Arabs reduce them to the utmost degree of Poverty The twenty-fifth after we had travel'd eight hours we lay at a Village call'd Cousasar where there was no Inn. There were formerly three great Monasteries a quarter of a League one from the other The Turks have ruin'd two all but the Steeples of the Churches that belong'd to them The third which stands all entire and is the fairest Pile of Building serves for a Mosquee They have made Shops round about the Cloysters in the middle of which is a fair Spring of Water The twenty-seventh we lay still at Cousasar being the place where you must pay the Customs of Diarbequir which is not above two days journey off amounting to two Piasters and a fourth part for every Load of Merchants Goods Merdin is not above two Leagues from Cousasar This is a little City seated upon a Mountain with good Walls and a fair Fountain replenish'd from the Castle which stands upon the North side in a place yet higher that commands the City where there lives a Basha who has under him two hundred Spahi's and four hundred Janizaries Merdin is the place where was born the Lady Maani Gioerida the first Wife of Pietro de la Valle so well known for his famous Travels As for Cousasar which is a large Village it is inhabited for the most part by Armenian Christians and Nestorians The Armenians perform Divine Service in their own Language the Nestorians in the Chaldaïc The latter shew'd me two Bibles in a large Volume in the same Language writt'n in Vellum all the Capital Letters being in Gold and Azure They seem'd to be very old and one of their Priests told me that it is 937 years ago since one of them was writt'n the other not above 374 since When Service is done they put them in a Chest and hide them under Ground I would have giv'n 200 Piasters for the oldest but they durst not sell it in regard it belong'd to the Church and was not at their disposal The twenty-seventh after we had travel'd nine hours we arriv'd at Karasara which had been formerly a great Town and no doubt inhabited by Christians as appears by seven or eight Churches half ruin'd though the Steeples are little the worse They stand at a good distance one from the other and upon the North-side of one of those Churches there is a Gallery at the end whereof through a little Door you descend about a hundred Steps every Step being ten Inches thick When you come under the Church you meet with a larger and bigger Vault supported with Pillars The Building is so contriv'd that there is more light below than in that above but of late years the Earth has stop'd up several Windows The great Altar is in the Rock on the right side whereof is a Room which receives the light from several Windows contriv'd in the Rock Over the Gate of the Church was a great Free-stone wherein were certain Letters that I could not read On the North-side of the same Church under Ground are to be seen two great Cisterns each four hundred and fifty Paces long with two great Arches sustain'd with several Pillars Every year they fill them with the Water that falls from the next Mountain and makes a kind of a River A quarter of a League from the Church you descend the Mountain for above a hundred Paces together among the Rocks on each side whereof are Rooms cut out of the Rock Upon every Door there is a Cross and in every Room as it were a Bench and a Table with a little place about the length of a Man like a Bedsted all cut out of the Rock At the bottom of the Rock is a Hall round about the Wall whereof is a Bench to sit on The Roof is all plain without any Arch in the middle whereof there is a Hole to the top of the Mountain but in regard it gives no light 't is very probable 't was only made to let out the Smoak when they drest their Meat or else to let in the fresh Air as I have seen in many Villages upon the Persian Gulf. Upon the highest of those Mountains stands a paltry Village where they buy their Victuals But before the Caravan arrives certain Merchants ride before to inform themselves from the Herdsmen whether they know of any Thieves in the Grotto's that often hide themselves there in expectation of Prey In the year 1638 Sultan Amur at going to besiege Babylon march'd this very way as well to see these Ruines as to give order for the demolishing a Fort that stood not above two Leagues off of Karasera which the Thieves of the Country made their place of retreat He also at the same time caus'd the Road to be clear'd for four days journey by ord'ring the Stones to be pickt up and laid in heaps all along the Road. He also built a Bridge over the River And indeed that March of the Grand Signor was very advantageous to all Travellers that pass this way The twenty-eighth we travel'd eight hours and came to Nesbin anciently Nisibis Two or three hours travel on this side near the Road is a kind of Hermitage being a small Room enclos'd with Walls the Door whereof is so low that a Man must creep upon his Belly to get in Three or four Jews went and perform'd their Devotions at this Hermitage believing it to be the place where the Prophet Elisha was buried The Country from Cousasar to Nesbin is a large Plain where for the first
great Town Magar Gazer and Gorno At this last place Euphrates and Tigris meet together where are also three Castles to be seen one upon the Point where the two Rivers meet which is the strongest and where the Son of the Prince of Balsara then commanded the second upon Chaldea side and the third upon Arabia side Though the Customs be there exactly demanded and paid yet they never search any person The Tides come up to that place so that having but fifteen Leagues to Balsara we got thither in sev'n hours having both Wind and Tide All the Country between Bagdat and Balsara is inter-cut and parted by Dikes like the Low Countries the two Cities lying a hundred and sixty Leagues one from the other It is one of the best countries in the possession of the Grand Signor being stor'd with large Meadows and excellent Pasturage where are bred infinite numbers of Beasts especially Mares and Bufalo's The Female Bufalo's go twelve Months and yield so much milk that there are some which will give two and twenty Pints And there is so large a quantity of Butter made that in some Villages upon the Tigris we saw sometimes five and twenty sometimes twenty Barks lad'n with Butter which the people sell all along the Gulf of Persia as well upon Arabia as Persia side Half the way between Bagdat and Balsara we perceiv'd several Pavilions set up in the Meadows along by the side of the River Upon enquiry we heard that the Tefterdar was come from Constantinople to gather the Grand Signor's duty 's For from Bagdat to Gorno for all the Bufalo's as well Male as Female there is to be paid a Piaster and a quarter for every head once a year which is worth yearly to the Grand Signor a hundred and fourscore thousand Piasters Every Mare also pays two Piasters every Sheep ten Sous which if the Country people were not very cunning would be worth fifty thousand Piasters more than it is After this we came to Gorno a Fortress upon the point where the two Rivers meet besides two other small Castles upon each side so that there is no passing without leave Upon the Fort of Gorno which was well furnish'd with Cannon we saw the Prince of Balsara's Son who was Governour of the Fort. And here it is that the Account of the Customs is taken But though they are very exact in searching the Barks they are very civil for they search no body However lest any Goods should be hid between the Planks of the Ships over which they generally throw Fagots and Canes the Customers bring a great Piercer with which they bore the sides of the Bark quite through for the discovery of conceal'd Goods The Goods are Register'd at Gorno but the Customs are always paid at Balsara according to the accompt giv'n from the Fort. The same day entring into the Channel that is cut out of Euphrates to Balsara we met the chief of the Holland Factory taking his pleasure in a Boat cover'd with Scarlet who took me with him to Balsara Balsara stands upon the side of Arabia deserta two Leagues from the Ruines of a City which was formerly call'd Teredon and anciently stood in the Desert to which the Water was formerly conveigh'd out of Euphrates in a Brick Channel still to be seen By the Ruines it appears to have been a great City from whence the Arabians fetch away the Bricks and sell them at Balsara The City of Balsara is half a League from Euphrates which the Arabians in their Language call Shetel-areb or the River of Araebia The Inhabitants of the City have made a Channel to it about half a League long which bears Vessels of 150 Tun at the end whereof stands a Fort so that no Vessel can get into the Fort without leave The Sea is above fifteen Leagues off but the Tide comes up to the Channel and fills the River other fifteen Leagues upward beyond Gorno The Country is so low that were it not for a Dam that runs along the Sea-shoar it would often be in danger of being drown'd The Dam is above a League in length and built all of Free-stone so strong that the fury of the waves can do them no injury though it lie open to a Boystrous Sea It is not above a hundred years since Balsara belong'd to the Arabians of the Desert and had no commerce with the Nations of Europe For those people were contented to eat their own Dates having so great a quantity that they only live upon them 'T is the same thing all along the Gulf on each side for from Balsara to the River Indus for above six hundred Leagues together and all along the Coast of Arabia to Mascaté the poor sort of people know not what it is to eat Rice but live upon Dates and Salt-fish dry'd in the wind The Cows eat no Grass and though they go abroad in the fields they find little or nothing among the bushes which is proper for them to eat But every Morning before they drive them to the Field and when they return home they give them heads of fish and Date-nuts boil'd together The Turks having had War with the Arabians took Balsara and yet because the Arabians always hover'd about the Town and made booty of all they could lay their hands on they were forc'd to come to an agreement with them that the Arabs should quietly enjoy all the Desert 'till within a League of the City and that the Turks should remain peaceable Masters of the City where they have a Basha for Governour But this Treaty endur'd not long for in the middle of the City there is a Cittadel call'd Aushel Basha or the Basha's Court which the Turks built so that the Garrison being Turks and the Inhabitants Arabians who could not endure to be curb'd they oft-times quarrell'd with the Turks and came to blows Thereupon the Arabians of the Desert came to the relief of the Citizens and besieg'd the Basha in the Fortress At length because there could be no such agreement made but that one party or other took an occasion presently to break it there was one Basha whose name was Aiud who after many contests and revolts which had almost tyr'd him resolv'd to rid himself of the trouble and sold his Government for forty thousand Piasters to a rich Lord in the Country who presently rais'd a sufficient number of Souldiers to keep the people in awe This great man took upon him the name of Efrasias Basha being the Grandfather of Hussen Basha who was Governour at the time when I pass'd through before This Efrasias threw off the Turkish voak and took upon him the title of Prince of Balsara As for the Basha that sold his Government he no sooner arriv'd at Constantinople but he was strangl'd But after Amurath had taken Bagdat the Prince of Balsara was glad to feed him continually with Presents that chiefly consisted in Horses which are very beautiful in that Country The
Great Sha-Abas having taken Ormus sent a powerful Army under the Command of Iman-Kouli-Kan Governour of Shiras to take in Balsara Whereupon the Prince finding himself too weak to resist so great a Pow'r made an agreement with the Desert Arabians to break down the Dam that stops the Sea Which being perform'd in came the Sea tumbling fifteen Leagues to Balsara and four Leagues beyond it which constrain'd the Persians surrounded with water and hearing at the same time of the death of Sha-Abas to raise their Siege Since that inundation several Lands and Gardens have been utterly barren or have born very little by reason of the Salt which the Sea has left behind The Prince of Balsara has enter'd into Leagues with several strange Nations so that whencesoever you come you may be welcom There is so much liberty and so good order in the City that you may walk all night long in the Streets without molestation The Hollanders bring Spices thither every year The English carry Pepper and some few Cloves but the Portugals have no Trade at all thither The Indians bring Calicuts Indigo and all sorts of Merchandize In short there are Merchants of all Country's from Constantinople Smyrna Aleppo Damascus Cairo and other parts of Turkie to buy such Merchandizes as come from the Indies with which they lade the young Camels which they buy in that place for thither the Arabians bring them to put them to sale They that come from Diarbequir Moussul Bagdat Mesopotamia and Assyria send their Merchandizes up the Tigris by Water but with great trouble and expence In regard the Boats are to be tow'd by men that cannot go above two Leagues and a half in a day and against the Wind they cannot stir which makes them oft-times between Balsara and Bagdat to be above sixty days nay there have been some that have been three months upon the Water The Customs of Balsara amount to five in the hundred but generally you have some favour shew'd you either by the Customer or the Prince himself that the Merchant does not really pay above four in the hundred The Prince of Balsara is so good a Husband that he lays up three millions of Liuers in a year His chiefest Revenue is in four things Money Horses Camels and Date-trees but in the last consists his chiefest wealth For all the Country from the meeting of the two Rivers to the Sea for the space of thirty Leagues together is all cover'd with these Trees nor does any one dare to touch a Date 'till he has paid for every Tree three fourths of a Larin or nine Sous French The profit which the Prince makes upon money proceeds from this that the Merchants that come from abroad are oblig'd to carry their Reals to his Mint where they are Coyn'd and converted into Larins which is worth to him eight in the hundred As for his Horses there is no place in the world where there are more fit for travel or handsomer shap'd for there are some that will travel thirty hours together and never draw bit especially the Mares But to return to the Palm-trees it is worth observation that there is more Art to bring up those Trees than any other The Natives dig a hole in the ground wherein they heap a great quantity of Date-nuts in a Pyramidical form the top whereof ends in one single Nut which being cover'd with Earth produces the Palm-tree Most of the people of the Country do say that in regard there is among the Palm-trees the distinction of Male and Female that therefore they must be planted one by another for that otherwise the Female Tree will bear no Fruit. But others affirm that nicety to be unnecessary and that it susfices when the Male is in Blossom to take a Flower from the Male and put it into the Heart of the Female a little above the Stem for unless they should do so all the Fruit would fall off before it came to maturity There is at Balsara a Cady that administers Justice and who is establish'd by the authority of the Prince that commands there In the City are also three sorts of Christians Jacobites Nestorians and Christians of St. John There is also a House of Italian Carmelites and there was a House of Portugal Austin-Friars but they have forsak'n the Town ever since their Country-men quitted the Trade The Christians of St. John are very numerous at Balsara and the Villages thereabouts who anciently liv'd by the River of Jordan where St. John Baptiz'd and from whom they took their Name But since the time that Mahomet conquer'd Palestine though Mahomet formerly gave them his Hand and his Letters of Priviledge that they should not be molested nevertheless they that succeeded the false Prophet resolv'd to extirpate them all to which purpose they ruin'd their Churches burnt their Books and exercis'd all manner of cruelties upon their Persons which oblig'd them to retire into Mesopotamia and Chaldea and for some time they were under the Patriarch of Babylon from whom they separated about a hundred and sixty years ago Then they remov'd into Persia and Arabia and the Towns round about Balsara as Souter Despoul Rumez Bitoum Mono Endecan Calufabat Aveza Dega Dorech Masquel Gumar Carianous Balsara Onezer Zech Loza Nor do they inhabit City or Village by which there does not run a River And many of their Bishops have assur'd me that the Christians in all the foregoing places make above five and twenty thousand Families There are some among them who are Merchants but the most part of them are Trades-men especially Goldsmiths Joyners and Lock-smiths Their Creed is full of fables and foul errours The Persians and Arabians call them Sabbi a People that have forsak'n their own Religion to take up a new one In their own Language they call themselves Mendai Jahia or Disciples of St. John from whom as they ascertain us they have receiv'd their Faith their Books and their Traditions Every year they celebrate a Feast for about five days during which time they go in Troops to their Bishops who Baptize them according to the Baptism of St. John They never Baptize but in Rivers and only upon Sundays But before they go to the River they carry the Infant to Church where there is a Bishop who reads certain Prayers over the Head of the Child from thence they carry the Child to the River with a Train of Men and Women who together with the Bishop go up to the knees in Water Then the Bishop reads again certain Prayers out of a Book which he holds in his Hand which done he sprinkles the Infant three times saying Beesmebrad er-Rabi Kaddemin Akreri Menhal el gennet Alli Koulli Kralek or In the Name of the Lord first and last of the World and of Paradise the high Creator of all things After that the Bishop reads something again in his Book while the God-father plunges the Child all over in the Water after which they go all
observing so stop up the Mouth of the River that the Fish cannot go back for else they would not stay above forty days at which time they catch 'em up in wide-mouth'd Baskets at the Mouth of the River thinking to return it being lawful for any man to fish The people drive a great Trade in these Fish transporting them into Persia and Armenia for the Persians and Armenians both drinking Wine at the end of their Feasts they then bring this Dish to the Table for a relishing-bit The people of Van tell a Story how that there was a certain rich Merchant who farm'd the whole Fishery paying a good sum of Money for it to the Basha who thereupon strictly forbad any to fish but the Merchant whereas before it was free for any man But when the Fishing-season came and that the Merchant thought to have caught his Fish he met with nothing but Serpents So that after that time the Fishery was never more farm'd And there seems to be something in it for the Basha's who are a sort of people that will lose nothing they can get would be certain to farm the Fish again and again were there not some strange reason to hinder it There are two principal Islands in the Lake of Van the one call'd Adaketons where there stand two Covents of the Armenians Sourphague and Sourp-kara the other Island is call'd Limadasi and the name of the Covent is Limquiliasi all which Armenian Monks live very austerely From Van to Darcheck From Darcheck to Nuchar it stands in the Territories of a Bey of Curdistan being a paltry Village consisting of two or three little Houses These Bey's are a kind of particular Lords upon the Frontiers of both the Empires of Turkie and Persia who care for neither for they lye so secure among the Mountains that there is no assaulting them by force The Curds in general are a brutish sort of people who though they stile themselves Mahometans have very few Moullah's to instruct or teach them They have a particular veneration for black Grey-hounds so that if any person should be seen to kill one of them he would be knock'd o' the Head immediately Neither does any one dare to cut an Onion with a Knife in their presence but it must be squeez'd between two Stones by him that intends to make use of it so ridiculously superstitious they are The Bey to whom Nuchar belongs has his Toll-gatherers in that place who exact sixteen Abassi's for every Horse-load besides a Present which the Caravan-Bashi is oblig'd to present him which comes sometimes to seven or eight Tomans sometimes more for otherwise the Bey would be sure to watch the Caravan at some scurvy place and plunder it to some purpose As once it happen'd to a Caravan with which my Nephew went along in the year 1672 though he had the good luck to lose nothing more than one Camel laden with English Cloth and another with his Provision The Basha of Van and the Kan of Tauris took the Field with an intention to remedy these disorders especially the Basha of Van who perceiving that the Merchants would forsake that Road by reason of the Injuries they dayly receiv'd was resolv'd to make the Basha restore some part of his Goods which he had taken from the Merchants and for the future to leave two of his Subjects in Tauris and two in Van that should be responsible for what mischief should be done to the Caravan For otherwise the Merchants like this way best as being the nearest from Aleppo to Tauris and where they pay less Duties From Nuchar to Kuticlar is a long Journey through the Mountains by the side of several Torrents which are to be cross'd in several places This bad way brings Fifty i' the Hundred profit to the Bey of Nuchar for were the Caravan to travel through Plains or a level Country one Horse or Camel would carry as much as two or three and the Merchant would pay Custom for no more Here therefore the Caravan-Bashi and the Merchants must understand one another and agree as cunningly as they can togethor From Kuticlar to Kalvat From Kalvat to Kogia From Kogia to Darkavin From Darkavin to Soliman-Sera all which four places are very convenient Inns. From Soliman-Sera to Kours in that City resides a Bey who is tributary to the King of Persia. He lives in an ancient Castle about half a League off where the Caravan pays nine Abassi's for every Horse-load besides a Present But that Present consists only in Sugar-loaves Boxes of Treacle or Marmaled for he stands so much upon his Honour that he scorns to take Money The Wine of Kours is sweet and tart From Kours to Devogli From Devogli to Checheme About half way between these two places you cross a Plain which upon the South extends it self a League to the Mountains but upon the North side enlarges it self out of sight Upon the High-way on the left hand stands a Rock three hundred Paces in compass and about fourscore Foot high round about it were to be seen several Dens which most certainly had been the Habitations of those that fed their Cattel thereabouts Under the Rock which is hollow appears a Fountain of clear cold Water wherein there was great store of Fish thousands of which would come up to the top of the Water when a man threw any Bread into it The Fish had a great Head and a large Mustache I shot a Carbine into the River charg'd with Hail-shot upon which they all disappear'd but presently five or six return'd wounded to the top of the Water which we easily took The Armenians laught at me for shooting believing it had been impossible to catch them in that manner but they admir'd when they beheld them again turning up their bellies at the top of the Water The Turks and some of the Armenians would not eat of them believing them to be defil'd but the Armenians that had been in Europe laugh'd at their Superstition and fell to when they were drest From Checheme to Davashiler From Davashiler to Marand a City where you must pay sixteen Abassi's for a Camel's-load and eight for a Horses From Merand to Sefian From Sefian to Tauris These are the two biggest days journies throughout the Road. Returning out of Persia this way we could not get Bread for Money so that we were forc'd to give the Women some Trifles which they lov'd better Though the People are Mahometans yet they will not spare to drink lustily CHAP. IV. Another Road from Aleppo to Tauris through Geziré and other places FRom Aleppo to Bi r or Beri where you must cross Euphrates days 4 From Bi r to Ourfa days 2 From Ourfa to Diarbequir days 6 From Diarbequir to Geziré days 4 Geziré is a little City of Mesopotamia built upon an Island in the River Tigris which is there to be cross'd over a fair Bridge of Boats Here the Merchants meet to buy Gall-nuts and Tobacco The City is
their is neither Fortress nor City and as for their Villages they are all built after the same Model round with a Piazza in the middle according to the Figure THE PLATFORME OF ONE OF THE VILLAGES OF THE COMOUâ— CHAP. XII Of the Ceremonies and Customs of the People of Comania and Circassia THe Principal of all the Feasts which the Comouchs and Sherkes or Cirkassians make is that which they make at the end of Autumn after this manner Three of the ancientest of the Village are appointed to manage it and to discharge themselves of a Duty impos'd upon them in the company of all the people These three old men take a Sheep or a Goat and having mutter'd certain Prayers over the Beast they cut the throat of it after they have drest it very clean they boil it whole all but the Gathers and them they roast The Sheep being boil'd they set it upon a Table and carry it into a large Barn where the People are appointed to meet There the three old men stand upright before a Table and all the People Men Women and Children behind them When the Table upon which the Meat stands is brought in two of the three old men cut off the Legs and the roasted Gathers and hold them up above their heads and the third holds up a great Cup of Bosa in the same manner to the end the people behind may see them When the people see the Meat and Bosa so lifted up they prostrate themselves upon the ground and so continue till all the rest of the Meat be set upon the lesser Table and that the old men have said some few word Then the two old men that held up the Meat cut off two little pieces and give each of them a piece to him that holds the Cup which being done they take each of them a piece for themselves When they have all three eaten of the meat the old man that holds the Cup drinks first then gives the two old men to drink first to him upon the right hand next to him upon the left never letting go the Cup all the while This first Ceremony being thus accomplish'd the two old men turn toward the Assembly and go and present both of the Meat and the Drink first to their Chief or Lord then to all the people who equally eat their share both men and women That which remains of the four feet is carry'd back to the Table and the three old men eat it This done they go and place themselves at the Table where the Mutton is set where the oldest of the three taking the Head eats a little Morsel after him the second and next to him the third does the same Then the first old man commands the rest to be carry'd to the Lord who receives it with a great deal of respect and after he has giv'n it to his next a-kin or the Friend whom he loves best the Head is giv'n from one to another till it be eat'n up This being done the three old men begin to eat of the Mutton a bit or two and the Lord of the Village is call'd who comes with his Bonnet in his hand in a trembling posture to whom one of the old men presenting a Knife he cuts off a piece of Mutton and eats and having drank a Cup of Bosa he returns to his Seat After him all the people according to their turns in quality do as much and then for the Bones the Children go together by the ears among themselves They have another Feast before they begin to Mow their Meadows at which time all the people of the Village that have wherewithal take every one a Goat for in their Ceremonies they esteem Goats better than Sheep and for the poor they join eight or ten together for a Goat Let them be Goats Sheep or Lambs when they are all brought together they cut their Throats and then flea off the skin leaving the four feet and the Head in it Then they stretch the Skin with sticks that cross from one foot to the other aud set it up on a Pole fix'd in the Earth the top whereof enters into the head of the Beast as is to be seen in the Figure of the Village and as many Beasts as there are kill'd so many Poles are planted in the midst of the Village with every one a particular Skin upon it to which every one that passes by maks a profound obeysance Ev'ry one having boil'd his Goat brings it into the void place in the middle of the Village and sets it upon a great Table with the rest There is the Lord of the Village with his Servants and sometimes the Lord of some other Village is invited Now all this Victuals being upon the Table three of the oldest men of the Village sit down and eat a Bit or two Then they call the Lord of the Town and if there be any other Lord they come both together with some other of the Seniors of the Parish who being set down eat up one of the Beasts which the old men had set apart for them the rest is divided among the people sitting upon the ground There are some Villages where you shall have fifty Goats and Sheep or Lambs and Kids kill'd together at one time As for their Bosa there are some that bring above 200 Pints others more or less according to their quality All the day long they eat and drink and sing and dance to their Flutes a dozen together which are in some measure harmonious as consisting of several parts and decreasing proportionably from the Treble to the Base When the old men have solac'd themselves with eating and drinking they go home and leave the young people Men and Women Boys and Girls to be merry by themselves They stay as long as there is any Drink and the next day they go early to Mowing They have other Ceremonies particular only to their Families Once a year in every House they make a Cross after the Form of a Mallet about five Foot high the two Sticks that compose the Cross being as big as a man's Arm. This the Master of the House sets in the Evening near the Door in his Chamber and calling all his Family together gives them every one a lighted Wax-Candle Then first he fixes his own to the Cross next his Wife sticks hers and so all the Children and Servants If the Children be so young that they cannot do it themselves the Father and Mother do it for them If one of the Candles burn out before it be put out ' tisa Prognostick that he or she that fix'd it there shall not live out their year If the Candle falls then he whose Candle it was shall be robb'd or be forc't to fly for his Life If it thunders all the people run out of the Village and the young people of both Sexes set themselves to singing and dancing in the presence of their Elders And if any one be Thunder-struck they
