hour after eight we had seven Fathom water About ten a Clock seven Fathom a Foot less About half an hour after eleven seven Fathom and then we set the Ships Head East South East but at midnight held our Course South Next morning half an hour after five we had thirteen Fathom water and were almost at an equal distance from the Isle of Queschimo which was to the North-East of us the Isle of Nabdgion or Pitombo South South-West of us and the Isle of Tonbo South East from us and we bore away East Queschimo is a great Isle but low Land though it hath several Hillocks Queschimo yet they are all so low that Sailing along this Island on any side you may see the Mountains of the main Land over it It lyes in length East and West is not very broad but twenty Leagues long it is to the East of Congo and West South-West from Comoron it is a fruitful and well inhabited Island the West end of it not being above a good League and a half from Congo and the East end about a League from Bender-Abassi On the East part of this Island there is a Fort before which Ships may come to an Anchor in six Fathom water to take in fresh water which is very good in this place The Portuguese formerly held this Fort and it may be worth the observing that though the Island be very near the main Land yet Barks and Galliots pass betwixt the two Nabdgion or Pitombo is a little low Desart Island lying South Nabgion or Pitombo Tonbo South-East from Queschimo Tonbo is another little low flat Island and Desart affoarding only a great many Antelopes and Conys It lyes to the East of Nabdgion or Pitombo and South from Congo from which it is but four Leagues distant Manuel Mendez who had much experience in those Seas being very young when he came into that Country where he hath during the space of many years made several Voyages made me observe that if any one should build a Fort on that Island and keep some Men of War there he might easily raise a Toll upon all the Ships that Trade in those Seas for they must of necessity Sail near to that Island on the one side or other Towards the South-East it has fifteen or twenty Wells of good water but especially one that is excellent and a good Road before it When the Portuguese were possessed of Mascate they came every year with some Galliots to the Isle of Tonbo to receive the Tribute that was paid them in all the Ports of those Seas and brought thither by those who were obliged to pay it The yearly Tribute they had from the Isle of Queschimo consisted of five Persian Horses and two Falcons Congo payed four hundred Tomans Bahrem sixteen thousand Abassis and Catif the half of the yearly profits of its Customs as for Bassora there was a Portuguese Agent that resided there who received a Chequin a day of the Basha and as often as the General came to that Town the Basha made him a Present This Island is encompassed all round with Banks under water nevertheless there is almost every where four six eight nay in some places nine Fathom water About half an hour after seven the Wind slackened much and we Steered South South East about eleven a Clock we found nine Fathom water and seeing we were almost becalmed and the Tide cast us to the Westward we were obliged to drop an Anchor half an hour after one a Clock at noon We were some three Leagues off of Sannas which was to the West North-West of us to the North-West and by West it makes a Peak but the Hill is higher than the Peak we went thither to take in water for the water is very good there though it be about two Leagues from the West point of Queschimo which was to the North-West of us About four a Clock we had a Breeze from South South-West which made us Steer our Course South-East About six a Clock we had twenty Fathom water Half an hour after seven the Wind turned North-West and we bore away East at eight a Clock we found eighteen Fathom water half an hour after that eighteen and a half and we stood away East and by North. About nine a Clock the Wind freshened a little and we had twenty Fathom water at ten a Clock we had one and twenty and about half an hour after ten we Steered our Course East Wednesday the ninth of December about day break the Wind ceased and we Steered still East the Isle of Angom was to the North-East of us and not far off and on the other side to the South-East we had a Port of Arabia Foelix called Julfar which is a good Harbour where many Indian Barks carrying mony come to buy Dates Julfar Pearl-Fishing and Pearls which are Fished all along that Coast from Mascat to Bahrem there is a good Castle at Julfar From that Port to the Cape of Mosandon the Coast of Arabia the Happy is all Mountanous bearing South-West and North-East and runs so near the Persian shoar that there is but five Leagues betwixt the main Land of Mosandon and the Isle of Lareca which is close by Comoron Betwixt Julfar and Mosandon Good Ports in the Gulf which are not set down in the Maps there are a great many good Ports that are not set down in the Maps where notwithstanding several Ships may safely Winter secure from all Winds and there is every where very good water About half an hour after seven in the morning the Wind turned North-East and we Steered our Course East South-East We were then off and on with the Point of Angom which bears West North-West Angom Angom is a little low Island to the South of Queschimo and reaches along Queschimo from West North-West to East South-East no body lives in it but two or three Fishermen who keep some Goats which they sell to Ships that come there to take in fresh water where it is very good Though this Island be very near to Queschimo yet Ships may pass betwixt them and all that take in water there shoot the Streight About noon we bore away South-East and at one a Clock having cast the Lead we had eight and thirty Fathom water we were then becalmed and made no way but by the Tide of Ebb which cast us upon Arabia so that we were obliged to stand off of it as far as we could to turn the Ships Head East North-East nevertheless towards the evening we were got very near the Mountains of Arabia wherefore to keep off of that shoar as much we could we Steered away North-East and by East and the Tide of floud did us some service About seven a Clock the Wind seemed as if it would get in to North but it blew so gentlely that it hardly curled the water Thursday the tenth of December about half an hour after four in the morning we
great sounded the Sea at that place and could find no Ground There is nevertheless a little Island called Firesia at the point whereof one may come to an Anchor Firesia and no where else CHAP. LXIX Of the Isles of Policandre Milo Sifanto Thermia Ajora and Scyra Policandre THE Isle of Policandre is eight miles in compass and a pretty pleasant place Three miles from the Sea-side there is a Village of about an hundred Houses inhabited by three hundred Souls one must cross over a Valley and Rocks in going to it and there are no other Houses in the Island In it there are three well built Churches and two Monasteries one of Men and another of Women The Convent of the Monks is very well situated and is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin it hath a little Garden adjoyning to the Church with a Cistern of excellent water and in that Garden there is a Statue without a Head made after the Apostolick way there are others also in the Walls built in among the rest of the stones The other Monastery is for Women who observe no rule or institution but live as Nature teaches them their Church is dedicated to St. John and a Monk says Mass in it on all Sundays and Holy-days The Inhabitants of this Isle pay their Tribute with the Money they raise from Barley Cotton Stuffs and Cheese which they make The Castle stands upon a very high Hill but all the Houses of it are ruinous except a Chapel of St. Michael the Arch-Angel from thence one may see all the Isles of the Archipelago The Inhabitants of this place are honest civil and courteous People especially the Women who are very handsome they live pretty well having very good Bread Fowl Sheep and other things necessary They make no Wine but have it brought them from Santorini which is but thirty miles from it They have no Physicians nor Chyrurgeons nor any sort of Trade The Harbour of this Island is indifferent good but the Mainots and other Corsairs put often in there and lodge a-shore in a Church that stands by the Sea-side Milo. The Isle of Milo is so called from Mylos which in the vulgar Greek signifies a Mill because there are many Windmills in it and because also they bring Mill-stones from thence This Island is thirty six miles about has few Hills in it and is fruitful in all things selling yearly betwixt three and four hundred Tun of Wine and the Inhabitants trade in Candie Venice and other places They have a Mine of Brimstone and much Pumice-stones which are Let out to one of the Inhabitants for fifteen hundred Piastres a year Three miles from the Town there are hot Baths of Sulphur where People come from several places to wash and many recover their health there The Port is six miles long three over and has a good depth of water Two miles from this Port there is a Grotto in form of a large Chamber wherein there is luke-warm water A Bath of hot Water that reaches six miles which gives so much heat that an artificial Bath cannot make one sweat more They say that the water of this Grott has an inrercourse with the Church of St. Constantine that is six miles North of it and to make a proof of this one day they put a Silver Cup into this Bath which they found again in the Fountain of the said Church of St. Constantine In this Isle there is a Town where two thousand five hundred Souls live and an old Castle inhabited by five hundred more The Town stands in a Plain with a Castle in the middle of it but not inhabited They have a Latin Bishop and a Greek Bishop the Latin Cathedral is without the Town dedicated to St. Peter but without any Ornaments and the Latin Bishop celebrates in a Chapel that joyns to one of the Greek Churches this Bishop has a great many Tithes which he divides with the Greek Bishop taking two thirds to himself and giving the Greek the other third The Greek Bishop hath several well built Churches in good repair and many Priests to officiate in them Most of the Inhabitants of this Island are Greeks who live much at their ease are civil but very wicked and perfidious Their Women go in a very ugly dress speak very ill and cannot pronounce the letter L They are very charitable and kind to Strangers The People live here commodiously enough having all things necessary for life but they have no Physicians Chyrurgeons nor any of that Profession There are no Turks in this Island and it is governed by four Deputies of the Town Half a mile from Milo is the Isle called Chimolo or Argentara which hath a good Harbour Chimolo or Argentara and a Village containing about two hundred Souls which was burnt by the Corsairs in the Year 1638. These poor People live in great misery The Isle of Sifanto or Sifano anciently Sifanus is thirty six miles in circuit Sifanto Sifanus and has a Castle upon a Hill with double Walls inhabited by three thousand Souls and there are no other Houses in all the Island unless it be some Countrey-houses of private Men There is no water in this Castle what they have is brought out of the Plain underneath it The Harbour is not good for Barks and therefore they have Ware-houses near the shore where they put their Commodities and then draw the Barks on Land. There is another good Harbour but it is five miles from thence This Isle belonged formerly to the Family of Gozadini as may be seen by an Inscription made in the Year 1450. Family of the Gozadini upon a Marble-Pillar at the entry into the Port. There is upon it a Latin Bishop and a Greek Vicar but the Chapel of the Latin Bishop is little and very poor There is a Monastery of Greeks also built upon a Hill. There is no place of Recreation in this Island nor any other Antiquity but a great Chest of white Marble with Oxes Heads Festons and Fruits upon it This Isle produces not Provisions for above two months in the year and for the rest of the year the Inhabitants provide themselves elsewhere having little Barks for that end which they build upon the place They say that they have a Mine of Lead and a Gold Mine They are very rogues but their Women are very honest and go with their faces covered There are no Trades there but Weavers Shoemakers Joyners and the like The Isle of Thermia is thirty six miles in circuit and so called from Therma Thermia which in the Greek signifies Hot because of the Springs of hot water that are in a Plain there near the Sea from which the sick and indisposed receive much relief The Town contains about three hundred Houses inhabited by about two thousand Souls there are fifteen Greek Churches in it and a Greek Bishop who resides six months of the year at Zia and the other six at Thermia
men attempted to hall her out of the water by one side that she might be emptied by the other but the weight of the water bulged one of her sides and then she overset so that despairing to recover her unless with much labour and the loss of a great deal of time and fearing besides that she might dash against the Hold of the Ship because it was then a very rough Sea they cut the Ropes and let her go though it was near a hundred Piastres loss to the Owner of the Ship This made us lose a whole hours time and in the mean while one of the Ships which the day before was to our Starboard got a Head of us About half an hour after seven in the morning we made Sail with a North Wind. About half an hour after nine we were off of an Island to our Larboard which we took to be Audarvia but we were mistaken About ten a Clock the violence of the Wind began to abate and we Steered away East South-East About two a Clock after-noon we made a little Island to the Larboard very near the main Land and knew it be Audarvia and that the other which we past about half an hour after nine in the morning and took for Audarvia was Lara This Isle of Lara is a little Desart very low place Lara close by the main Land which is the reason that it is not easily discovered it bears nothing unless it be some wild Trees and that too only at one end of it which lyes to the West North-West and was to us the beginning of the Isle as our Course lay it may be known by these Trees It lyes in length from West North-West to East South-East and is threescore and ten Leagues from Carek Audarvia The Isle of Audarvia is in like manner little low and very near the main Land and lyes in length as Lara does from West North-West to East South-East there is good water in this Island and in the middle of it some wild Trees and the Cottages of some Fishermen who come from the main Land to Fish there it being seven or eight Leagues from Lara It is worth the observing that though these two Isles be very near the Land as I have been saying yet they leave a passage betwixt them and the main Land which may admit of Ships because it is very deep water and Ships sometimes shoot that passage The Wind freshning in the afternoon at three quarters of an hour after two a Clock we were got to the farther end of the Island and an hour after made the Isle of Keis to the South-East About half an hour after four we got on Head of the Ship that was before us in the morning and at the same time we were off and on with the hithermost end of the Isle of Keis Keis which was to our Starboard side This Island is about two Leagues and a half from the main Land or three at most and about five Leagues from Audarvia though they reckon it fifteen Leagues from Lara to Keis it reaches in length from West South-West to East North-East and is about five Leagues in Circuit it is very low and flat like the two former but it is inhabited by several people who have Houses dispersed here and there upon it I was told that heretofore the Inhabitants of that Island having killed a Portuguese who had gone a shoar there for some insolence which he had committed sometime after other Portuguese Ships coming thither the Admiral called Roui-Fereyra-Andrada went a shoar upon the Island and taking a Sucking-Child put it into a Mortar and by an unparalelled piece of cruelty A horrid piece of cruelty of a Portuguese made the Father and Mother of the innocent Babe pound it themselves in the Mortar This General was a Devil incarnate and it was his usual way so to revenge himself on the Inhabitants of those Coasts when they had done him any displeasure his name is to this day so terrible unto them that they use it to still their little Children when they cry threatning them with Lowis de Fereyra In the mean time that inhumanity made many forsake the Island that they might not be exposed to such cruel usage nevertheless some abode still and have Cattel there I was told that heretofore there were all sorts of Fruits on this Island but that since the Portuguese have left off to go thither there are no more to be found I was likewise assured that there is excellent water in the North-West and East ends of the Isle About five a Clock in the evening we furled our Mizan Mizan-Top Main-Top and Fore-Top-Sails that we might not make so much way because on this Coast there are places where the water is very shallow About seven a Clock at night we were got off of the other end of the Isle of Keis and then the Wind slackened much half an hour after we came off and on a place of the main Land where the shoar opens towards the East and forms a Gulf in shape of a half Circle and the outmost point of that half Circle is called Gherd All that day we had kept very near the main Land which to that Gulf bears West North-West and East South-East When we were just off the beginning of this Gulf a gentle Gale blowing from East North-East made us to Steer our Course South-East and we made the Land called Gherd to the East South East About ten a Clock at night we stood away South South-East and heaving out the Lead found seventeen Fathom water within a quarter of an hour after the Wind turning North-West we bore away South but because it instantly blew too hard we furled the Main-Sail and Steered South South-East About three quarters after ten we Steered South-East and casting the Lead found fifteen Fathom water Sunday the two and twentieth of November at two a Clock after midnight we were got off of the Isle of Paloro to our Starboard Paloro our Course was then East South-East and having sounded we found thirteen Fathom water whereupon we turned the Ships Head South South-East A quarter after two we heaved the Lead several times and found betwixt six and seven Fathom water Three quarters after two we bore away East South-East and casting the Lead found first fifteen then ten and a little farther only eight Fathom water we had then to the Larboard a Mountain on the main Land Mount Sannas called Sannas Half an hour after five in the morning we had but five Fathom water At six a Clock we found twelve and then we Steered East North-East and at eight a Clock in the morning came before Congo distant from Keis fifteen Leagues by Land and thirty by Sea an hundred from Carek and an hundred and fifty from Bassora from Congo to Comoron it is twenty Leagues by Land and thirty by Sea. We came to an Anchor in the Road a long half League
the Boats being sunk all the Men were drowned They made afterwards many vain attempts but finding succours come from Christendom and despairing of the Enterprise they drew off They parted from the Island about the end of September 1565. having for the space of three Months in vain employed a vast Army against a handful of men The Knights of Malta terrible to the Turks but very valiant as those at present are who so molest the Turks with seven Galleys only that they look upon no Enemy to be so formidable and commonly how many soever these Infidels be when they percieve any of the Galleys of Malta they fail not to run for it and asmuch as they can avoid any Engagement Since that time the breaches of the Castle St. Angelo have never been repaired Nature of it self making it strong enough CHAP. VII Of the City Valetta Valetta AFter the Turks were gone the Religion resolved to build a new Town where the Great Master with all the Religion might commodiously dwell and for that end they pitched upon the tongue of Land on the end whereof the Castle St. Erme stands from whence the Turks had so furiously driven them The great Master La Valette layed the first Stone of it on the Twenty eighth of March 1566. and from his own Name called it the City Valetta whereupon this Punn was made Plus valet valor Valettae quam fortitudo Valettae The valour of the Great Master Valetta playing upon the Names of the Great Master and Town It hath been ever since so fortified that I am very apt to believe few Fortifications in the world can match it The Entry into the Port of it is defended by the Castle St. Erme which at present is impregnable there being no way to batter it but from the New Town which encompasses it by Land and on the other side towards the Sea it is inaccessible as being built upon a very high Rock Baraque Next to this Castle is the Baraque where nine Pieces of Cannon are Planted under cover which hinder any approaching to the Port The entry of the Port is besides defended by the Baston of Italy The Bastion of Italy in Malta A fair Canon-Royal of the Turks at Malta which is very high and Planted with six Pieces of Cannon that lye open Upon this Bastion there is a fair Basilick or Canon-Royal which with another of the same size the Turks left on Malta when they raised the Siege for being in haste to be gone and unable to put on board these pieces because of their prodigious weight they threw one of them into the Sea near the Land where still it is and cannot be weighed and the other remained on shoar On the other side of the Port is the Castle St. Angelo which still defends it and on the same side without the Port but near the entry of it upon a point of Land there is a Tower with two or three Pieces of Canon which serves also for security of the Port. The Governour of the Bourg takes care to send Men thither to guard it This Town is no less strong by Land than towards the Sea being begirt with good Walls built upon very high Rocks with several Bastions and other Pieces of Fortification It is besides always well stored with Provisions from Sicily which supplies it with all it needs so that considering the excellent Fortifications that cover it and the danger of the Channel that makes that the best appointed Fleet cannot lye above two months before Malta I may be bold to say it is impregnable Malta impregnable The Fortifications of it are no less goodly than good and yield a most pleasant Prospect Those that arrive at Malta take great delight to see the Baraque covered with lovely Trees planted in rows There is a very pretty and high Garden which looks into the Port below the Bastion of Italy it is full of Orange an Lemon-Trees planted in rows and a great many Fountains where the Water-works playing very high render the place altogether delighful and this Garden was made by the Great Master Lascaris The Great Master Lascaris A lovely and commodious Fountain in Malta There is a Fountain upon the Port which is very ornamental it is just by the Sea-side and there a Dolphin under the feet of a Neptune throws water up to a great height This Fountain is so commodiously placed that Vessels may Water there without carrying their Casks a shore Near to this there is a very thick Rock through which the Great Master Lascaris caused a Passage to be cut so that one can very easily walk from one end of the Port to the other which before could not be done because that Rock reaches to the Sea. You must mount up hill from the Port to the Town which is small for one may go round it in half an hours time but it is very pretty it hath two Gates one that leads to the Port and the other to the Countrey There are several Churches in it of which that of St. John is the chief it hath no Piazza indeed The Church of St. John in Malta before the Porch but a very lovely one before one of the Gates at the side of it and at each angle there is a Fountain on the out-side This is a great and wide Church pretty high and well built it is all paved with lovely Marble and adorned on high with a great many Colours taken from the Infidels There are eight Chapels for the Inns and the several Knights place themselves in the distinct Chapels of their Inns. Near to the great Portal there is another Chapel where all the Great Masters are buried In that Church many fine Reliques are kept amongst others the Right-hand of St. John Baptist The Right-hand of St. John Baptist Zizim the Brother of Bajazet at Rhodes The Great Master D' Aubusson which only wants the two last and least Fingers This Hand was given to the Knights by Bajazet Second Emperour of the Turks who fearing that his Brother Zizim who fled to Rhodes in the Year 1482 to avoid the cruelty of his Brother who would have put him to death might rise against him stipulated the same year with the Great Master D' Aubusson to pay him yearly 40000. Duckets to the end he should not suffer him to make his Escape to wit 30000. for the Entertainment of Zizim and 10000. for the repairing the Damages that Mahomet his Father had done at the Siege of Rhodes that summ was punctually payed so long as Zizim lived The same Bajazet knowing that the Knights of Rhodes had a great veneration for the Reliques of St. John their Patron made them a present of this Hand which he found in the Treasury of Mahomet his Father having been brought from Antioch to Constantinople as it is marked in Gothick Characters upon the foot of the Reliquary of Massive Gold where that Relique is kept