in the places where they sleep CHAP. XIII Of the lesser Tartars call'd Nogaîes bord'ring upon Comania THE lesser Tartars have a very ancient race of Horses which they breed up even to Superstition so that it would be among them an act of Sacriledge to sell them to strangers as being not a little curious how they sell them to one another These are the Horses which they ride fifty or sixty in a Troop together when they go a thieving and sometimes a hunder'd together when they design any Incursion upon their Enemies When the old Men come to be infirm and impotent if they know any stout young Man that is a Souldier they will lend him one of their Horses if he have none of his own to make an Incursion upon condition to have half of the Booty Many times they run up as far as Hungary near to Comora and Javarin These Horses partly by nature partly by early custom will travel four or five days together with a handful of Grass giv'n them once in eight or ten hours and a little Water every four and twenty hours But they never go a robbing with them 'till they come to be seven or eight years old besides that they must undergo a very severe education ere they make use of them in those hardships Their Bit is only a piece of Iron with a Buckle on each side to which they fast'n the Bridle and Head-stall For eight days together they put under the Saddle a bag of Gravel or Earth The first day the Sack is a Horse-man's weight and so they add to it every day 'till it come to be double the weight at the end of the eight days As they increase every day the weight upon the Horses back they abate every day the Horse's Provender and Drink During these eight days they get up and walk the Horse two or three Leagues The next eight days they abate every day of the weight 'till the Sack be quite empty Proportionably also they abate him of his Meat and Drink as in the first eight days and every day take up the Girt a hole shorter The three or four last days they afford the Horse neither Provender nor Drink according as they find him able to endure hunger and thirst and the labour which he is to undergo The last day they work him 'till he be all over of a Sweat then they unbridle and unsaddle him and pour upon him the coldest Water they can meet with That done they lead him into a field and tye him by the leg with a Cord at such a length as they intend he shall feed yet still from day to day allowing him more Rope 'till at last they let him loose and feed with the rest of the Horses This terrible fasting and labour during which time that little which they do eat and drink they eat and drink with the Bit in their mouth brings them to be so lean and out of flesh that their very bones are ready to start out of their skins So that if any one should see them in that miserable condition that does not know the nature of the Horses would think they would never be fit for good service The hoofs of these Horses are so hard that they never shooe them and yet they will leave the prints of their feet in the Earth or upon the Ice as if they had been shod These Tartars are so curious in having Horses that will endure labour that so soon as they see any handsom Colt in their Breed they presently take him up to school him as I have related but hardly ten in fifty endure the tutoring As for their Diet 't is a great advantage for these Tartars to ride a Mare in regard they drink the Milk They that ride Horses carry along with them a little Bag full of pieces of Cheese dry'd in the Sun they have also a small Boracho of Goat-skin which they fill with Water where they meet with it into which they put two or three bits of their hard Cheese which softens with the motion of the Horse the Boracho being ty'd under his Belly and thus the Water becomes a kind of sowr Milk which is their ordinary Drink As for their Instruments of Cookery every Horse-man has a large wooden Ladle hanging at the Pommel of his Saddle out of which the rider drinks himself and gives his Horse likewise to drink They that encounter them can hope for no better Booty than their Horses but they are very hard to be tak'n for when one of these Horses perceives that his Rider is slain he follows those that fly with all the swiftness imaginable Beside that those Horses being carri'd into other Countries are presently spoil'd and come to nothing Their Cloathing is only a Sheep-skin which in Winter they wear with the wool next their Bodies in the Summer turning the other side They that are the Nobility of the Countrey wear Wolves-skins with a kind of Shirt and Breeches of course Fustian of divers Colours which the Taylor gets little credit by shaping Their Women are very white and well proportion'd but their Faces are broad and their Eyes little so that by thirty years of Age they become very deformed There is not a man but has two or three Wives which they never choose but out of their own Tribe Every Tribe has a Chief who is one of the Nobility of the Countrey and carries for his Banner a Horse-tail fasten'd to a half-Pike and dy'd into the Colour belonging to the Tribe When they march every one knows where to place himself and how much ground they ought to take up for their Tribe and their Cattel one Tribe never encroaching upon another The Women and Maids are generally clad in a large Shirt that reaches down to their feet Upon their Heads they wear a large white Vail their Foreheads being bound about with a large black Handkerchief ty'd in five or six Rolls The Noble sort of Women and Maids wear over this Vail a Bonnet open behind which comes down upon their Foreheads like a three-corner'd Cap One of these Points stands up in the midst of the Forehead lin'd with Velvet Satin or Cloth of Gold and set with small pieces of Gold and Silver and false Pearls of which they also make themselves Bracelets Their Breeches are of single-colour'd Cloth and for Shoes and Stockings they only wear a Cordovan Boot of what Colour they please neatly sew'd When a young man intends to marry it behoves him to give the Father and the Mother of the Maid a certain quantity of Horses Bullocks or Cows or other Cattel which is done in the presence of the greatest part of the ancientest of the Tribe and a Moullah beside When the Agreement is made the young man has the liberty to see his Mistress but not till then For before he has only the information of her Mother his Sisters or such Women as were his own Friends Besides the three Wives which the man
min. Lat. In a Country abounding in all forts of Cattel Zenjon 73 deg 36 min. Long. 36 deg 5 min. Lat. Famous for its antiquity and formerly the Persian University Zertah 79 deg 30 min. Long. 32 deg 30 min. Lat. The biggest City in the Province of Belad-Ciston abounding in Wine and Shell-fruit Zour 70 deg 20 min. Long. 35 deg 32 min. Lat. A City in the same Province Zouzen 85 deg 15 min. Long. 35 deg 39 min. Lat. In the Province of Mazandran Zourend 73 deg 40 min. Long. 31 deg 15 min. Lat. In the Province of Kerman where there is great store of curious Potters ware where also grows the Root Hanna with the juice whereof the Persians dye their Nails and the Breasts and Tails of their Horses The End of the Third BOOK THE FOURTH BOOK OF THE TRAVELS OF MONSIEUR TAVERNIER BEING A DESCRIPTION OF PERSIA CHAP. I. Of the Extent of PERSIA and its division into Provinces PERSIA according to the present State of the Empire to the North is bounded by the Caspian Sea Southward by the Ocean Eastward it joyns to the Territories of the Great Mogul Westward to the Dominions of the Grand Signor the two Empires being parted by the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates But that you may the better understand the full extent of the Dominions of the Persian King you are to know That this great Monarch besides that Tract of Ground which is properly call'd Persia possesses a vast part of the ancient Assyria and the great Armenia the ancient Kingdoms of the Parthians and Medes the Kingdom of Lar the Kingdom of Ormus and all Eastward of Persia beyond Candahar almost as far as the Kingdom of Scindi But because those Europeans that have Travel'd before me either were not so curious or had not perhaps the opportunity to learn the true number of the Provinces that compose the whole Continent of Persia I have undertak'n though the Persians themselves are ignorant enough to give the best account I can finding it necessary for the better satisfaction of the Reader to take some notice of the Names of Places according to the ancient Geography The first is the Great Armenia which our Maps without any ground or reason at all call Turcomannia in regard they might have more properly call'd it Ermonick in general since the Inhabitants are the greatest part Armenians That part whereof which is situated between the two Rivers of Araxes and Cyrus at this day call'd Aras and Kur by the Natives is call'd Iran or Cara-bag being one of the most beautiful and richest pieces of Land in all Persia the principal Cities of which are Erivan Nacksivan Zulpha and Van. The second is Diarbeck formerly Mesopotamia between Euphrates and Tigris the chief Cities whereof are Bi r Car-Emir or Diarbequir Ourfa Moussul Geziré Merdin c. The third is Curdistan formerly Assyria extending all along the East-side of the River Tigris from the Lake Van to the Frontiers of Bagdat the principal Cities are Niniveh Sherisoul Amadié Sneirne Betlis and Salmastre The fourth is Hierak-Arabi otherwise the Country of Babylon or Chaldea the principal Cities whereof are Felougia upon Euphrates Bagdat upon Tigris Mershed-Ali Gourno and Balsara and in the Country of Bourous Sharaban Eronnabat c. The fifth is Hierak-Agemi or the ancient Parthia the principal Cities whereof are Hispahan Toushercan Hamadan Cashan Kan and Casbin and perhaps Yesd if it be not rather in Kerman or Sigistan The sixth contains Shirvan all along the Caspian Sea where stand the Cities of * Derbent in the Persian Tongue signifies ae Strait Gate and Demir-Capi in the Turkish ae Gate of Iron near to which place were the ancient Caspian Gates or Caspiae Pylae of the Ancients Derbent or Demir-Capi Baku and Shamaki and the Province of Edzerbaijan wherein stand the Cities of Tauris Ardevil and Sultany Which two Provinces comprehend the ancient Media within a very little extending to the very Shoar of the Caspan Sea The seventh contains Kylan and Mazandran lying likewise upon the Caspan Sea formerly Hyrcania wherein are the Cities and Towns of Firuzcuh Sukar-abad and Mibnikiellé at the entry of the Mountains Giru Talara-pesct and Saru in the Plain Ferh-abad Ciarman and Gscref toward the Sea The eighth is Estarabad formerly Margiana which extends to the River Ruthkhané-kurkan which the Ancients call'd Oxus the principal Cities whereof are Estarabad Amul Damkam The ninth contains the Province of the Usbeck-Tartars comprehending all the ancient Sogdiana and Bactriana the chief Cities whereof are Balk Samarcand and Boccara c. The tenth is Corassan formerly Aria with some part of Bactriana the chief Cities whereof are Eri Meshed Nisabur Thun c. The eleventh Sablestan formerly Peloponnesus the principal Cities whereof are Beksabat Asbé Bust Sarents the Territory and City of Candahar being also comprehended within the extent of this Province together with Duki and Alunkan upon the Frontiers of the Great Mogul's Dominions The twelfth is Sigistan formerly Drangiana the principal Cities whereof are Sistan Shalack and Kets The thirteenth comprehends all the Territories of the ancient Arachosia bord'ring upon the Kingdom of Scindi not having any Cities that we know of The fourteenth is the Province of Makran lying all along upon the Sea of Mogostan formerly Gedrosia the chief Cities whereof are Makran Firhk Chalak and the Port of Guadel toward Guzerat The fifteenth Kerman formerly Caramania extending as far as the Gulf of Ormus the chief Cities whereof are Kerman Bermazir the Port of Kuhestek and the Cape of Jasques The sixteenth is Farsistan or that part of Persia so properly call'd the chief Cities whereof are Schiras Caseron Benarou Firus-abat Darab-guier c. To which you may add the little Province of Laraston with the City of Lar just against Ormus But this Province formerly extended no farther than Benarou two days journey from Lar before Sha-Abas conquer'd the Kingdom of Lar and then the Kingdom of Ormus Now they are both united though they have both several Governours as they had distinct Princes before The Ports in this Province upon the Persian Gulf are Bander-Abassi and Bander-Congo There are two other little Ports in the Persian Gulf about thirty hours sail from the Mouth of Euphrates but not capable of receiving any other than small Barks which are very much to be admir'd for in regard the Inhabitants are ignorant of the use of Iron it is strange to see their Boats made so handsom and strong withal the Planks being only ty'd together with a Cord which is made of a kind of Hemp tak'n from the out-side of the Coco-nut The last is the Province of Cursistan formerly Susiana which Euphrates and Tigris joyning together separate from Chaldea the principal Cities whereof are Suster anciently Susa the Capital City of the Empire of King Ahasuerus Ahawas Scabar Ramhormus c. The temper of the Air in Persia varies according to the variety of situation The Country of
the lowermost Those Buildings which are made of Brick bak'd in the Sun are very handsom and after the Wall is rais'd the Mason plaisters it over with a Morter made of Potter's Clay mingled with Straw so that the defects of the Building being cover'd the Wall appears very firm and close Then the Work-man plaisters the Morter over again with a Lime mixt with Muscovy-Green which he pounds with a certain Gum to render the Lime more glutinous and then rubbing the Wall over with a course Brush it becomes as it were damask'd and silver'd and looks like Marble The poor are contented with only bare Walls or some course daubing that costs little The middle of the House consists of a large Portico twenty or thirty Foot square and in the middle of the Portico a Fountain full of Water It is all open upon one side and from the Portico to the Pond or Fountain all cover'd with Carpets At every corner of the Portico is a Room to sit and take the fresh Air and behind another large Room the floor whereof is spread with Carpets Mattresses and Cushions according to the quality of the Master of the House Upon the two sides of the Portico are two other Chambers and doors to go from one Chamber to another and thus are the Houses of the great Lords built but only they are more spacious For their Houses consist of four great Parlours that look toward the our corners of the World and every Parlour has two Chambers upon each side which make eight Chambers that surround a great Hall in the middle The King's Palace is also built after the same fashion and generally the Persian Houses are very low it being a rare thing to see one three Stories high Yet all their Chambers and Rooms are arch'd wherein the Persian exceeds us For without all that trouble and time that we spend they will presently raise an Arch so broad and high as easily demonstrates the skill of the Work-man The tops of their Houses are flat and terrass'd being plaster'd with Earth mixt with Straw chopt very small and well temper'd which they bind together with a layer of Lime beat'n for seven days together which makes it as hard as Marble and if they want Lime they pave the Terrass with square Tiles bak'd in an Oven so that the Rain can do no harm But they are very careful to shovel off the Snow for fear it crack the Terrass with lying Without the Houses show nothing but within they are curiously painted with Birds and Flowers wherein the Persians are no bad Artists They take great delight to have several little Chambers with several Doors and Lattice-windows the quarrels whereof are of Glass of various colours This sort of glazing serves generally and indeed more properly for the Apartments where the Women may come For they might have Crystal-windows if they pleas'd but they glaze the void spaces in this manner that their Women may not be seen after they have fram'd the op'n place that gives light like a Flower-Pot with several Flowers in it which the Glass of several colours imitates to the life whereby it is impossible that the Windows should be peer'd through besides that it is pleasant to the Eye The Doors of their Houses are of Tchinar-Wood which is very noble and their Wainscoting is as neat The Persians that love ostentation always display their rich Carpets Mattresses Cushions Coverlets and all the most costly Furniture they have in the fore part of their dwellings For the Haram or the Women's Quarter is but meanly adorn'd in regard they are never visited by any men but their Husbands In some of their Rooms they have very narrow Chimnies for the Persians set all their Wood upright which they burn because of the Smoak besides they make but small Fires in regard they have so great a scarcity of Wood. When they would go to sleep they lye down upon a Plank cover'd with a Carpet and wrap themselves in a quilted Blanket In the Summer they sleep in the open Air upon their Terrasses and in regard the Women lye there too there is an order obtain'd that the Moullahs that sing upon the Mosquèes shall not presume to go up in the morning because it might be their hap to see the Women as they lay it being one of the highest pieces of infamy imaginable for a Woman to be discover'd with her Face op'n There are some Houses that belong to great Lords that have a square place before their Doors where they that come to visit them may put their Horses to the end the Street should not be pester'd If you look upon the Front of their Houses there is little ornament to be seen unless it be upon some which have been lately built CHAP. V. A Description of Ispahan the chief City of the Kingdom and Dominions of the King of Persia. ISpahan Sphahan or Sphaon as the Persians pronounce it which some Travellers have too unwarily affirm'd to be a fine City lyes in the Province of Hierac which composes some part of the ancient Kingdom of the Parthians It is the Capital City of all Persia and a very large place where the King usually keeps his Court. The Records of the Persians declare that formerly it was two contiguous Towns one part whereof belong'd to Haider and the other to Neamed-Olahi two parts of Ispahan still retaining those two names which has occasion'd great quarrels and debates among the people while they have both been eager to prefer their own quarter Nor indeed could Ispahan be accompted other than a Village before Sha-Abas had conquer'd the Kingdoms of Lar and Ormus But then observing so fair a Situation where he might as well be near the Provinces which he had newly conquer'd as for the design which he had to extend his Dominions to the East and West as he had enlarg'd them to the South he quitted Casbin and Sultany to reside at Ispahan as in the center of his Empire This City is seated in a vast plain which extends it self three ways fifteen or twenty Leagues Upon the South about two Leagues from Ispahan rises a very high Mountain on the top whereof toward the West are to be seen the remains of a very strong Fortress where Darius kept himself when Alexander gave Battle to him in that Plain In the side of the Rock is a Grotto either natural or artificial or both out of which issues a natural Spring of excellent Water where a Dervis usually inhabits The Circuit of Ispahan taking the Suburbs all in is not much less than that of Paris but the number of Inhabitants is ten times greater at Paris than at Ispahan Nor is it a wonder that a City should be so large and yet so ill peopl'd where every Family has its particular House and every House its particular Garden What ever way you come to it you may discover first the Towers of the Mosquees and then the Trees that environ the Houses so
Villages as Doors and Windows fitted to be hung up Window-frames Locks and other things of that nature Upon that day also they sell Mules Horses Camels and Asses which brings a great confluence of people from all parts Upon the West side where stands the Gate of the Palace and Ali's Gate between the Canal and the Portico's are rang'd some seventy Pieces of Cannon upon their Carriages These Guns together with the Sun-Dial were brought from Ormus by the Great Sha-Abas of which the English ought to have had their share for without their assistance he never could have tak'n the Town From the corner of that Front which touches upon the Eastern Front of the Mosquee in the middle are all Sadlers Shops and from that Mosquee to another corner that touches upon the Western Front live the Book-sellers Book-binders and Trunk-makers In the middle of the Southern Front stands a Portal with a Tower upon each side which leads to a Mosquee the Gate whereof is cover'd all over with Plates of Silver and is certainly the neatest Portal and fairest Entrance into any Mosquee of Persia. At the other end of the same Front where it joyns to that upon the West there is a great Portal that leads to a false Gate of the King's Palace near to which as soon as you are enter'd you meet with the Apartment of the Great Treasurer who is a white Eunuch and having the Keys of the Chamber where the Money lyes takes care to pay what-ever the King orders him Through that false Gate all the King's Provisions are carry'd into the Palace This way also enter they that are entertain'd for the Manufactury of the King's Tissues Silks Sattins Coverlets and the like In the same Enclosure also the Franks who are under the King's Wages and live at Zulpha come every day to work as also all the most particular and eminent Artists that the King hires The Western Front which makes one of the two lengths of the Meydan is thus appointed from the Southern angle that touches the Trunk-maker's quarter live all your Pedlers that sell all the small Commodities of Norimberg and Venice As for the King's Palace I cannot make any handsom description of it in regard there is nothing of Beauty either in the Building or in the Gardens I think I have been as far in the House as a man could go every time I was sent for by His Majesty but excepting only four Rooms which they call Divans I saw nothing but pitiful low Galleries and so narrow that hardly two men could pass a-brest in ' em In one of those Galleries I had audience of the King in the Garment of Honour which he had bestow'd upon me But in regard I have spok'n of two of them in another place and that the other two are much alike both Building and Furniture I shall say no more of them here From the King's Palace Gate to Haly's Gate live the Goldsmiths Lapidaries and Gravers of Stones for Seals Haly's Gate is a plain Gate naked of Work of which I have already spok'n Between Haly's Gate and the other angle of the same Western Front stands a great Gate which leads into a Bazar where all the Armenians that live at Zulfa keep their Shops and sell all sorts of Cloth that comes out of Europe and other the choicest Wares of Persia. At the end of that Bazar stands a fair Inn two Stories high which the Mother of Sha-Abas the second caus'd to be built In the middle stands a great Fountain with four great Gates which lead into four other Inns. Here by the way let me give a Traveller and a Trader in Persia this advice that if his Goods be not very heavy he never hire a low Chamber as being three times dearer than those above For the Chambers which the Sun lies upon most in the Summer are the Chambers which cost least Not but all the Chambers in the Inn are Tax'd at the same rate by the King but the Host for his profit will find some pretence or other to raise his price pretending those Chambers be hir'd already which you desire especially if they be corner Chambers which are the largest and most commodious And indeed without this collusion Chambers would be very cheap The best convenience of those Inns is that a man is more secure in one of them then in a private House For there if it happ'n that a piece of Goods be stol'n or that your Chapman prove insolvent for Goods bought the Inn-keeper is to make all good being by the Law to receive so many blows a day 'till he pays the sum demanded The Merchant also gives two in the hundred for every thing that he sells and when the Market is done they presently go to the Host who sets down in his Book the quality of his Goods and the names both of buyer and seller If he knows not the buyer he is bound to go and enquire after him and if he be not solvent the Merchant takes his Goods again Sometimes the Merchant to save the two in the hundred combines with the Purchaser to carry away some of his Goods without the knowledge of the Host which is done by greasing his Deputies fist who will presently shut his Eyes But then if the Purchaser proves insolvent the Merchant dares not complain because his Goods are not Register'd in the King's Book whom he has defrauded of his Custom No less secure are the Bazars or Market-places where the Merchants shut up their Shops very slightly the Bazars being strongly guarded both within and without all night long As for the petty Stalls in the Meydan every one puts up his Ware in a Box Padlock'd up and then lay them down at one end of the place one by another As for the course sort of Ware as Tents Cords Ropes and such other things they only heap them under a large Coverlet fasten'd at the four corners by four sticks for the Meydan also is as strongly guarded as the Bazar Between Haly's Gate and that which leads to the Bazar where the Armenians keep their Shops live all those that deal in Russia Leather making Borachio's to tye under the Horses Bellies little Buckets and Furniture for Horse-men as also Bowyers Fletchers and Forbishers From the last Gate to the end of the Gallery live all the Druggists and Apotheearies At the Angle upon the two fronts upon the East and North there is a Gate that leads to the Great Bazar next to that live only your Sails-men that sell whole Habits for men as Shirts Sheets Hose and the like There be also those that sell Leather Shooes for men and women which Shooes are always worn by persons of quality Out of this Bazar you go into another full of men that work in Copper such as make Pots Plates and other Utensils for the Kitchin Here also live those that make Files and the blades of Sythes The rest of the Bazar is possess'd by Dyers of Calicut and
devotion of the Feast Now in regard all Ages and Sexes go there is no time in all the year so favourable for the Women to meet their Gallants In the year 1667. the third of July I saw the Festival by the favour of the Nagar who appointed me a place just against the Déla where the King sate This Déla is a Room built with a jetting upon that side of the Meidan next the Palace Gate one story high Several Pillars sustain the flat bottom or floor of the Déla enrich'd with a Grotesco work of Gold and Azure in the mid'st whereof there was a Fountain that was fill'd with Water by the contrivance of a Pipe The Stage or Déla was op'n upon three sides the longest side jetting out upon the Piazza Upon the Wall of the opposite side which was close were to be seen several English and Hollanders both men and women pictur'd with Bottles and Glasses in their hands as if they were drinking to one another Sha-Abas the second caus'd this Painting to be drawn by a Hollander About sev'n a Clock in the Morning Sha-Sephi the second who since has chang'd his name to Sha-Soliman the second came and seated himself upon his Throne set up in the mid'st of the Déla all his Nobility standing about him So soon as he was sate down the Great Provost appear'd at the end of the Piazza mounted upon a fair Horse attended by certain young Lords who caus'd the people consisting of the Companies of the two quarters of the City which are twelve in all to advance to the places which were design'd them For formerly the Companies would strive for the way and therefore the King to prevent disorder order'd there should be a Provost or Master of the Ceremonies to place them without disturbance As he was about his duty a Horse-man entred the Piazza arm'd with a Bow a Quiver and a Scimitar follow'd by seven Men that carry'd every one a Pike upright in their hands with every one a Man's Head at the top Those were the Heads of certain Usbeck-Tartars the neighbouring and mortal Enemies of the Persians which those men had cut off from the shoulders of their conquer'd Foes The King caus'd five Tomans a piece to be giv'n to them that carry'd the Heads and ten Tomans to their Leader After them enter'd three hundred Turks which were fled from the Borders of Turkie from whence the Country-people were tak'n by force and sent to the Warrs of Candy They complain'd that whereas they were wont to be sent to their Winter-Quarters about the middle of October the Turk kept them to the same hard service in Winter as in Summer All these were order'd to advance into the middle of the Piazza where they made their obeysance to him three times and then humbly besought him that they might dwell in his Kingdom with their Wives their Children and their Cattel The King order'd Money to be distributed among them and that they should have Lands assign'd them to manure Then the Provost caus'd the Companies to advance every Company having the Thill of a Wagon carry'd before him upon every of which Thills was a Bier three or four Foot high the Wood of the Thill being painted with a Grotesco of Gold and Silver and the Bier cover'd with Sattin When the first Company had order to march three Horses were led before richly harness'd when they were come about a hundred Paces forward into the Piazza in view of the King they that led the Horses caus'd them to gallop and then all the Company fell a running and dancing about with the Bier Besides that every one flung up his short Cassock his Girdle and Bonnet put their fingers in their mouths to whistle as loud as they could While the naked people with their Flint-stones in their hands ran knocking their Stones together crying out Hussein Hocen Hocen Hussein 'till they foam at the mouth again not omitting to wryth their Bodies and to make all the scurvy Faces as before describ'd The three Companies succeeding one another in the same Formalities by and by came two Companies more with a little Bier upon their Thills and in each Bier a little Child that lay as if dead They that accompany'd these two Biers wept and sigh'd most sadly These two Infants represented the Children of Hussein who when the Prophet was slain were tak'n by Yerid Caliph of Bagdat and put to death Upon this occasion you shall see a great number of Curtisans that come to the Ceremony fall a weeping who thereby believe their Sins are forgiv'n When all the people were come into the Piazza notwithstanding all the care and good order that was tak'n there were several that went to Sharps accounting it a great honour to fight smartly in the King's presence and farther believing that if any one be kill'd upon that occasion he shall be Sainted as indeed every one gives something toward his Interrment The Grand Provost seeing the Quarrel grow hot and fearing more mischief sent for five Elephants which ceas'd the Combat by drawing the Eyes of the Spectators upon them The Elephants march'd one before another according to their Pay that was allow'd them and their skill in War Not that the King of Persia makes any use of them in the Field but only for State keeps such as the Indian Princes present him withal Those five Elephants were cover'd with Houses of Cloth of Gold with a Fringe of the same round about And upon the first which was the highest and the biggest sate two Men the one upon the neck who guides the Elephant the other upon the crupper carrying the King's Arm 's in a Standard fix'd to a Half-Pike Upon the other four sate only one Man a-piece who were the Governours When they came before the place where the King sate they were all rank'd five a-brest at what time the biggest which was in the middle stretch'd out his two fore-legs forward and his two hinder-legs backward 'till his belly almost touch'd the ground after which manner the Elephant makes his obeysance The other four did the same Then laying their Trunks upon the ground and raising them again over their heads three times more they were made to stand with their heads where their tayls stood and their Houses were turn'd up to the end the King might see in what condition they were and whether well look'd after or no which being done they were led away again Upon one side of the Room where the King stood a little Scaffold was set up cover'd with Tap'stry some five Foot lower than the Kings In the middle of the Scaffold stood a great Elbow-Chair cover'd with black Velvet where sate a Moullah with six other Moullah's round about him The Moullah made a Discourse upon the Death of Hussein and Hocen of about half an hour long which being ended the King caus'd a Calaat or Habit of Honour to be giv'n him as also to the others though not so rich When they had
receiv'd every one then labour'd to testifie their joy for his return They sent him Horses Mules Camels rich Carpets and every thing fit to furnish a Lords house But all this while he wanted money which because he could not meet with among the Persians he was forc'd to have recourse to the Armenians of whom he desir'd to borrow five or six hunder'd Tomans As for the Kalenter he would have had the sum lent but the rest would not Thereupon the King taking a walk to Zulpha Ali-Couli-Kan put it into his head to go and see the great Cathedral belonging to the Armenians where several Bishops with several Monks reside The King entring into the Church where the Bishop stood ready at the head of the Clergy to receive him and seeing all things new and strange as coming but lately out of the womens Haram ask'd his favourite what sort of people those were clad in such an extraordinary manner Ali-Couli-Kan told him they were Devils Devils said the King What! added he dost bring me into a house of Devils The King thus incens'd against the Armenians resolv'd to force 'em to turn Mahumetans But Ali-Couli-Kan being a Georgian repenting that he had rais'd the Kings indignation to so high a pitch and not believing it would be any advantage to him for the Armenians to turn Mahumetans contented himself only with frighting them which was enough to bring the Armenians upon their knees and to make them come and beg the Intercession of his authority Which favour as he order'd it cost the Armenians ten thousand Tomans to the King and four or five thousand Tomans to his Favourite The 23. of September 1677. the King made a Cavalcade then which there could be nothing imagin'd more magnificent All the richest Furniture was brought out of the Exchequer into the Meydan The golden buckets to water the Horses The golden Fat out of which they take the water together with the buckles harness and nails of gold to which the Horses are ty'd After the King had play'd at Mall as I have already describ'd and had also shot at the Goblet upon the top of the Mast in the middle of the Meydan he went and fate in the Divan which is over the Gate call'd Ali Capi where he had the pastime to see Lyons Bulls Bears Tygres and Rams fight But that which was most admirable was to see a man stand upright upon the Saddle while the horse ran full speed which he did three times the whole length of the Meydan The first time 't is true he fell but the two last times he stood firm On day the same Ali-Couli-Kan presented two handsom Youths to the King which had both delicate voices The King hearing them sing was very much troubl'd that he could not make use of them in his Haram which Ali-Couli-Kan observing sent for a French Chirurgeon and promis'd him a great reward if he could cut the youths and save their lives The Chirurgeon for lucre of a large recompence cut them both and cur'd 'em very well Which done Ali-Couli-Kan presented the two youths to the King who was surpriz'd to see them but was well pleas'd that he had got two such new attendants in his Haram But see the reward of such a wicked action Ali-Couli-Kan dy'd soon after The Chirurgeon never was pay'd and being advis'd to present a Petition to the King by the Meter the Meter ask'd him whither he would turn Mahometan which when the Chirurgeon deny'd to do the Meter bid him be gone like a Rascal telling him withall that he did not think the Religion of the Christians had permitted such acts of villany The two youths were born at Cashan and had both Fathers and Mothers and were promis'd in Marriage When their Parents heard of it they came to Ispahan to weep over their Children Which the King observing to appease their sorrow gave them a Pension during life CHAP. IX Of the Government of Persia. THE Government of Persia is purely Despotick or Tyrannical For the King has the sole powre of life and death over all his Subjects independent from his Council and without any Trials or Law-proceedings He can put to what death he pleases the chief Lords of the Kingdom no man daring to dispute the reason nor is there any Soveraign in the world more absolute then the King of Persia. The King deceasing and leaving Male Issue behind him the Eldest ascends the Throne while his Brothers are kept in the Haram and their eyes are put out and if there be the least suspicion of any contrivance against the King they are forthwith put to death without any farther examination And not only they but the Children also of the Kings Brothers and Sisters I remember when I first travell'd into Persia they were not so rigorous but were contented to move a red hot iron to and fro before their eyes But Sha-Sefi perceiving his command had bin negligently executed and that the poor unhappy Princes had some sight left them he order'd their eyes to be digg'd out of their heads Sha-Sefi's cruelty went yet farther for he spar'd not his Eldest Son Sha Abbas the lawful Heir to his Throne ordering one of his Eunuchs to move an Iron before his eyes no man being able to tell the reason But the Eunuch compassionating the young Prince did indeed move an Iron but not a red hot Iron before his Eyes and teaching him to counterfeit himself blind preserv'd his sight till his Father lay upon his death-bed at which time his Father was very penitent for having put out the eyes of his Eldest Son to whom the Throne of right belong'd The Eunuch seeing the King so sadly afflicted and ready to give up the ghost assur'd him that he would restore the Prince to his sight and to comfort him at his death brought the Prince with perfect eyes to the bed side The sight of which prolong'd the Kings life till next day and gave him time to command all the Grandees of the Court to obey Sha Abbas his Eldest Son as his lawful Successor and their King But to return to these blind Princes There were several at Ispahan when I was there and I knew one particularly who is still alive and is a person of excellent natural parts As blind as he is he is a great lover of Curiosities and has built him a House in Ispahan which is worthy a mans sight He is overjoy'd when any person brings him any rarities out of Europe feeling them in his hands and causing his Eunuchs which are very apprehensive to tell him the meaning of every thing He is a great admirer of Clock-work and Watches and can tell by his finger when a Watch is right in the Case To know what a Clock it is he has little points set up in the Dial-plate and a half hand to the end he may not be deceiv'd which part of the hand points to the hour By means of certain figures which he makes of
persists in her demand is many times so severely us'd by him that she is constrain'd to cry I' th Devils name let me go I demand nothing of thee Then they both repair to the Casi or Cheit-Lesloon who is a Doctor of the Law and in his presence they discharge one another This they may do by their Law three times After that the same woman can never return to her Husband again The Children derive their Nobility from the Father whither he be born of a Slave or an Amoutha or a Legitimate wife The Nobility of the Persians which is call'd Negabet is founded upon their being descended from Mahomet They who claim that extraction have the title of Mir or Prince and their Daughters carry the appellation of Mirza or Princess They are very numerous and very poor But the title of Mir without a good Estate or high Employment signifies little or nothing CHAP. XIX Of the Death and Burials of the Persians 'T Is the Custome among the Persians that when the Patient lyes very dangerously ill they light several fires upon the Terrass of the House to give the People notice to pray for him So soon as the breath is out of his body the whole house rings with cries and lamentations especially of the women who tear their hair and shew such antick postures that a man would think them possess'd In the midst of their tears they make long repetitions of the worthy actions of the deceas'd and every foot they set up a yelling Then they go and advertize the Casi that such a one is dead to whom the Casi answers Sarchoama Salamet-Bashet May your head be in safety In the mean while he seals a Licence to the Mourderchour to take the body and wash it in a house which is built on purpose near a running water After that come a great number of Moullah's with the Ensigns of the Mosquee which are long staffs like Pikes at the end whereof are thin plates of Iron and Latten so weak that they bend downward with the least motion the bodies of the staves being wrapt about with certain pieces of Taffata These Moullahs tear their throats crying out Alla Alla Alla repeating nothing else and dancing sometimes upon one foot and sometimes upon another and because they that baul loudest get the most money they put their thumbs in their ears with their fingers upon their cheeks and tear their throats with all the force they have The body being wash'd the cloaths of the deceas'd belong to the Mourderchour When they carry the Beire it is the custome that every one that meets it proffers their shoulders to help carry while the others ease themselves for which the Kindred of the deceas'd make some acknowledgment If he be a person of Quality all his Horses are bridl'd and saddl'd and others perhaps borrow'd One carries his Turban another his Scimitar another his Bow another his Arrows another his Buckler and whatever else is of any use to set forth his Quality and his Courage The biggest Church-yard that belongs to Ispahan is Calreston but there is not one handsome Tomb in it The Armenians lay a great stone over the grave and the rich set up an Arch with four Pillars under which they eat and drink in the shade when they visit the Tombs of their Ancestors Their graves are six foot long six foot deep and two foot wide wherein they lay the bodies with their faces turn'd toward Mecca and then they set up two tiles of each side his face to keep the earth from falling upon it If he be a rich man or have been a stout Souldier they bury with him his Turbant Scimitar Bow and Arrows and set Victuals by him which part of the hole being made up with brick the rest is fill'd up with earth The Moulla's alone return to the house of the deceas'd where they have meat set before 'em and are also farther pay'd for their singing and bawling A while after the Kindred coming to visit the Heir discourse him upon the contempt of the world tell him that it is but as a Caravan some of which arrive sooner at their journeys end then others Eight days after the Heir returns their visits As for the Grandees they order in their Wills that their bodies shall be either carry'd to Mecca or Meshed As well the Persians as the Turks believe that as soon as the grave is fill'd that the two Angels Neguir and Manguer revive the dead as far as his wast ask him the reason of Faith and which way he said his Prayers and that according to his merits they use him well or ill As for the torment of Souls before the Resurrection that only consists in a grief for not having arriv'd to those perfections and Sciences to which they might have attain'd and consequently for not having attain'd to that perfection which God requir'd of them Others hold that the Souls of the unfortunate are tormented with Dreams and Visions but that the Souls of the happy always enjoy the sight of pleasing objects till the Saheb-el-zaman or Master of time shall come to confirm the Law of Mahomet who shall kill Dedgar who is like our Antichrist with his own hand at which time all then alive shall dye in an instant and then shall happen the general Resurrection which they call Moavedet-hechre That the same Bodies and Souls shall unite to appear at the day of Judgment before the Throne of the great Judge of the world and that to go thither they must pass over a bridge call'd Polserat sharper then the edge of a razor which nevertheless the Mussulmen shall pass over without any danger with the swiftness of a bird But that misbelievers shall fall as soon as ever they set their feet upon it and shall fall into a torrent of fire among a thousand Devils arm'd with Cramp Irons Pincers and tenter-hooks So that it is a kind of a Proverb among the Persians if a man cannot obtain of another the Justice of his bargain or to yield to right Well says he before thou passest Polserat thou shalt restore it me double for I will take hold of thy Coat and hinder thee from getting over till thou hast given me satisfaction But the craftier sort laugh at this and make answer with a smile Well well we will venture stumbling as we pass over Polserat The Porter of Paradise whom they call Rusuen shall open them the gate There they shall sit upon the banks of the great Kausser which is a fountain where their Prophet shall give them of the water to drink out of a Ladle and that afterwards they shall have a great number of women created on purpose for them with all sorts of most delicious food And for fear of fouling this place of recreation and holiness with the excrements of eating and drinking they say that those things shall always evacuate in a persum'd sweat and that they themselves shall always remain in that
are a great number of Niches that are opposit to the Pillars and were certainly the places where the ancient Persians put their Idols Thence you come to Tche-elminar where are to be seen a great many old Columns some standing and some lying upon the ground and some ill-shap'd Statues with little four-square dark rooms All which together easily perswades me who have well consider'd the principal Pagods of Iudia that Tche-elminar was only a Temple formerly dedicated to Idolatrous worship And that which confirms my opinion is that there is no place more proper for an Idolatrous Temple then this by reason of the abundance of water Besides that the dark Rooms could be no other then the Chambers for the Priests and where the Rice and Fruits that were the feigned nourishment of the Idols were the better secur'd from goats and flies Leaving Tche-elminar you come to lye at a Village half a league farther where is very good Wine From thence to Schiras is a hard days journey especially when the Snow begins to melt for then the Road looks like a little Sea CHAP. XXI Of the City of Schiras THE City of Schiras lies in 78 degr 15 min. of Longitude and 29 deg 36 min. of Latitude It is seated in a Plain that extends it self about four leagues from the North to the South and from the West to the East about five leagues Upon the South-east there is a Lake of salt water four leagues in compass leaving the Plain as you travel to the South you pass between two Mountains which are not so close but that they leave room for certain pleasant Valleys a league and a half wide The Soil about Schiras is good and fruitful and it is particularly famous for the most excellent Wines of all Persia. As for the City it self there is nothng handsome in it for it looks rather like a Town half ruin'd then a City Formerly it was begirt with walls of Earth which are now utterly decaid The Houses are of the same Earth dri'd in the Sun and whiten'd over with lime so that when it happens to rain when the Earth comes to be well moisten'd the Houses fall of themselves Only the Colledg which Iman-Kouli-Kan built and some of the Mosquees are are of Brick and the best of those Mosquees is call'd Sha-Shiraque which out of a particular devotion is kept somewhat better in repair However there is nothing in it worth taking notice of Upon the Northeast side the City runs within a quarter of a league of the Mountain and from a Stone-bridg as you go out of the City to the foot of the Mountain is a long Street in a streight line where there stands a Mosquee built by Iman-Kouli-Kan Without it appears fair enough but within it falls to ruine There is an Octogonal Piazza before the Gate and in the middle of the Piazza an Octogonal Vase which is fill'd by a little stream that runs through the Street from the Mountain Both sides of the Street from the Mosquee to the Mountain are wall'd in and at certain spaces are great Gates one against another with rooms over them the Windows whereof open into the Gardens behind the walls all along by which runs a row of Cypress-trees in a direct line and in the middle of the Street about two hunder'd paces on this side the Mosquee is another Vase which receives the same water as it runs from the Mountain This Street was made by Iman-Kouli-Kan after he had cut the Mountain at the end of it to shorten the way from Schiras to Ispahan There are in Schiras three or four Glass-houses where they make great and small Bottles to transport the Sweet-waters that are made in the City There are also made the several sorts of Vessels wherein they pickle their fruits of all sorts which they send in great quantities into India to Sumatra Batavia and other places There is no Silk made nor any other manufacture in Schiras only there are some few Chites or Painted-cloaths made there which nevertheless are very coarse and in use only among the meaner sort As you go out of the City upon the North-west side you meet with a long Alley or Walk in three parts whereof are plac'd three Stones which they call Mills At the end of this walk is a Garden call'd Bay-Sha or the King's Garden Over the Gate whereof is a great Room half ruin'd and at the end of a large Walk planted with Cypress-trees stands a neat piece of building but altogether neglected Upon the left-hand whereof is a great Pond pav'd with Free-stone being all the beauties of the Garden which it is true was full of Fruit-trees Roses and Jasmins yet for want of order it look'd like a Wilderness From the Garden to the Hill is a Plain of two leagues long and one broad which is all but one large Vinyard belonging to several persons Beyond the Vinyard rise very high Mountains from whence fall several little Springs that form a River which is call'd Bend-Emir from the name of a Town where the biggest Spring rises This River of Bend-Emir waters the whole Vineyard of Schiras where it never rains from Spring till Autumn which is the reason that in the Summer there is no water in the very Channel next the City Their Wines are the best in Persia but there is not so great a quantity made as people imagin For of all this great Vineyard and in all the places round about the City for four or five leagues together good part of the Grapes are dri'd and a greater quantity pickl'd and of the Wine there are many Vessels full which are burnt for the benefit of the poor Travellers and Carriers who find it a great refreshment to drink it with water Their Wine as all other things is sold by weight and not by measure In the year 1666 a most plentiful year for Wine the Provision of the King's House amounted to 50000 Mens of Keukné or the ancient Men containing nine pound of ours at sixteen ounces to the pound being the only weight for Wine and the King allows as much to the Franks as for his own Houshold The Jews of Schiras who boast themselves of the Tribe of Levi make above a hunder'd and ten thousand Mens it being their chiefest livelihood but the Governour of Schiras knows how to share with them in their profit The whole account of Wine made at Schiras amounts to 200025 Mens or 4125 Tuns at three hunder'd pints to the Tun. In Schiras is an ancient Mosquee wherein is the Sepulcher of a Sadi whom the Persians esteem the best of their Poets It has been a very fair one accompani'd with a large Building which was once a Colledg but it runs to ruine as do also many other Edifices within the City Just against this Mosquee you descend by a pair of Stairs into a large Well at the bottom whereof is a Vase full of Fish which no-body dares to touch it being Sacriledg