There is there also a Hand of St. Anna which only wants the Finger they presented to the Queen-Mother of Louis XIV the present King of France when she was brought to bed of that Monarch They have besides many other Reliques and store of very rich Ornaments There are several lovely Buildings in that Town and amongst others the stately Palace of the Great Master A fair Magazine of Arms. In it there is a considerable Magazine of Arms not only for the quantity which is so great that I was assured it was enough to arm thirty five or forty Thousand Men but also for the good order the Arms are kept in all the several Pieces being by themselves in distinct places and kept clean by Slaves who are continually at work there The Arms of the Great Masters who have been wounded in Action are to be seen there with marks upon them Near to the Gate there is a Canon made of bars of Iron fastened together by Wire with a very thin case of Wood over it and the whole covered with thick and hard Leather A Canon covered with Leather well sewed That sort of Canon was invented for the convenience of Transportation because they may easily be carried over Mountains and other rough and difficult places but after they have been twice or thrice fired they are no more fit for service This Palace of the Great Master looks into a large Square that is before it in the middle whereof there is a lovely Fountain that throws up water in great quantity and to a great height The Great Master Lascaris was at the charge of above fourscore thousand Crowns in making of it the Water being brought to it above six Leagues off upon high Arches made in the Rock and indeed it is of great use for it supplies all the Town with running Water which before had no other but Rain-water to use The Water runs into all the streets by little Conduits made purposely to convey it into Cisterns so that when any one has a mind to fill his Cistern with Water he speaks to the Fountain-keeper who sends him as much as he pleases by stopping the Conduits which cross that which leads to his House and that also which is under the Gate to the end the Water may stop there and by a hole or pipe run into his Cistern At one end of that Square A Pillar erected by the Great Master Verdela Palaces of the Conservatory and Treasury Inns of Malta Hospital of Malta Poor Travellers lodged and entertained at Malta there is a Pillar about fifteen foot high erected by the Great Master Verdela with his Arms upon it The Palaces of the Conservatory and Treasury are fair Buildings also and so are the Inns. The Hospital is very well built and the Hall for the sick Knights hung with rich Tapestry where they are attended by Knights and served in Plate All the Sick are received and very well treated in this Hospital Nor are poor Travellers refused for there they have bed and board till they find a Passage for the place whither they are bound and then they are furnished with Provision put on board and all their Charges born during their Voyage The Jesuites have also a very well built House and keep Colledge there All the Houses even to the meanest make a very good shew being built of square Stones cut out of the Rock which does not cost them much for the Rock is very soft and when a Man is about to build the first thing he does is to make his Cistern because out of it he gets Stones that serve in the Building and the rest he has about the Town for they have them for their labour This is a kind of Stone that long retains its whiteness so that the Town seems still to be new All the Houses of it are built with a terrass or flat Roof and one may go from one street to another upon the terrasses of the houses There are in it many lovely Piazza's or Places as that which is before the Palace of his Eminence another betwixt the Houses of the Conservatory and Treasury and the Market-place which is pretty and square A lovely Fountain artfully made in Malta 1655. In this last is the Fountain made by the Great Master Lascaris in form of a large Basket of Stone very well cut and pierced through all round it stands upon a Pedestal about three foot from the ground In this Basket there is a Spire or Obelisk about four foot high with Festons of Flowers hanging from the top to the bottom of the four angles of it and on the top of that Obelisk there is another little pretty Basket The Water rises so just at the four angles of the Obelisk in the first Basket that it all falls into the little one which being pierced through sends the Water back to the Basket underneath from whence it falls down into a great Stone Trough where the Horses water and from that Trough into another little one a foot high where Dogs and other little Beasts drink The Streets of this Town are incommodious in that one is always going either up hill or down hill but they are wide and streight and for the most part begin and end at the Town Walls the fairest of all is the Street that reaches from the Castle St. Erme to the Royal Gate it is almost a mile in length and here it is that they make Horses and Asses run the Pallio on days of Publick Rejoycing Coming along that Street from the Castle St. Erme you mount a little and pass betwixt the Palace of his Eminence on the left-hand and the Square before it which is on the right then you go betwixt the Palace of the Treasury which is on the right-hand and a Piazza less than the former at the end whereof is the Palace of the Conservatory A little more forward on the right-hand is the Inn of Auvergne which is very pleasant by reason of a great many Orange-Trees at the entry Next is the Inn of Provence that has a very lovely Frontispiece and betwixt these two Inns but to the left there is a pretty handsom Piazza at the end whereof there is a Gate to enter into the Church of St. John as I said before so that in this Street one sees the beauty of the Town CHAP. VIII Of the Grove and other Walks in the Countrey-Fields and of the Isle of Gozo THE Countrey is full of Gardens and very agreeable Places of Pleasure Walks of Malta The Grove which is but twelve miles from the New Town is a delightful place whither the Great Masters commonly go to divert themselves This place was embellished by the Great Master Verdala who was made a Cardinal there he built a Palace in form of a Castle with so much uniformity and contrivance that there is not so much as a foot of ground lost all the Halls are adorned with excellent Painting which
in time of Divine Worship that by the sight of them the Devotion of the men might not be disturbed Constantine's Tomb. There is a Tomb to be seen there which the Turks say is the Tomb of Constantine and a stone also upon which as they believe our Lady washed our Lords Linnen and they bear great reverence to it Heretofore this Church was painted all over A Stone reverenced after the Mosaical way and some pieces of it are still to be seen as Crosses and Images which the Turks did not half deface when they endeavoured to rub them out for they suffer no Images On the outside of this Church Minarets there are four Minarets or Steeples very high and slender yet one may go up to the top of them they have several stories of Balconies all round them from whence the Muezins call to prayers This Church with the appurtenances of it was heretetofore much bigger than it is at present the Turks having cut off a great deal from it and it has served them for a pattern to build their Mosques by Close by the back of this Church in a litte street not far from its entry are two large and thick Pillars where they say Justice was heretofore administred others say that there were three of them and that upon each Constantine caused a brazen Cross to be erected and that upon every Cross one of these words Jesus Christ Surmounts was engraven in large Greek Characters Near to that place there is an old Tower where the Grand Signior's Beasts are kept there I saw Lyons Wolves Foxes Leopards a spotted Lynx Loup-cervier the skin of a Giraffe and other rare Animals Santa Sophia being the Model for all the fair Mosques of Constantinople wherein there are seven Royal ones that of Solymania Solymania is very like to it it is a great Mosque full of Lamps at the end of which there is a little Chappel or Turbe Solyman's Coffin and in it the Coffin that holds the body of Sultan Solyman the Founder of that Mosque this Coffin stands upon a Carpet spread upon the ground which was brought from Medina and over it there is a Pall brought from Mecha which Town is represented upon the Pall. At one end of the Coffin there is Turban to which are fastened two Herons tops enrich'd with precious stones and about it are many Tapers and Lamps burning with several Alcorans chained that they may not be stoln and that people may read them for the salvation of the defuncts Soul and indeed there are men there at all times reading the Alcoran who are hired to do it for the Grand Signiors take care to leave a fund for continual Prayers to be said for them after their death Near to this Chapel there is another in the middle whereof is the body of a Sultana whom Solyman loved extremely and the body also of a Son of Selim the son of Solyman the Second This Mosque hath a most lovely Cloyster with Bagnios and Fountains The New Mosque A fair Portico The new Mosque built by Sultan Achmet is one of the fairest and most magnificent in Constantinople The entry into it is through a large Court that leads to a Portico which hath a gallery covered in length by nine Domes and in breadth by six supported by marble Pillars and leaded then you enter as into a square Cloyster having many necessary houses about it Necessary Houses about the Mosque And Water near them with each a cock that gives water for purifying those that have done their needs there according to the custom of the Turks and there is also a lovely Fountain in the middle of the Cloyster the Mosque joyns to this Cloyster and the door of it is in it It is a very great Mosque and hath a stately Dome and it is full of Lamps and curiosities in glass balls of which one for instance contains a little galley well rigg'd another the model of the Mosque in wood and the rest a great many pretty knacks of that nature at the back of this Mosque there is a Turbe where are the bodies of Sultan Achmet and his children upon their Coffins there is a great Chiaoux Cap a big wax Taper standing by each of them and alwaies somebody there praying for the rest of their souls The chief entry into that Mosque is in the Atmeidan Mosque of Sultan Mehemmet Mosque of Selim Mosque of Chabzadeb Mosque of Bajazet Poor Scholars maintained at the Charge of the Mosque There are besides several other fair Mosques in Constantinople as the Mosque of Sultan Mehemmet near the angle at the end of the Port that of Sultan Selim a little more remote from it that which is called Chabzadeh Mesdgidi that 's to say the Kings Sons Mosque because a son of Solyman built it near the Oda of the Janisaries And the Mosque built by Bajazet near to the old Seraglio All these Mosques have hospitals and schools where a great many poor schollars who have not means of their own to keep them are maintained and educated CHAP. XVII Of the Hyppodrome the Pillars and Obelisks of Constantinople IN former times there were a great many fair Statues Obelisks and Pillars in Constantinople but they have been all so ruined that there are but a few of them remaining The ancient Hyppodrome is still to be seen and of the same dimensions as it was formerly of it is a very large square longer than broad Hyppodrome Atmeidan which was called Hyppodrome because horses were exercised to run there and the Turks still exercise them there daily and call it the Atmeidan which is as much as to say the place or field of horses in the middle of this place there is an Obelisk pretty entire An Obelisk marked with hieroglyphick Letters and some steps from thence a pretty high pillar A Pillar of three Serpents all made of Stones layd one upon another without any ciment A little further towards the end of the Square there is a Pillar made of three brazen serpents twisted together the heads of which at some distance from one another make the capital of the pillar Mahomet the second having taken Constantinople with the blow of a Zagaye or Mace of Arms beat off the under jaw of one of those heads Talisman against Serpents and some say that this pillar being placed there for a Talisman against serpents that breach is the cause that serpents have come there since which before they did not however they do hurt because say they the pillar is still in being there There are two other fair pillars in the Town the one very ancient Historical Pillar called the Historical Pillar because all round from the bottom to the top it is full of figures in bas relief like those of Antoninus and Trajan at Rome and it is said to be the History of an Expedition of Arcadius who erected it and put his Statue
on another t on the third d gim and on the fourth h a but nothing on the ends He that demands the response roles it three times and at each time they observe the Letter that turns up then they look into a Book which they call Fal that 's to say a Fortune-book what these three Letters put together signifie and that is the Response CHAP. XXVII Of the Diseases of the Turks and their Remedies THe Turks are long Liv'd little subject to Diseases The Turks Heath and whence that proceeds and we have many dangerous Distempers that are not known amongst them as the Stone and many more I beleive this great Healthfulness proceeds partly from their frequent Bathings and partly from their Temperance in eating and drinking for they eat moderately and feed not upon so many different things as Christians do for the most part they make no Debauches in Wine The Turks Sober and use Exercises so that they have no Physicians and perhaps that may be one cause of their Health and long Life too When they are sick Who are the Physicians among the Turks they commonly make use of Christian or Jewish Physicians and when there are none to be found they have their recourse to Renegado's amongst whom there are always some Physicians that learn their Skill at the cost of many Besides that the Turks have some Receipts that all know which somtimes succeed and they often enough make use of them The Medicines of the Turks They very willingly use Hony in their Medicines They are commonly Renegado's that let them Blood though there are Turks that can do it very well but with Butcherly Launcets nay some with such Fleems as they use for Horses in Christendom and others with sharp-pointed Canes When they are troubled with a pain in the Head they Scarifie the place where the Pain is and having let out a pretty quantity of Blood The Turks way of Blood-leting they put a little Cotton to the Wound and so stop it or otherwise they give themselves five or six little Cuts in the Fore-head Fire used amongst the Turks for several Distempers They make also great use of Fire as I saw a Man who having the Head-ach caused a red-hot Iron to be applied above his Ear to the place of the Pain which actually seared it then he clap'd a little Cotton upon the Place and so was Cured And for all Diseases in several Members they apply to them a large Match or piece of Stuff or Cloath twisted and well Lighted and patiently suffer the pain till the Match goes out of it self And at Constantinople a Turk told me that he knew one who having a Rheumatism or some such Distemper in the region of his Reins had a mind to apply a burning Match to that part but that fearing it would hurt him the rest Laughed at him so that having at length resolved and bending himself downward that he might the more conveniently apply the Match to his Reins he clap'd it to and suffered the Pain so long and with so much Patience that he burn'd a Nerve and when he had a mind to raise himself upright again he could not but continued ever after bent down in that manner In short it is no Country for Physicians to get Estates in because as I have said they are subject to few Diseases and besides are but very bad Pay-masters to those that Cure them and if the Physicians should prove unsuccessful and the Patient Die they are so far from Paying them that they put them many times to Trouble and somtimes to Charges Physicians are in danger amongst the Turks accusing them of having Killed the Patient as if the Life and Death of Men were in the hands of Physicians and not of God. But let us proceed to their Religion CHAP. XXVIII Of Mahomet and the Alcoran THe Turks Religion is so full of Fopperies and Absurdities that certainly it is to be wondered at that it hath so many Followers and without doubt if they would but hearken it would be no hard matter to undeceive and convince them of the Brutality of their Law Mahomet but they are so resolutely deaf that they have Ears but will not hear and indeed Mahomet took care of that for being a Man of Wit he foresaw very well that his Sect would go down if they once came to Dispute about it and therefore he commanded that whosoever contradicted it should be put to Death So many have written the Life of Mahomet that one can hardly say any thing but what hath been already said and therefore I 'll wave it only I shall observe that Mahomet who was an Arabe and an Illiterate Man for the Turks themselves confess that he could neither Read nor Write having struck in with a Greek Monk called Sergius who had forsaken his Monastery this Monk who had some smattering in Learning made him lay the foundation of that great and damnable Sect which hath hitherto infected a great part of the World. He made use of the Old and New Testament in composing of the Alcoran The Alcoran sent from Heaven in the Month Ramadan The Alcoran in great Reverence but in a very confused manner that so he might draw in both Christians and Jews Nevertheless that Book hath got such great Credit amongst all these People that they say it was Written in Heaven and sent from God to Mahomet by the Angel Gabriel in the month of Ramadan not all at once but chapter by chapter and they have so great reverence for it that they never touch it but presently lift it up to their head before they read it and if a man should sit upon an Alcoran he would be guilty of a great crime If a Christian touched an Alcoran he would be soundly bang'd for that would be a prophanation of the book They say that they gain great indulgences by reading it all over and in the schools when a scholar hath made an end of reading over the Alcoran he treats the rest They say that whosoever reads it over so many times in his life shall after death go strait to Paradise This word Alcoran signifies Reading it is written in most excellent pure and exact Arabick The Turks believe that it cannot be translated into any other language and look upon the Persians as Hereticks purely because they have translated it into Persian This Book contains all their Law both canon and civil but it is full of fables and follics taken for the most part from the Rabbins who are excellent at such ridiculous stuff CHAP. XXIX Of the Belief of the Turks The Belief of the Turks THE Turks believe in and worship one God the Eternal and Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth but they believe not at all the Trinity they believe that Jesus Christ was conceived by the Breath of God this Breath is in Arabick expressed by the word Rouahh which signifies aswell as in
they believe that that was the night that Mahomet Ascended up to Heaven upon the Alboraoh as he mentions in the Alcoran Thursday the fourth of the Moon of Regeb they have Prayers in their Mosques till Midnight and then return home and Feast This Festival is because of the Ramadan which comes two Months after on all these Festivals and during the whole Ramadan the Minarets of the Mosques are as I said deck'd with Lamps which being contrived in several Figures when they are Lighted make a vary pretty show CHAP. XXXVI Of what renders the Turks Vnclean and of their Ablutions THE third Command of the Turks concerns Prayer Ablutions of the Turks but because they never say their Prayers till first they wash we must say somewhat of their Ablutions The Turks have two kinds of Ablutions the one is called Gousl and is a general Washing of the whole Body The other is termed Abdest and is the Ablution they commonly make before they begin their Prayers Of the Abdest for they never go to Prayers till first they have used the Abdest at least or both the Gousl and Abdest if it be needful Of the Gousl wherefore there are commonly near the Mosques Baths for the Gousl and Fountains for the Abdest There is also an Ablution that they perform after that they have done their Needs which is a kind of Abdest but they only wash their Hands They are obliged to use the Gousl after they have lain with their Wives or after Nocturnal Pollution or when Urine or any other unclean thing hath fallen upon them and therefore when they make Water they squat down like Women least any drop of it should fall upon them or their Cloaths for they think that that which pollutes their Bodies or Cloaths pollutes also their Souls as also by washing the Body they think they wash the Soul. After they have made Water they rub the Yard against a Stone to fetch off any thing that might remain and defile them by falling upon their Cloaths When they do their Needs they make not use of Paper as I have said but having eased themselves they make all clean with their Fingers that they dip into Water and then wash their Hands which they never fail to do after they have done their Needs nay and after they have made Water too wherefore there is always a Pot full of Water in their Houses of Office The Neatness of the Turks and they carry two Handkerchiefs at their girdle to dry their Hands after they have washed This cleanliness is in so great repute with them and they are so fearful least they should defile themselves with their Excrements that they take care that even their Sucking Children in Swadling Cloaths do not defile themselves and for that end they swadle them not as we do A Cradle after the Turkish fashion but put them into Cradles which have a Hole in the middle much about the place where the Child's Buttocks lie and leave always the Breech of it naked upon the Hole to the end that when it does its Business the Excrement may fall into a Pot just under the hole of the Cradle and for making of Water they have little Pipe of Box-wood crooked at one end and shaped like Tobacco-Pipes these Pipes are three Inches long and as big as ones Finger some have the Boul or Hole at the great end round and serve for Boys into which the Yard is put and fastned with some strings the others are of an Oval bore at the great end and serve for the Girls who have them tied to their Bellies and the small end passing betwixt their Thighs conveys the Urine by the hole of the Cradle into the Pot underneath without spoiling of any thing and so they spoil not so much Linnen as Children in Christendom do Now to continue the order of their Ablutions they are obliged to make the Abdest immediately after Prayers as they are to wash their Hands immediately after they have done their Needs or handled any thing that 's unclean and if they be in a place where they cannot find Water they may make use of Sand or Earth in stead of Water not only for the Abdest but the Gousl also and the washing of the Hands and that Ablution will be good The Abdest is performed in this manner First The way of doing the Abdest Turning the Face towards Mecha they wash their Hands three times from the Fingers end to the Wrist Secondly They wash the Mouth three times and make clean their Teeth with a Brush Thirdly They wash the Nose three times and suck Water up out of their Hands into their Nostrils Fourthly With their two Hands they throw Water three times upon the Face Fifthly They wash three times their right Arm from the Wrist to the Elbow and then the left Sixthly They rub the Head with the Thumb and first Finger of the right Hand from the Brow to the Pole. Seventhly With the same Finger and Thumb they wash the Ears within and without Eighthly they wash the Feet three times beginning at the Toes and going no higher than the Instep and with the right Foot first and then the left But if they have washed their Feet in the Morning before they put on their Stockins they pull them not off again but only wet the Hand and then with the aforesaid Finger and Thumb wash over the Paboutches from the Toes to the Instep beginning always with the right and then the left and do so every time that it is necessary from Morning to Night that is to say they pull not off their Stockins all day long But if their Stockins have a hole big enough for three Fingers they ought to pull them off They say that God commanded them to wash the Face but once the Hands and Arms as often to rub the Head as has been mentioned before and to wash the Feet up to the Instep God being unwilling to overcharge Man but that Mahomet added the two other times for fear they might neglect it The difference which they put betwixt that time which God commanded and the two times of Mahomet is that they call the first Fars and those of Mahomet Sunnet Mahomet ordained then that they should wash their Hands three times from the Wrist to the Fingers ends that they should use a Brush to make clean their Teeth that they should wash their Mouth three times that they should throw Water three times upon their Face with their two Hands that they should spend no more time in making clean one part than another but that they should make haste that they should wash their Ears with the same Water wherewith they washed the Head having a firm resolution to wash themselves and saying aloud or to themselves I am resolved to make my self clean That they should begin at the right side and with the Toes in washing of the Feet and the Fingers in washing the Hands and that whilst
occasioned by People that fall asleep with a Pipe in their Mouth that sets fire to the Bed or any combustible matter as I said before He used all the arts he could to discover those who sold Tobacco and went to those places where he was informed they did where having offered several Chequins for a pound of Tobacco made great entreaty and promised secrecy if they let him have it he drew out a Cimeter under his Vest and cut off the Shopkeepers Head. They tell a very pleasant adventure of his upon this occasion Being one day in disguise at Scudaret he went into the Boat that passes over to Constantinople wherein there were several People and amongst others a Spahi of Anatolia who was going to Constantinople for his Pay. A story of Sultan Amurat upon the prohibition of Tobacco No sooner was this Blade come into the Boat but he fell a smoaking and no body durst say any thing to him save Sultan Amurat who drawing near asked him if he did not stand in Awe of the Grand Signior's Prohibition The Spahi very arrogantly made answer That the Grand Signior led a brave life on 't that he delighted himself with his Women and Boys and making himself Drunk in his Serraglio that for his share all he had was Bread that Tobacco was his Bread and that the Grand Signior could not hinder him to smoak and with that asked him if he would take a whiff Sultan Amurat told him softly that he would and having got the Pipe from the Spahi went and hid himself in a corner of the Boat smoaking with as much circumspection as if he had been afraid some body might see him When they were come to Constantinople both together went into a Caique to go into Galata each pretending to have Business there When they were come a shoar Sultan Amurat invited the Spahi to go drink a cup of Wine in a place where he knew it was good and the other condescended The Emperour led him towards the place where his Servants staied for him for when they Disguise themselves they appoint their Servants to meet them at a certain place and being pretty near he thought because he was very strong that he was able alone to arrest the Man and therefore took him by the Collar The Spahi much surprised at that boldness and remembring he had been told that Sultan Amurat often disguised himself he made no doubt but that it was he so that seeing himself undone he quickly took up his Mace that hung by his Girdle and with it gave Sultan Amurat such a Blow over the small of the Back that he beat him down and then fled Sultan Amurat being mad that he missed of his design caused it to be Published that he acknowledged the Fellow who had given him the Blow to be brave and that if he did appear he would greatly reward him but the other mistrusting his Promise kept out of the way He plaied so many Pranks of that nature that they were enough to fill a Book CHAP. XLVI Of the Grand Visier and other chief Officers of the Turkish Empire THE Grand Signior as I said before meddles but little or not at all with Affairs and if any apply themselves to Business it is only in matters of great Consequence For if he concerned himself in smaller Affairs he must shew himself too often which he would take to be Prejudicial to him and a Diminution of his Majesty But he hath his chief Minister who is the Grand Visier for he hath commonly seven Visiers whereof the first hath all the Authority and does all Grand Visier It is he that giveth ordinary Audiences to Ambassadours who during the whole time of their Embassie have but two Audiences of the Grand Signior one at their Arrival and another when they depart and these neither but audiences of Ceremony wherein they treat of no Business He hears their Proposals and gives them their Answer It is he that takes care to pay the Armies desides Law-suits condemns Criminals and manages the Government In a word all the Affairs of the Empire rest upon his Shoulders he discharges the Office of the Grand Signior and only wants the Title This is a very heavy Charge and a Grand Visier has but very little time to himself nevertheless all ardently aspire to that Dignity though they be almost sure to Die within a few days after For when a Grand Visier continues six Months in Office he is a Man of parts and most commonly with their place they lose their Lives Because in discharging that Office they raise themselves a great many Enemies some out of Envy others as being the Friends and Relations of those whom the Grand Visier has disobliged for Justice can never be rendred without Murmurings and Discontents and if they who are discontented have any credit with the Grand Signior they use it to get the Grand Visier turned out and put to Death and if they have not credit enough to make him lose his Life they think it enough to get him made Maasoul Maasoul that is to say turned out of place and it is many times the Custom after that to give him a Government But when he is on the way to go to it his Enemies growing more powerful by his absence so bestir themselves that they obtain a Warrant for his Death immediately thereupon a Capidgi is sent after him who having overtaken him shews him the Order he has to carry back his Head the other takes the Grand Signior's Order kisses it puts it upon his Head in sign of respect and then having performed his Ablution and said his Prayers freely gives up his Head The Capidgi having Strangled him or caused Servants whom he brought purposely with him to do it cuts off his Head and brings it to Constantinople Thus they blindly obey the Grand Signior's Order Great respect to the Grand Signior's Orders their Servants never offering to hinder the Executioner though these Capidgis come very often with few or no Attendents at all for they think they make a happy end when they Die by Orders from the Grand Signior believing themselves to be as good Martyrs as those who die Fighting against the Enemies of their Religion However now a days there are a great many who are not such Fools and I fancy that of late they begin to be undeceived of that pretended Martyrdom The cause of the frequent Rebellions in Asia for they receive not now such news with a serene Countenance Hence it is that there happens frequent Rebellions in Asia which are only made by discontened Bashas who know that their Enemies are preparing Death for them upon their arrival at Constantinople Hussein Basha However Hussein Basha who so long Commanded the Turks in Candia did not at all desire the Office of Visier for though it was several times offered unto him yet he would never accept of it very well perceiving that that Dignity was
broad it is four Foot long I mean the Blade of it alone for the Handle is almost a Foot long and they say that this is but one half of the Blade the other half being in the Grand Signior's Treasury it is so heavy that it is as much as one can do to hold it out with one Hand Near to that Sword is the Mace of Arms of the same Roland which is an Iron-Battoon twice as thick as ones Thumb and about two Foot long the Handle of it is covered with Copper which makes it very big and the end of it is armed with a great Lion of Copper Roland's Mace. In the same Chappel there are two Coffins each covered with a Pall of black Velvet and at the end of each of them there is a Turban They say that in these Coffins are the Bodies of Roland and his Son who as they believe Died both Musulmans The Sword and Mace of Arms lie upon a Table just before the Tombs The top of this Hill is but narrow but very pleasant there being a little Wood upon it And the Turks go often there to Feast and make Merry CHAP. LIX Of the Journey from Bursa to Smyrna The Caravane of Bursa BEing at Bursa I made ready to go to Smyrna with the Caravane that every Thursday goes from Bursa to Smyrna but because it was late before I came on Thursday it behoved me to stay Eight days in the mean time I made my provisions and that care is of no small consequence for you must make account to find nothing but water upon the Road and therefore one must carry a field-Bed to lye on Bisket for Bread will be spoyled a good Pastie Wine if you have a mind to drink any in a Borachio or other Vessel Vinager Oyle Salt Candle and all sorts of Utensiles not forgeting a Candlestick in short one must carry a kind of House-hold-stuff along with him if he would Travel conveniently The Turks are very dextrous at that for without any clutter they carry along with them all that is necessary and trust not to the places upon the Road for supply nay they will as easily Boyl the Kettle in a Desert as at home in their own Houses This was the first time that ever I went in a Caravane and therefore these preparations seemed a little uncouth unto me Caravanes are assemblies of Travellers who join themselves and Baggage together that they may go in company to any Place Caravane and so be better able to defend themselves against Robbers it any be abroad in the High-ways These Caravanes never lodge in Houses nor Villages but abroad in the Fields or in their Kervanserais if any be to be found Kervanserai a Kervanserai signifies the house of the Caravane and they are vast Buildings longer than broad made like a Market or Town-Hall There is a great place in the middle of them where the Horses Mules Camels and other Beasts of the Caravane stand and this place is surrounded with a low Wall three foot high joining to the great Wall these low Walls are six Foot broad above Mastabez and are called Mastabez and there the Turks take up their Lodging making it their Hall Parlour Kitching and all some of these Kervanserais are also made like a great Stable having Mangers on the one side to which the Horses are tied and on the other Mastabez where the Men repose eat and sleep There are others which have several little Mastabies to wit one betwixt every two Horses and there are others but very rare upon this Rode where there is a Stable for the Beasts and another place much like to it but distant for the Men. On Wednesday I hired two Horses for myself and Servant of the Master of the Caravane and a Mule for my Baggage and next day Thursday the seventh of September I parted with the Caravane from Bursa about two a Clock in the Afternoon Tahhtalie We came to lye that night at a Village called Tahhtalie about ten or twelve miles from Bursa and there we lodged in a Kervanserai Friday the eighth of September we parted from Tahhtali about two a Clock in the Morning and at Noon came to Loubat thirty Miles from Tahhtali where we lay Saturday we parted from Loubat at two of the Clock in the Morning and about eleven a Clock came to Sousurluk Loubat Sousurluk five and twenty Miles from Loubat There is a River there which we cross over upon a very sorry Bridge where I was many times in fear of being drowned or breaking my Neck for we were fain to step over upon ugly Planks pretty distant from one another Sunday about three a Clock in the Morning we parted from that Place and Travelled about twenty Miles there the way began to be very bad which continued so till Wednesday Monday we set out about four a Clock in the Morning and Travelled twenty Miles Tuesday we parted about five a Clock in the Morning and about eleven came to a Village called Dgelembe Dgelembe from that Village till we came to Smyrna the way was very good Wednesday we parted from Dgelembe about five a a Clock in the Morning and about eleven came to a Village called Palamout Palamout and though there be a Kervanserai in it which is the usual Lodging-place yet we stop'd not there but went on that we might baulk the Robbers whom we were afraid we might meet and stop'd two Miles beyond it in a Plain that we might rest a little and refresh our Beasts There were a great many Robbers at that time upon the Road and they were those who had escaped from the Battel of the Dardanelles most of them Barbary Men who gave no Quarter for not thinking it enough to Rob they Killed Travellers and that made us keep a good Watch and often look to our Arms having with us besides Troopers whom the Master of the Caravane had hired to Guard the Caravane who had indeed some Allarms upon the Road but they proved always to be false We took Horse again about two in the Afternoon and about five a Clock came to a pitiful Village or Hamlet near to which we lay abroad in the Fields for till then we had always lain in Kervanserais under cover There we found a great many water Melons water Melons which were a great regale for the Turks who are great lovers of Fruits and especially of that sort and indeed every one of them eat one at least for his share We left that wretched Lodging on Thursday about five a clock in the Morning and about eight came to a great Town called Manassa Manassa and lodged in a fair Kervanserai where we found every thing necessary nay Wine too for there are several Greeks there We stayed all that day and the next in that Town and parted on Saturday the Sixteenth of September about five a Clock in the Morning and the
hundred distant from Chio on the top of this Mount there is a Church dedicated to that Saint This is so high a place that it is always covered with Mists and Snow In the middle of the Mountain there is so large and copious a Spring that it Waters all the Fields about which are fertile and abound in all sorts of Fruits Spartonda In a Wood hard by there is a Village called Spartonda where about fifty Persons only all Shepherds live but it is a delightful place affording good Water Calandre Coronia and excellent Fruits Betwixt the Village of Calandre that stands upon a Hill and Coronia consisting of about an Hundred and fifty scattering Houses there is a Bath of Sulphur by the Sea-side under extraordinary big Oaks this Bath is called Hayasma which signifies Holy or Blessed Water because the Water of it being drank Cures many Diseases but it Kills a great many People too by the violence of its Operation Three Miles from the Sea St. Helenas Town at the farther end of the Island is the Town St. Helena built upon a Rock and containing Two hundred Inhabitants it hath two Churches and a Chappel built just about the middle of the Hill where being hollow there hangs in the middle of it a point of a Rock from which Water contially drops and this Water they also call Hayasma Holy or Blessed Water This Water comes from the Mountain impregnated with Rain-Water or the vapours that rise from a deep Valley underneath where runs a Water that drives some Mills The Inhabitants of this place firmly believe that if a dead Body do not in forty days time corrupt Zorzolacas Hobgoblins it turns to a Hobgoblin which they call Zorzolacas or Nomolacas A dead body whose Ghost wandred about the Village in the Night-time And the Author of the Manuscript from whence I had this says That Travelling that way in the Month of April 1637. he found a Priest reading over a dead Body which he had caused to be raised after it had been fifty days in the Grave and was nevertheless still sound there being no sign of Corruption about it but a Worm that crawled out of the Eye The Priest told the Man who reports this that that Body or rather its Ghost went all Night about the Village knocking at the Doors and calling the People by their Names and that such as made answer died within two or three days after and that the Worm that came out of his Eye was but a Trick of the Devils to make it believed he was rotten This place is about thirty Miles from the City and they are all poor Shepherds that live there The Chappel in the aforesaid Rock is highly esteemed by all the Villages about From thence one goes to Volisso Volisso which is a great Village seated on a Hill with a Castle built by Belisarius General to the Emperour of Constantinople who going somewhere else by Sea was by a Storm forced to put on Shoar in that place in that Castle there is a Church with several Houses and Cisterns the Village contains about Three hundred Houses and about Fifteen hundred Inhabitants with several Churches The Country about it is very Pleasant Spacious and Fruitful and the Inhabitants make Five thousand Weight of Silk yearly with the Money whereof they pay their Tribute They are very vicious and it is thought they lie under a Curse of being almost always destitute of Bread. There is a place Varvariso The transformation of St. Marcella called Varvariso where there is a Church dedicated to St Marcella who as the Inhabitants of that place say was converted into Stone in a Grotto by the Sea-side whither she fled to escape from her Father who would have Defloured her and they say that on the day when the Church celebrates the Festival of that Saint Milk is seen to drop from the Breasts that are on the Rock Panagirio This with them is a solemn Feast which they call Panagirio the Priests singing praises to her all Night long Three Miles from that Village there is a Monastery dedicated to St. John and near to that Monastery is a Village called Fitta Fitta below which there is a great Valley corresponding to the Country about Volisso wherein there is a running Water that drives eight Mills which serves all the Villages about though every Peasant has a Hand-mill in his House wherewith the Women grind the Corn. From thence one goes to Sieronda Sieronda which is a very ancient spacious Tower inhabited by fifty Souls Lecilimiona all Shepherds who have a Church there a little further is the Village of Lecilimiona containing an Hundred and fifty Inhabitants with a Church There begin the Mastick-Trees About two Miles from thence there is a Village called Elata Elata whereof all the Inhabitants are addicted to the taming of Partridges Further on is the Village of Armolia Armolia where all the Earthen Ware that is used in the Island is made it contains about Five hundred Inhabitants and several Churches and lies in a Plain full of Mastick-Trees Over against this Village there is a Castle standing upon a very high Hill and is called Apolieno built by one Nicholas Justiniani in the Year 1440. Apolieno as may be seen upon the Gate of it It is of an Oval Figure with a double Wall and contains Threescore and two Rooms with two Cisterns one of which is Threescore Foot long and Forty Foot broad This Castle is very strong to resist the Corsares and has a Church in the middle of it The Village of Mesta exceeds all the rest in Strength and good Building Mesia it is of a Triangular figure lying in a Plain and containing Three hundred Inhabitants with several Churches About two Miles from thence there is a Harbour called Ayadinamy and another named San Nichita Ayadinamy San Nichita Pirgi this last is nearer the Village of Pirgi than Mesta Pirgi is a great Village with a Tower containing Two thousand Inhabitants and thirty Churches And this being all I had to say of the Villages that are among the Hills I shall now speak of others and first of Calamoty which hath several Churches Calamoty and about Seven hundred Inhabitants but no considerable House Chiny Vessa St. George Flacia Vono Nevita no more than Chiny inhabited by Three hundred People Vessa by Two hundred St. George and Flacia Vono is a great Village with a square Castle it hath about Five hundred Inhabitants and several Churches Over against this Village there is another called Nevita which is very great and hath a very high Tower an hundred Hands broad this place contains Two thousand five hundred Inhabitants and thirty Churches with two Monasteries one of Monks and the other of Nuns Without the Village there is also a Church dedicated to St. Michael the Arch-angel which is mightily crowded with People on that