another sort of Fowl like the great Partridges in their bodies but their legs and feet resemble those of wild Ducks The Camels take this Road because it is impossible for them to pass the Mountain Jarron over which the Horses and Mules are hardly able to travel I set out from Moushek the 21 th of March at two in the morning and having travell'd till eight through a plain but stony Countrey I came to the little City of Jarron which is rather to be call d a Forrest of Palm-trees that bear excellent Dates I lodg'd in an Inn five hunder'd paces from the City and staid there two days The 24 th setting out presently after midnight I travell'd a good hour and then I began to mount the steep Mountain of Jarron which is very high and very long but the descent is the most dangerous that ever I saw in all my Travels and besides that the Moon did not shine Being at the top after you have descended three or four hunder'd paces you meet with a Bridg of one Arch that reaches from one Mountain to another a bold piece of Architecture not enough to be admir'd being rais'd at the charges of Iman-Kouli-Kan for the benefit of Travellers Being come to the bottom of this you must pass two others as steep in their ascent as in the descent upon the top of one of which stands a Cistern which though it be very large is generally emptied by the end of the Summer Upon these Mountains there is such an infinite quantity of Partridg that a man cannot miss that will but shoot By eight in the Morning I came to an Inn which is call'd Shakal which is a-lone House in a Desert Countrey but stor'd with bitter Almond-trees and Turpentine-trees Approaching neer to the Inn you meet with two or three Cisterns which are a great comfort to Travellers water being very scarce upon this Road. There are at Shakal nine or ten Radar's for the Guard of the Road who are also Masters of the Inn So soon as you are alighted they ask you if you will eat any Kid being sure of their blow and having no more to do but to go to the Mountain and fetch one where they swarm There are store of Partridges which are almost as big as Pullets of which you may easily kill as many as you please The 25 th I travell'd five hours from morning till noon An hour after I took Horse I met with a Mountain the descent whereof was very steep They call it the Mountain of Hâ—shen at the foot whereof is a Fountain of excellent water A good league farther you meet with a fair Inn call'd Mouezeré in the midst of a pleasant Grove where there is an excellent Spring of water but because there is no food to be had you must go as far as Detadombé a Village seated in a plain A quarter of a league on this side upon the top of a Mountain appears the ruins of an old Castle the Village it self being surrounded with Palm-trees The Inn is a good one provided with a very good Cistern The 25 th I travell'd through a plain for three hours and stopt at Banarou a little City well built at the foot of a high Mountain upon which appears the remains of a large Castle Bonarou is the Frontier Town of the Province of Fars bordering upon the Province of Lar. The 26 th I departed an hour after midnight and travell'd till nine in the morning partly through the Plain and partly through the Mountains where I saw an old Tower for the guard of the Road. I staid at Bihry a little City seated upon a plain that borders upon a high Mountain The Inn is new and very magnificently built by the Mother of Aimas Kan of Lar when the great Sha-Abbas took this Countrey from the Gaures whom he constrain'd to turn Mahumetans The 27 th I set out at four of the Clock in the morning and about seven I past through a Village seated in a small plain A league from thence I lodg'd in an Inn call'd Pai-Cotali that is to say the foot of the Mountain as being built at the foot of the Mountain From thence to Lar is not above four or five hours travelling but the way is very bad and several swift Torrents are to be past over You may take another Road from Bihry upon the right-hand toward the West it is the shorter way by two or three leagues but so bad and so narrow that in many places two Horsemen cannot ride a-brest being for the most part all Rocks and Precipices Lar is the Capital City of the Province of the same name which formerly bore the title of a Kingdom It is but of an ordinary bigness enclos'd on both sides with high Mountains being built round about a Rock upon which there stands a Castle of Free-stone wherein the King keeps a Garrison The whole Country is very hot nor have they any water but Rain water which they preserve in Cisterns and which sometimes causes a wide Torrent that runs by one side of the City and falls from a Cascade two stories high made of Free-stone In the City and parts adjacent grow a great number of trees especially Date trees and Tamarisk The Gardens also and Mountains are full of Orange trees There are but two Inns in Lar the one within the City which is not a very good one the other at the end of the City toward Ormus which would be convenient but that it is always afloat when the Rains fall for which reason the Franks generally lye at the Hollanders House at the end of the City And there is a necessity for staying at Lar to change the Camels for the Camels that come from Ispahan can go no further every City having their particular priviledges Which sometimes proves prejudicial to the Merchant in regard the Governour will delay the change of the Camels till he is presented The Fortress of Lar takes up the whole surface of the top of the Rock and there is but one way to climb it up with great difficolty It is more long than broad and the four corners are fortifi'd with four Bastions or Bulwarks between which are rais'd several Towers for the Souldiers Lodgings That Fortress is the Royal Prison whither the King sends such Prisoners as he takes in war or surprizes by stratagem I met with two there one a Prince of Georgia the other of Mengrelia The two Princes had each of them a Toman a day allow'd them and ten or twelve Servants to wait upon them Upon one of the corners of the Castle toward the West was built a Banquetting House with three or four Chambers In the middle of the Court stands the Magazine full of Bows and Arrows Bucklers and Muskets enough to arm fifteen hundred men For the Inhabitants of the Province but more especially of the City of Lar are accounted the best Musqueteers in Persia and the best at making the Barrels of Muskets
General and his Wife could keep so private a Daughter that was so incomparably fair that it should not come to the Kings knowledg At length he lov'd her so tenderly that not being able to deny her the liberty of Reigning one whole day in his place he gave her leave to share with him afterwards in the Government And she it was that gave motion to all the most important Affairs of State the King excusing himself to the Grandee's of his Court who wonder'd why he let the Queen bear so great a sway by telling them that she was fit for the Government and that it was time for him to take his ease Fig. 1 and 2. is as all the rest are the backside of the Twelve Signs Fig. 1. is the backside of the Ram. and Fig. 2. of Cancer Both of them signifie the same thing it being the Name of the King Queen and City where they were stamp'd These two were coln'd at Amadabat The Gold Silver and Copper Money which the Portugals coin in the East Indies THe Gold which the Portugals Coin in Goa is better than our Louisse's of Gold and weighs one grain more than our half Pistol At the time when I was in Goa this piece was worth four Roupies or six Franks They hold it up at so Portugall Money Muscovie Money high a rate to the end the Merchants who come from all the Coasts of India thither with their Wares may not transport it out of the Countrey This piece is called St. Thomas Formerly when the Portuguez had the Trade of Japon Macassar Sumatra China and Mosambique which they still preserve and is the place whither the Indians bring the Gold of the Abassins and Saba it was a wonderful thing to see the quantity of Gold which the Portuguez Coin'd and the several pieces of workmanship which they fram'd in Gold and sent into Forreign Countreys even to the West-Indies by the way of the Philippine Islands But now they have no other places but only Mosambique to furnish them with Gold they keep up those Pieces called St. Thomass's at a very high rate lest they should be carried out of the Countrey as I said before They have also Silver Pieces which they call Pardos which go for the value of 27 Sous of our Money As also a great quantity of small Copper and Tin-Money not much unlike that of the Kings already mentioned which they thread upon strings in particular numbers The Gold and Silver Money of Muscovy I Have observed in my Relations that in all parts of our Europe where they Coin Money there are great Sums transported all over Asia where they go currantly But for the Money of Muscovy there is great loss in transporting it any where else because the Prince enhances it to so high a value The pieces as well of Gold as Silver are very good Metal for the Gold in worth is somewhat higher than our Lewis Fig. 1 and 2. This piece of Gold weighs 14 Grains and to take the Gold at 48 Grains the Ounce would amount to 20 Sous one Deneer and one half-peny of our Money But going in Muscovy for 24 Sous there would be nineteen and an half loss to transport it any where else Fig. 3 and 4. Is a piece of Silver that weighs eight Grains and to take an Ounce of Silver at three Livres ten Sous it comes to a Sous of our Money But in the Countrey you have but fifty of these pieces or at most sometimes fifty two for one of our Crowns or a Real of Spain or an High-German Rixdollar Fig. 5 and 6. Is a piece of Silver also which only goes in Muscovy But I cannot tell in what Province it is Coin'd in regard there are no Arms upon it and that the most knowing persons to whom I shewed them could not tell me what the Characters meant which makes me think it is very ancient The piece weighs 25 Grains which comes to three of our Sous one Deneer and one half-peny This is all that I could collect of most certainty concerning the Money and Coins of the East during the long course of my Travels Nor do I believe that any person has undertaken before me to write upon the same Subject If any one of my Readers desires to see the real Pieces themselves as well in Gold and Silver as in Tin Copper Shells and Almonds he may without question obtain the Favour from Monsieur the first President to whose Study I devoted them all together with certain Medals of which that Supreme Senator most skilful in Antiquity has great store being still curious in searching after what is rare The end of the Coins TRAVELS IN INDIA The First Book What Roads to take in Travelling from Ispahan to Agra from Agra to Dehly and Gehanabatt where the Great Mogul Resides at present And how to Travel also to the Court of the King of Golconda to the King of Visapour and to many other Places in the Indies CHAP. I. The Road from Ispahan to Agra through Gomron Where is particularly describ'd the manner of Sailing from Ormus to Suratt IN this Relation of my Indian I will observe the same Method as in the Recital of my Persian Travels and begin with the description of the Roads which lead you from Ispahan to Dehly and Gehanadatt where the Great Mogul Resides at present Though the Indies stretch themselves front Persia for the space of above 400 Leagues together from the Ocean to that long Chain of Mountains that runs through the middle of Asia from the East to the West and which was known to Antiquity by the Name of Mount Caucasus or Mount Taurus yet there are not so many ways to travel out of Persia into the Indies as there are to travel out of Turky into Persia by reason that between Persia and the Indies there are nothing but vast Sands and Desarts where there is no water to be found So that you have but two Roads to choose in going from Ispahan to Agra The one is partly by Land and partly by Sea taking Ship at Ormus The other altogether by Land through Candahar The first of these two Roads is amply describ'd as far as Ormus at the end of my first Book of my Persian Travels So that I am now only to speak of the manner of Sailing from Ormus to Suratt There is no Sailing at all times upon the Indian as upon the European Seas You must observe the proper seasons which being elaps'd there is no more venturing The Months of November December January February and March are the only Months in the year to Embark from Ormus to Suratt and from Suratt to Ormus But with this difference that there is no stirring from Suratt after the end of February but you may Sail from Ormus till the end of March or the fifteenth of April For then the Western-winds that bring rain along with them into India begin to blow During the first four Months there blows
to Gate costes 3 Gate is a strait passage of the Mountains a quarter of a league in length the descent whereof leads from Surat to Agra At the entry thereof you see the ruins of two or three Castles and the Road is so narrow that two Waggons can hardly go a breast They that come from the South to go to Agra as from Surat Goa Visapore Golconda Maslipatan and other places cannot avoid these streights there being no other Road but this especially if you take the Road from Amadabat Formerly there was a Gate at each end of the streight and at that end which is next to Agra there are five or six Shops of Banians that sell Flower Butter Rice Herbs and Pulse In my last Travels I staid at one of these Shops to carry for the Coaches and Waggons all the Passengers alighting at the foot of the Streights Not far off there is a great Magazin full of sacks of Rice and Corn and behind every sack lay a Serpent thirteen or fourteen foot long and proportionable in bigness A Woman that went to fetch Corn out of one of those sacks was bitten by one of those Serpents and perceiving her self wounded ran out of the Magazin crying out Ram Ram that is O God O God whereupon several Banians men and women came running to her relief and bound her arm very hard above the wound thinking to stop the venom from running any higher But all in vain for immediately her face swell'd and turn'd black and she dy'd in less than an hour The Ragipou's who are the best Souldiers among the Indians and are all Idolaters came in just as the woman was expiring and about four of them entring with their Skains and Half-pikes in their hands into the Magazin kill'd the Serpent The people of the Village took and threw it without the Town and immediately there came a great number of Birds of prey which lighting upon the Carrion devour'd it in less than an hours time The Parents of the woman took her body carri'd it to the River wash'd it and then burnt it I was forc'd to stay two days at that place because there was a River to pass which instead of falling swell'd at that time by reason of the rains that fell for three or four days together So that I was constrain'd to go half a league lower before I could cross it They always endeavour'd to ford this River for otherwise they must be compell'd to unload the Waggon into the Boats and also to carry the Goods in their arms for above half a league which is worse way than can be imagin'd The people get their livings by the Passengers from whom they extort as much as they can there being none but they that know the ways Otherwise it would be an easy thing to make a Bridg there being no want either of Wood or Stone near at hand For the passage is nothing but thorough Rocks that lie between the Mountain and the River so that the waters when they swell overflow all the Road in-so-much that no-body can pass it but they who are very well acquainted with it From Gate to Nader costes 4 Nader is a great City upon the descent of a Mountain at the top whereof is a kind of a Fortress all the Mountain being encompast with walls The greatest part of the Houses as in all other Cities of India are thatch'd with straw one Story high but the Rich-men's Houses are two Stories and terrass'd Round about the City are several great Ponds to be seen which were formerly encompast with hewn-stone but now are not at all look'd after yet there are very fair Monuments about them The same River which we past the day before and which we repass four or five Costes on this side Nader encompasses three parts of the City and Mountain like a Peninsula and after a long winding-course which it takes falls at length into Ganges At Nader they make a great quantity of quilted-Coverlets some white others embroidered with Flowers of Gold Silk and Satin From Nader to Barqui-sera costes 9 From Barqui-sera to Trie costes 3 From Trie to Goualeor costes 6 Goualeor is a great City ill-built like all the rest after the manner of the Indians it is built all along the side of a Mountain that lies upon the West-side of it and which at the top is encompast with Walls and Towers There are in this Enclosure several Ponds made by the rains and what they sow there is sufficient to keep the Garrison For which reason it is esteem'd one of the best in the Indies Upon the descent of the Hill which looks towards the North-east Cha-jehan built an House of Pleasure from whence there is a Prospect over all the City and indeed it may serve for a Garrison Below the House are to be seen several Idols cut out of the Rock representing the shapes of their Gods And among the rest there is one of an extraordinary heighth Since the Mahometan Kings became Masters of this Countrey this Fortress of Goualeor is the place where they secure Princes and great Noblemen Cha-jehan coming to the Empire by foul-play caus'd all the Princes and Lords whom he mistrusted to be seiz'd one after another and sent them to the Fortress of Goualeor but he suffer'd them all to live and enjoy their Estates Aureng-zeb his Son acts quite otherwise For when he sends any great Lord to this place at the end of nine or ten days he orders him to be poison'd and this he does that the people may not exclaim against him for a bloody Prince So soon as he had in his clutches Prince Morat-Bakche his youngest Brother whom he engaged to take Arms against his Father Cha-jehan and who being Governour of the Province of Guzerat took upon him the Title of King he sent him to this Fortress where he dy'd They have made him a most magnificent Monument in the City in a Mosquee which they built on purpose with a great Piazza before it all surrounded with Vaults and Shops over them For it is the custom of the Indians when they rear any publick Building to make a great Piazza before it where they keep their Markets with a Foundation for the Poor to whom they give Alms every day as being to pray to God for him that rais'd the Fabrick Five Cost's from Goualeor you ford a River which is call'd Lantké From Goualeor to Paterki-sera costes 3 From Paterki-sera to Quariqui-sera costes 10 There is a Bridg at Paterki-sera consisting of six wide Arches and the River you go over is call'd Quarinado From Quariki-sera to Dolpoura costes 6 At Dolpoura there is a great River which is call'd Chammelnadi to which there belongs a Ferry-Boat The River it self falls into the Gemena between Agra and Halabas From Dolpoura to Minasqui-sera costes 6 At Minasqui-sera there is a River which is call'd Jagounadi You pass it over a very long Bridg built of Stone the name whereof is Jaoulcapoul From
that were upon the Trees to the number of sixty came down in a great fury to have leap'd into the Presidents Coach where they would soon have strangled him had we not prevented them by closing the Shutters and had we not had a great number of Servants that with much ado kept them off And though they came not to my Coach yet I was very much afraid of my self for they pursued the President 's Coach above a League and they were stout lusty Monkeys From Amadabat to Panser costes 13 From Panser to Masana costes 14 From Masana to Chitpour costes 14 Chitpour is a very good City so called by reason of the great Trade for painted-Calicuts which are called Chites Near which some four or five-hundred paces toward the South there runs a small River Arriving at Chitpour in one of my Voyages I pitch'd my Tent under two or three Trees at the end of a wide-place neer the Town A little while after I saw four or five Lions appear which were brought to be tam'd which they told me took them up five or six months and their way to do it is this They tye the Lions at twelve paces distance one from another by the hinder-legs with a Rope fasten'd to a great woodden-stake set deep in the ground with another cord about the neck which the Master holds in his hand These Stakes are planted in the same Line and in another Parallel they stretch out another Cord as long as the space which the bodies of the Lions so dispos'd of as I have describ'd take up The two Cords which hold the Lion ty'd by the two hinder-feet give him liberty to spring out as far as that long Cord which is a mark to those that stand to provoke and incense the Lions by throwing stones and pieces of wood at them not to venture any farther The people run to see the sight and when the Lion provok'd gives a spring toward the Cord the Master holds another in his hand ty'd about his neck that pulls him back Thus they accustom the Lion by degrees to be familiar with the people and at my coming to Chiapour I saw this Divertisement without stirring out of my Coach The next day I had another meeting with a knot of Faquirs or Mahometan Dervichs I counted fifty-seven among whom he that was the Chief or Superior had been Grand Esquire to Cha-jehan-guir having left the Court when Sultan Boulaki his youngest Son was strangl'd by Order of Cha-jehan there were four others who next to the Superior were chief of the Company who had been also great Lords in the same Cha-jehan's Court All the Cloaths those five Dervichs had were only four ells of Orange-colour-Calicut to hide what modesty will have hid before and behind and every one of them a Tygers-skin over their shoulders ty'd together under their chins They had led before them eight fair Horses saddl'd and bridl'd three whereof had Bridles of Gold and Saddles cover'd with Plates of Gold and the other five had Bridles of Silver cover'd with Plates of Silver and a Leopard's-skin upon every one The other Dervichs had only a Cord for their Girdle to which was fasten'd a piece of Calicut only to cover their private parts Their hair was ty'd in wreaths round about their heads after the manner of a Turbant They were all well-arm'd the most part with Bows and Arrows some with Muskets and others with Half-pikes with another sort of weapon which we have not in Europe that is to say a sharp piece of Iron like the side of a Platter without a bottom which they wind eight or ten times about their necks and carry like a Calves Chaldron They draw out these Iron-Circles as they intend to make use of them and they will throw them with such a force against a man that they shall fly as swift as an Arrow and go very neer to cut a man in two in the middle They had every one besides all this an Hunting-Horn which they wind making a prodigious noise when they come to any place and when they go away together with a Grater or Rasp being an Iron-Instrument made like a Trowel This is an Instrument which the Indians carry generally about them when they travel to scrape and make clean the places where they intend to rest and some of them when they have scrap'd all the dust together into an heap make use of it instead of a Mattress or Pillow to lie easily upon There were some of them that were arm'd with long Tucks which they had bought either of the English or Portugals Their Luggage consisted of four great Chests full of Persian and Arabian Books and some Kitchen-housholdstuff They had also ten or twelve Oxen to carry their sick When the Dervichs came to the place where I lay with my Coach having about fifty persons with me as well of the people of the Countrey as of my own servants the Chief or Superior of the Troop seeing me so well-attended enquir'd what Aga that was and desir'd me to let him have that place which I had taken up as being the most convenient in all that place for him and his Dervichs to lodg When they told me the quality of the Chief and the four Dervichs that attended him I was willing to be civil and to yield to their request and thereupon I left them the place free After they had well-water'd the place and laid the dust they lighted two fires as if it had been in the frost and snow for the five principal Dervichs who sate and chaf'd themselves before and behind That very evening after they had supp'd the Governour of the Town came to complement the principal Dervichs and during their stay sent them Rice and other things which they are accustom'd to eat When they come to any place the Superior sends some of his Crew a begging into the Towns and Villages and what Alms they get is presently distributed equally among them every one of them taking care to boil his own Rice What is over and above they give to the Poor in the evening for they reserve nothing till next day From Chitpour to Balampour costes 12 From Balampour to Dantivar costes 11 From Dantivar to Bargant costes 17 Bargant is in the Territories of a Raja to whom you pay duties In one of my journeys to Agra passing through Bargant I did not see the Raja but only his Lieutenant who was very civil to me and made me a Present of Rice Butter and Fruit in season To make him amends I gave him three Shashes of Gold and Silk four Handkerchiefs of painted Linnen and two Bottles the one full of Aquavitae and the other full of Spanish-Wine At my departure he sent a Convoy of twenty Horse four or five leagues along with me One evening being about to lodg upon the Frontiers of the Territories of the Raja of Bargant my people came to me and told me that if we took the Road through
appeas'd There is a wide Piazza upon one side of the City before the Palace and the first Gate wherein there is nothing of magnificence is guarded by a few Souldiers Before the King removed his Court from Agra to Gehanabad when he went into the Countrey for some time he gave to some one of his greatest Omrah's who was his Confident the Guard of his Palace where his Treasure lay and till the return of the King he never stirr'd out of the Gate where he lodg'd neither by night nor day At such a time as that it was that I was permitted to see the Palace of Agra The King being deparred for Gehanavad whither all the Court followed him together with the Women the Government of the Palace was given to one that was a great Friend to the Hollanders and indeed to all the Franguis Menheir Velant chief of the Holland-Factory at Agra so soon as the King was departed went to visit the Lord and to present him according to custom The Present was worth about 6000 Crowns and consisted in Spices Cabinets of Japan and fine Holland-Cloath He desir'd me to go along with him when he went to Compliment the Governour But the Lord being offended that he had put himself to so much charge forc'd him to carry the Present back again taking only one Japan-Cane of six that were in the Present telling him he would have no more out of the kindness which he had for the Franguiz Nay he would not so much as take the Gold-head and Ferula but caus'd them to be taken off The Complements being over the Governor ask'd Menheir Velant wherein he might serve him whereupon he desiring the favour that since the Court was gone he might see the inside of the Palace the Governor granted his request and order'd six men to attend him The first Gate where the Governor of the Palace lies is a long blind Arch which leads you into a large Court all environ'd with Portico's like our Piazza in Covent-Garden The Gallery in front is larger and higher than any of the rest sustain'd by three ranks of Pillars and under those Galleries on the other side of the Court which are narrower and lower are little Chambers for the Souldiers of the Guard In the midst of the large Gallery is a Nich in the Wall into which the King descends out of his Haram by a private pair of Stairs and when he is in he seems to be in a kind of a Tomb. He has no Guards with him then for he has no reason to be afraid of any thing there being no way to come at him In the heat of the day he keeps himself there only with one Eunuch but more often with one of his Children to fan him The Great Lords of the Court stay below in the Gallery under the Nich all the while At the farther end of this Court is another Gate that leads into a second Court encompast with Galleries underneath which are little Chambers for some Officers of the Palace The second Court carries you into a third which is the King's Quarter Cha-jehan had resolv'd to cover with Silver all the Arch of a Gallery upon the right-hand And a French-man Austin de Bordeaux by name was to have done the work but the King not finding any one in his whole Kingdom so capable as the French-man was to treat with the Portugals at Goa about some important affair he had at that time the design was laid aside For they being afraid of Austin's Parts poison'd him upon his return to Cochin This Gallery is painted with branch'd-work of Gold and Azure and the lower-part is hung with Tapestry There are several doors under the Gallery that lead into little square-Chambers of which we saw two or three open'd and they told us all the rest were such The other three sides of the Court lie all open there being nothing but a single Wall no higher than for a man to lean over On the side that looks toward the River there is a Divan or a kind of out-jutting Balcone where the King sits to see his Brigantines or to behold his Elephants fight Before the Divan is a Gallery that serves for a Portico which Cha-jehan had a design to have adorn'd all over with a kind of Lattice-work of Emraulds and Rubies that should have represented to the life Grapes when they are green and when they begin to grow red But this design which made such a noise in the World and requir'd more Riches than all the World could afford to perfect remains unfinish'd there being only three Stocks of a Vine in Gold with their leaves as the rest ought to have been and enamel'd in their natural colours with Emralds Rubies and Granates wrought into the fashion of Grapes In the middle of the Court stands a great Fat to bath in 40 foot in Diameter cut out of one entire grey-stone with steps wrought out of the same stone within and without As for the Monuments which are in and about Agra they are very fair ones for there is scarce an Eunuch belonging to the King 's Haram that is not very ambitious of leaving a fair Monument behind him Indeed when they have heap'd together great Sums they would fain be going to Mecca and making rich Presents to Mahomet But the Great Mogul unwilling to let his Money go out of his Countrey will seldom permit them leave to undertake that Pilgrimage and therefore not knowing what to do with their Money they employ a great part thereof in Monuments to perpetuate their Memories Of all the Monuments that are to be seen at Agra that of the Wise of Cha-jehan is the most magnificent she caus'd it to be set up on purpose near the Tasimacan to which all Strangers must come that they should admire it The Tasimacan is a great Bazar or Market-place compos'd of six great Courts all encompassed with Portico's under which there are Warehouses for Merchants and where there is a prodigious quantity of Calicuts vended The Monument of this Degum or Sultaness stands on the East-side of the City upon the River side in a great place enclosed with Walls upon which there runs a little Gallery as upon the Walls of many Cities in Europe This place is a kind of Garden with Compartiments like our Garden-plots but whereas our Walks are made with Gravel here the Walks are black and white Marble You enter into this place through a large Portal and presently upon the left hand you espy a fair Gallery that looks towards Mecca wherein there are three or four Niches wherein the Mufti comes at certain hours to pray A little beyond the middle of the place toward the Water are three great Platforms one rais'd above another with four Towers at the four Corners of each and Stairs within upon the top whereof they call the people before the time of their prayer On the top there is a Cupola little less magnificent than that of Val de