hundred Sail great and small having Two hundred thousand Men on board Threescore thousand of them being Pioneers and the Grand Signior in Person who much raised their Courage not only by his Promises but Threatnings and besides that daily succours came to them from Anatolia which is close by This Siege is at length described in the History of the Knights of St. John to which I refer the Reader both it and that of Malta deserving very well to be read which assuredly are two of the most memorable Sieges that any History mentions in regard of the many brave Actions performed by the Knights The Turks Attacked the place with great fury and the Knights most valiantly Defended it so that the Grand Signior despairing of taking it was about to pack up and be gone Andrea d'Amaral a Portuguese Traitor and his Army already began to dislodge When Andrea d'Amaral a Portuguese Prior of Castile and Chancellour of the Order being vexed that he was not chosen Great Master at the last Election and thereupon bearing a great spight to his Order gave him notice by a Letter which being fastned to an Arrow he shot into his Camp That the Besieged were quite spent and informed him of a weak place in the Town whereat he ought to give the Assault promising him an easie Conquest of the place if he had but patience to abide some days longer before it The Grand Signior having followed this Counsel the Town was taken by Composition for the Knights were reduced to that pass that they were not able to hold out any longer And indeed the Great Master received a great deal of Honour by this Siege having been praised by the Grand Signior himself who both honoured and pittied him offering him every thing that he stood in need of This place was surrendred to the Turks about the end of the Year 1522. after it had been kept by the Knights for the space of Two hundred and some odd Years The Town hath two Harbours the one which is the great Port being square and spacious enough but it is not very safe when it blows from East North-east or South-east and we found it bad enough for two days time that a North-Wind blew When the Knights were in possession of that Isle they designed to have made another in the corner near the Town by the Castle St. Angelo and this would have proved a safe Port from all Winds but they lost the place before they could put their design in execution On the right-hand of the entry into the Port there is a new Tower built by the Turks in place of the old one which was called the Tower of St. Nicholas it is square has a pretty Dungeon or Plat-form in the upper part of it and a Sentry-place at each Angle This Tower is well furnished with Cannon it hath a Bastion adjoyning to it behind and a Courtine that reaches to the Walls of the Town and makes one of the sides of the Port Over against this Tower on the other side of the Port there is an old Castle which when the Knights were Masters there was called the Castle of St. Angelo but it is somewhat Ruinous The Colossus of the Sun. The Castle and Tower which are above fifty Fathom distant are built upon the two places where stood the Feet of that great Colossus of Brass one of the Seven Wonders of the World betwixt the Legs of which Ships passed under Sail. This Colossus which represented the Sun was cast by Chares the Lyndian Chares the Lyndian it was Seventy Cubits high and carried in one Hand a Light-house where every Night a light was kindled to direct the Vessels that were abroad at Sea. At length since the solidest thing that can be is subject to the decays of Time this Colossus which seemed immortal Being overthrown by an Earth-quake lay there till the Saracenes having made themselves Masters of Rhodes beat it in pieces and sold it to a Jew who loaded Nine hundred Camels with the Mettal and carried it to Alexandria in the Year 954. and 1461. years after it had been made There is a Bastion on the Sea-side behind the Tower of St. Nicholas to which it is joyned on which Nine very great Guns are Mounted that defend the entry of the Port on all sides and it is Railed in with Wooden-Rails to the Land-side Next to that is the Port of the Galleys which toward the Sea is covered by a Tongue of Rock joyned to the Main-Land whereon there is a Castle built called in time of the Knights the Castle of St. Erme This is a good Harbour and able to contain many Galleys but the Mouth of it is so narrow that one Galley only can enter at a time it looks to the East North-east It 's every Night shut with a Chain that is fastned to a little Tower at the farther end of a Mole which runs out Five and twenty or thirty Paces into the Sea over against the Castle St. Erme the other end of the Chain is made fast to a piece of Rock on the Shoar seven or eight Paces from the Castle St. Erme This Mole I have been speaking of hath another little Tower on the end of it towards the Land and hard by about fifty Paces further up on Land there is a Burying-place and in it fifteen or twenty Domes of Free-stone well built most of them supported by four Arches and these are the Sepulchres of the Beys and other Persons of Quality in Rhodes who have been killed in the Wars There is a Piazza or place on the side of the Galleys Port with some Trees and a Fountain in it and at the end of that place near the bottom of the Port is the Arsenal where the Galleys and Saiques are built The Town as I said is small but very strong towards the Port it hath high and strong Walls well planted with Faulcons on the top and below there are Port-holes for great Cannon There is besides over against the Bastion that is betwixt the two Ports a good Tower with a Ditch which hath three great pieces of Cannon mounted aloft that hinder any Vessels from coming near the Port. In the middle of the Frontispiece of this Tower there is a little Statue of St. Paul The Statue of St. Paul at Rhodes with his Sword as the Inscription by his Head shews underneath this Statue is the Mitre with the two Keys which are the Arms of the Church then underneath that there are three Escutcheons one of a plain Cross another of a Cross Anchred and a third in the middle bearing a Tree which I know not It is as strong on the Land-side but strangers have less liberty to view it on that side because they have less to do there This Town hath three Gates one towards the Sea where Corn is sold and two on the Land-side through one of which I passed and it looks towards the Den of the Dragon which
short of the Town We stay'd still there all Sunday the one and twentieth of December and then in the night-time the wind turning North blew so hard that our Vessel was very much tossed Monday the first day of the Year 1657. the wind abating a little about eleven a clock we weighed standing in towards the Harbour of the Galleys where half an hour after we came to an anchor There we were informed that a great Gallion was cast away in the Port of Alexandria which belonged to two Turkish Merchants and had a great deal of Goods on board to wit Flax Coffee and Sugar to the value of a hundred and fifty Thousand Piastres Not but that the Port is good enough but they said that there was negligence in the case and that the Cables were old and not look'd to for eleven months that the Gallion was in the Port so that they were rotten in the water This Gallion rode with four Anchors abroad yet one night a little before day all the Cables broke much at the same time which the company that were on board perceiving fired two Guns for assistance but no help being given them about break of day she split upon a Rock all the men that were on board were saved except a Turkish Merchant who would not be saved saying that he would not leave his Goods that were in the Gallion and indeed he perished with the Ship which was so broken to pieces that in an hours time there was no more to be seen of her Nevertheless help might have been given them seeing notwithstanding the storm Caiques went and came and all that was to be done was but to carry them a Cable or two All the Goods that were saved of a Cargoe worth an hundred and fifty Thousand Piastres was no more but a little Flax which they took up floating upon the water and which I afterwards saw spread abroad to dry She was the fairest Gallion that ever the Turks built exceeding even the Sultana taken some years since by the Knights of Malta which was so high that the Main-masts heads of the Galleys of Malta did not reach up to her side I was told that this was another-guess Gallion and that her stern was higher than the Main-top-mast head of our Saique which nevertheless was one of the largest of the kind She was built at Constantinople and cost eight and thirty Thousand Piastres her burthen was fifteen hundred Tun but she was now grown old she had on board forty Guns and would carry three thousand Men nay the first Voyage she made from Constantinople she had two thousand and one hundred Persons on board Nevertheless the Sea at this time was so enraged that not satisfied with this great booty it carried its fury farther and cast away a Saique in the mouth of the Nile in which two and forty Men were drowned but thanks be to God we were at Rhodes during that Tempest The End of the First Book TRAVELS INTO THE LEVANT PART I. BOOK II. CHAP. I. Of Alexandria IN the former Book I gave an Account of our arrival at Alexandria after a tedious Voyage which is commonly performed from Chio in seven or eight days time And now being in Alexandria I stay'd some days for fair weather that I might go with the Saique to Rossetto but perceiving that the wind changed not and that probably it might be a months time before the Saique could get to Rossetto I brought my things a-shore and resolved to go thither by Land. Before my departure I saw all that is worth the seeing in Alexandria This Town called by the Turks Skenderia Alexandria or Skenderia heretofore so lovely rich and famous a place is at present so ruined that it is no more the same there is nothing to be seen in it but ruined Houses cast one upon another and the heaps of Rubbish and Stones which are on all hands are higher than the Houses The French are lodged there in a Fondick which is a great House like a Han. There are other Fondicks also for the English Dutch Venetians and others and they pay no House-rent on the contrary the Consuls receive Money from the Grand Signior yearly to keep them in necessary repair These Fondicks are every evening shut up and the Keys of them carried to the Aga of the Castle who takes care to send them back every next morning They are also shut and so is the Water-gate every Friday during the Noon-Prayer as the Castle-gate is at Caire and also in all places of the Turkish Empire where there are Franks because they say they have a Prophesie which threatens that the Franks are to become Masters of them on a Friday during the Noon-Prayer Hardly any thing of the ancient Alexandria remains standing but the Walls and some Buildings toward the Fondick of the French which are almost ruined for the Buildings that are now towards the shore are not ancient but have been built by the Turks as may be easily seen by the Fabrick being all low ill-contriv'd Houses This Town hath three Ports the first of which called the Old Harbour is pretty large but few Vessels put into it because the entry is difficult there are two Castles to defend it one on each side and both well kept The other two Ports are higher up and separated one from another by a little Island heretofore farther off from the main Land than it is at present and anciently called the Pharos It is at present joyned to the main Land by a Stone-bridge of some Arches under which the water passes This Isle runs out a great way in Meo in the middle of it there is a large square Tower Farillon where the Grand Signior's Powder is kept At the end of the same Isle there is a good Castle called Farillon that stands in the same place where the heretofore so renowned Pharos stood which was reckoned One of the Seven Wonders of the World this which is now in the place of it is neat enough and well provided with Artillery and a Garison of three hundred Soldiers commanded by a Muteferaca but it hath no other water than that of the Nile which is brought into it from without upon Camels The first of the two Ports divided by the Pharos is the Harbour of the Galleys and the other is the Great Port or New Harbour the mouth whereof is on the one side defended by the Farillon and on the other side by another little Castle at its entry which is not so good as the Farillon however it is kept by several Soldiers and these two Castles easily succour one another Both these Ports are very dangerous because of the Stones and Rocks that are in them and there is need of a good Pilot to bring Vessels in The Great Port lyes much open to the North-east and North winds The Harbour of the Galleys is the safer of the two but it hath no great depth of water and indeed as
will kill a Man for a penny and indeed they are very Poor therefore when one goes by Water upon the Nile he had need keep a good Guard against the Corsairs During our Voyage in the night-time we lighted several Matches which we fastened round about our Bark on the out-side and the Arabs seeing these Matches easily take them for so many Musquets which they are deadly afraid of as not knowing the use of them besides that we had Fire-Arms which we now and then Discharged as well by night as by day that they might hear them but notwithstanding all that a Bark of Robbers came one night up with our Caiques which one having discovered he allarmed the rest then all cried to them to keep off thereupon they made answer in Turkish that we need not be afraid for they were Friends and would go in company with us but when we called to them again that if they did not stand off we would Fire at them they went their way At Boulac we took Asses to carry us to Caire half a League distant from thence My Lord Honorie de Bermond the French Consul did me the favour to lodge me at his House The French Consul as those of other Nations resides at Caire because the Basha lives there so the Affairs of the Nation are the more conveniently managed he hath two Vice-Consuls under him whom he appoints as he thinks good one at Rossetto another at Alexandria and sometimes one at Damiette who depend upon none but him CHAP. IV. Of Caire THere are so many things to be seen at Caire that a very large Book might be fill'd with the Relation of them and seeing I made a considerable stay there and saw a good many of them I shall here describe them in order according to the several times I saw them in Caire the Capital and Metropolitan City of Aegypt Caire before it fell under the Turkish Dominion was in the later times Governed by Sultans or Kings who were taken from among the Mamalukes Mamalukes These Mamalukes were all Circassian Slaves bought of Merchants who came and sold them to the Sultan of Aegypt who presently made them renounce the Christian Religion then committed them to the care of Masters of Exercise by whom they were taught to bend the Bow shoot exact give a true thrust with a Launce make use of Sword and Buckler sit a Horse well for they were all Horse-men and skilfully manage him After that they were advanced according to their merit and the Cowards and Unhandy were left behind so that all who were brave might rise to be Sultans for by them the Sultan was chosen and none who were not Mamalukes could be Sultans nor was any received to be a Mamaluke that was not of Christian Extraction those being excluded who had either Mahometans or Jews to their Fathers These Men were exterminated in the Year 1517. that Sultan Selim the First Conquered all Aegypt and at the taking of Caire Thomambey their Sultan called Tbomambey who was the last Sultan of Aegypt falling into his hands he put him to an ignominious death the Thirteenth of April 1517. causing him to be Hang'd at one of the Gates of Caire called Babzuaila Babzuaila and for ever rooting out the Mamalukes who were cut off to the last man. Since that time the Turks have always been Masters of it This City stands ill Caire stands ill for it is at the foot of a Hill on which the Castle is built so that the Hill covers it and intercepts all the Wind and Air which causes such a stifling heat there as engenders many Diseases whereas if it stood in the place where Old Caire is in the first place they would have the benefit of the River which is of great importance were it only for water to drink for the water must be brought into all parts of Caire in Borachios upon Camels backs which feth it from Boulac above half a league from the City and yet that is the nearest place Hence it is that so much bad water is drank at Caire because those who go to bring it on their Camels that they make the more returns take it out of the Birques or stinking Pooles Birques that are nearer than the River and for all that sell it very dear They would besides have the advantage of the Wind which blows on all hands along the River so that the heat would not be so prejudicial nay more it would be a great help to Trade in that it would ease them of the labour and charges of loading their Goods on Camels to carry them from the City to the Port or from the Port to the City And indeed Memphis the Antients chose a very good Situation for Memphis on the other side of the River and Old Caire hath since been built opposite to Memphis also upon the River But the Later who ought to correct the faults of the more Ancient if they were guilty of any have committed the greatest errours for I can see no reason why they have pitched upon that incommodious Situation unless it was perhaps to joyn the City to the Castle that so it might be under the protection thereof Caire is a very great City full of Rabble it lies in form of a Crescent but is narrow and they are in the wrong who perswade themselves that Caire is bigger than Paris I once went round the City and Castle with two or three other French-men we were mounted on Asses not daring to go on foot for fear of some bad usage The circumference of Caire how many leagues but we went at a foot pace and as near as we could no faster than a man might walk and we were two hours and a quarter in making that round which is somewhat more than three but not four French Leagues I walked once on foot also the whole length of the Khalis from end to end which is exactly the length of the City of Caire for it is a Street that goes through the middle of it from one end to another I set out early in the morning with a Janizary that I might not be by any hindred in my design or abused and being come to the end about St. Michael's I alighted and having set two Watches which I had in my pocket at the same hour I began to walk pretty fast when I came to the other end of Khalis I found that we had been almost three quarters of an hour in going the length of it and I could undertake to perform it very well in half an hour if I had not on Turkish Shoes as I had at that time which was a great hindrance to me for at every turn my Paboutches slipt off my feet and besides I was in my Vest that likewise retarded my going I reckoned also all the steps I made putting at each hundred paces a bean in my pocket and at the end I found one and fifty beans in
entred it as we did at the former it has an Hundred and forty eight steps of large Stones like the other the Platform of it is not even the Stones being put together without order which makes it easily appear that it hath not been finished and yet it is much older than the other as is evident by the Stones which are all worn out and crumbled into Sand. It is Six hundred forty three Foot square and hath its entry at the fourth part of its height looking towards the North as the former it hath on the East-side Three hundred and sixteen Foot and by consequence Three hundred twenty seven to the West There is but one single passage into it three Foot and a half broad and four Foot high which reaching Two hundred sixty seven Foot downwards ends in a Hall with a steep Ridged Roof Five and twenty Foot and a half in length and eleven in breadth in the corner of the Hall there is another Passage or Gallery parallel to the Horizon three Foot square within and nine Foot and a half long which leads to another Chamber that is One and twenty Foot in length and eleven in breadth with a very high Ridged Roof also having at the West-end a square Window Twenty four Foot and two thirds raised from the Floor by which one enters into a passage indifferent broad and of a Mans height Parallel to the Horizon and reaching in length thirteen Foot and two Inches There is a great Room or Hall at the end of this passage with a Ridged Roof containing in length Twenty six Foot eight Inches and in breadth Twenty four Foot and one Inch the Floor of it is the natural Rock which on all sides is rough and unequal leaving only a little smooth and even space in the middle encompassed round with the Rock and much lower than the entry into the Room or the foundation of the Wall. When we had viewed this Pyramide we returned to the Mummies and found them digging our Pit but they Cheated us as they do many others opening a Pit that had been twenty times opened before though they swore it was the first time Now this advantage is to be had by going down into a Pit never opened before that one may find Idols and other Curiosities there but when these Rascals find any thing they keep it that they may sell it in the City to the Franks and therefore never open a new Pit but when they are alone These Pits are square and built of a pretty good Stone but are full of Sand which must be taken out A descent into a Mummie-Pit When they had removed the Sand they let us down by a Rope made fast about our Middle which was held by those that were above and the Pit was two or three Pikes length deep being at the bottom we crept through a little hole upon our Belly because they had not cleared it sufficiently of the Sand and entred into a little Room walled and arched over with Stone There we found three or four Bodies but only ore that was entire the rest being broken into pieces which easily convinced us that that Pit had been opened before We were then for having that opened which was entire but they would not unless they were paid for it and therefore I gave them a Piastre which did not content them But when they perceived that I was about to break it up in spight of them without giving them one Farthing more An entire body of a Mummie they beat it into pieces This was a long and large Body in a very thick Coffin of Wood shut close on all hands the Timber was not at all Rotten and we found it to be Sycamore-Wood which in Aegypt they call Pharoah's Fig-Tree that does not rot so soon as other Wood. Upon the Coffin The Coffin of the Mummie Stone Coffins the Face of him that was within it was cut in Embossed Work. Some Coffins there are also of Stone with the Face of the Person within cut in Boss and Hieroglyphicks all along the length of it There are two of these Stones in the House of Monsieur Fouquet at St. Mande and I had two of them also of which one was broken at Alexandria and the other I brought Home with me very whole which weighs betwixt Seaven and eight hundred weight Coffins made of Cloth. Some of these Coffins are made of several pieces of Cloth pasted together which are as strong as the Wooden ones I have one of this kind in my Closet made of above forty Cloths glewed or pasted together in thickness which are not in the least Rotten it is covered all over with Idols and Hieroglyphicks painted on a very thin Plaister with which the out-side Cloth is dawbed over but it is a little spoil'd the Plaister in some places being rubbed off Among these Figures there is a Compartement at the lower end two Inches broad and a Foot long being painted cross-ways over the Coffin wherein may be seen the manner how the Ancient Aegyptians Embalmed dead Bodies In the middle of this Compartement there is a long Table shaped like a Lion on the back of which the Body that is to be Embalmed is laid at length and hard by there is a Man with a Knife in his Hand opening the Body this Man hath on a Vizard-Mask shaped like the Beak of a Sparrow-Hawk which without doubt was the custome of their Embalmers who made use of that kind of Mask that they might not breath in the Corruption that might evaporate from the dead Bodies as the Physitians of Italy do at present who in time of a Plague never stir abroad without a Mask of this kind in the long Nose of which they put Perfumes though I make no doubt but the Mask I speak of is the Head of Osiris which the Aegyptians represented with the Head of a Sparrow-Hawk as they did Anubis with the Head of a Dog the Nile with a Lions Head c. But as a surer mark that it is an Embalming there are four Vessels without Handles upon the aforesaid Table which could be nothing else but the Vessels wherein the necessary drugs were kept not only for the Embalming as Balm Cedria c. but also for the wrapping up and Incrustation of the Body as Bitumen and others by the sides of the Table there are several Persons standing and sitting in divers postures Within this Coffin is the figure of a naked Maid with her Arms streatched out But to return to my first Discourse This Wooden Coffin I mentioned being broken to pieces with Hatchets we found an entire Body in it which lay in this manner The face of the Mummie The Head of the Mummie The Face was covered as commonly all the rest are with a kind of Head-piece of Cloth fitted with Plaister on which the Countenance of that Person was represented in Gold and when we took off the Helmet we found nothing of the