Grace in Paris it is cover'd within and without with black Marble the middle being of Brick Under this Cupola is an empty Tomb for the Begum is inter'd under the Arch of the lowest Platform The same change of Ceremonies which is observ'd under ground is observ'd above For they change the Tapestries Candles and other Ornaments at several times and there are always Mollah's attending to pray I saw the beginning and compleating of this great work that colt two and twenty years labour and twenty thousand men always at work so that you cannot conceive but that the Expence must be excessive Cha-jehan had begun to raise his own Monument on the other side of the River but the Wars with his Son broke off that design nor did Aurengzeb now reigning ever take any care to finish it There is an Eunuch who commands two thousand men that is entrusted to guard not only the Sepulcher of the Begum but also the Tasimacan On another side of the City appears the Sepulcher of King Akabar And as for the Sepulchers of the Eunuchs they have only one Platform with four little Chambers at the four Corners When you come to Agra from Dehly you meet a great Bazar near to which there is a Garden where King Jehan-guire Father of Cha-jehan lies interr'd Over the Garden Gate you see the Tomb it self beset with Portraitures cover'd with a black Hearse-Cloath or Pall with Torches of white Wax and two Jesuits attending at each end There are some who wonder that Cha-jehan against the practice of the Mahumetans who abhor Images did permit of carving but the reason conjectur'd at is that it is done upon the consideration that his Father and himself learnt from the Jesuites certain principles of Mathematicks and Astrology Though he had not the same kindness for them at another time for going one day to visit an Armenian that lay sick whose name was Corgia whom he lov'd very well and had honour'd with several Employments at what time the Jesuites who liv'd next to the Armenians house rang their Bell the sound thereof so displeas'd the King as being a disturbance to the sick person that in a great fury he commanded the Bell to be taken away and hung about his Elephants neck Some few days after the King seeing his Elephant with that great Bell about his neck fearing so great a weight might injure his Elephant caus'd the Bell to be carried to the Couteval which is a kind of a rail'd place where a Provost sits as a Judg and decides differences among the people of that Quarter where it has hung ever since This Armenian had been brought up with Cha-jehan and in regard he was an excellent Wit and an excellent Poet he was very much in the Kings favour who had confer'd upon him many fair Commands though he could never either by threats or promises win him to turn Mahometan CHAP. VIII The Road from Agra to Patna and Daca Cities in the Province of Bengala and of the Quarrel which the Author had with Cha-Est-Kan the King's Unckle I Departed from Agra toward Bengala the 25 th of November 1665 and that day I reach'd no farther than a very bad Inn distant from Agra costes 3 The 26 th I came to Beruzabad costes 9 This is a little City where at my return I received eight thousand Roupies being the remainder of the Money which Giafer-Kan ow'd me for Wares that he had bought at Janabat The 27 th to Serael Morlides costes 9 The 28 th to Serail Estanja costes 14 The 29 th to Serail Haii-mal costes 12 The 30 th to Serail Sekandera costes 13 The 1 st of December to Sanqual costes 14 I met that day 110 Waggons every Waggon drawn by sixOxen in every Waggon 50000 Roupies This is the Revenue of the Province of Bengala with all charges defraid and the Governor's Purse well-fill'd comes to 5500000 Roupies A league beyond Sanqual you must pass a River call'd Saingour which runs into Gemine not above half a league distant from it You pass over this River of Saingour upon a Stone-bridg and when you come from toward Bengala to go to Seronge or Surat if you have a mind to shorten your journey ten days you must leave Agra-Road and come to this Bridg and so Ferry over Gemine in a Boat But generally Agra-Road is taken because the other way you must travel five or six days together upon the stones and also for that you are to pass through the Territories of certain Raja's where you are in danger of being robb'd The second day I came to an Inn call'd Cherourabad costes 12 When you are got about half the way you pass through Gianabad a little City near to which about a quarter of a League on this side crossing a Field of Millet I saw a Rhinoceros feeding upon Millet-Canes which a little Boy of nine or ten years old gave him to eat When I came near the Boy he gave me some Millet to give the Rhinoceros who immediately came to me opening his chops three or four times I put the Millet into his mouth and when he had swallow'd it he still open'd his mouth for more The 3 d I came to Serrail Chajeada costes 10 The 4 th to Serrail Atakan costes 13 The 5 th to Aureng-Abad costes 9 Formerly this Village had another name but being the place where Aureng-zeb gave Battel to his Brother Sultan Sujah who was Governor of all the Province of Bengala Aureng-zeb in Memory of the Victory he had won gave it his own name and built there a very fair House with a Garden and a little Mosquee The 6 th to Alinchan costes 9 Two leagues on this side Alinchan you meet the River Ganges Monsieur Bernier the King's Physitian and another person whose name was Rachepot with whom I travell'd were amaz'd to see that a River that had made such a noise in the World was no broader than the River Seine before the Lovre believing before that it had been as wide as the Danaw above Belgrade There is also so little water in it from March to June or July when the rains fall that it will not bear a small Boat When we came to Ganges we drank every one of us a Glass of Wine mixing some of the River-water with it which caus'd a griping in our bellies But our Servants that drank it alone were worse tormented than we The Hollanders who have an House upon the Bank of Ganges never drink the water of this River until they have boil'd it But for the natural Inhabitants of the Countrey they are so accustom'd to it from their youth that the King and the Court drink no other You shall see a vast number of Camels every day whose business only it is to fetch water from the Ganges The 7 th I came to Halabas costes 8 Halabas is a great City built upon a point of Land where Ganges and Gemine meet There is a fair Castle of hew'n Stone
with a double Moat where the Governour resides He is one of the greatest Lords in India and being very sickly he has always about him ten Persian Physicians He had also in his service Claudius Maille of Bourges who practises Chyrurgery and Physick both together This was he that advis'd us not to drink of Ganges Water which would put us into a looseness but rather to drink Well-water The chief of these Persian Physicians whom this Governour hires with his Money one day threw his Wife from the top of a Battlement to the ground prompted to that act of cruelty by some jealousies he had entertain'd He thought the fall had kill'd her but she had only a Rib or two bruis'd whereupon the Kindred of the Woman came and demanded justice at the feet of the Governour The Governour sending for the Physician commanded him to be gone resolving to retain him no longer in his service The Physician obey'd and putting his maim'd Wife in a Pallanquin he set forward upon the Road with all his Family But he was not gone above three or four days journey from the City when the Governour finding himself worse than he was wont to be sent to recall him which the Physician perceiving stab'd his Wife his four Children and thirteen female Slaves and return'd again to the Governour who said not a word to him but entertain'd him again into his service The eighth day I cross'd the River in a large Boat having stay'd from morning till noon upon the bank-side expecting Monsieur Maille to bring me a Passport from the Governour For there stands a Deroga upon each side of the River who will not suffer any person to pass without leave and he takes notice what sort of Goods are transported there being due from every Waggon four Roupies and from every Coach one not accounting the charge of the Boat which you must pay beside The same day I went to Sadoul-serail costes 16 The ninth to Yakedel-sera costes 10 The tenth to Bouraki-sera costes 10 The eleventh to Banarou costes 10 Banarou is a large City and handsomly built the most part of the Houses being either of Brick or Stone and higher than in any other Cities of India but the inconveniency is that the Streets are very narrow There are many Inns in the Town among the rest one very large and very handsomely built In the middle of the Court are two Galleries where are to be sold Calicuts Silks and other sorts of Merchandise The greatest part of the Sellers are the Workmen themselves so that the Merchants buy at the first hand These Workmen before they expose any thing to sale must go to him that has the stamp to have the Kings Seal set upon their Linnen and Silks otherwise they would be fin'd and lambasted with a good Cudgel This City is scituated upon the North side of Ganges that runs by the Walls and into which there falls also another River some two Leagues upward toward the West In Banarou stands one of the Idolaters principal Pagods whereof I shall speak in my second Book when I come to treat of the Religion of the Banians About five hundred paces from the City Northward there is a Mosquee where are to be seen many Mahometan Sepulehers whereof some are very curious pieces of Architecture The fairest are every one in the middle of a Garden enclosed with Walls wherein there are Holes some half a foot square through which Passengers may have a sight of the Tomb within The most considerable of all is as it were a four square Pedestal every square whereof is forty paces wide In the midst of this Platform rises a Column thirty-two or thirty-five foot high all of a piece which three men can hardly embrace The Stone is of a grey colour and so hard that I could not scrape it with my Knife As it is Pyramidical there is a great Bowl at the top which is encompass'd at the upper end with huge Grains of Wheat All the fronts of the Tomb are full of figures of Animals cut in the Stone and it has been higher above ground than now it seems to be for several old men that look'd to some of the Sepulchers assur'd me that within these fifty years it had sunk above thirty foot into the Earth They tell you moreover that it is the Sepulcher of one of the Kings of Boutan who was interr'd here after he had left his own Countrey to conquer this Kingdom out of which he was driven by the Successors of Tamerlane The Kingdom of Boutan is the place from whence they fetch Musk and I will give you a description of it in my third Book I stay'd at Banarou the 12 th and 13 th and during those two days it rain'd continually but not so as to stop my journey so that the evening of the thirteenth day I cross'd the Ganges with the Governours Pass-port Before you go into the Boat they search the Travellers baggage wearing Apparel however pays nothing of Custom but only Merchandise The 13 th I went to Baterpour costes 2 The 14 th to Satraguy-sera costes 8 The 15 th to Moniarky-sera costes 9 The same day in the morning after I had travel'd two Leagues I cross'd a River call'd Carnasarsou and three Leagues from thence I cross'd another which they call Saode-sou both which I foarded The 16 th to Gourmabad costes 8 This is a Town upon a River call'd Goudera-sou which is cross'd over a Stone-Bridg The 17 th to Saseron costes 4 Saseron is a City at the foot of certain Mountains near to which there is a great Lake In the middle whereof there is a small Island with a fair Mosquee built upon it wherein is to be seen the Sepulcher of a Nahab or Favourite call'd Selim-Kan who built it when he was Governour of the Province There is a fair Bridg to cross over into the Island pav'd and lin'd with large free Stone Upon one side of the Lake is a great Garden in the middle whereof is another fair Sepulcher of the Son of the same Nahab Selim-Kan who succeeded his Father in the Government of the Province If you would go to the Mine of Soulmelpour whereof I shall speak in the last Book of these Relations you must leave the great Road to Patna and bend to the South through Exberbourgh and the famous Fortress of Rhodes of which I shall treat in the same place The 18 th I ferry'd in a Boat over the River Sonsou which descends from the Southern Mountains after you have cross'd it the Merchandise pays a certain Toll The same day I travel'd on to Daoud-Nagar-sera where there is a fair Tomb costes 9 The 19 th to Halva-sera costes 10 The 20 th to Aga-sera costes 9 In the morning I met a hundred and thirty Elephants great and small which they were leading to Dehli to the great Mogul The one and twentienth to Patna costes 10 Patna is one of the greatest Cities of India upon the
When they were brought to Goa they could never be brought to learn any thing of the Portugal Language So that they could gettout of them nothing of that further discovery at which they aim'd of a Country from whence they only brought away two pound of Gold three pound of Ambergreese and thirty-five or forty Elephants teeth One of the Cafres liv'd but six months the other fifteen but both languish'd and pin'd to death for grief to be so trapann'd From Goa I pass'd to Mingrela where there fell out an accident not to be forgotten An Idolater dying and the Fire being ready prepar'd for the burning of the Body his Wife who had no Children by the permission of the Governour came to the Fire and stood among the Priests and her Kindred to be burnt with the Body of her deceas'd Husband As they were taking three turns according to custom about the place where the Fire was kindl'd there fell of a sudden so violent a Shower that the Priests willing to get out of the rain thrust the Woman all along into the Fire But the Shower was so vehement and endur'd so long a while that the Fire was quench'd and the Woman was not burn'd About midnight she rose and went and knock'd at the door of one of her Kinsmens Houses where Father Zenon and many Hollanders saw her looking so ghastly and grimly that it was enough to have scar'd them however the pain that she endur'd did not so far terrifie her but that three days after accompany'd by her Kindred she went and was burn'd according to her first intention CHAP. XV. The Story of Father Ephraim and how he was put into the Inquisition at Goa by a surprisal THE Chek who had marri'd the Eldest of the Princesses of Golconda not being able to perswade Father Ephraim to stay at Bagnabar where he promis'd to build him an House and a Church gave him an Ox and two Men to carry him to Maslipatan where he staid to embark for Pegu according to the order of his Superiors But finding no Vessel ready to set sail the English drew him to Madrespatan where they have a Fort call'd St. George and a general Factory for every thing that concerns the Countreys of Golconda Pegu and Bengala They over-perswaded him that he might reap a fairer Harvest in this place than in any other part of the Indies to which end they presently built him a very neat House and a Church But in the conclusion the English sought not so much the interest of Father Ephraim as their own For Madrespatan is but half a league from St. Thomas a Sea-Town upon the Coast of Cormandel indifferently well-built as formerly belonging to the Portugals In that place there was a very great Trade especially for Calicuts and a very great number of Merchants and Workmen liv'd there the greatest part whereof desir'd to inhabit at Madrespatan with the English but that there was no place for them to exercise their Religion in that place But when the English had built a Church and perswaded Father Ephraim to stay many of the Portuguezes quitted St. Thomas by reason of the frequent Preaching of Father Ephraim and his great care as well of the Natives as of the Portugals Father Ephraim was born at Auxerre the Brother of Monsieur Chateau de Boys Counsellor of the Parliament of Paris who was very happy in learning Languages so that in a little time he spoke English and Portuguez perfectly well But now the Clergy of St. Thomas-Church seeing Father Ephraim in so high a reputation and that he drew the greatest part of their Congregation to Madrespatan were so enrag'd against him that they resolv'd to ruine him And thus they laid their plot The English and Portuguezes being neer-neighbours could not choose but have several quarrels one among another and still Father Ephraim was appli'd to for the composing their differences Now one day it happen'd that the Portuguezes quarrell'd on purpose with some English Mariners that were in St. Thomas-Road and the English came by the worst The English President resolving to have satisfaction for the injury a War broke out between the two Nations which had ruin'd all the Trade of that Countrey had not the Merchants on both sides been very diligent to bring things to an accommodation not knowing any thing of the wicked contrivance of particular persons against Father Ephraim But all the interposition of the Merchants avail'd nothing the Friar must be concern'd in the affair he must be the Mediator to act between party and party which he readily accepted But he was no sooner enter'd into St. Thomas but he was seiz'd by ten or twelve Officers of the Inquisition who shipp'd him away in a Frigat that was bound at the same time for Goa They fetter'd and manacl'd him and kept him two and twenty days at Sea before they would let him once put his foot a-shoar though the best part of the Mariners lay a-shoar every night When they came to Goa they staid till night before they would land Father Ephraim to carry him to the Inquisition-House For they were afraid left if they should land him in the day the people should know of it and rise in the rescue of a person who was in an high veneration over all India The news was presently spread abroad in all parts that Father Ephraim was in the Inquisition which very much amaz'd all the French-men But he that was most surpriz'd and most troubl'd at it was Friar Zenon the Capuchin who had been formerly Father Ephraim's Companion who after he had consulted his friends resolv'd to go to Goa though he were put into the Inquisition himself For when a man is once shut up there if any one have the boldness to speak to the Inquisitor or to any of his Councel in his behalf he is presently put into the Inquisition also and accounted a greater Offender than the other Neither the Arch Bishop nor the Vice-Roy themselves dare interpose though they are the only two persons over whom the Inquisition has no power For if they do any thing to offend them they presently write to the Inquisitor and his Council in Portugal and as the King and the Inquisitor-General commands they either proceed against or send those two great persons into Portugal Notwithstanding all these considerations Father Zenon taking along with him the Sieur de la Boulay a decaid Gentleman goes to Goa where when he arriv'd he was visited by some friends who advise him to have a care not to open his mouth in the behalf of Father Ephraim unless he intended to bear him company in the Inquisition Father Zenon seeing he could do nothing at Goa advis'd the Sieur de Boulay to return to Surat and goes himself directly to Madrespatan more particularly to inform himself concerning the reason of Father Ephraim's being sent away But when he understood how he had been betraid at St. Thomas he resolv'd to have satisfaction and
of the way are enemies to them that are bred on the other side so that they dare not cross from one side to the other but they are in danger of being immediately strangl'd Here we had good sport in setting the Apes together by the ears which is done after this manner This part of the Countrey at every leagues end is clos'd up with Gates and Barricado's where there is a good Guard kept and where all Passengers are examin'd whither they go and whence they come so that men may safely travel there with their Money in their hands In several parts of this Road there is Rice to be sold and they that would see the sport cause five or six Baskets of Rice to be set in the Road some forty or fifty paces one from the other and close by every Basket they lay five or six Battoons about two-foot-long and two inches about then they retire and hide themselves presently they shall see the Apes on both sides of the way descend from the tops of the Bambou's and advance toward the Baskets which are full of Rice They are about half an hour shewing their teeth one at the other before they come near the Baskets sometimes they advance then retreat again being loath to encounter At length the female-Baboons who are more couragious than the males especially those that have young ones which they carry in their arms as Women do their Children venture to approach the Basket and as they are about to put in their heads to eat the males on the other side advance to hinder them Immediately the other party comes forward and thus the seud being kindled on both sides they take up the Battoons that lie by the Baskets and thrash one another in good earnest The weakest are constrain'd to flie into the wood with their pates broken and their limbs maim'd while the Masters of the Field glut themselves with Rice Though it may be when their bellies are full they will suffer some of the female-party to come and partake with them The four and twentieth we travell'd nine leagues all the way being like the Road the day before as far as Naraveron The five and twentieth after a journey of eight hours through a Countrey of the same nature meeting at every two or three leagues end with Gates and Guards we came in the evening to Gazel The six and twentieth we travell'd nine leagues and came to lie at Courva where there was nothing to be found neither for Man nor Beast so that our Catte were forc'd to be contented with a little Grass which was cut on purpose for them Courva is only a celebrated Pagod by which at our arrival we saw several bands of Souldiers pass by some with Half-pikes some with Muskets and some with Clubs who were going to joyn with one of the principal Commanders of Mirgimola's Army who was encamp'd upon a rising-ground not far from Courva the place being pleasant and cool by reason of the great number of Trees and Fountains that grace it When we understood the Captain was so neer we went to wait upon him and found him sitting in his Tent with many Lords of the Countrey all Idolaters After we had presented him with a pair of Pocket-Pistols inlaid with Silver he demanded of us what had brought us into that Countrey but when we told him that we came to attend Mirgimola Generalissimo of the King of Golconda's Army about business he was infinitely kind to us However understanding that he took us for Hollanders we told him we were not Hollanders but French-men Thereupon not understanding what Nation we were he fell into a long discourse with us about the Government of our Countrey and the Grandeur of our King Six or seven days before they had taken five or six Elephants three whereof had escap'd having kill'd ten or twelve of the Natives who assisted in the Chace in pursuit whereof the General was preparing and because we could not stay to see the sport we were contented to inform our selves of the manner of hunting that vast Animal which is thus They cut out several Alleys or Walks in the Wood which they dig full of great deep holes and cover with Hurdles strow'd over with a little earth Then the Hunters hooping and hollowing and beating up Drums with Pikes that have Wild-fire ti'd to the end of them force the Elephant into those Walks where he tumbles into the holes not being able to rise again Then they fetch Ropes and Chains and some they bring under their bellies others they wind about their legs and trunk and when they think they have sufficiently hamper'd the Beast they have certain Engines ready wherewithal to draw him up Nevertheless of five three escap'd notwithstanding the cords and chains about their bodies and their legs The people told us one thing which seem'd very wonderful which was that these Elephants having been once deceiv'd and having escap'd the snare are very mistrustful ever after and when they get into the Wood again they break off a great bough from one of the Trees with their trunk with which they examine every step they go before they set down their feet to try whether there be any hole or no in their way So that the Hunters that told us the Story seem'd to be out of hopes of ever taking those three Elephants which had escap'd Had we been assur'd that we might have been eye-witnesses of this miraculous precaution of the Elephant we would have staid three or four days what-ever urgent business we had had The Captain himself was a kind of a Brigadeer that commanded three or four-thousand men who were quarter'd half a league round the Countrey The seven and twentieth after two hours travel we came to a great Village where we saw the two Elephants which had been so lately taken Every one of the two wild Elephants was plac'd between two tame ones Round about the wild Elephants stood six men with every one an Half-pike in their hands and a lighted-Torch fasten'd at the end of the Pike who talk'd to the Beasts giving them meat and crying out in their language Take it eat it The food which they gave them was a little bottle of Hey some pieces of brown-Sucre and Rice boil'd in water with some few corns of Pepper If the wild Elephants refus'd to do as they were bidden the men made signs to the tame Elephants to beat them which they did banging the refractory Elephant upon the head and forehead with their trunks and if he offer'd to make any resistance the other Elephant thwackt him on the other side so that the poor Elephant not knowing what to do was constrain'd to learn obedience Being thus fall'n into the Story of Elephants I will add some other observations which I have made upon the nature of those Animals Though the Elephant never meddles with the female after he is once taken yet he is sometimes seiz'd with a kind of lustful rage One