into two Pits the first is almost square and is eleven foot long and ten foot broad there is a pair of stairs to go down to it about seven or eight foot broad cut in the Rock all round and separating the Pit from the Rock so that when you go down you have one of the sides of the Well on the right hand which serves for a rail to keep one from falling or indeed seeing into the Well unless it be by windows that are at convenient distances On the left hand you have the wall which is the Rock it self This Stair-case hath been made very easie to go down and up for the convenience of the Oxen that go down to labour so that the descent is hardly sensible You go down then 220 steps finding on each side of the Pit two windows each about three foot square there are three windows in some places A hole in Joseph's Well that goes to the Pyramides but the Pit being very deep they are not sufficient to give light enough and therefore some Torches must be carried down At the bottom of these two hundred and twenty steps in the Rock on the left hand there is a great hole like a door but stopt up and they say that that hole goes as far as the Pyramides Another hole in Josephs Well which the Aegyptians say reaches as far as Suez There is another hole like the former on the right hand of the Pit and stopt up in the same manner and that they say goes as far as Suez upon the Red-Sea but I believe neither of the two Turning then to the right hand towards that hole you come to a place which is the bottome of the first Pit or story this place answers perpendicularly to the mouth of the Pit being equal to it in length and breadth so much of it as is uncovered for afterwards it strikes off to the right hand under the Rock to the place of the second story or second Pit which is narrow but deeper than the former At the top of this last Pit in the afore-mentioned place that goes under the Rock the Oxen are which by means of wheels draw a great quantity of water out of this narrow Pit or Well which falling into a Channel runs into a reservatory at one end of this place and at the bottom of the first Pit from whence at the same time it is conveyed up on high by little buckets fastened to a rope which Oxen on the top continually keep going by the means of other wheels that they turn and then it is distributed through the Castle in several pipes One may go to the bottome of this narrow Well there being several steps in it by which some have descended but there is too much mud and slime in it Now what is most wonderful all this Pit or Well is made out of the hard Rock to a prodigious breadth and depth and the water of it is from a Spring there being no Spring to the knowledge of man in all Aegypt but this Onely two Springs of Water in Aegypt and that of the Matharee which we mentioned before Many and almost all the Franks think that the water of Joseph's Well is the same that is brought from the Nile in that fair Aqueduct which comes by Old Caire to the Castle But we informed ourselves as to that of many in the Castle who all assured us that the water that is brought by that Aqueduct served only for the Bashas Horses as indeed it comes streight to the Stables in the Bashas Appartment and that it enters not at all into Joseph's Well which is in the Quarter of the Janizaries besides the water of Joseph's Well is sweetish as the water of most Wells is and differs in taste from that of the Nile Joseph's Hall. Thirty Pillars of Thebaick stone in Joseph's Hall. The Hall of Joseph's Steward Joseph's Hall is also to be seen in the Castle but much ruined it hath thirty lovely great Pillars of Thebaick-stone and a good deal of Gold and Azure still to be seen on the seeling Pretty near to that is the Hall also of Joseph's Steward which is more curious than the other but there remains still ten or twelve Pillars such as those of Joseph's Hall. It is to be observed that all the fine things of the Antients that still remain in Aegypt are attributed to Joseph and all that is ugly or infamous to Pharaoh There is to be seen also in the Castle a large old Hall well built the seeling whereof is in many places gilt and painted in Mosaick In this Hall the Vest which is yearly sent to Mecha is embroidered Then you have many high Terrasses from whence you may see all the City of New Caire the Old Boulac and a great way farther into the Desarts Joseph's Dungeon The Dungeon or Arcane is still remaining in the Castle which they say is the Prison whereinto Joseph was cast and where he interpreted the Dreams of the King's Butler and Baker but nothing makes it considerable but the Name of Joseph for it is a Prison composed of some dark nasty and stinking passages like Dungeons by what I could discover on the out-side and some who have been Prisoners there told me that it is far worse within and Prisoners are so cruelly used there that it deserves not to be look'd upon nay woe be to them who are shut up there for so soon as a Man is clapt up in it his feet are put into the Stocks and his body chained to the wall by a heavy Chain where he must sit on his breech then the Gaolers demand of him ten or twenty Piastres more or less The bad usage of Prisoners by the Gaolers of the Arcane according as they judge him able and if he give it not they throw pales of water under his breech and when he has feed the first that he may not be abused next day others come into office who use him in the same manner if he see them not also as he did the former and in a word this Prison is a Hell upon Earth People are put in there for small matters as for Debt or Batteries especially the Christians and Jews The Aga of the Janizaries lives in the Castle and Commands there Being come out of the Castle you must go see the Basha's Appartment separated from the Castle only by a Wall and I think all together made but one Castle before but the Turks make a distinction betwixt them calling the Basha's Appartment the Serraglio of the Basha and the rest the Castle you must see then the Appartment or Serraglio of the Basha which is very neat as that of the Kiayas is also Both these places have a very pleasant Prospect for from them one has a full view of Caire Old Caire Boulac the Desarts and all places about The Hall of the great Divan is in the Basha's Appartment it is long but the seeling a
I thought for fear of meeting with some abuse In the mean time I think that that folly may be put in the same rank with the Well that is in the Nunnery of the Cophtes in the quarter of the Greeks where they say the Blessed Virgin appears on a certain day of the year as also with the Church called Geniane that is to say the two Churches which is three days journey from Caire where the Cophtes imagine that they see Saints appear in the Dome and therefore they have it in great Veneration CHAP. XIII Of the Cavalcade of the Hazna The Grand Signiors revenue in Aegypt MOnday the eleventh of June the Hazna or Grand Signior's Revenue came down from the Castle This Hazna amounts to six hundred thousand Venetian Chequins which make 1500000 Piastres which the Basha of Aegypt sends yearly to the Grand Signior The Cavalcade at the setting out of the Grand Signiors hazna for Constantinople under the guard of a Sangiack Bey well accompanied This Hazna came down from the Castle and about eight a Clock in the morning went through Caire with a lovely Cavalcade in great pomp First went many of all the Sangiacks Servants well mounted then came the Saraf Basha and the Saraf of the Basha each with a Caftan which they had received from the Basha and next eight Clerks and other Officers of the Custome-house who had every one a Caftan given them by the Basha these were followed by all the Chiaoux's with their great Turbans after whom came the rest of the Sangiacks Servants and behind them thirty Mules loaded with the Treasure environed with several Janizaries on Foot a little after came above two thousand Janizaries on Foot marching two and two with their Musquets on their shoulders and their Shables by their sides next to them came the Sangiack Bey who was to accompany the Treasure to Constantinople he wore a Chiaoux Cap and had on a Caftan given him by the Basha he was followed by many men on Horseback carrying Colours and among others one that was made of several Flakes of Wooll fastened to the end of a Staff then came a great many men most part Moors playing upon Flutes Drums and Timbrels with many Trumpets in the Reer of all came the whole Family of the Sangiack Bey who made the Journey and it consisted of several very handsome Young-men In this Cavalcade were above two hundred Horse but the chief beauty of it was the Order wherein they marched for they went all two and two leisurely and without the least noise so that it was easie to reckon them they were all mounted on very good Horses all Armed some with Bows and Arrows others with Harquebusses Pikes and such-like Arms. They went out by the Bab Nasra that is to say the Gate of Victory and encamped a League off in Tents where they stayed about a Fortnight and then departed for Constantinople CHAP. XIV Of the Turks Carnaval TVesday Evening the twelfth of June 1657. happened the Carnaval of the Turks or the Ceremony of the beginning of the Ramadan which though it be but a trifle yet deserves once to be seen This Cavalcade is called Laylet el Kouvat Laylet el Kouvat The night when the Alcoran came down from Heaven that is to say the night of power because the Mahometans believe that that night the Alcoran descended from Heaven So soon as it is night Lamps are lighted in the streets and especially in the Bazar street through which the Procession passes it is a very long broad and streight Street where you see a great many Ropes stretched from one side to the other to which Iron-Hoops are fastened with many Lamps hanging to them there are also Baskets hanging full of Lamps these Hoops hang at about ten paces distance from one another and in every one of them there are above thirty Lamps which being all in a streight line make a very pleasant shew and great light there are besides many other great figures likewise full of Lamps and all the Minarets or Towers of the Mosques are also decked with them Vast numbers of people are abroad in the streets the shops and all places full but the Franks who would be Spectators of this Festival ought to take a room in the street of the Bazar only for the time of the Cavalcade that so they may conveniently see and be out of danger of the Rabble About the shutting in of the Night the Santos Chiaoux and all that are concerned in the Cavalcade go to the House of the Cadilesquer who tells them if they are to begin the Ramadan that night being then certain that the Moon hath been seen and that by consequence the Ramadan begins that night They begin their solemnity in this manner about an hour or two after night a great many Santos on Foot armed with Clubs and Torches in their hands and accompanied with several People carrying Links march up and down dancing singing roaring and making a noise with a Scheikh on a Mule in the middle of them whom they call Scheiks el arsat which is to say Scheikh or prime of the Cornuted and with them is a Scheikh of great reputation for when he passes the People shout and make great acclamations after him come several men mounted on Camels playing upon Drums Timbrels and other sorts of Instruments who make a sad noise then follow men in Masquerade who walk on foot some with Link-men about them and others carrying at the end of long Poles Hoops full of Fire-Launces which after they have burn'd and given light a pretty while bounce and leap among the People on all hands and during that time they let off a great many Squibs and Serpents After that come the Officers of the Bey on Horse-back all with their Harquebusses then the Chiaoux also on Horse-back next several Janizaries with their Musquets and Cimeters and after them the Sous Basha Muhtesib and many publick Magistrates well attended by Janizaries and Link-men the whole is concluded by a great many Santo's that sing some joyful Songs for the coming of the Ramadan All this Solemnity consists only of a company of Rogues got together but is pleasant enough however It is some pleasure still after all is over to see them break most of the Lamps with Stones and Sticks Then are the Shops kept open all night and so during all the Nights of the Ramadan but especially the Coffee-houses which are full of Lamps in some of which I have seen two thousand and all sorts of People Christians and others may go abroad all night long as securely as by day I have spoken at large of the Ramadan in the description of Constantinople CHAP. XV. Of the going out of a Basha Mansoul THE thirtieth of June 1657. the Basha was made Maasoul or Mansoul that is to say turned out of his Government which is done two manner of ways the one when the Beys of the Countrey make him
upon the ground along the Hall according to their Mode it consists of about Two thousand Dishes ranked one upon two others these Dishes have feet like our Salvers but almost half a Foot high and in that manner they are seven or eight Rows high The dishes are all of Rice Broths and the like Green Red Yellow and of several Colours they have also good Joynts of Roast-meat but without any Sauce however they make some Ragoes of the Nuts of Pine-Apples Almonds and such other things they mind not the daintiness and variety but only the quantity of Victuals and that they be not spoil'd Dinner is prepared in the same manner in the Tents of the Kiaya or the Basha's Lieutenant and of his other Officers When the first have filled their Bellies A Feast for many persons in one service they rise and give place to others who Dine also and then make way for the rest so long as any remain and so several companies Dine without any new Service When the Basha has Dined he withdraws into another Pavillion where he is visited by all the Beys and other persons of Quality every one in his turn The Basha stayed there two days and the third which was Saturday The Basha's entry into Caire the Nine and twentieth of September he made his Entry in this manner First went the Servants of the Beys on Horse-back their Sword by their side and Harquebuss in hand with the but-end on their Knee they made near Five hundred Horse and among them were several of the Retinue of the Basha Next came the Spahis divided into three Banners the Green The Green Troop the Yellow and the Red. The Green called the Troop of the Charquese or Circassians marched first every Trooper having a green Guidon on the top of his Pike they were near Four hundred Men and in the Rear of the Troop came their Aga having in his hand also a Pike with a green Guidon as the rest had and after him the Timbrels and Pipes of the Troop Next to that came the Yellow all the Troopers carrying yellow Guidons Yellow Troop they made about four hundred and twenty and were brought up by their Aga followed by the Timbrels and Pipes The last was the Red Troop Red Troop consisting of near five hundred Men carrying every one a red Guidon their Aga was in the rear and after him the Timbrels and Pipes but in greater number than with the two former for that is the most honourable Troop of the three A Troop of Tartars and next to it is the Yellow After the Spahies came a Troop of Tartarian-Horse who belonged to the Basha there were above an hundred of them all apparelled after the Tartarian fashion with Pike in hand and a Guidon strip'd white yellow and red These were followed by the Muteferacaes then the Chiaoux with their great Caps of Ceremony who made about three hundred in number Next came all the Beys every one with two Pages walking a foot before them After them came seven Horse-men every one leading a Horse of the Bashas these Horses were covered with rich Housses all embroidered with Gold and Silver the Sousbasha followed them having the Master of the Horse of the Basha on his left hand All this body of Horse made about two thousand five or six hundred Men. The Azapes followed them covered for the most part with the Skins of Tigres all entire and their Muskets on their shoulders being in all above three hundred Men. And after them came the Janizaries of whom two marched before the one carrying on his shoulder a great wooden Club and the other a great wooden Hatchet as their Custome is when they march in Pomp these Janizaries made in all near a thousand Men. After them marched the forty Janizaries of the Mehkeime or Justice with their Caps of Ceremony Mehkeime Mehkeime signifies a place where Justice is rendered to all then sixteen Peicks or Bashas Lackqueys marching two and two with their Caps of Silver gilt on their heads and Plumaches of Feathers in them Then at length came the Basha mounted on a stately Horse with a Housse embroidered all over with Gold He wore a Chiaoux Cap with two black Herons tops standing upright upon it and a lovely Vest of white Sattin lined with excellent Samour or Sable After him came his Selihhtar and Tchoadar each with his long tail'd Cap hanging down behind his back and then came a great many Trumpets Flutes Drums Timbrels and such like Instruments with all his domestick Servants on Horse-back This Basha brought one thousand seven hundred Men with him of whom some were in Armour to the very fingers ends and two thousand three hundred Beasts Horses Camels and Mules It was easie to distinguish them from the rest being all much harrassed by the Journey When he entered into his Appartment which had been prepared for him several days before they killed two Bullocks CHAP. XXIV Of the Journey from Caire to Suez BEing at Caire I had a design to go see the Red-Sea The Journey from Caire to Suez and knowing that there was a Caravan ready to part for Suez I went to wait on Haly Bey the Bey of Suez who was then at Caire and made him a Present of a Box of five or six pound weight of Sweet-meats made by a French man and he when I had opened my design to him promised me his protection I went next to the Gentleman of his Horse and having retained Mules for myself and Company I made Provisions of Bread Wine Meat Provisions for going from Caire to Suez and other things necessary to serve us to Suez where they assured me I should find all things but especially Water nor forgetting neither a Quilt Coverlet and a Capot for every one of the company We should have had a Tent also with us but we carried none because the Beys Gentleman of the Horse promised us the use of his to Suez Having made ready our Provisions we loaded them on a Camel and then I parted from Caire on Thursday the seventeenth of January in the Year 1658. with a Capucine and a French man of Provence who understood Arabick very well and a Moor Servant who used to serve the French and could speak a little Lingua Franca having left my own Man who was indisposed at Caire We went from Caire to the Birque which is but four leagues distant and encamped there waiting for the rest of the Caravan that consisted of two thousand Camels loaded with Timber for building a Ship for the Grand Signior Novali Bey had orders to get her built and was gone a little before The Bey of Suez went along with this Caravan in a Litter carried by two Camels he made the Journey because one of his Galleys was arrived and that was the cause also of the Capucins going that he might Confess the Slaves on board This Birque is spacious and has always water in
Latin Church where Moses hid himself when having desired to see God's Face the Lord told him that he could not see his Face and live but that he should hide himself in that Rock and that when he was passed by he should see his back parts His Back and Arms are very well marked on the Rock under which he hid himself It was upon the top of this Mount that Moses received from God the Ten Commandments written upon two Tables From this place one may easily see down into the Convent which is at the foot of the Mount and as it were just under those who are on the top of it There you see a fair large Church covered with Lead where they say the Body of St. Catherine is in pieces Before the door of the said Church within the Precincts of the Monastery there is beautiful Mosque As we were coming down again we found by the way a great Stone and as the Greeks say this is the place to which the Prophet Elias came having fled from Mount Carmel because of the Persecution of Jezabel Queen of Syria being come to that place where the Stone is an Angel appeared unto him and with a Rod smiting that great Stone made it fall down in the way and forbid Elias to go any farther telling him that since Moses had not been in the Holy Land he should not go to the top of this Mount. A little lower is the Foot of a Camel so well imprinted on the Rock that it cannot be better stamped upon the Sand over which a Camel passes the Moors and Arabs say it is the print of the Foot of Mahomet's Camel which it left there as he passed that way upon it they kiss it with great devotion but it is credible that the Greeks have made it to captivate their friendship to the end they may reverence those places After that in several places of the Mount we saw little Chappels which have all little Houses near them and Gardens full of Fruit-Trees Heretofore these places were inhabited by Hermites in so great number that it is said that in the Mountain of Moses there were in ancient Times above fourteen thousand Hermites afterwards the Greeks kept Monks in all these Hermitages to celebrate Divine Office but at present there are none because the Arabs too much tormented them We dined upon this Mountain on Bread Onions and Dates that we had brought with us and then went to see the Hermitages and first we found three of these Chappels altogether with a passage from one to another Behind the Altar of the third which is dedicated to the Honour of St. Elias there is a Hole in the Rock where Elias lived all the while that he sojourned in that Mount because of the Persecution of Jezabel Then we came to another place where there are three Chappels more dedicated one to the Honour of the Blessed Virgin another to the Honour of St. Ann and a third to the Honour of St. John after that to a Chappel dedicated to St. Pantaleon then to another dedicated to the Holy Virgin another to David another to the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ another to St. Anthony the Hermite to another place where there are three little Cells in which the Greeks say that two Elder Sons of the Greek Emperour shut themselves up each in his Cell causing the Doors to be walled up and leaving only a Window in each still to be seen by which they received Victuals from a Servant who lived in the third Cell that was not shut up and that both of them died in their several Cells All these Chappels are scattered up and down upon the Mount so that one must go a good way before he can visite them all Near to every one of them there is a little House a Garden and good Water From thence we went down to the great Monastery at the foot of the Mountain by steps whith heretofore reached from the said Monastery up to the top of the Mount and were in number fourteen thousand at present some of them are broken those that remain are well made and easie to go up or down The height of the Mountain of Moses One may judge of the height of St. Catherine's Mount by this which certainly is not so high by a third and yet hath fourteen thousand Steps up to it Upon the way as we came down we found two fair stone Porticos by which we passed and where the Greeks say that they who performed the Pilgrimage paid heretofore a certain small due After that we came to the great Monastery at the bottom which is welt built of good Free-stone with very high smooth Walls on the East-side there is a Window by which those that were within drew up the Pilgrims into the Monastery with a Basket which they let down by a Rope that runs in a Pully to be seen above at the Window and the Pilgrims went into it one after another and so were hoisted up by the same place they also let down Victuals to the Arabs with a Rope We entered not into that Monastery because it was shut To understand the reason of this you most know the History of this Monastery CHAP. XXIX Of the Monastery of St. Catherine The Monastery of St. Catherine FOR these thousand years the Greeks have been in Possession of this Monastery which was given them by a Greek Emperour called Justinian and they afterwards living there on a certain day Mahomet who as the Greeks say was their Camel Driver weary after the toyl of bringing in Provisions upon the Camels fell a sleep before the Gate of the Monastery while he was a sleep there came an Eagle and hovered for a long time over his Head An Eagle over Mahomet's Head. which the Porter of the Monastery observing ran in great amazement to acquaint the Abbot with it who immediately coming saw the same thing and reflecting thereupon as soon as Mahomet awoke asked him whether or not if being a Great and Mighty Lord he would be kind to them Mahomet made answer that he neither was nor ever like to be such but the other still insisting upon that Supposition Mahomet told him that he ought not at all to doubt of it but that if it were in his power he would do them all the good he could because he had his livelihood from them Mahomet's Promise the Abbot would needs have that Promise from him in writing but Mahomet affirming that he could not write the Abbot sent for an Ink-horn Mahomet could not write and Mahomet having wet his Hand in the Ink clapt it upon a leaf of clean Paper and made thereon the impression of his Hand which he gave them as a confirmation of what he said Having sometime after attained to that Grandeur which was presaged to him by the Eagle he called to mind his Promise and preserved to them their Monastery with all the Land belonging to it but upon
in it they say that the Blessed Virgin was in that very place when the Body of our Lord was anointed When you have ascended that Stair-case of seven and thirty Steps you enter into the Church of the Armenians wherein you find nine and fifty Lamps and two Candlesticks of sixteen branches a piece and in the Quire there are seventy Lamps and two Candlesticks of six branches a piece At the side of the Quire there is also a Chappel and three and forty Lamps with a Candlestick of eight branches within it Being come down from thence you find the Chappel of the Abyssines then that of the Syrians or Jacobites which hath its entry at the back of the Holy Sepulchre wherein are one and thirty Lamps and at the end of it there is a Grott in which are the two Sepulchres of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea cut in the depth of the Rock The Sepulchres of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea with a Lamp before each of them This good Man Joseph of Arimathea having laid our Lord's Body in the Sepulchre which he had prepared for himself caused another to be made for him accounting himself unworthy to be laid where the Body of our Saviour had lain Then you find a Door by which ascending some steps you go to the Lodgings of the Greeks and from thence to the Chappel of the Apparition and so you have made the whole circumference of the Church This Church formerly belonged wholly to the Latins but the other Christians have for Money obtained their shares in it it is pleasant to see this Church on High Festival Days for then it shines with an infinite number of Lamps some red some green because of the water within them to which they give what colour they please and that especially when the Greeks and other Christians who follow the old Calendar have Easter on the same day with us as it happened this year But there is a great deal of trouble with it also for there are near four thousand Christians who come from all Parts and all for a Maidin a piece get into St. Sepulchres so that then one can hardly perform his devotions well not only because of the noise but also because there is always a great croud of people at the Holy Places for though every Nation have their own distinct yet all have liberty to pay their devotions at what place they please There you 'll see some both Men and Women rowl upon the ground at the Holy Places without any respect to modesty Others bring with them whole Pieces of Cloth which they measure upon the Holy Sepulchre and Stone of Unction and cut them in pieces according to the length of these Sanctuaries which serve them for Shrouds to be buried in and all this in pure devotion And if for more convenience you take the night-time to perform your devotions in or the dawning of the morning you must step over a great many people Men Women and Children lying and tumbling confusedly in the Church besides all these People have their Children with them who do their needs in the Church just where they are for though there be a Court with Necessary-houses yet that signifies but little for so many insomuch that all these things together do much incommode and distract you The way of Ringing to the Office in St. Sepulchres When these Christians would Ring to Office they have pieces of Wood about a fathom long somewhat crooked a hand broad and two fingers thick which they hang by a Rope in the middle upon this Board they knock with two pieces of Iron which gives a sound something like to that of our Bells and makes an horrid din especially when several ring at the same time Others again have a kind of Drums and other Instruments all which together make mad Musick CHAP. XL. Of the Burying-places of the Kings and of the Grott of Jeremiah ON Palm-Sunday after Dinner we went out of the City by the Gate of Damascus to go see the Burying-Places of the ancient Kings of Jerusalem which is a rare thing You enter first into a great Court cut out and made even in the Rock which serves for Walls to it and on the left hand there is a Gallery cut also out of the Rock with several Pillars all very much beautified with many Figures engrav'd upon the stone at one end of this Gallery there is a little open place by which you must creep upon your belly into a large square Room cut also out of the Rock in which there are other Rooms and several fair Tombs cut in the Rock This is a very stately and magnificent Place and many think that the Doors wbich are very thick and of the same stone have been cut with their Hinges and Pivots in the same place where they are and by much labour divided from the rest of the Rock but that is not so as may be easily known if one will but take the pains to scrape a little below and put aside the dust for then he 'll see the joyning of the stones that have been put there after that the Doors have been placed with their Pivots in the holes Being come out of this fair Palace of the Dead we went to the Cave where the Prophet Jeremiah composed his Lamentations which is near to that place of the Sepulchres It is a large very light Grott made in the Rock having a Pillar in the middle that supports the Roof of it CHAP. XLI Of the River of Jordan of the Dead-Sea and of the Mount of the Forty Days Fast MOnday the fifteenth of April which to the Greeks and Latins was Holy Monday we prepared to go to the River of Jordan and therefore the Monks having made necessary Provisions for the Journey we took Horse at the Door of the Church of the Sepulchre of the Blessed Virgin from whence we parted at eight a clock in the morning to go to that River whither the Christians go not but on the Greeks Holy Monday because then the Basha gives a Guard of four or five hundred Men for fear of the Arabs and unless there be a great many Christians they cannot raise a sufficient summ of money to defray the Charges of it for the Greeks and other Christians that are Subjects to the Grand Signior pay upon account of this Journey three Piastres and a half the head and the Franks five Piastres Now the year I went thither the Easter of the Greeks fell on the same day with that of the Latins and the Greeks Armenians and other Christian Subjects of the Grand Signior's made in all above four thousand The Basha sent with us a Convoy of three hundred Horse and two hundred Foot under the Command of the Musellem About nine of the clock we came to the Fountain of the Apostles and a little after to Bethany The fountain of the Apostles Bethany Our way lay all along among Mountains and the Road was
there are three Cisterns and on the Right Hand of them a place Vaulted over the Arch whereof is supported by six Pillars of Garnet It was in this place that St. Jerome Read and Taught the Holy Scriptures The place of St. Jerome but the Turks at present have made a Stable of it From this second Court you go through a little Door only three Foot high and two Foot wide into a third little Court which serves for a Porch to the Church this was a very large Door but it is walled up to hinder the Arabs from entring into the Church with their Horses the Door also which is of Wood is very thick and shuts with a strong Bar behind it to hold out the Arabs after that you enter by another Door into the Church which is very spacious and we shall speak of it hereafter Turning to the Left Hand you go into a Cloyster by a little very thick Door and covered all over with Iron on the side of the Cloyster with a great Bolt and strong Bar for resisting the Arabs In this Cloyster being the Lodgings of the Latin Monks St. Catharines Church in Bethlehem whose Church is Dedicated to the Honour of St. Catharine having there said our Prayers and heard Te Deum sung the R. F. Guardian gave each of us a white Wax-Taper like to that which had been given us in the Church of St. Saviour the day we came to Jerusalem and we went in Procession to visit the holy places that are in the Convent We descended eighteen steps and came to the place where the Birth of our Saviour is represented for since the Greeks as we shall hereafter relate had taken the holy places from our Monks The place of the Representation of the Birth of our Lord. they have built a Chappel over against the real place where our Lord was Born and another over against the Manger being only separated by a Wall that is betwixt them and the Popes have granted to these two Chappels the same Indulgences as to the true ones Next we went to the Altar of St. Joseph then to the Sepulchre of the Innocents so called The Sepulchre of the Innocents The Oratory of St. Jerome because many Innocent Infants whom the Mothers had hid with themselves in that Grott were Murdered and Buried there Then to the Oratory of St. Jerome where he Translated the Bible out of Hebrew into Latin and to his Sepulchre which stands in a Chappel where there are two Altars to wit one over his Tomb which is on the Right Hand as you enter and another upon the Tomb of St. Paula and her Daughter Eustochium where there is an Epitaph made by St. Jerome The Epitaph of St. Paula in these terms Obiit hic Paula ex Nobilissimis Romanorum Corneliis Gracchas orta cum 20. Annos vixisset in coenobiis a se institutis cui tale Epitaphium posuit Hieronymus And this other besides Scipio quem genuit Paulae fudere parentes Gracchorum soboles Agamemnonis inclyta proles hoc jacet in tumulo Paulam dixere priores Eustochii genitrix Romani prima Senatus Pauperiem Christi Bethleemiti rura sequuta We made a station at the Tomb of St. Jerome St. Jerome's Tomb. and another at the Tombs of the said Saints After that we went to the Tomb of St. Eusebius the Disciple of St. Jerome singing at these several stations the proper Prayers for the places All these stations are in Grotts under Ground where there is no Light but what they bring along with them Then we come up again into the Church where the Procession ended The Church of St. Catharine was heretofore a Monastery they say that it was in that Church that our Lord Espoused St. Catharine who came to visit these holy places and the same Indulgences are there as in Mount Sinai There is a very good Cistern in that Church near the Door on the left hand as you enter It is a very pretty Church and was with the whole Convent built by St. Paula After the Procession we went to the great Church lately come into the Possession of the Greeks which for Money they gave the Turks they wrested from our Monks This Church was built by St. Helene and is a most beautiful and spacious Church it has a high Roof of Cedar-Wood extraordinary well wrought and Leaded over with many fair Windows that render it very light The Nef or Body is supported on both sides by two rows of high and great Marble Pillars all of one entire piece there being Eleven in each row so that it maketh five Isles separated one from another by these four rows of Pillars on every one of which there is the Picture of a Saint and over these Pillars all the Wall is painted in lovely Mosaick Work of Green upon a ground of fine Gold. Heretofore all this Church was lined with beautiful Marble as may be easily seen by the Cramp-Irons fixed all over in the Wall which have held the pieces but the Turks have removed these Ornaments for their Mosques As you enter that Church you see on the right hand behind the third and fourth Pillars the Greeks Font which is very fine The Quire is still very large and closed all round with a Wall the Armenians have a third part of it which was given them by the Latins whilst they possessed the Church and they have separated it from the rest by wooden Rails As you enter this Quire you see on each side a kind of Chappel and almost at the farther end of it stands the high Altar which with these two Chappels makes a Cross in that which is on the right hand there is an Altar where you see the Stone on which our Lord was Circumcised In the other Chappel on the left hand which belongs to the Armenians there is an Altar which they say is the place where the Kings alighted from their Horses when they came to adore our Lord. On the right side of the high Altar there is a pair of Stairs by which you go up to a Tower on the out-side of the Quire it was formerly the Steeple of the Church and serves at present for Lodgings for the Greeks There are also many Pillars in the Quire like to those in the Nef and which with these of the Nef make in all fifty Pillars Near to the high Altar in the Quire there are two little Marble Stair-cases one on each side having thirteen steps apiece and being gone down six of them you find a neat Brazen Door well wrought and pierced through to let in light from above passing it you come to the foot of the Stairs which lead into a little Church reaching only in length from the one Stair-case to the other Much under the great Altar of the Quire at this end betwixt the aforesaid two Stair-cases there is an Altar under which is the place where our Saviour was Born this place is
faced with lovely Marble in the middle whereof there is a Glory of Silver like the Sun with this Inscription about it Hic de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est About half a Foot from this Glory there is naturally upon a Marble Stone The figure of the Virgin and of her Son naturally imprinted on Marble The place of the Manger of our Lord. a figure in red Colour of a Virgin on her Knees and a little Child lying before her which is taken for the Blessed Virgin and her Son Jesus on whose Heads they have put two little Crowns of Silver-Plate Nine and twenty Lamps are kept burning before that Chappel Then you go down by three Marble-steps into a little Chappel where was the Wooden Manger into which the Virgin laid our Lord so soon as She had brought Him into the World this Manger is now at Rome in Santa Maria Majora And in the same place St. Helen caused another of white Marble Tables to be put on one of which set against the Wall is the natural Figure of an Old Man with a Monks Hood and long Beard lying on his Back and they 'll have this to be the Figure of St. Jerome which God was pleased should be marked upon that Stone because of the great love he had for that place Ten Lamps are kept burning before that Chappel two steps from which and just over against it is the Altar of Adoration of the Three Kings where there is a little Stone for a mark of the place The place of the Kings Adoration on which sat the holy Virgin with Her dear Son in Her Arms when She saw the three Wise Men come in who having laid down their Presents upon a little Bench of Stone at the foot of the Altar on the side of the Epistle adored Jesus and then offered him their Presents The Vault in this place is very low and supported by three Pillars of Porphyrian Marble before this Altar three Lamps burn At the other end of this place there was heretofore a Door by which one came down from St. Catharine's Chappel into this Grott before the Latin Monks lost it but at present it is Walled up and close by that Door there is a hole into which the Oriental Christians say the Star sunk after it had guided the Magi into this holy place This Grott is all faced with Marble both the Walls and Floor and the Seeling or Vault is adorned with Mosaick Work blackened by the smoak of the Lamps It receives no light but by the two Doors that are upon the Stairs which affords but very little Now this place is held in very great Veneration even by the Turks who come often and say their prayers there The Church of Bethlehem serves for a lodging to the Turks that pass that way But it is a very incommodious and unseemly thing that all the Turks who pass through Bethlehem should Lodge in the great Church with their whole Families there being no convenient Lodging in Bethlehem which is a great Eye-sore to the Christians who see their Church made an Inn for the Infidels But it is above all troublesome to our Latin Monks whom they oblige to furnish them with all things necessary both for Diet and Lodging CHAP. XLVI Of the Way of making what Marks Men please upon their Arms. WE spent all Tuesday the Nine and twentieth of April The Pilgrims of Jerusalem marked in the Arm. in getting Marks put upon our Arms as commonly all Pilgrims do the Christians of Bethlehem who are of the Latin Church do that They have several Wooden Moulds of which you may chuse that which pleases you best then they fill it with Coal-dust and apply it to your Arm so that they leave upon the same the Mark of what is cut in the Mould after that with the left hand they take hold of your Arm and stretch the skin of it and in the right hand they have a little Cane with two Needles fastened in it which from time to time they dip into Ink mingled with Oxes Gall and prick your Arm all along the lines that are marked by the Wooden Mould This without doubt is painful and commonly causes a slight Fever which is soon over the Arm in the mean time for two or three days continues swelled three times as big as it ordinarily is After they have pricked all along the said lines they wash the Arm and observe if there be any thing wanting then they begin again and sometimes do it three times over When they have done they wrap up your Arm very streight and there grows a Crust upon it which falling off three or four days after the Marks remain Blew and never wear out because the Blood mingling with that Tincture of Ink and Oxes Gall retains the mark under the Skin CHAP. XLVII Of what is to be seen about Bethlehem and of the Grott of the Virgin in Bethlehem WEdnesday the Four and twentieth of April we parted from Bethlehem at five a Clock in the Morning and went to see the holy places that are about it In the first place we saw on a little Hill on our right hand Boticella Boticella which is a Town wherein none but Greeks live and the Turks cannot live there for they say that if a Turk offer to live in it he dies within eight days Then a League from Bethlehem we saw the Church of St. George where there is a great Iron-ring fastened to a Chain through which the People of the Country A Ring that eures the Sick. both Moors and Christians pass when they are troubled with any Infirmity and as they say are immediately cured of it We went not thither because the day before the Greeks having been there met with some Turks who made every one of them pay some Maidins though it was not the custom to pay any thing and our Trucheman would by no means have us go thither that we might not accustome them to a new Imposition We left St. George's on the right hand and went to see a Fountain called in holy Scripture Fons Signatus Fons Signatus the Sealed Well which is in a hole under Ground where being got down with some trouble and a lighted Candle we saw on the right hand three Springs one by another the Water whereof is by an Aqueduct that begins close by the Fountain Heads conveyed to Jerusalem Near to that place there is a pretty Castle built some fifty or sixty Years since for taking the Caffares of the Caravans of Hebron a little farther are the three Fish-Ponds of Salomon The three Fish-ponds of Salomon they are three great Reser-servatories cut in the Rock the one at the end of the other the second being a little lower than the first and the third than the second and so communicate the Water from one to another when they are full near to this place his Concubines lived Continuing our Journey we saw in
When these Stones are removed you go down into a Vault by a little hole opposite to the mouth of the Well and there another great Stone is to be removed before you come at the Well which is sixteen fathom deep Cimented narrow at the top and wide at the bottom Over the aforesaid Vault there are some ruines of the Buildings of a Village two little Pillars are to be seen still standing and many Olive-Trees all round Near to that is the portion of Land which Jacob gave to his Son Joseph it is a very pleasant place and his Sepulchre is in it Mount Gerezim Mount Gerezim mentioned in holy Scripture is on the right hand as you go to that Well There is a Chappel at the foot of this Mountain where the Samaritans heretofore worshipped an Idol On the South side of the Town there is another Mount called in Arabick Elmaida that is to say Table Elmaida where they say our Lord rested himself being weary upon the Road There is a Cushion of the same Stone raised upon the Rock still to be seen and some prints of Hands and Feet and they say that in times past the figure of our Lords whole Body was to be discerned upon it This is a pleasant place having a full prospect of the Town To the West of it there is a Mosque heretofore a Church built upon the same ground where the House of Jacob stood on the other side there is a ruinated Church The House of Jacob. built in honour of St. John Baptist In this Town Travellers pay a Caffare Next day after an hour and an halfs travel you strike off the high Road to the right if you would see the Town of Sebaste standing upon a little Hill Sebaste about half a League wide of the Road where you still see great ruins of Walls and several Pillars both standing and lying upon the Ground with a fair large Church some of it still standing upon lovely Marble-Pillars The high Altar on the East end must have been very fine by what may be judged from the Dome which covers it and is still in order faced with Marble-Pillars whose Capitals are most Artfully fashioned and adorned with Mosaick Painting which was built by St. Helen as the People of the Country say This Church at present is divided into two parts of which the Mahometans hold the one and the Christians the other That which belongs to the Mahometans is paved with Marble The Sepulchre of St. John Baptist Elisha and Abdias and has a Chappel under Ground with three and twenty steps down to it In this Chappel St. John Baptist was Buried betwixt the Prophets Elisha and Abdias The three Tombs are raised four Spans high and enclosed with Walls so that they cannot be seen but through three openings a span big by Lamp-light which commonly burns there In the same place as they say St. John was put in Prison and Beheaded at the desire of Herodias Others say Macherus Samaria that it was at Macherus which is a Town and Fort where King Herod kept Malefactors in Prison This Town of Sebaste was also called Samaria from the name of Simri to whom the Ground whereon it is built belonged or from the name of the Hill on which it stands which is called Chomron Having pass'd Sebaste you are out of Samaria Genny which terminates there and pursuing your Journey you come to lodge at Genny They say that in this place our Saviour cured the ten Lepers There is a Mosque there still which was formerly a Church of the Christians the Han where you lodge is great and serves for a Fort having close by it a Fountain and a Bazar where Provisions are sold The Soil is fertile enough and produces plenty of Palm-Trees and Fig-Trees There is a very great Caffare to be payed there Next day after about two Hours march Ezdrellon you enter into a great Plain called Ezdrellon about four Leagues in length at the west end whereof you see the top of Mount Carmel where the Prophet Elias lived of which we shall speak hereafter At the foot of this Hill are the ruines of the City of Jezreel founded by Achab King of Israel where the Dogs licked the Blood of his Wife Jezebel Jezreel Brook Gison as the Prophet Elias had foretold In the middle of this Plain is the Brook of Gison where Jabin King of Canaan and Sisera his Lieutenant were slain by Deborah the Prophetess and Judge of Israel and by Barak chief of the Host of Gods People Many Battels have been fought in this Plain as may be seen in holy Scripture After you have passed this Plain and travelled an hour over Hills you come to Nazareth of which and the places that are to be seen about it I have already said enough Now I 'll set down the way from Nazareth to Damascus CHAP. LVII The Road from Nazareth to Damascus SUCH as would go to Damascus may lye at Aain Ettudgiar which is a Castle about three Leagues from Nazareth mentioned by me before in the fifty fifth Chapter and there is a Caffare to be paid there The next day you lye at Menia Menia Sephet by the Sea-side of Tiberias The day following you see from several places on the Road the Town of Sephet where Queen Esther was Born standing on a Hill. Josephs Pit. About four hours Journey from Menia you see the the Pit or Well of Joseph into which he was let down by his Brothers there is no water in it the mouth of it being very narrow but the bottom indifferent wide and may be six fathom deep It is covered by a Dome standing on four Arches to three of which so many little Marble-Pillars are joined as Butteresses for the Dome the place of the fourth Pillar is still to be seen and it appears to have been not long agoe removed Close by this Pit there is a little Mosque adjoining to an old Han. Two hours journey from that Pit you cross over Jacob's Bridge Jacobs Bridge Dgeseer Jacoub which the Arabs call Dgeser Jacoub this is the place where this Patriarch was met by his Brother Esau as he was returning with his Wives and Goods from Laban his Father in law The Bridge consists of three Arches under which runs the River of Jordan and falls afterwards into the Sea of Tiberias about three hours going from thence On that side the River runs there is a great Pond to be seen When you have passed this Bridge you are out of Galilee and there you pay a great Caffare Then you come to Lodge at Coneitra which is a little Village Coneitra wherein there is a very old large Han built in form of a Fort with three Culverines within the precinct of it there is a Mosque a Bazar and a Coffee-House Saxa and there also you pay a Caffare Next day you lye at Saxa and have bad way to it