Rock We inform'd him of the cause of our coming telling him that we had some commodities that were rare and worth the King 's buying but that we were unwilling to shew them to the King till he had seen them believing it our duty to render him that respect The Nahab was very well-pleas'd with our Complement and after he had caus'd us to be presented with Betlé we took our leaves of him and return'd to our Lodgings whither he sent to us two Bottles of Wine one of Sack and the other of Sohiras which is a rare thing in that Countrey The fourth day we waited upon him again and carried along with us some Pearles of an extraordinary weight beauty and bigness the least whereof weighed twenty four Caratts After he had vewd them and shew'd them to some of the Lords that were about him he ask'd the price which when we had set him he return'd us our Jewels and told us he would consider of it The tenth day he sent for us in the morning and after he had caus'd us to sit down by him he sent for five small Bags full of Diamonds every Bag containing a good handful They were loose Stones of a very black Water and very small none of them exceeding a Carat or a Carat and a half but otherwise very clean There were some few that might weigh two Carats After the Nahab had shew'n us all he ask'd us whether they would sell in our Country We made answer that they might have been for sale in our Country provided they had not been of a black Water for that in Europe we never esteem'd any Diamonds but such as were clean and white having but a small esteem for any others It seems that when he first undertook the Conquest of this Kingdom for the King of Golconda they inform'd him that there were Diamond Mines in it Whereupon he sent twelve thousand men to dig there who in a whole years time could find no more than those five small Bags full Whereupon the Nahab perceiving that they could find none but brown Stones of a Water enclining much more to black than white thought it but loss of time and so sent all the people back to their Husbandry The eleventh the French Canoneers came all to the Nahabs Tent complaining that he had not paid them the four months pay which he had promis'd them threatning him that if he did not discharge it they would leave him to which the Nahab promis'd to give them satisfaction the next day The twelfth the Canoneers not failing to give him another visit the Nahab paid them three months and promis'd to pay them the fourth before the month were out but so soon as they had receiv'd their Money they fell a feasting one another so that the Dancing Wenches carried away the greatest part of their Coin The thirteenth the Nahab went to see the Guns which Maille had undertaken to cast For which purpose he had sent for Brass from all parts and got together a great number of Idols which the Soldiers had pillag'd out of the Pagods as they march'd along Now you must know that in Gandicot there was one Pagod said to be the fairest in all India wherein there were several Idols some of Gold and others of Silver among the rest there were six of Brass three sitting upon their Heels and three upon their Feet ten foot high These Idols ' were made use of among the rest But when Maille also had provided all things ready he could not make those six Idols run that were taken out of the great Pagod of Gandicot though he melted all the rest He try'd several ways but it was impossible for him to do it whatever expence the Nahab was at nay though the Nahab threaten'd to hang the Priests for having inchanted those Idols And thus Maille could never make any more than only one single piece and that split upon trial so that he was forc'd to leave the work unfinish'd and soon after left the Nahabs service The fourteenth we went to take our leaves of the Nahab and to know what he had further to say to us concerning the Commodities we had then shew'n him But then he told us he was busie at present about the examination of certain Offenders which were brought before him For it is the custom of that Country never to put a man in Prison but as soon as the Offender is taken he is examin'd and sentence is pronounc'd upon him according to his crime which is immediately executed or if the party taken be found innocent he is as soon acquitted And let the controversie be of what nature it will it is presently decided The fifteenth in the morning we went to wait upon him again and were immediately admitted into his Tent where he sate with his two Secretaries by him The Nahab was sitting according to the custom of the Country bare-foot like one of our Taylors with a great number of Papers sticking between his Toes and others between the Fingers of his left hand which Papers he drew somtimes from between his Toes sometimes from between his Fingers and order'd what answers should be given to every one After his Secretaries had wrote the answers he caus'd them to read them and then took the Letters and seal'd them himself giving some to Foot Messengers others to Horsemen For you must know that all those Letters which are sent by Foot-Posts all over India go with more speed than those which are carried by Horsemen The reason is because at the end of every two Leagues there are little Huts where there are men always ready who are engag'd to run away immediately so that when one of these men that carries the Letters comes to one of these Huts he throws the Letters into the Hut and then he that is appointed runs with them to the next Stage They look upon it as an ill Omen to give the Letters into the Messengers hands but they must be thrown at his feet and he must gather them up It is to be observ'd also that the Highways in most parts of India are like Walks of Trees and that where there are no Trees at every five hundred paces distance there are set up little Heaps of Stones which the Inhabitants of the next Villages are bound to white-wash from time to time to the end those Letter-Carriers may not miss their ways in dark and Rainy nights While we stay'd with the Nahab certain Officers came to tell him that they had brought certain Offenders to the door of his Tent. He was above half an hour before he return'd them any answer writing on and giving instructions to his Secretaries but by and by all of a sudden he commanded the Offenders to be brought in and after he had examin'd them and made them consess the crime of which they stood accus'd he was above an hour before he said a word still writing on and employing his Secretaries In the mean while several
by him as fortunately fought by his Brothers For Dara-Cha confiding too much in the principal Officers of his Army against the advice of his General who was his chief Minister of State and faithful to him thought himself sure of the Victory by falling on before his Brothers had time to repose themselves The first onset was very rude and bloody where Morat-Bakche full of fire and courage fighting like a Lyon was shot with five Arrows into the body The Victory leaning to Dara-Cha Aureng-zeb retreated but soon turn'd head again when he saw those Traytors advancing to his aid who were in the Army of Dara-Cha and who had treacherously deserted him after he had lost his best Officers and his General With this assistance Aureng-zeb renews the fight against Dara-Cha who seeing himself betray'd and unable to maintain the fight with the small number of men which he had left retreats to Agra where the King his Father was who began to mend The King advis'd his Son to retire to the Fortress of Dehly and to carry the Treasure that was in Agra with him which he did without delay Thus the Victory fell intirely to Aureng-zeb and Morat-Bakche who before the end of the Battel being weaken'd with the loss of blood was forc'd to retire to his Tent to have his wounds drest Now it was an easie thing for Aureng-zeb to gain those Traytors as well by reason of the vast Treasures which he had as also for that the Indians are very inconstant and want generosity Besides the Commanders are generally Fugitive Persians persons of little worth who are altogether for them that give most Cha-Est-Kan who was Uncle to these four Princes whose Mother was the King's Sister went over to Aureng-zeb with the greatest part of the principal Commanders that had adher'd to Dara-Cha and Morat-Bakche and had forsaken their Masters Morat-Bakche then began to see his Error in having trusted Aureng-zeb who seeing himself favour'd by Fortune lost no time to accomplish his ends Thereupon Morat-Bakche sends to his Brother for the half of the Treasure that he had seiz'd that he might retire to Guzerat But Aureng-zeb for answer assur'd him that he had no other design than to advance him to the Throne to which purpose he desir'd to confer with him by word of mouth Morat-Bakche in order to that finding himself indifferently well recover'd of his wounds goes to visit his Brother who kindly welcom'd him extoll'd his courage and told him he deserv'd the best Empire of the world The young Prince was charm'd by the melody of such sweet language while his Eunuch Shabas-Kan did all he could to make him sensible of the snares that were laid for him But when Morat-Bakche should have taken the Eunuchs advice it was too late for Aureng-zeb had already laid his plot to destroy him He invites Morat-Bakche to a Feast and the more the one excuses himself the more the other presses him to come The young Prince perceiving he would take no denial resolv'd to go for fear of discovering the mistrust he had although he verily believ'd that that day would be the last of his life and that some deadly poyson was brew'd for him However he was deceiv'd in that particular for Aureng-zeb not aiming at his life then contented himself only to deprive him of his liberty and so instead of advancing him to the Throne sent him away to be safely kept in the Castle of Gavaleor CHAP. III. Of the Imprisonment of Cha-jehan and how he was punish'd by Aureng-zeb his third Son for the injustice he had done Prince Boulaki his Nephew the Grandchild of Gehan-guir to whom as to the Son of the Eldest Son the Empire of the Moguls belong'd GEhan-guir King of India Son of Achbar and Grandchild to Houmajon reign'd very peaceably during the space of twenty-three years equally belov'd both by his Subjects and Neighbours But his life seem'd too long to his two Sons who were both ambitious to reign The eldest rais'd a powerful Army near Lahor with an intention to have surpriz'd his Father and to have possess'd himself of the Throne by force The King incens'd at the insolence of his Son resolv'd to chastise him meets him with a considerable Army defeats him and takes him Prisoner with many of the most considerable Nobility that adher'd to him After which out of a natural affection to his Children he sav'd his life but put out his Eyes And when he was blind he always kept him about his person with an intention to have prefer'd his eldest Son Boulaki to the Crown whose Father had already many Sons but all very young But Sultan Courom his second Son believing it his right to be prefer'd before a Nephew resolv'd to leave no stone unturn'd to remove him from his hopes and to settle himself in possession before the death of his Father However he conceal'd his intentions from him appearing outwardly very obedient to his Father who always kept about him the Children of his eldest Son By that submission he more easily brought about his designs for having by that means gain'd the good will of his Father he obtain'd leave to carry along with him the blind Prince his eldest Brother to his Government of the Kingdom Decan He laid before his Father that it would be far better to remove from his sight an object that could not chuse but be so afflicting to him and that the Prince himself being blind would spend the rest of his days more comfortably in Decan where he might be more retir'd The King not penetrating into his design readily consented to his request Who when he had that poor Prince in his Clutches made him away with that secresie which was not to be discover'd and under the most plausible pretence imaginable to conceal him from the eyes of men After the death of the blind Prince Sultan Courom took upon him the name of Cha-jehan that is King of the World and to uphold his Title he rais'd an Army to finish what his Brother had begun which was to dethrone his Father and to take possession of the Empire The King incens'd as well at the death of his Son as at the attempt against his own person sent a considerable Army to chastise Courom for so bold an Enterprize But the rebellious Prince finding himself too weak to stand his Fathers force quitted the Kingdom of Decan and with certain Vagabonds that follow'd him wander'd from place to place till he came to Bengala where he rais'd an Army with an intention to give the King Battel To which purpose passing the Ganges he marches directly toward the Kingdom of Lahor whom the King in person met with an Army much more numerous and stronger than his But Gehan-guir being old and wearied with the troubles that his Sons had put him to dy'd by the way leaving Cha-jehan at liberty to pursue his own designs However before he expir'd the good King had time to recommend his Grandchild Boulaki
lye waste the Natives being forc'd to fly by reason of the cruelty of their Governours Under the pretence of being Mahumetans they persecute the poor Idolaters beyond all measure and if any of them embrace Mahumetism 't is only because they would not work any longer For then they turn Souldiers or Faquirs who are a sort of people that profess a renunciation of the World and live upon Alms but are indeed very Rascals They reckon that there are in India 800000 of these Mahumetan Faquirs and twelve hunder'd thousand Idolaters Once in fifteen days the King goes a Hunting mounted upon his Elephant and so continues during the chase All the Game he takes is brought within Musket-shot of his Elephants Which consists generally of Lions Tigers Harts and wild-Goats For they will not meddle with Boars as being Mahumetans When he returns home he puts himself into his Palleki and goes in the same order and with the same Guard as when he returns from the Mosquee saving that when he goes a Hunting he is attended with three or four-hunder'd Horsemen that ride without any discipline in the World As for the Princesses as well the Wives Daughters and Sisters of the King they never stir out of the Palace unless it be to spend a few days in the Countrey for their pleasure Some of them go abroad but very rarely to visit some great Noble-mens Wives as the Wife of Giafer-Kan who is the King's Aunt But that is only by particular leave of the King And then it is not the custom as in Persia where the Ladies make their visits only by night and with a great number of Eunuchs who clear the Streets of all people they meet For in the Mogul's Court they usually go out about nine in the morning with only three or four Eunuchs and ten or twelve Slaves which are instead of Maids of Honour The Princesses are carri'd in Palleki's cover'd over with Embroider'd Tapestry and a little Coach to hold one single person that follows the Palleki drawn by two men the wheels not being above a foot in diameter The reason why they carry that Coach along with them is because that when the Princesses arrive at the House where they intend to alight the men that carry the Palleki not being permitted to go any farther than the first Gate they then take their Coaches and are drawn by their female-Slaves to the Womens Apartment I have also observ'd that in all the Houses of great Noble-men the Womens Apartment is at the farther-farther-end of all So that you must cross two or three great Courts and a Garden or two before you can come as it When the Princesses are married to any of the Court-Grandees they become absolute Mistresses of their Husbands so that if they study not to please them and do not as they would have them in regard of their free access to the King they over-rule the King many times to their prejudice even to the turning them out of their employments As it is a custom that the first-born always is Heir to the Throne though he be the Son of a Slave so soon as the Princesses of the King 's Haram perceive that there is any one among them big with Child they use all the artifices imaginable to make them miscarry Insomuch that being at Patna in the year 1666 Cha-Est-Kan's Chirurgeon assur'd me that the Wife of Cha-Est-Kan had procur'd the miscarrying of eight Women because she would suffer no other Womens Children but her own CHAP. X. Of the Commodities which are brought as well out of the Dominions of the Great Mogul as out of the Kingdoms of Golconda and Visapour and other neighbouring Territories IT will be necessary for the Reader to take notice what I have already said concerning the Weights and Measures in use among the Indians where I spoke concerning the Mines and the Serre Now for the Cobit The Cobit is a measure for all Commodities that are measur'd by the Ell of which there are several sorts as in Europe there are several sorts of Ells. The Cobit is divided into 24 Tasots and in regard the greatest part of the Commodities of India are utter'd at Surat I have given you a description in the margin of the fourth part of a Surat-Cobit divided into six Tasots Of their Silk KAsembasar a Village in the Kingdom of Bengala sends abroad every year two and twenty-thousand Bales of Silk every Bale weighing a hunder'd pound The two and twenty Bales make two millions and two-hunder'd-thousand pound at sixteen ounces to the pound The Hollanders usually carry away six or seven-thousand Bales and would carry away more did not the Merchants of Tartary and the Mogul's Empire oppose them for they buy up as much as the Hollander the rest the Natives keep to make their Stuffs This Silk is all brought into the Kingdom of Guzerat the greatest part whereof comes to Amadabat and to Surat where it is wrought up In the first place they make Carpets of Silk and Gold others of Silk and Silver others all of Silk For the Worsted Carpets are made at Vettapour some twelve leagues from Agra In the second place they make Satins with streaks of Gold and Silver others plain with Taffata's after the same fashion In the third place they make Patoles which are a fort of Silk-stuff very thin but painted with all sorts of Flowers the manufacture whereof is at Amadabat They cost from eight Roupies to forty the piece This is a Commodity wherein the Dutch will not suffer any one of the Hollanders to trade in particular for they transport it to the Philippine-Islands to the Islands of Borneo Java Sumatra and other neighbouring Islands The raw-Silk of Kasembasar is yellowish as are all the raw-Silks that come from Persia and Sicily but the Natives of Kasembasar have a way to whiten it with a Lye made of the ashes of a Tree which they call Adam's Fig-tree which makes it as white as the Palestine-Silk The Hollanders send away all their Merchandize which they fetch out of Bengala by water through a great Canal that runs from Kasembasar into Ganges for fifteen leagues together from whence it is as far by water down the Ganges to Ouguely where they lade their Ships Of the Calicuts and first of the painted Calicuts call'd Chites CHites or Painted Calicuts which they call Calmendar that is to say done with a Pencil are made in the Kingdom of Golconda and particularly about Maslipatan But there is made so little that though a man should employ all the Workmen that understand the art of weaving Calicuts he would hardly find enough to make three Bales The Chites which are made in the Empire of the Great Mogul are all Printed and nothing so beautiful neither for the figures nor the fineness of the Linnen Those which are made at Lahor are the coarsest and consequently the cheapest of all They are sold by Corges every Corge consisting of twenty pieces which cost from
as Sha-jehan came to the Empire he sent to demand his Tribute of this Raja as well for the time past as to come who finding that his Revenues were not sufficient to pay him quitted his Country and retir'd into the Mountains with his Subjects Upon his refusal Sha-jehan believing he would stand it out sent a great Army against him perswading himself that he should find great store of Diamonds in his Country But he found neither Diamonds nor People nor Victuals the Raja having burnt all the Corn which his Subjects could not carry away so that the greatest part of Sha-jehans Army perish'd for hunger At length the Raja return'd into his Country upon condition to pay the Mogul some slight Tribute The Way from Agra to this Mine From Agra to Halabas costes 130 From Halabas to Banarous costes 33 From Banarous to Sasaron costes 4 From Agra to Saferon you travel Eastward but from Saferon to the Mine you must wind to the South coming first to a great Town costes 21 This Town belongs to the Raja I have spoke of From thence you go to a Fortress call'd Rodas costes 4 This is one of the strongest places in all Asia seated upon a Mountain fortifi'd with six Bastions and twenty-seven pieces of Cannon with three Moats full of Water wherein there are good Fish There is but one way to come to the top of the Mountain where there is a Plain half a League in compass wherein they sow Corn and Rice There is above twenty Springs that water that Plain but all the rest of that Mountain from top to bottom is nothing but a steep Precipice cover'd with over-grown Woods The Raja's formerly us'd to live in this Fort with a Garrison of seven or eight hundred men But the Great Mogul has it now having taken that Fort by the policy of the famous Mirgimola which all the Kings of India could never take before The Raja left three Sons who betray'd one another the eldest was poison'd the second went and serv'd the Great Mogul who gave him the command of four thousand Horse the third possesses his Fathers Territories paying the Mogul a small Tribute From the Fortress of Rodas to Soumelpour costes 30 Soumelpour is a great Town the Houses whereof are built of Earth and cover'd only with Branches of Coco-trees All these thirty Leagues you travel through Woods which is a very dangerous passage as being very much pester'd with Robbers The Raja lives half a League from the Town in Tents set upon a fair rising ground at the foot whereof runs the Gouel descending from the Southern Mountains and falling into Ganges In this River they find the Diamonds For after the great Rains are over which is usually in December they stay all January till the River be clear by reason that by that time in some places it is not above two foot deep and in several places the Sand lies above the water About the end of January or the beginning of February there flock together out of the great Town and some others adjoining above eight thousand persons men women and children that are able to work They that are skilful know by the sand whether there be any Diamonds or no when they find among the sand little Stones like to those which we call Thunder-Stones They begin to make search in the River from the Town of Soumelpour to the very Mountains from whence the River falls for fifty Leagues together Where they believe there are Diamonds they encompass the place with Stakes Faggots and Earth as when they go about to make the Arch of a Bridg to drain all the water out of that place Then they dig out all the Sand for two foot deep which is all carried and spread upon a great place for that purpose prepar'd upon the side of the River encompass'd with a little Wall about a foot and half high When they have fill'd this place with as much Sand as they think convenient they throw water upon it wash it and sift it doing in other things as they do at the Mines which I have already describ'd From this River come all those fair Points which are call'd natural Points but a great Stone is seldom found here The reason why none of these Stones have been seen in Europe is because of the Wars that have hinder'd the people from working Besides the Diamond Mine which I have spoken of in the Province of Carnatica which Mirgimola caus'd to be shut up by reason of the yellowness of the Diamonds and the foulness of the Stones there is in the Island of Borneo the largest Island in the World another River call'd Succadan in the Sand whereof they find Diamonds as hard as any in the other Mines The principal reason that disswaded me from going to the Island of Borneo was because I understood that the Queen of the Island would not permit any Strangers to carry away any of those Diamonds out of the Island Those few that are exported being carry'd out by stealth and privately sold at Batavia I say the Queen and not the King because in that Island the Women have the Soveraign Command and not the Men. For the people are so curious to have a lawful Heir upon the Throne that the Husband not being certain that the Children which he has by his Wife are his own but the Wife being always certain that the Children which she bears are hers they rather choose to be govern'd by a Woman to whom they give the Title of Queen her Husband being only her Subject and having no power but what she permits him CHAP. XIV Of the diversity of Weights us'd at the Diamond Mines Of the Pieces of Gold and Silver there Currant and the Rule which they observe to know the Price of Diamonds AT the Mine of Raolconda they weigh by Mangelins a Mangelin being one Carat and three quarters that is seven Grains At the Mine of Gani or Coulour they use the same Weights At the Mine of Soumelpour in Bengala they weigh by Rati's and the Rati is seven eighths of a Carat or three Grains and a half They use the same Weights over all the Empire of the Mogul In the Kingdoms of Golconda and Visapour they make use of Mangelins but a Mangelin in those parts is not above one Carat and three eighths The Portugals in Goa make use of the same Weights in Goa but a Mangelin there is not above five Grains As for the Money in use First in Bengala in the Territories of the Raja before mention'd in regard they lye enclos'd within the Dominions of the Great Mogul they make their payments in Roupies At the two Mines about Raolconda in the Kingdom of Visapour the payments are made in new Pagods which the King coins in his own Name as being independent from the Great Mogul The new Pagod is not always at the same value for it is sometimes worth three Roupies and a half sometimes more and sometimes less