but they made me a present of one After we had seen these places we returned to the Convent about eleven of the Clock and having Dined on good fresh Fish Another Grott of Elias we went to see the Grotts of the holy Prophets Elias and Elisha that are near to the Convent there is also a third but it is full of Earth and the door walled up Lower down towards the foot of the Mountain is the Cave where the Prophet Elias taught the People it is all cut very smooth in the Rock both above and below it is about twenty paces in length fifteen in Breadth and very high and I think it is one of the lovliest Grotts that can be seen The Turks have made a little Mosque there Mount Carmel and all the Country about Emir Tharabe is commanded by a Prince named the Emir Tharabee who pays yearly to the Grand Signior a Tribute of twelve Horses Having thanked the Fathers for their Civility which we acknowledged by a charitable Gratuity we embarked again about four a clock in the Afternoon in the same Bark that had brought us and arrived at Acre about seven at Night CHAP. LX. The way from Acre to Soursayde Baruth Tripoly and Mount Libanus and from Tripoly to Aleppo with what is to be seen in these places I shall here make a little digression from my Travels and observe what is to be seen in those quarters The first night you leave Acre you Lodge at Sour about half way there is a Tower near the Sea where a Caffare must be paid About an hour and a half before you come to Sour a few steps from the Sea-side you find a Well of an octogone figure about fifteen foot in diameter which is so full of Water that one may reach it with the Hand and as they say they have often attempted to sound the depth of it with several Camels load of Rope but could never find the bottom It is taken to be the Well of Living Waters mentioned in the Canticles The Town of Sour is upon the Sea-side and was anciently called Tyre there it was that our Lord Cured the Canaanitish Womans Daughter There are lovely Antiquities to be seen in this place From Sour you have a days Journey to Sayde and there is a Tower upon this Road also where there is a Caffare to be paid Sayde is a pretty Town upon the Sea-side and the Ancient name of it was Sydon Before the Town there is a little Fort Built in the Sea. The Countrey about Sayde is lovely and full of Gardens among others there are two about two Musquet Shot from the Town The Sepulchre of Zebulon Baruth Gie. that are full of excellent Orange-Trees wherein they shew the Sepulchre of Zebulon one of the twelve Sons of Israel Next day you may go and lye at Baruth About an hours travelling from Sayde to Baruth there is to the right hand a Village called Gie with a great deal of Sand about it and they say that that is the place where the Whale cast out Jonas after he had been three days in the Belly of it There are two Caffares to be paid on that Road. The Soil about Baruth is pleasant and good bearing abundance of White Mulberry-Trees for the Silk-Worms Having next day travelled half a League from Baruth you see a Cave on the right hand which was heretofore the Den of a huge Dragon Two hundred paces further there is a Greek Church upon the same Ground as they say where St. George Killed that Dragon when it was about to have Devoured the Daughter of the King of Baruth Half an hours travelling from thence there is a Bridge called Baruth's Bridge of six Arches and there is a Caffare to be paid there About two hours Journey from that Bridge you find another under which runs a River called in Arabick Naor el Kelb that is to say the Dogs River without doubt because there is a Ring cut in the Rock to which is fastened a great Dog cut on the same Rock that is still to be seen in the Sea. They say that in times past that Dog Barked by Enchantment when any Fleet came and that his Bark was heard four Leagues off A little above the descent where the Dog is this Inscription is cut in great Characters upon the Rock IMP. CAES. M. AURELIUS ANTONINUS PIUS FELIX AUGUSTUS PART MARI BRITANNIUS At the end of this Bridge there is a Marble-Stone eleven Span long and five broad on which is an Inscription of six lines in Arabick Characters From thence you go and lodge at Abrahim The day following you lye at Tripoly by the way on the Sea-side Tripoly Gibel Patron Amphe you see the Towns of Gibel Patron and Amphe Tripoly is a very pretty Town with a neat Castle at the foot of which a little River runs several Gardens full of Orange-Trees and White-Mulberries encompass the Town which is a mile from the Sea where there are several Towers planted with Cannon to defend the Coast Here it was that St. Marina being accused of Incontinence did Penance in Mans Apparrel Next day you go to Mount Libanus Mount Libanus Cannobin about five Hours and a halfs travelling from Tripoly you come to Lodge at Cannobin which is a Village where the Patriarch of Mount Libanus Lives there is a Church and Monastery in it The day following you go to the Cedars which are an hour and a halfs going from Cannobin and you pass through a pretty Village called Eden which is about an hour from Cannobin Eden .. Twenty three Cedars in Mount Libanus It is a Foppery to say that if one reckon the Cedars of Mount Libanus twice he shall have a different number for in all great and small there is neither more nor less than twenty three of them All that Inhabit this Mountain are Maronite Christians Having seen Mount Libanus you come back to Tripoly from whence if you have a mind to go to Aleppo you must take the following Road from Tripoly French Castle Ama. you come to lodge at a Castle called the French Castle standing upon a high Hill which was Built in the time of Godfrey of Boulloin From thence you have a days Journey to Ama which was heretofore a fair large Town but at present is half ruined tho' it still contains some lovely Mosques and Houses Built of black and white Stones intermingled At the end of the Town there is a great Castle upon a Hill almost all ruined and uninhabited the Walls of it are very thick and high built of pretty black and white Stones disposed in several Figures and the little of them that remains shews their ancient Beauty The Gate of the Castle is adorned with Inscriptions in Arabick Letters and the entry into it is made like a Court of Guard. There is an Oratory on the South side of it like to those wherein the Turks say their Prayers There are several Grotts well
The Sepulchre of St. Julian The fifth Church is called St. Merlian alias St. Julian the People of the Countrey say that his Body is there in a Sepulchre of most excellent Marble standing behind the Altar made like a Beer or Coffin with a high ridged cover At the four Corners there are four Balls of the same Marble and twelve Crosses round it in Demy Relief This Sepulchre is ten Spans long five broad and as much in height seeming to be all of one entire piece The Sepulchre of Caius Caesar the Nephew of Augustus Six hundred paces West-ward from the Gate called Bab Jeoundy that is to say the Jews Gate there is a Pretty big Pyramid wherein the People of the Countrey believe that Caius Caesar the Nephew of Augustus is buried Upon a Hill to the South of the Town there is a Castle built like that of Ama which I mentioned in the foregoing Chapter but it is not so ruinous though it be uninhabited as well as the other They say that heretofore both of them were held by the Christians who endured long and hard Sieges before they surrendred them to the Turks and that 's the reason that the Grand Signior has commanded that they should not be Repaired nor Inhabited The Han where Travellers lodge is fifteen paces without the Walls of the Town on the North-side from Hemps The next Lodging is at Ama. About half way there is a little Oratory which they say was built by the Franks it is at present Inhabited by a Moorish Scheik A little further there is a ruined Village upon a Hill. Near to that is the Han where Travellers that have a mind to stop there may Lodge After that you pass over a Bridge of ten Arches called Dgeser Rustan that is to say Rustans Bridge which is very neat and has the River Assi running underneath it I have said enough of Ama in the Chapter before The Country of Job Betwixt Hemps and Ama is the Countrey which the People that live there say was inhabited by Job and his Family but half of it is not Cultivated The day following you Lodge at Scheicon Han that is to say the Han Scheick it is a very old Han having on the Gate a Marble-Stone six spans long and four spans broad upon which are engraven six lines in Arabick Characters and on the two sides there are also two round stones of Marble Scheicon Hani upon each whereof there is a Chalice with its Paten very well Engraven From Scheicon Hani you go to Marra of which I have spoken in the preceeding Chapter Next day you go to Han Serakib Upon the Road you see some ruinous Villages whereof that which is most entire is called Han Mercy built in form of a Castle having four Towers in the four Corners three square and one round this Han is four Hours going from Marra and about twenty paces short of it on the left hand you see five great Sepulchres in one whereof a Basha is Interred having his Turban cut in Marble at one end of his Tomb. In an old Building fifteen paces distant from the Gate of that Han Serakib there is a Well almost square which is two and forty Fathom deep before you come at the Water as well as that of Marra about fourscore paces from thence there is a pitiful Village little Inhabited though there be good Land about it Han Touman Sermin From Han Serakib you have a days Journey to Han Touman Upon the Road to the left hand you see a pretty handsome Town called Sermin and three or four ruinous Villages having been forsaken because of the Robberies of the Arabs About forty Years since Han Touman was rebuilt by a Basha of Aleppo called Hisouf Basha who put into it an Aga with fifty Soldiers and ten little Culverines Singa to keep it against the Arabs who formerly committed frequent Robberies thereabouts The River of Aleppo called Singa runs hard by it and turns two Mills not far from thence From Han Touman you go to Aleppo in three or four Hours time CHAP. LXII Our setting out from Acre to Damiette and our meeting with Italian Corsairs From Acre to Damiette WE staid at Acre four days expecting a passage for Damiette but at length finding two Sanbiquers of Cyprus which were both bound for Damiette we resolved to go along with them and having sent for the Reys of that Sanbiquer that was a Greek Monsieur de Bricard the Consul took the pains to make a Bargain for us Sanbiquer and recommended us to him Sanbiquers are Vessels made like Galliotts but longer the Stern and Stem of them are made much alike only in the Poop there is a broad Room under Deck there are several Banks for Rowers according to the length of the Sanbiquer and each Oar is managed by two Men. Ours had twelve Oars on each side but besides it had a great Mast with a very large Sail so that being light Loaded no Galley could be too hard for one of them if their Oars were long enough but they have them very short The Wind offering fair for us we took our Provisions and went on board our Sanbiquer Sunday the nineteenth of May about three a Clock in the Afternoon the other Sanbiquer being in company with us We were much afraid of Corsairs still and especially of him who had taken us before not only because his Men had said That if they had killed us they would not have been obliged to make Restitution of any thing but also least they might have accused us of being the cause that the Turks had come out against them and so used us the worse for that However we met with nothing considerable till next day being Monday the twentieth of May that about Sun-setting we passed by a Tower about twelve Miles from Jaffa when we were come near to that Tower they fired some great and Small shot at us which much surprised us but more when we saw that they made great Fires all along the Coast and especially upon the Towers We knew not the cause of this which I shall tell hereafter only we concluded that they took us for Pirats When we came near to Jaffa we perceived a great Fire upon the Tower and then about nine a Clock at Night offering to put into the Harbour to take in Wood and Water they fired at us both great and small Shot Then our Reys went upon the Poop and called out as loud as he could that he was such a Man Reys of a Sanbiquer calling by Name those whom he knew at Jaffa but we had no other answer from within but Alarga that is to say that we should stand off and with that another Volley of great and small Shot When this Musick had lasted about an Hour they continually Firing and our Reys calling to them and making a heavy Noise the other Sanbiquer stood in nearer than we and
that which nourishes the Country and at that Solemnity they yearly Sacrificed a Boy and a Girl upon whom the Lot fell first cutting their Throat and then throwing them into the Nile In memory whereof the Turks at this day make the above-mentioned Figures of a Man and a Woman which they fill with Fire and in this manner they divert themselves during the three Nights allotted for that rejoycing and when the Water is very high there are Men who Swim in the Khalis A Swimmer loaded with Chains with Iron-Chains One of these Swimmers I saw pass by and not without Ceremony Before him went a great Boat full of People of whom some beat the Drum others had Fire-locks to shoot at those who should throw stones and then he came in the middle of twenty Persons that Swam about him His Hands were tied behind his Back and his Feet bound with a Chain of Iron that weighed ten pound weight he stood upright in the Water and discoursed with those that were about him not seeming in the least to move He was followed by five or six Boats full of People ready to take him up if he chanced to sink In this manner he came in the Water from old Caire where the Khalis begins to the place where it ends which is a long League For a reward he has from the Basha a Vest and a thousand Maidins and besides that he goes about the Town with a Box and gets somewhat more In this manner he goes twice on two several days There is another also who Swims in Chains surrounded as the other from end to end of the Khalis and holds in each hand a dish of Coffee with a Pipe of Tobacco in his Mouth without spilling the Coffee He performs this twice and has the same reward as the other had These Swimmers shew only on Fridays so that one may see them once a Week during four Weeks CHAP. LXVII Of the Arrival of the Bey of Girge at Caire WEdnesday the fourth of September Mehmet Bey The arrival of the Bey of Girge who was then Bey of Girge arrived near to Caire and Lodged at Bezeten beyond old Caire in Tents This Bey had been a Slave to one Haley Bey who died very Rich in the year One thousand six hundred fifty five when he was Bey of Girge which is fourteen or fifteen days Journey from Caire up the Nile In his Life-time he had made four of his Slaves Beys of whom this was one and after his death Bey of Girge When Haley Bey died he left behind him Fourscore thousand Camels and about as many Asses and besides that a vast Treasure of Coyned Money and Jewels among which there was a Cup made of a Turkeis worth above an Hundred thousand Crowns This Man lived at a very high Rate and there was not a day but he spent a thousand Crowns in his House at Caire though he were not there but much more when he was His Successor Mehmet Bey I speak of was sent for by two Agas one after another and commanded in name of the Basha who had no kindness for him to come to Caire and account for what he was in Arrear to the Basha for that is a Beyship depending on the Bassaship of Caire The design of the Basha was to draw him to Caire under this pretext then to deprive him of his Beyship and give it to another which was a secret he had discovered to no Man living The Bey who suspected the Basha's design having at first slighted his Commands resolved at length to come but seeing the Basha knew that he came with a great Retinue he sent an Aga to command him back This Aga found him at three days Journey from Caire and acquainted him with his Orders which the other slighted and proceeded on his Journey till he came near to Caire Thursday the fifth of September all the Beys and other Persons of Quality went out to visit him as also all the Militia of the Country The Beys and the Cadilesquer who was no friend to this Basha had laid their Heads together to make the Basha Mansoul in case he gave bad Reception to this Bey because besides that they were all his friends they always stick together against the Basha He made his entry into Caire on Saturday the seventh of September and that I might have a full view of that entry I went to Cara Meidan which is a great Court or Square in the Basha's Palace at the end whereof the Stables are This is a large and spacious place but longer than broad The Basha came down and went into a Kieusk which is about the middle of the length of this place on the right hand as you enter it from the Romeille The Basha staid for him here because the Bey would not go to his Appartment fearing he might not be strong enough for him there Thither came all the Men of the Beys and all the Spahis Chiaoux Muteferacas and in a word all the Militia ready to fight For seeing they knew not the Basha's design and saw on the other hand that the Bey was well accompanied they doubted it might come to blows These Men of the Beys played for the matter of two Hours with the Dgerit or Zagaye which was a great Diversion to me for there I saw them at near distance with safety and ease whereas when they see a Christian abroad in the Fields they many times dart their Dgerit at him After that they drew neatly up into very close Order And at the same time by the Gate opposite to that which goes into the Romeille the Arabs of this Bey entred the place armed with Pikes and Shables four fingers broad every one with his Iron-Hook a finger broad and as big as ones Hand with a Wooden Handle to take up their Pikes without alighting from Horse-back as they run after they have darted them at any Body as they who make use of Arrows have such another Iron-Instrument wherewith they hook up their Arrows from the Ground and both are very dextrous at it These Hooks they carried in their Sleeves and were all very well Mounted and not ill Clad for Arabs They were in number above Three thousand and among them marched the sixteen Caschefs or Bailiffs Caschefs The Toug of the Bey who are Subjects of this Bey and his Sous-basha After these came the Toug of the Bey which is a Horses Tail at the end of a Pike and a large fair pair of Colours Then came above Two thousand Harquebusiers on Horse-back well clad carrying all their Harquebuses before them and their Shables by their sides and of these the last forty had on Coats of Mail Semhin or Serban Vambraces Steel-Caps Neck-pieces and in a word they were all in Mail and followed by the Beys foot who are called Semhin or Serban These are Men who have no Pay but from him receiving none from the Grand Signior They were about four
there are a great many Fountains with lovely Basons of one entire piece of Marble brought from Genoa and as in the House of Don Philippo an open Hall with a great reservatory in the middle and walks all round it roofed over and supported by several Pillars this as also all the Rooms are paved with black and white Marble adorned with Gold and Azure and that kind of Clay or Plaister-work There are several fair appartments in all these Houses which have lovely Gardens full of Orange and several other Fruit-Trees planted in as good order as in Christendom with many neat Beds and borders of Flowers at the ends of Walks all made by Christian slaves These Houses are called Bardes from the Moresco word Berd that signifies Cold because there is a fresh Air about them Near that place there is an Aqueduct built by a Dey which brings Water four or five miles off to Tunis A few steps from that there is another Aqueduct somewhat older yet still modern which is parallel to the former and carries Water also to Tunis Another day I went to see the Cantre which belongs to Schelebi whom I mentioned Cantre the Son of Hisouf Dey and is four leagues from Tunis As you go thither you pass by the old Aqueducts of Carthage which are about half way they are at that place very entire still raised high and built of very great stones From Tunis to the Cantre most of the way is over large Fields planted with Olive-Trees some steps distant from one another but in so streight a line that they look like Walks which would be very pleasant were it not that these ways are always full of Rain-water and mire as all the Countrey about Tunis is because it lyes upon a level We came then to the Cantre so called from a Bridge which Hisouf Dey the Father of Schelebi built over a River called Magerda Magerda for Cantre in Moresco signifies Bridge This River Magerda is neither very broad nor rapid but enough to deserve the name of a fair River it runs near to the House of Schelebi and his Father built a stone Bridge to cross over it the spaces betwixt the Pillars of the seven Arches being built up from the bottom to the surface of the Water with huge pieces of Free-stone so that the water passing through the Arches and finding it lower on the other side makes at every arch a very pleasant Cascade two foot high where the Water falls with a great noise Upon that River there are several Iron-Mills as also for grinding Corn and fulling the Caps called Fez-Caps which are made at Zagouaro by Tagarins All that work in these Mills are the slaves of Schelebi At the end of the Bridge is the House of Schelebi built in form of a Castle it hath one very large Court and other smaller ones the Rooms as in other Houses are beautified with Gold Azure and Plaistering with Fountains every where and all paved with Marble so that they are more magnificent than those I had seen before There are lovely Pictures in those Rooms for formerly this Schelebi was very rich his Father having left him a vast Estate and among other things eighteen hundred Slaves but he hath run out a great deal in his Debaucheries he is a man of a generous Heart and if he were once in Christendom he would never leave it again He keeps open table for all Franks that come to see his House and is so courteous that he never refuses any thing and if he have not what is asked from him he uses means to procure it at any rate that he may freely give it When I went to his House he was not there for he was then at Tabarque a little Island in the Kingdom of Tunis within a Musquet shot of the main Land but three days Journey from Tunis That Island belongs to the Genoese who have a very good Fort and drive a great trade there and among other things in Horses which are called Barbes The Schelebi was gone thither to buy Timber for building of a Galley About three Leagues from the Cantre there is a place called Tabourbe where there are some ancient ruines and chiefly an ancient Temple but I went not to see it because then I must have lain there or at the Cantre and I had not time to spare for our Captain put us in hopes daily that he would sail next day That was the reason also that I went not to Suze neither which is a long days journey from Tunis it is the place where there are more Antiquities than any where else in the Kingdom of Tunis and I believe that thereabouts there are ruines of Churches and other things relating to St Augustin to be seen CHAP. LXXXXI Of Tunis and of the Slaves that are there TVNIS the Capital City of the Kingdom of the same name lyes in a Plain it is pretty big and the Houses are indifferently well built though they make no shew but they are all Marble Gold and Azure within The Suburbs of this City are as big as the City itself which is all paved but dirty as heretofore Paris was so that after rain there is hardly any going in the Streets There is a Castle upon an Eminence within the Town which commands it and it makes a very pretty shew There are some Guns before the Gate and the front of it looks well which is all that I could see of it nor indeed durst I eye it attentively for I had warning given me that it was dangerous for Christians to be curious in viewing that Castle I past by it then but very fast and hard by over against it there is a Burying-place Not far frem the Castle there is Bazar for Drapers it is a long broad street with shops on both sides all which have the fore part supported by four Pillars two on each side none but Drapers keep shop there but there are several other Bazars also for other Commodities Baths for Slaves at Tunis There are thirteen Baths in Tunis where all the Slaveslodge except those that are kept in their Masters Houses and as several Slaves told me there may be there in all ten or twelve thousand Christian Slaves who carry every one a great ring of Iron at their foot Knights of Malta at Tunis but the Knights of Malta have besides that a huge Iron-Chain above five and twenty pound weight which is fastened to the Ring that Chain is very troublesome to them for they must either turn it quite round their Leg and make it fast there which is very heavy when they walk or hang it by a hook that they have by their side which commonly gives them a pain in the side or else must carry it on their Shoulders In these Baths there is a great Hall where they are shut up in the Night-time there they lodge as well as they can some having little Rooms made of wood to which they