charge For partly for a stock to set out and partly for victuals while they are abroad they are forc'd to borrow Money at three and four in the hundred a month So that unless a thousand Oysters yeild them five Fano's of Pearls they do not fish that year As for the Merchants they must buy their Oysters at hap-hazard and be content with what they find in them If they meet with great Pearls they account themselves happy which they seldom do at the Fishery of Manar those Pearls being fit for little else but to be sold by the Ounce to powder Sometimes a thousand Oysters amounts to seven Fano's and the whole Fishery to a hundred thousand Piasters The Hollanders take of every Diver eight Piasters in regard they always attend the Fishery with two or three small Men of War to defend them from the Malavares Pyrats The more Rain falls in the year the more profitable the Fishery happens to be They fish in twelve fathom water five or six Leagues off at Sea sometimes two hundred and fifty Barks together among which there is not above one or two Divers at most There is a Cord ty'd under the Arms of them that dive one end whereof is held by them that are in the Bark There is also a great stone of eighteen or twenty pound ty'd to the great Toe of him that dives the end of the Rope that fastens it being also held by them in the Vessel The Diver has beside a Sack made like a Net the mouth whereof is kept open with a Hoop Thus provided he plunges into the Sea the weight of the stone presently sinking him when he is at the bottom he slips off the stone and the Bark puts off Then the Diver goes to filling his Sack as long as he can keep his breath which when he can do no longer he gives the Rope a twitch and is presently hall'd up again Those of Manar are better Fishers and stay longer in the water than those of Bakren and Catifa for they neither put Pincers upon their Noses nor Cotton in their Ears as they do in the Persian Gulf. After the Diver is draw'n up he stays half a quarter of an hour to take breath and then dives again for ten or twelve hours together As for the Oysters themselves they throw 'em away as being ill-tasted and unsavoury To conclude the discourse of Pearls you are to take notice that in Europe they sell them by the Carat weight which is four Grains In Persia they sell them by the Abas and one Abas is an eighteenth less than our Carat In the Dominions of the Mogul the Kings of Visapour and Golconda weigh them by the Ratis and one Ratis is also an eighteenth less than our Carat Goa was formerly the greatest place of the world for the trade of Jewels and Pearls You must know therefore that in Goa and in all other places which the Portugals had in the Indies they us'd a particular weight to sell their Pearls by which they call Chego's the proportion whereof to Carats appears in the following Table Carats Chegos Carats Chegos 1 5 21 306 2 8 22 336 3 11 and a half 23 367 a quarter 4 16 24 400 5 21 25 430 6 27 26 469 a quarter 7 34 27 506 a quarter 8 44 28 544 a quarter 9 56 29 584 10 69 30 625 11 84 31 667 a quart 12 100 32 711 13 117 33 756 and a quart 14 136 34 802 and 3 quart 15 156 35 850 and a quart 16 177 3 quart 36 900 17 200 a half 37 950 and a half 18 225 38 1002 and 3 quar 19 250 a half 39 1056 20 277 3 quar 40 1111 and a quar CHAP. XIX Observations upon the fairest and largest Diamonds and Rubies which the Author has seen in Europe and Asia represented according to the Figures in the Plates as also upon those which the Author sold to the King upon his last return from the Indies with the Figure of a large Topaz and the fairest Pearls in the World Number 1. THis Diamond belongs to the Great Mogul being cut into the same form and it weighs 319 Ratis and an half which make 279 and nine 16 ths of our Carats when it was rough it weigh'd 907 Ratis which make 793 Carats Numb 2. Is the figure of a Diamond belonging to the Great Duke of Tuscany It weighs 139 Carats and an half the fault of it is that the water enclines somewhat to a Citron-colour Numb 3. Is a Stone that weighs 176 and one 8 th Mangelins which makes 242 Carats and five 16 ths A Mangelin coming to one and three 8 ths of our Carats Being at Golconda I saw this Stone and it was the biggest that ever I saw in my life in a Merchant's-hands It was valu'd at 500000 Roupies or 750000 Livres of our Money I offer'd 400000 Roupies but could not have it Numb 4. Is the figure of a Diamond which I bought at Amadabat and it weigh'd 178 Ratis or 157 Carats and a quarter 〈…〉 and for severall services done the Kingdome His Majesty honored him with the Title of Noble Numb 5. Is the figure of the fore-mention'd Diamond after it was cut on both sides there remaining 94 Carats and a half the water being perfect The flat-side where there were two flaws below was as thin as a sheet of brown-paper When the Stone was cut I caus'd all that thin side to be taken off with one part of the end above where there remains one little speck of a flaw Numb 6. Is another Diamond which I bought at the Mine of Coulour It is fair and clean and weighs 36 Mangelins or 63 and 3 8 ths of our Carats Numb 7 and 8. Are two pieces of a Stone that was cut in two which being entire weigh'd 75 Mangelins and a half or 104 Carats Though it were of a good water it seem'd so foul in the middle that in regard it was large and held at a high price there was ne're a Banian would venture upon it At length an Hollander bought it and cutting it in two found in the middle of it eight Carats of filth like a rottenweed The small piece happen'd to be clean excepting a little flaw hardly to be perceiv'd but for the other wherein there are so many other cross flaws there was no way but to make seven or eight pieces of it The Hollander ran a great risco in cutting it a-sunder for it was very great luck that it had not broke into a hunder'd pieces Yet for all that it did not turn to account so that it is in vain for another to buy that which a Banian refuses CHAP. XX. The Forms of twenty Rubies which the Author sold to the King upon his last return from the Indies The first part of the Plate shews the weight extent and thickness of every Stone Numb 1. IS the Figure of a Ruby that belongs
to the King of Persia. It is in shape and bigness like an Egg boar'd through in the middle deep colour'd fair and clean except one flaw in the side They will not tell you what it cost nor let you know what it weighs only it appears by the Register that it has been several years in the Kings Treasury Numb 2. Is the Figure of a Balleis Ruby sold for such to Giaser-Kan the Great Moguls Uncle who paid 950000 Roupies or 1425000 Livres for it But an old Indian Jeweller affirming afterwards that it was no Balleis Ruby that it was not worth above 500 Roupies and that Giafer-kan was cheated and his opinion being confirm'd by Sha-jehan the most skilful in Jewels of any person in the Empire Aureng-zeb compell'd the Merchant to take it again and to restore the Money back Numb 3 and 4. Is is the Figure of Ruby belonging to the King of Visapour Numb 4 is the height of the Stone above the Gold And Numb 3 is the roundness of the Beazil It weighs fourteen Mangelins or seventeen Carats and a half a Visapour Mangelin being but five Grains It cost the King 14200 new Pagods or 74550 Livres Numb 5. Is the Figure of a Ruby that a Banian shew'd me at Banarous it weighs 58 Rati's or 50 Carats and 3 quarters being of the second rank in beauty In shape it is like a Plump Almond bor'd through at the end I offer'd 40000 Roupies or 60000 Livres for it but the Merchant demanded 55000 Roupies Numb 6. Is the Figure of a great Topaz belonging to the Great Mogul nor did I see him wear any other but that all the while I was in India This Topaz weighs 181 Rati's and half a quarter or 157 Carats and three quarters It was bought at Goa for the Great Mogul and cost 181000 Roupies or 271500 Livres of our Money Numb 7 8 9. Are the Figures of three several Rubies belonging to the King of France Numb 1. Is the Figure of a Pearl which the King of Persia bought at the Fishery of Catifa in Arabia It cost him 82000 Tomans or 1400000 Livres of our Money at forty-six Livres and six Deneers to a Toman It is the fairest and most perfect Pearl that ever was yet found to this hour having no defect Numb 2. Is the Figure of the biggest Pearl that ever I saw in the Court of the Great Mogul It hangs about the artificial Peacocks neck that adorns his great Throne Numb 3. Is the Figure of a Pearl that I sold to Cha-Est-Kan the Water is somewhat saint but it is the biggest Pearl that was ever carried out of Europe into Asia Numb 4. Is a great perfect Pearl as well for its Water as for its form which is like an Olive It is in the midst of a Chain of Emraulds and Rubies which the Great Mogul wears which being put on the Pearl dangles at the lower part of his Breast Numb 5. Is a Pearl perfectly round the biggest I ever saw and belongs to the Great Mogul The like could never be found for which reason the Great Mogul lays it up very charily and never uses it For if it could be match'd both would make a Pair of Pendants for the Ears set between Rubies or Emraulds according to the custom of the Country there being no person of any quality that does not wear a Pearl between two colour'd Stones in his Ear. The forme of three Balais Rubies belonging to his Majestie transparent quite through CHAP. XXI Of Coral and Yellow Amber and the places where it is found COral but little valu'd in Europe is highly esteem'd in all the three other parts of the World and there are three places where they fish for it upon the Coast of Sardigna That of Arguerrel is the fairest of all The second place is call'd Boza and the third is neer the Island of St. Peter There are two other places upon the Coast of France the one neer the Bastion of France the other at Tabarque There is also another Fishery upon the Coast of Sicily neer Trepano but the Coral is small and ill-colour'd There is another upon the Coast of Catalogna neer Cape de Quiers where the Coral is large and of an excellent colour but the branches are short There is a ninth Fishery in the Island of Majorque much like that neer the Island of Corsica And these are all the places in the Medsterranean-Sea where they fish for Coral for there is none at all in the Ocean Because that Coral grows under the hollow Rocks where the Sea is deep the Fishers fix two spars of wood a-cross fastening a great piece of Lead in the middle to make it sink after that they wind carelesly about the spar good store of tufted Hemp and fasten the wood to two Cords one end whereof hangs at the Poop the other at the Prow of the Vessel Then letting go the wood with the stream or current by the sides of the Rock the Hemp twists it self among the Coral so that sometimes they stand in need of five or six Boats to pull up the wood again and if one of the Cables should chance to break with the stress all the Rowers are in danger to be lost While they tear up the Coral thus by force there tumbles as much into the Sea as they fetch up and the bottom of the Sea being generally very ouzy the Coral will be eaten as our fruits are eaten by the worms so that the sooner they get it out of the mud the less it will be wasted This puts me in mind of one thing that I saw at Marseilles in a Shop where they dealt in Coral It was a great piece of Coral as big about as a man's fist which because it was a little worm-eaten was cut in two pieces When it was so cut there was a worm that stirr'd and had life and liv'd for some months after being again put into the hole For among some branches of Coral there engenders a kind of spongy-matter like our honey-combs where these worms lye like bees Some think that Coral is soft in the Sea though in truth it be hard But this indeed is as true that in certain months of the year you may squeze out of the end of a branch a kind of milky-substance and this perhaps may be a kind of seed which falling upon any thing that it first meets with in the Sea as if it light upon a dead Skull the blade of a Sword or a Pomgranate produces another branch of Coral And I have seen a Pomgranate and had it in my hand that had fallen into the Sea about which the Coral had twin'd at least half a foot high They fish for Coral from the beginning of April to the end of July to which purpose there are employ'd above 200 Vessels some years more and some years less They are built all along the River of Genoa being very swift Their sails are very large for more swiftness so that there
the Alms of Rice Millet and other Grains which the charitable bestow upon them The Bramin marks the forhead of all both Men and Women that come to pray in the Pagod with a kind of Vermillion wherewith he also besmears the Idol for being thus mark'd they believe the evil Spirit cannot hurt them as being then under the protection of their God Number I is that part where the Bramins paint their Idols such as Mamaniva Sita Madedina and others whereof they have a great number Numb 2 is the figure of Mamaniva which is in the Pagod Numb 3 is another Pagod neer the former There stands a Cow at the door and within stands the figure of their God Ram. Numb 4 is another Pagod into which the Faquirs that do Penance often retire Numb 5 is another Pagod dedicated to Ram. Numb 6 is a Hut into which a Faquir makes his retirement several times a year there being but one hole to let in the light He stays there according to the height of his devotion sometimes nine or ten days together without either eating or drinking a thing which I could not have believ'd had I not seen it My curiosity carri'd me to see one of those Penitents with the President of the Dutch-Company who set a Spy to watch night and day whether any body brought him any victuals But he could not discover any relief the Faquir had all the while fitting upon his Bum like our Taylors never changing his posture above seven days together not being able to hold out any longer by reason that the heat and stench of the Lamp was ready to stifle him Their other sorts of Penance out-doing this might be thought incredible were there not so many thousand witnesses thereof Numb 7 is the figure of another Penitentiary over whose head several years have past and yet he never slept day nor night When he finds himself sleepy he hangs the weight of the upper part of his body upon a double-rope that is fasten'd to one of the boughs of the Tree and by the continuance of this posture which is very strange and painful there falls a humour into their legs that swells them very much The Figure of a Penitent as they are represented in little under the Banians great Tree Numb 9 is the posture of another Penitent who every day for several hours stands upon one foot holding a Chasing-dish in his hand into which he pours Incense as an Offering to his God fixing his eyes all the while upon the Sun Numb 10 and 11 are the figures of two other Penitents sitting with their hands rais'd above their heads in the air Numb 12 is the posture wherein the Penitents sleep without ever resting their arms which is certainly one of the greatest torments the body of man can suffer Numb 13 is the posture of a Penitent whose arms through weakness hang flagging down upon his shoulders being dry'd up for want of nourishment There are an infinite number of other Penitents some who in a posture quite contrary to the motion and frame of nature keep their eys always turn'd toward the Sun Others who fix their eyes perpetually upon the ground never so much as speaking one word or looking any person in the face And indeed there is such an infinite variety of them that would render the farther discourse of them more then tedious True it is that I have hid those parts which modesty will not suffer to be expos'd to view But they both in City and Countrey go all as naked as they came out of their Mothers wombs and though the Women approach them to take them by the fingers-ends and to kiss those parts which modesty forbids to name yet shall you not observe in them any motion of sensuality rather quite contrary seeing them never to look upon any person but rowling their eyes in a most frightful manner you would believe them in an extasie CHAP. VII Of the Idolaters belief touching the estate of the Soul after death 'T IS an Article of the Idolaters Faith that the Souls of Men departing out of the body are presented to God who according to the lives which they lead orders them another body to inhabit So that one and the same person is born several times into the World And that as for the Souls of wicked and vicious persons God disposes them into the bodies of contempt'ble Beasts such as Asses Dogs Cats and the like to do Penance for their crimes in those infamous Prisons But they believe that those Souls that enter into Cows are happy presuming that there is a kind of divinity in those creatures For if a man dye with a Cows-tail in his hand they say it is enough to render him happy in the other World The Idolaters believing thus the transmigration of the Souls of men into the bodies of other creatures they abhor to kill any creature whatever for fear they should be guilty of the death of some of their kindred or friends doing Penance in those bodies If the Men in their life-time are famous for their vertuous deeds they hold that their Souls pass into the bodies of some Potent Raja's where they enjoy the pleasures of this life in those bodies as the reward of those good works which they did This is the reason why the Faquirs put themselves to such horrible Penances But because that all are not able to endure so much torment in this World they labour to supply the defect of that cruel Penance by good works And besides they charge their Heirs in their Wills to give Alms to the Bramins to the end that by the powerful effect of their Prayers their God may assign them the body of some Noble Personage In January 1661 the Broaker belonging to the Holland-Company whose name was Mondas-Parek dy'd at Surat He was a rich Man and very charitable giving his Alms very liberally as well to the Christians as to the Idolaters the Capuchins at Surat living one part of the year upon the Rice Butter and Pulse which he sent them This Banian was not sick above four or five days during all which time and for eight days more after he was dead his Brothers distributed nine or ten-thousand Roupies and in the burning of his body they mix'd Sandal-wood and Lignum-Aloes with the ordinary wood believing that by that means the Soul of their Brother transmigrating into another body he would come to be some great Lord in another Countrey There are some that are such fools that they bury their treasure in their life-time as it is the usual custom of all the rich Men in the Kingdom of Asen to the end that if they should be condemn'd to the body of some poor miserable person they might have wherewithal to supply their necessities I remember one day that I bought in India an Agate-Cup half a foot high he that sold it me assur'd me that it had been buried under ground above 40 years and that he kept it to
serve his occasions after death but that it was to him a thing indifferent whether he buried his Cup or his Money In my last Voyage I bought of one of these Idolaters sixty-two Diamonds of about six grains a-piece and while I was wondring to see so fair a parcel he told me I needed not to wonder for he had been fifty years getting them together to serve him after his death but that having occasion for Money he was forc'd to part with them This buried treasure stood the Raja Seva-Gi in great stead when he took Arms against the Great Mogul and the King of Visapour For that Raja having taken Callian Biondi a small City in the Kingdom of Visapour by the advice of the Bramins who assur'd him he should find great store of treasure buri'd caus'd the greatest part thereof to be demolish'd and found so much wealth as to maintain his Army which was above thirty-thousand Men. It is impossible to convince these poor Idolaters of their errors in regard they will hear no reason but submit themselves altogether to their old forms and customs CHAP. VIII Of the Custom among the Idolaters to burn the Bodies of their Dead THE custom of burning the Bodies of the dead is very ancient among the Gentiles which Ceremony they most commonly perform by the banks of Rivers where they wash the dead which is the last purgation of them from their sins Nay their superstition is so great sometimes that they will carry the sick person death approaching to the bank of some River or Pond and put his feet in the water As nature fails they dip him deeper and deeper till at length they hold him expiring up to the chin in the River to the end that at the same time that the Soul departs out of the Body both Body and Soul may be cleans'd from all defilement and then plunging the newly dead Body over head and ears they bring it out and burn it in the place appointed which is generally neer some Pagod There are some persons that make it their business to fetch Wood and agree what they shall have for their pains An Idolater being dead all those of his Caste or Tribe assemble together at the House of the deceas'd and laying the Body upon a Beer cover'd with clean fine Linnen according to his Quality and Estate they follow the Beer which is carri'd by such as are appointed for that purpose to the place where the Body is to be burn'd As they go along they sing certain Prayers to their God pronouncing several times the words Ram Ram while another going before the Beer sounds a little Bell to advertize the living to pray for the dead The Body being set down by the bank of the River or Pond they first plunge it into the water and then they burn it According to the quality of the deceas'd they also mingle with the ordinary wood Sandal-wood and other Sweet-woods But the Idolaters do not only burn the Bodies of the dead but the Bodies of the living They scruple to kill a serpent or a louse but account it a meritorious thing to burn a living Wife with the Body of the deceas'd Husband CHAP. X. How the Wives are burnt in India with the Bodies of their deceas'd Husbands IT is also an ancient custom among the Indians that the Husband happening to dye the Wife can never marry again So that as soon as the Man is dead the Wife retires to bewail her Husband some days after that they shave off her hair she lays aside all the ornaments of her apparel she takes off from her arms and legs the Bracelets which her Husband put on when he espous'd her in token of her submission and her being chain'd to him and all the rest of her life she lives slighted and despis'd and in a worse condition than a Slave in the very House where she was Mistress before This unfortunate condition causes them to hate life so that they rather choose to be buri'd alive with the body of their deceas'd Husbands then to live the scorn and contempt of all the World Besides that the Bramins make them believe that in dying after that manner they shall revive again with him in another World with more honour and more advantages than they enjoy'd before These are the motives that perswade the Women to burn with their Husbands besides that the Priests flatter them with a hope that while they are in the midst of the flames before they expire Ram will appear and reveal wonderful visions to them and that after their Souls have transmigrated into various Bodies they shall at length obtain a high degree of Honour to eternity However there is no Woman that can burn with her Husband's body till she has the leave of the Governor of the place where she inhabits who being a Mahumetan and abhorring that execrable custom of Self-murder is very shy to permit them Besides there are none but Widows that have no children that lye under the reproach that forces them to violent death For as for the Widows that have children they are by no means permitted to burn themselves but quite the contrary they are commanded to live for the education of the children Those Women whom the Governour will not permit to burn themselves spend the rest of their lives in doing Penance and performing works of Charity Some make it their business to sit upon the Road to boyl certain Pulse in water and to give the liquor to Travellers to drink Others sit with fire always ready for them to light their Tobacco Others make vows to eat nothing but the undigested grains which they find in Cow-dung The Governour finding no perswasions will alter the Woman's resolution but more especially perceiving by the sign which his Secretary makes him that he has receiv'd the Coin in a surly manner gives the Woman leave bidding the Devil take her and all her kindred When they have got this leave their Musick begins to strike up and away they ding to the House of the deceas'd with Drums beating and Flutes playing before them and in that manner they accompany the person that is to be burnt to the place appointed All the kindred and friends of the Widow that is to dye come to her and congratulate her for the happiness she is to enjoy in the other World and for the honour which the Caste she is of receives by her generous resolution she dresses her self as she were going to be marri'd and she is conducted in triumph to the place of execution For the noise is loud of Musical Instruments and Womens Voices that follow her singing Songs in honour of the miserable creature that is going to dye The Bramins that accompany her exhort her to give publick testimonies of her constancy and courage and many of our Europeans are of opinion that to take away the fears of death which naturally terrifies humanity the Priests do give her a certain Beverage to stupify and
carry Coral in Beads yellow Amber and Lapis Lazuli Beads if they can meet with it The other Merchants that come from the Coast of Multan Lahor and Agra bring only Linnons Indigo and store of Cornelian and Christal Beads Those that return through Gorrochepour and are agreed with the Officer of the Custom-House carry from Patna and Daca Coral yellow Amber Bracelets of Tortois-shells and other Shells with great store of round and square thick pieces of Tortois When I was at Patna four Armenians who had been before at Boutan return'd from Dantzick where they had made certain Figures of yellow Amber representing the shapes of several Creatures and Monsters which they were carrying to the King of Boutan who is an Idolater as are all his people to set up in his Pagods For the Armenians for Money will sell any thing of Idolatry and they told me besides that if they could but have made the Idol which the King of Boutan bespoke of them they should have done their business Which was to have been a Monsters head with six horns four ears four arms and six fingers upon every hand all of yellow Amber but they could not find pieces big enough The Caravan is three months travelling from Patna to the Kingdom of Boutan It sets out from Patna about the end of December and eight days after arrives at Gorrochepour From Gorrochepour to the foot of the high Mountains is eight or nine days journey more during which the Caravan suffers very much hardship for the Country is nothing but wide Forrests full of wild Elephants So that the Merchants instead of taking their rests are forc'd to watch keep fires and shoot off their Muskets all the night long For the Elephant making no noise in treading would else be upon the Caravan before they were aware not that he comes to do any mischief to the men but to get what victuals he can find You may travel from Patna to the foot of those Mountains in Palleki's But generally they ride upon Oxen Camels or Horses bred in the Country Those Horses are generally so little that when a man is upon the back of them his feet touch the ground but they will travel twenty Leagues an end and never bait or else with a very small one Some of those Horses cost two hundred Crowns for indeed when you come to cross the Mountains you can make use of no other sort of carriage but them in regard of the narrowness and ruggedness of the Passes which many times put the Horses very much to it as strong and as low as they are Five or six Leagues beyond Gorrochepour you enter into the Territories of the Raja of Nupal which extend to the Frontiers of the Kingdom of Boutan This Raja is a Tributary to the Great Mogul and pays him every year an Elephant for his Homage He resides in the City of Nupal from whence he derives his Title but there is little either Trade or Money in his Country which is all Woods and Forrests The Caravan being arriv'd at the foot of these Mountains which are call'd at this day by the name of Naugrocot abundance of people come from all parts of the Mountain the greatest part whereof are women and maids who agree with the Merchants to carry them their goods and provisions cross the Mountains which is eight days journey more The women carry upon each shoulder a woollen Roll to which is fasten'd a large Cushion that hangs down upon their backs upon which the man sits There are three women to carry one man relieving one another by turns And for their luggage and provisions they lade them upon Goats that will carry a hundred and fifty pound weight apiece Those that will ride are in many places forc'd to have their Horses hoisted up with Cords They never feed them but morning and evening mixing a pound of meal half a pound of brown Sugar and half a pound of Butter together with water sufficient In the evening they must be contented only with a few flat Peason bruis'd and steep'd half an hour in water The women that carry the men get for their ten days travel two Roupies apiece and as much for every burthen which the Goats carry and for every Horse which they lead After you have pass'd the Mountains you may travel to Boutan upon Oxen Camels Horses or Palleki's which you please The Country is good abounding in Rice Corn Pulse and store of wine All the people both men and women are clad in the Summer with a large piece of Fustian or Hempen-Cloath in the Winter with a thick Cloth almost like Felt. Both men and women wear upon their heads a kind of Bonnet much like our drinking Cans which they adorn with Boars teeth and with round and square pieces of Tortois-Shells The richer sort intermix Coral and Amber Beads of which their women make them Neck-Laces The men as well as the women wear Bracelets upon their left hands only from the wrist to the elbow The women wear them strait the men loose About their necks they wear a silken twist at the end whereof hangs a Bead of yellow Amber or Coral or a Boars Tooth which dangles upon their breasts On their left sides their Girdles are button'd with Beads of the same Though they be Idolaters yet they feed upon all sort of food except the flesh of Cows which they adore as the common Nurses of all men they are besides great lovers of strong water They observe also some Ceremonies of the Chineses burning Amber at the end of their Feasts though they do not worship fire like the Chineses For which reason the Merchants of Boutan will give at Patna for a Serre of large pieces of yellow Amber as big as a Nut bright and clean thirty-five and forty Roupies The Serre of yellow Amber Musk Coral Ambergrise Rhubarb and other Drugs containing nine Ounces to the pound Saltpeter Sugar Rice Corn and other Commodities are also sold by the Serre in Bengala but the Serre contains seventy-two of our Pounds at sixteen Ounces to the Pound and forty Serres make a Mein or 2824 Pounds of Paris To return to yellow Amber a piece of nine ounces is worth in Boutan from 250 to 300 Roupies according to its colour and beauty Coral rough or wrought into Beads yields profit enough but they had rather have it rough to shape it as they please themselves The Women and Maids are generally the Artists among them as to those toys They also make Beads of Crystal and Agat As for the Men they make Bracelets of Tortoise-shell and Sea-shells and polish those little pieces of Shells which the Northern people wear in their ears and in their hair In Patna and Daca there are above two thousand persons that thus employ themselves furnishing the Kingdoms of Boutan Asem Siam and other Northern and Eastern parts of the Mogul's Dominions As for Wormseed the Herb grows in the Fields and must dye before the
the Law their profession and are look'd upon as the Clergy of Mahomet leave no place for suits at Law every one knows his priviledges and what belongs to the function of his Charge and there arise no differences among them because all things are perfectly well regulated In like manner the people are ignorant what pleading signifies There 's no occasion for publick Notaries in order to Matrimonial contracts There 's no great sums given with a daughter and the jewels and cloaths which she can get out of her Fathers house are all the portion she brings to her Husband And this in few words is the reason that the Turks can put an expeditious end to all their affairs without giving any toleration to that pettifogging which among Christians proves the ruine of so many People The Officers who sit in the Divaen are first the Grand Vizir the Lieutenant-General of the whole Empire who is President of it and represents the Grand Seignor's Person Then the six other Vizirs Then the Cadilesquers of Romania and Natolia who are the Judges and Intendants of the Armies Then the three Tefterdars or Treasurers-General Then the Nissangibacha the Lord Chancellour And the Netangi who is as 't were the Secretary of State with some Clerks or Notaries All these Officers come into the Divan-Hall at four in the Morning and continue there till noon to administer Justice The Chiaoux-bachi has his station at the Gate with a troop of those that are under his charge to execute the Grand Vizir's Orders and has a silver-rod in his hand as a badge of his Authority On those dayes that the Divan sits the Officers are entertain'd at dinner in the same The care taken to prevent the revolt of the Janizaries Hall which is done with much sobriety and little Ceremony All is over and taken away in half an hours time The Grand Vizir eats alone unless he call a Bassa or two to keep him company There are carried also messes of Chourba which is a kind of pottage made with Rice for the dinners of the Janizaries who are in their stations under the Galleries But if it happen that they are in a mutinous humour and incens'd against a Vizir or against the Grand Seignor himself not one of them will put his hand to the Chourba but they scornfully thrust back the dishes and by that action discover their discontent The Grand Seignor is presently advertis'd of it and sends to them the Capou-Agasi Grand Master of the Seraglio to know what their pleasure is and what they desire Then they depute one of their own Body to go and speak on the behalf of them all and that person whispering the Capou-Agasi in the Ear declares to him the occasion of their discontent That Eunuch presently carries it to the Grand Seignor And if they have a peek against a Vizir or a Cadilesquer or sometimes against their Aga or Colonel it often happens that to appease those mutineers the Grand Seignor orders them to be strangled and sends them their heads Sunday and Tuesday are the principal dayes of the Divan and then it is properly a How the Grand Seignor is present at the Divan Council of State and of publick affairs The Grand Seignor most commonly assists at it but is not seen and that keeps in awe as well the Grand Vizir as the other Officers He can come thither from his own Appartment through a close Gallery and seat himself at a window which looks into the Divan-Hall and has alwayes a velvet Curtain before it which he draws when he pleases and especially when he perceives that they have not done Justice I shall produce here an example famous enough as to that particular which happen'd in the Reign of Sultan Achmet the Father of Amurath and one of the justest Princes that ever the Ottoman Empire had The Reader is to call to mind what I said at the beginning concerning the Timar-Spahi on whom they bestow during their lives the Government and revenue of The bold action of a Timer-Spahi who kills a Grand Vizir and is pardon'd some Town according as they have deserv'd by their Services The Spahi whose story I am going to relate had a Timar between Aleppo and Damas which might bring him in a revenue of fifteen hundred Crowns The Grand Vizir either out of some aversion to the Spahi or upon some false reports which had been made of him and which he had been too forward to believe without taking an exact information of things took away from him the Timar whereof he was possess'd and bestow'd it on one of his own Creatures The Spahi finding himself so unjustly dispossess'd comes to Constantinople enters into the Divan and presents a Petition to the Grand Vizir wherein he remonstrates to him his long Services and how he never was chargeable with any negligence of his duty The Grand Vizir having read it tears it in his presence which was to signifie as much as that he would not answer it and that there was nothing for the Spahi to hope for The Petitioner withdrew without saying any thing but some days afterwards he returns to the Divan and presents a second Petition which the Grand Vizir likewise tears as he had done the former without making any answer thereto Upon this second injury the Spahi full of fury and justly exasperated draws his Poniard falls upon the Vizir and kills him The Grand Seignor who was then at the Window having observ'd that action draws the Curtain and with a loud voice commanded that no hurt should be offer'd to the person who had done it He thereupon orders the Spahi to approach and ask'd him the Reason of his having demean'd himself with so much violence The other much asham'd humbly makes answer but with resolution enough That he could not forbear doing what he had done upon the sight of so great a piece of Injustice and thereupon presenting to him the Petition which had been torn to pieces the Grand Seignor caus'd it to be read and patiently hearkned to the just complaints which it contain'd Having fully examin'd the Affair his Highness commended the Spahi for the Action he had done using the word Aferim which is as much as to say 'T is well done and which is ordinary in that Language when they approve a thing and thereupon there was an additional Liberality made by the Grand Seignor to the Command which he gave that he should be re-established in his Timar He thereupon took occasion to speak to the other Vizirs and to tell them That that Example should teach them to do just things and not to suffer themselves to be so blinded by favour as not to observe Equity The violent action of the Spabi is certainly not to be approv'd though the injustice of the Vizir was manifest but the procedure of the Grand Seignor cannot be look'd on otherwise then as most commendable and a great Model of
strength of Body of a certain Ichoglan The Mosquey belonging to the Appartment of the Eunuchs The Employments of the Dwarfs and the Mutes The superstition of the Turks in the manner of paring their nails The Colours forbidden the Christians in whatever they wear about their heads The Description of the Baths Certain abuses reform'd Why the Inhabitants of the Eastern Parts do not make use of Paper upon an undecent account The Persians more scrupulous than the Turks They are great lovers of cleanliness Certain Chambers very commodious and divertive The strict prohibition of Mahomet for any one to suffer himself to be seen stark naked A certain Earth which takes off the hair and its dangerous effects THE Baths design'd for the Grand Seignor's own Person and his principal Officers take up a great space of the Quarter of the Eunuchs The little Ovens whereby they are heated called Kulkans are adjoyning to the Appartment of the Saraï-houdasi and fifteen Ichoglans the most robust that can be found are employ'd in keeping the fire going They have the denomination of Kulkangis and Five and twenty others who are named Dellaks are employ'd in the Baths to shave and rub the Body as also in applying Cupping-Glasses to those who stand in need thereof Among the Kulkangis he who is the most ancient in that employment has a pre-eminence and superiority over the rest whom he many times commands to exercise themselves in wrastling and lifting a heavy Iron Barr with one hand There are three such Bars fasten'd upon great Cramp-Irons over the door that goes The prodigious strength of Body of a certain Ichoglan into the Baths and the middlemost of the three as it is commonly reported weighs a hundred Okkas which amount to Three hundred and fifty pounds Paris weight an Okka weighing three pounds and a half or thereabouts There was heretofore one of those Ichoglans of so prodigious strength that the Grand Seignor himself would have the satisfaction of seeing a tryal whether he could with one hand lift up and turn about that Iron-bar which he did to the great astonishment of the Prince and presently after he entertain'd him with another demonstration of the strength of his Arm. Over those three Iron-bars there hung two Head-pieces of Iron whereof one was an inch in thickness and the other about the eighth part of an inch The same Ichoglan did in the Grand Seignor's presence at one blow of a Battle-Axe cut through the head-piece of an inch thick and at one blow with a Sabre cleft the other to the middle of it Opposite to those Ovens are the Cocks whereby the Waters are distributed into the The Mosquey belonging to the Appartment of the Eunuchs several Rooms of the Baths and I forgot to tell you That before you enter into that place you find a little Mosquey adjoyning to the Appartment of the Saraiket-houdasi where all the Ichoglans go to their devotions twice a day If they fail the doing of it the Oda-bachi who in every Chamber takes notice of their demeanours calls them to an account and they are sure of the bastinado as they are also for any other fault they commit and sometimes they receive the said punishment on the soles of their feet and upon some occasions to such a number of blowes that the nails of their toes come off and that is the punishment which is properly call'd Drubbing Out of that Mosquey you pass into a Gallery adjoyning to the Baths and there the The Employment of the Dwarfs and Mutes Dislis and the Geuges that is to say the Mutes and the Dwarfs are employ'd in some work or other all day long Some spend the time in learning to make up Turbants wherein there is more work and difficulty than is imagin'd especially in making up the Grand Seignior's own Turbant when he goes to the Divan For then he takes an extraordinary large one as do also all the Officers of the same Divan when they go to Council and I cannot make a better representation of that kind of Turbant then by the form of our largest sort of Citrals if they be made hollow in the middle so as that the head might enter into that hole Others are employ'd in shaving paring the nails and other things of that kind They do not make use of any Scizars for the nails in Turkey nor in any part of Asia it being a thing forbidden by Mahomet in his Law and accordingly they account the doing of it a great sin But they make use of a little Steel Instrument somewhat like a Pen-knife and the only cutting part is the end of it and they are dextrous enough in the performance of that Office It is the Custome all over the East that the Barber who trims you should also make up your Turbant which is many times discompos'd pare the nails of your hands and toes and take away the filth out of your Ears For the Turks and all the Inhabitants of Asia are great lovers of cleanliness and cannot endure the least nastiness either on themselves or those who come near them as I shall give you an account anon And having spoken so much of the Turbant it will not be unseasonable for me to Colours forbidden the Christians in their Coissure communicate this Remark to you here That in the Ottoman Empire and all over Arabia none but Mahumetans are permitted to make use of White for the covering of their heads whereas in Persia and all over the Great Mogul's Empire men may take what Colours they please themselves I come now to the Great Bath which is adjoyning to the Chamber of the Hamangibachi The description of the Baths who is the chief Overseer of it and which makes part of the Appartment of the Seferlis or the Grand Seignor's Laundry-men The place where they put off their Cloaths is a spacious Louver or Banquetting-house of Freestone high enough and in one of the most eminent parts of the Seraglio The Floor is pav'd with a very delightful kind of Marble laid in square pieces and it has two large Windows jutting out upon the Gardens somewhat like Balconies from which you have a Prospect of the two Seas In the midst of that Domo or Louver you find a Fountain the water whereof is receiv'd into two Basins or Cisterns The former which is the highest and withal the least is of one piece of White Marble having in it a little intermixture of Red and Black Veins and pierc'd through at six several places for the reception of so many small Pipes of Copper through which the water falls down into the other Basin which is also of Marble of several pieces and several colours Within the Domo there is a great number of Poles which are dispos'd all about it Abuses reform'd and supported by certain pieces of Iron coming out of the wall Upon those Poles they dry the Linnen which they had us'd in the Bath and of that Linnen there
are several sorts Heretofore the Pages were allow'd only a long piece of Linnen Cloath which came only twice about their wasts but upon observation made that they abus'd them and that handsome young Lads playing together snatch'd that piece of Linnen one from the other purposely to discover their nakedness they use in the Baths only such Garments of Linnen as are sow'd close above and reach from the waste down to the feet much after the manner of a Woman's Petti-coat At their coming out of the Bath they have two other sorts of Linnen to dry themselves withal of the largeness of ordinary Table-Cloaths whereof the one is Red with a bordure of Silk of three fingers breadth which covers them as soon as they are out of the water from the waste downwards to the Ham and the other is white wherewith they rub themselves For these two sorts of Towels they have but one name to wit Péchetamal On one side of the Fountain which is in the midst of the Domo there is an entrance why the Levantines do not use Paper undecently into the bath and near that is the Hall where they uncloath themselves in the Winter-time A little Gallery which lies on the left hand leads to the places design'd for the casing of nature and every seat has a little Cock which supplies them with weter to wash themselves after they have done It is accounted a heinous sin among them to make use of Paper for that purpose and the reason they give for it is this that possibly the Name of God might be written upon it or it might contain some Text of the Law which would be a profanation of it and consequently ought to be avoided Besides they have another opinion That Paper is not so proper so well to make clean that part which the necessity of the Body does ordinarily so much defile but that there may be something of ordure left and that being oblig'd to present themselves before God with an absolute Purity of Body and Mind their Prayers could not be heard if they should not be wholly clean The Persians are yet more scrupulous than the Turks upon this account For though The Persians more scrupulous than the Turks they both agree in this That their Devotions are ineffectual nay indeed that they are not in a condition to perform them without crime if they be not pure as to Body and Mind Yet the former are of a perswasion That the least ordure which through negligence or inadvertency might remain upon their persons or their garments would render their Prayers fruitless and criminal which the Turks somewhat less superstitious as to that particular will not acknowledge Certain it is also That in Persia they are extraordinary Lovers of cleanliness insomuch They are great lovers of clean 〈…〉 that I have observ'd That at Ispahan the Metropolis of that Country where the Streets are not pav'd when there falls a little Snow or Rain which must occasion some dirt few people will come out of their houses unless they be forc'd thereto by some Concern of great importance And when they do go abroad at such a time at the house door into which they are to enter they put off their shooes their upper-Garment the Cap which covers their Turbants and if they have the least dirt or filth about them they think themselves impure and that it would be a disrespect to the person whom they are to visit Nay a Persian shall be very scrupulous and make a great difficulty to receive a man into his house in foul weather and if any one presents himself into that pleasure he makes a sign to him with his hand to keep at a certain distance from him in the place wherein he is to enter into discourse with him For if by chance as he comes out of the Street where there is some dirt and where horses pass to and fro and may cast some of it upon him he has the least spot of any daggling about him and afterwards touch the Person whom he comes to visit this latter would be nagis that is to say unclean and thereupon be oblig'd immediately to change his cloaths so great is the Superstition of the Persians as to that particular At the end of the Gallery there is a door which gives you passage into three Chambers Chambers very divertive and Commodious which are so many Baths for the use of the Grand Seignor's Quarter There is adjoyning to the last of those Chambers a spacious place pav'd Checquer-wise with Marble of different colours and there the Ichoglans are trimm'd This place has a little eminency in the midst of it from which there is a gentle descent of all sides that the Water wherewith the Barbers wash their Heads and Beards may the more easily be carried off and the place be alwaies kept clean On both sides of the Wall whereby it is enclos'd there is a great double Cock with two Keyes belonging to it which at the same mouth supplyes them alternately with either hot water or cold and that falls into a Basin or Receptacle of White Marble wherein three or four men may bathe themselves without any inconvenience or trouble one to the other There is also at one of the ends a little Room of Black and White Marble and there the Barbers who have no knowledge of any other Profession put up all their necessary Utensils and Instruments as Razors Hones Balls and those Irons wherewith they pare their Nails for as for Linnen they do not use any and those who are to be shav'd come in stark naked from the Waste upwards and are cover'd from thence downwards only with a Cloath which reaches to the Ankle 'T is a great Rarity to meet with any one among those Barbers that knowes how to let blood and their Lancets are much like the Fleams wherewith our Farriers bleed Horses Opposite to the Chamber of the Barbers there are three other Rooms arch'd with Marble the largest whereof much surpasses in Beauty those that are adjoyning to it The Floor of it is of white and black Marble and the Walls are done about with square pieces that are white and blew and in every one of them you find a Flower in emboss'd Work done to the Life and which a man would take for enamell Little Lamines or Plates of Gold cover the junctures of those square pieces and there cannot any thing be imagin'd more pleasant and divertive than that Chamber is In the Roof of it there are several round holes of about half a foot diameter over which there are little Glasses made in the fashion of Bells order'd as the Venice-Looking-Glasses are lest any one should have the curiosity to get up to the Roof and laying himself upon his belly think to see what is done in the Bath The place has no light but what it receives by the means of those holes and while some body is in the Bath But especially when
is to no purpose to think of it All the Officers and the Slaves whom the Bassa's have in their Retinue are so many Spies and observers of their Actions and it is impossible for them to conceal what they do from them 'T were dangerous for a man to entrust a Secret with any one of them they are mean Souls and uncapable of any gallant Action besides that the Ports and Passages are equally shut up against both If there be the least discovery made thereof the Governour of the Frontier places would immediately have Orders from the Port to take the Field nay if there were not any such they are but over-diligent in enquiring after and informing themselves of all those who pass through the extent of their Jurisdiction Besides though there were some likelihood of compassing it and that travelling only in the Night time a man might get into some Neighbouring State yet Turkey being in a manner quite surrounded by Nations who abhor the Domination of the Ottomans 't were as much as to leap out of the Frying-pan into the Fire and to go and pass for a Spy amongst a fort of people who would give no quarter Whence it might be imagin'd that there were less difficulty in attempting an escape by Sea than to hazard it by land but the former is the much more difficult and the severe prohibitions made to the Christians upon pain of death not to take any Turk or Slave into their Ships which are exactly search'd before they weigh Anchor shut up all the Ports of Turkey against those of the Country who might be desirous to get out of it True it is however that few years pass but that a considerable number of Slaves are convey'd away by the charity and contrivances of the Christian Consuls and Merchants They are secretly kept at the Houses of some Christian Inhabitants of the Country whose secrecy and silence are bought with Mony and the same receipt stops the mouths of those who have the over-sight of the Ports and are warmly entertain'd with drinking while they cunningly get the Slaves aboard the Vessel which has been visited and is then ready to set sail They would be loath to run themselves into that danger for natural Turks there would be some ground to fear that it might be some Plot on their side to surprize and try the Christians and it seldom happens that they have a thought of making any escape They know well enough that whether it be by Sea or Land excepting only the Kingdom of Persia where they are hated upon the account of the difference of Sects they cannot make their escape any where but into Christendom where they would not be permitted the exercise of their Mahumetan Religion which they would not renounce for a thousand lives E're we close up the Discourse concerning the Liberality of the Ottoman Monarchs it is to be observ'd That sometimes they make very considerable Presents which they Presents made to the Sultanesses take out of the Grand Treasury and which are paid in Silver only if they are order'd for the Grandees of the Port whether in the Seraglio or out of it Those Presents consists ordinarily of a Purse of Gold which amounts to Fifteen thousand Ducats or Thirty thousand Crowns and when there are any such made to the Sultanesses they receive all in Gold To do that there 's no occasion of going to the Secret Treasury there is gold enough in the Fourth Chamber into which they at first bring in all the Gold and Silver of all the Revenues of the Empire and that Summe which makes no great hole in the great heap returns again into the same place by several waies CHAP. XII Of the Present which the Grand Seignor sends every Year to Mecha THE PRINCIPAL HEADS The third part of the Revenue of Egypt how employ'd The great Wealth of the Sheck of Mecha Ceremonies observ'd at Mahomet's Tomb. The Caravan of Cairo The Present sent from Mecha to the Great Mogul The Opinion of the Mahumetans concerning Mecha and Medina THat I make here a particular Chapter of the Present which the Grand Seignor sends every Year to Mecha is occasion'd by this third part of the Revenue of Egypt which is peculiarly design'd for it and upon this Consideration withall That I have singular Remarks to make upon that subject Three Millions of Livers of Twelve of annual Revenue which the Kingdom of Egypt payes the Grand Seignor are partly expended in the Rich Carpet and the Sumptuous The third part of the Revenue of Egypt how employ'd Tent which he sends to the Sheck every year in honour to Mahomet's Tomb. Another part goes to the payment of those who serve in the Mosqueys As for instance the Imans who are their Priests the Cheuchs who are their Preachers the Muezims who by their noise on the Towers of the Mosqueys call the people to their Devotions and the Kaijms of Mecha and Medina who look to and keep clean the Mosqueys and light the Lamps We must also put into the Account of these Three Millions the Sustenance of all the Pilgrims for the space of Seventeen dayes the Grand Seignor sending for that end a sufficient Summe to the Sheck This Sheck who is as 't were the Supream Person upon the score of the Law and the High Priest of all the Mahumetans what Country and Sect soever they be of makes the poor ignorant people believe that there come every year to Mecha Seventy thousand Pilgrims Men and Women and if that number were not compleat the Angels would come in humane forms to make it up This Prince whom we call the Sheck for whom all the Mahumetans have a great Veneration is very Rich and very powerful and that may be easily conjectur'd by The great Wealth of the Sheck of Mecha the Presents which he receives every year from the Grand Seignor and the other Mahumetan Princes These Presents are all his own to be dispos'd of as he pleases at the end of the Year when new ones are sent to him He makes his advantage also of all the Presents that are made by the Pilgrims and of the Summes of Mony which those very Princes send him to be distributed in Alms which he also disposes of as he pleases and all these Presents put together make him such a Revenue as is hardly imaginable For Mahumetisme spreads very much into Europe Asia and Africa and that much more then is commonly believ'd as I shall more distinctly make it appear at the end of my Relation in a particular Chapter which I design for the handling of that matter From several Parts of the World there come Caravans to Mecha and when the Devotion is to begin the High Priest assisted by all the people belonging to the Law Ceremonies observ'd at Mahomet's Tomb. spends night and day in saying of Prayers and performing the necessary Ceremonies On the Seventh day all the Pilgrims are assembled together before the