long during which the Wind was very high and stormy which exceedingly tossed us Sunday about break of day we tacked about and stood North East that we might make Candie after two hours sailing the Seamen made something dark on head which they believed to be the Land of Candie we steered our course that way all day long but could not make it plain because of Clouds We continued the same course still till eleven of the clock at night and then began to tack and beat to and again that we might bear in with the Land of Candie It blew very hard all that night and we had a violent storm Munday by break of day we had the Wind at North which being quite contrary for Candie made us resolve to quit our design of standing towards that Island which we had made but very obscurely and to bear away towards Alexandria in Egypt The distance of Candie from Alexandria four hundred miles distant from Candie and therefore we steered our course South-East Towards Evening the Wind abated and we were becalmed until Tuesday Morning when there blew a gentle breeze from South-East which made us turn the ship's head towards the North we were obliged to keep so upon tacks that we might not over shoot Alexandria from which we were not above two hundred fourscore and ten miles Then did every one blame and curse the Sea-man whose errour was the cause that we were not in the Port of Alexandria About six a Clock at Night we tacked about and stood away South-South-West it blew so hard that our Vessel shipped the Sea on both sides one after another Wednesday Morning February the sixth the Wind was so violent that we were afraid we should sail our Masts because the Stays were very slack being loosened by the force of the Wind the day before the Stay is a great Cable that holds the Mastraunt each Mast has one the main Stay which is the biggest is made fast one end to the ship's head and the other to the round top of the main Mast To prevent that disaster all the Sails were furled the ship's head turned North-East and a quarter of an hour after the Stayes being well bent we bore away West-South-West with the missen and foresail the Wind being a little fallen after dinner we spread the main Sail and about six a Clock at Night having tacked about we stood East-North-East the Wind then slackening more and more Thursday Morning we were almost becalmed but about ten of the Clock a South-East Wind blowing again we tacked and bore away South-South-West about six a Clock at Night we tacked again and stood East-North-East Friday about two or three of the Clock in the Morning immediately after the Moon was set the South-East Wind ceased and the so much desired West and North Wind came in place of it which made us turn the ship's head South-East and make all the sail we could but we made but little way for all that the Wind being so easie that it was almost a calm It continued so till about five of the Clock at Night and then the Wind changed to North-West but was so easie that the Sea was very smooth about ten a Clock at Night the Wind chopping about to the North-West in five or six hours time we made a great deal of way there being very little or no Sea going but the Wind freshened afterwards and then we spared sail that we might not run to the Lee-ward of Alexandria the ship's head in the mean time lying still South-East Saturday Morning the Weather was very hazy and a little after we were almost in a calm About eleven a Clock he that looked out made a sail and shortly after another which were known to be Saicks coming from Egypt About two a Clock after Noon the Wind turned South-East and we stood away North-East an hour after it shifted about to the North-East again but was so easie that the Sea was smooth and we steered our course South a few minutes after it turned South-East again but so gentle that the Sea was as smooth as a Looking-glass We sailed South-South-West till six at Night when having tacked we stood away East-North-East About midnight the Wind turned West-South-West and we steered our course South-South-East after an hours sailing we found the Water to be whitish which made us think we were not far from Egypt The Land of Egypt that being the onely mark that can be had for the Land is so low that one cannot make it till he be just upon it especially when it is dark as it was then and that whiteness is occasioned by the Nile which carries it a great way into the Sea. Sunday the tenth of February about break of day it was thought we had seen the Light of Alexandria but it proved onely to be a Saick and because we were apprehensive that we were to the Lee-ward of Alexandria about nine in the morning we tacked about and stood North-West and about three a Clock after Noon tacked again and bore away South-West we had afterwards several Flurries that brought great showers of rain with them which were soon over About five in the Evening the Wind turned West-North-West and we tacked about that we might get to the windward of Alexandria from which we were still about an hundred and ten Miles distant and therefore we bore away North. In this manner we plied to and again against our will and it was our misfortune that we knew not where we were onely because we had not made the Island of Candie An errour of calculation in the sailing from whence with that Wind we might easily have come to Alexandria in two Days and one Nights time and the reason why we made it not plainly was that the Ship had run two hundred Miles more than we had reckoned and that when we thought our selves to be at the beginning of Candie we were almost quite past it as we since observed The Wind blew hard and we had several gusts in the Night time We held on the same course still untill Munday when about eleven a Clock in the Fore-noon we tacked and bore away South-West In the Evening the Moon three hours after the full was eclipsed I cannot tell at what hour that Eclipse began of how many parts it was nor how long it continued because she rose overcast with Clouds so that we could not see her but when she was coming out of the Eclipse as near as I could guess she had then been up near an hour and the Sun had not been set half an hour at which time she was almost half eclipsed The Eclipse decreased from the time we perceived it and ended half an hour after The Almanacks of Marseilles foretold it to be very great about two or three a Clock after Noon and by consequence affirmed that it could not be seen In the Night the Wind abated much and so did the Sea which in the
several Works and before these Gates within the Court there is a Portico divided into two Alleys by eight great Pillars of which four are in length and four in breadth and these Pillars support Arches over which there are two other little Arches made in form of Windows separated by a little Pillar That Portico leads into the Court which is very spacious and large and all paved with great shining Marble-stones as the Mosque and Portico's are Towards the end of the Court there is a kind of a little Chappel with a Dome covered with lead which is supported by several Marble-Pillars and they say it was the Font. From that Entry on the West one may see the East Gate at the farther End of the Court and on the right hand the Body of the Mosque On the South-side Pick a measure at the Bazar of the Pick so called because Cloath is sold there by the Pick which is a measure much about two thirds of a French Aune there is an Entry into the Mosque and two lovely Gates overlaid with Brass with Chalices cut in the middle of each of them On the East-side there are three Brass-Gates and a Portico like to that I have been speaking of and then a Court towards the end of which near the West-Gate there is another kind of Chappel much higher than that on the East-side which is supported and covered in the same manner and from that Gate one sees the West-Gate and then the Mosque is on the left hand On the North-side there is also a Brazen gate by which they enter into the Court and then have the side of the Mosque opposite unto them In the Wall of this side there are several Windows after the fashion of the Windows of our Churches but they begin three or four foot from the ground and they are glazed and letticed with wire on the outside There is in that Court also a reservatory of water under a Cupulo supported by several Pillars and besides that a Lanthorn supported onely by two This is all that I could observe of this Mosque Bab-Thoma One day I went out of the Town by the gate called Bab-Thoma and close by it I saw the Church dedicated to St. Thomas The door of it was shut because it is all ruinous in the inside and looks more like a Garden than a Church being uncovered and full of Herbs Nevertheless there still remains a kind of a portall which is a Ceinture supported by two Pillars but besides that these Pillars shew not above a Foot beneath the Capital they are sunk into the Wall Underneath there are three other Ceintures supported by three Pillars on each side and the lintel of the door is also supported by a Pillar on each side all these Pillars are of Marble and Chamfered Over-against that Gate there is a little round Tower made like a Chess-board for it is built of small Stones about half a foot square but placed in such a manner that next to each stone there is a square hole of the same bigness and so alternately all over That Tower is called the Tower of heads because a few years ago several Druses Robbers on the High-way who were briskly pursued being taken were put to death and their heads placed in these holes The Temple of Serapis a Mosque The Sepulchre of St. Simeon Stilites so that they were all filled with them From thence we turned to the left and keeping a long the Walls we came to a Mosque which they say was a Temple of Serapis Nevertheless it is pretended that the Body of St. Simeon Stilites rests there having been brought thither from Antioch However it be the Turks say that the Muesem cannot call to prayers there as at other Mosques and that when he offers to cry his Voice fails him they have a great Veneration fot it and I was told that one day a Venetian having corrupted the Servants of the Scheik who has the charge of that place with money would have taken away the Body of St. Simeon to carry it to Venice but that the Scheik having had some suspicion of it made that Venetian pay a great mulct of several thousand Crowns and since that time they have caused a Grate to be made over the Sepulchre of that Body besides there are always Scherifs there reading the Alcoran Spittle for Lepers From that Temple we went to a place where three Rivers that run through Damascus meet at the end of the Town and turn Water-mills We went next to the Spittle of Lepers which is betwixt the Gates Bab-Thoma and Bab-Charki but nearer and almost close by this last it is but a few paces distant from the City-Walls The People of the Countrey say that it is the same Hospital which Naaman Lieutenant of the King of Damascus built for Gehazi the Servant of the Prophet Elisha Naaman's Hospiral whose History is recorded in the fifth Chapter of the second Book of Kings This Hospital hath great Revenues Being come back again into the Town in the Taylers street I saw through an Iron-grate a Room where there are two Bodies which the Mahometans say are the Bodies of two Saints of their Law. A little farther there is another where there is also a Body to which they render the same honours I could not learn the Names of these false Saints There are a great many lovely Fountains in Damascus and among others that which is opposite to the gate of the great Mosque that looks to the East and covered with a Dome almost flat It is a round Bason of about two fathom in Diametre in the middle whereof there is a Pipe that throws up a great deal of Water at a time and with so much force that it spouts up almost as high as the Dome and if they pleased they might easily make it play higher because the source lies far above it in level CHAP. V. A Continuation of Observations at Damascus HAving taken a resolution whilst I was at Damascus to see what was most curious and worth the seeing in the Countrey about it I made an appointment with some Friends to go to the place which is called the Forty Martyrs We went out of the City by the Serraglio gate The forty Martyrs and crossing the horse-Market kept our way along a fair broad and long paved Street which does not a little resemble the Avenue of the Porta di Popolo at Rome It led us almost to the Village called Salain Crache Having passed this we went up a very rough and barren Hill being nothing but a natural Rock It behoved us to alight from our Asses and march on foot ascending by ways so steep that they were almost perpendicular With much trouble at length we came to the place of the forty Martyrs distant from the City a good half-League I never in my life-time mounted a steeper Hill. There is a little house on it where a Scheik liveth who led
Turky they 'l suffer no body to ride on Horse-back with both Legs on one side as Ladies did in France when I left it the reason of that odd order is because the Turks believe that the two Gyants Gog and Magog who were Rebels against God A Posture in riding forbidden rode in that manner they are so prejudiced with that false Zeal that so soon as they see any body in that posture they hurle stones at him till he has altered his way of sitting At Damascus and Aleppo when they would whiten their Walls with Lime they cut hemp into small bits and mingle it with moistened Lime The manner of preparing Lime which they dawb the Wall over with where it would not hold without the hemp because the Walls are onely of Earth Holes in Tombs and Graves I observed at Damascus that the Turks leave a hole of three fingers breadth in diametre on the top of their Tombs where there is a Channel of Earth over the dead body That serves to cool the dead for the Women going thither on Thursday to pray which they never fail to do every Week they pour in water by that hole to refresh them and quench their thirst and at the end of the grave stick in a large branch of Box which they carry with them purposely and leave it there to keep the dead cold They have another no less pleasant custome and that is when a Woman hath lost her husband The Women ask counsel of their dead Husbands she still asks his counsel about her affairs For instance a Woman sometimes two years after her husband's death will go to his grave and tell him that such a person hath wronged her or that such a Man would marry her and thereupon asks his counsel what she should do having done so she returns home expecting the answer which her late husband fails not to come and give her the Night following and always conform to the Widows desire The Womens Mourning It is a pretty ridiculous thing too to see the Mourning which the Women at Damascus appear in at the death of their relations and even the Christian women I had that diversion one Evening about eight a Clock at Night when I was at the Capucins gate I perceived several Maronite women returning from the lodging of one of their relations who died three hours before there was above twenty of them and they made a great deal of noise some singing and others crying knocking their breasts with their hands joined together and two Men carried each a Candle to light them When they were over against the Maronites Church which is before the house of the Capucins they stopt and put themselves in a ring where for a long time they snapt the fingers of the right hand as if they had been Castanets against one anothers Noses keeping time to the songs they sung as if they rejoyced whilst some of them from time to time howled and cried like mad Women At length having performed that Musick a pretty long while they made many bows to the East lifting up the right hand to their head and then stooping it down to the ground having done so they marched foreward with the same Musick as before The way of threshing Corn. At Damascus and almost all Turkey over they thresh not the Corn but after it is cut down they put it up in heaps and round the heap they spread some of it four or five foot broad and two foot thick This being done they have a kind of sled made of four pieces of Timber in square two of which serve for an Axle-tree to two great rowlers whose ends enter into these two pieces of Timber so as that they easily turn in them round each of these rowlers there are three Iron-pinions about half a foot thick and a foot in diametre these pinions are full of teeth like so many saws there is a seat placed upon the two chief pieces of Timber where a man sits and drives the horses that draw this Machine round upon the lay of Corn that is two foot thick and that cutting the straw very small makes the Corn come out of the ear without breaking it for it slides betwixt the teeth of the Iron When the straw is well cut they put in more and then separate the Corn from that hashed Straw by tossing all up together in the Air with a wooden shovel for the Wind blows the Straw a little aside and the Corn alone falls streight down The way of feeding Horses They feed their Horses with that cut Straw In some places that Machine is different as I have seen in Mesopotamia where in stead of these pinions round the rowler they have many pegs of Iron about six Inches long and three broad almost in the shape of wedges but somewhat broader below than above fastened without any order into the rowlers some streight and others cross ways and this Engine is covered with Boards over the Irons whereon he that drives the Horses sits for he has no other seat to sit upon they take the same course in Persia nevertheless in some places they cut not the Straw but onely make Oxen or Horses tread out the Corn with their feet which they separate from the Straw as I have said Of all the Corn which they prepare in this manner Barley is the oneiy grain they feed their Horses with In the Morning they give every Horse an Ocque of that Barley and four at Night which they mingle with cut Straw and that 's all they have the whole day In Persia the Horses have Barley onely at Night but in the Day-time they give them a Sack of Straw Let us now see how they make Butter at Damascus The way of making Butter which is the same way all Turkey over They fasten the two ends of a stick to the two hind feet of a Vessel that 's to say each end of the stick to each foot and the same they do to the fore-feet to the end these sticks may serve for handles Then they put the Cream into the Vessel stopping it close and then taking hold on it by the two sticks they shake it for some time and after put a little water into it Then they shake it again untill the Butter be made which being done they pour off a kind of Butter-milk by them called Yogourt which they drink When they would have this Yogourt more delicious they heat the Milk and put a spoonfull of sower Milk to it which they make sower with runnet and by that mixture all the Milk becoming Yogourt they let it cool and then use it or if they have a mind to keep it they put it with Salt into a bag which they tye very fast that what is within may be pressed and let it drop until no more come out Of that matter there remains no more in the bag but a kind of a Butter or rather white Cheese
so he might save the Caffare After Sun-set he sent for me and I crossed the Bridge where the wheels are mentioned by Belon and Pietro della Valle which draw the Water that supplies the whole Town It is the Orontes still that runs there but I cannot tell how many Arches the Bridge has for I crossed it in the Night-time My Moucre was encamped so near that all Night long we had the musick of these wheels which mingling with the Bells of our Mules as they were feeding represented very well the chiming of the Bells of a little Countrey-Church of which the wheels made the base We parted from Hama on Sunday the twenty seventh of April at break of day leaving the Caravan of Powder at Hama where the way to Constantinople strikes off from that of Aleppo we continued our way still Northwards going to the right amongst the hills where hardly had we advanced half an hour before we entered a Plain which on all sides reaches out of sight and abounds in Pasture About Eight of the Clock we passed close by a Village Taibit El-Hama Lachmi called Taibit-El-Hama and about ten we found another called Lachmi but it is forsaken because of the Robberies of the Arabs At eleven we discovered some Trees and from Damascus to that place I had not seen one unless it were in the Gardens of the Towns and Villages and indeed wood is very dear on that road Salisbury-plain not being barer of Trees than that Countrey is Han Scheikhoun A little after towards Noon we arrived at Han Scheikhoun before which we encamped finding our selves better abroad under Tents than within though that Han which stands alone be pretty enough The first entry into it is by a Gate that looks to the West which leads into a large square Court and on the right hand as you enter there is a little door by which you enter into a Stable divided in length by a range of Arches that reach from one end to the other but it is not covered At the other end of the Court almost opposite to this door there is a little house inhabited and on the left hand in the middle of the Wall there is a great Gate which leads into another Court as large as the first where there are half paces covered for Lodging of Travellers Over the Gate of that second Court there is a great square Building of pretty good work in form of a Tower with a Dungeon before it and the Dome of the Mosque is in the middle There the Aga lodges for this is a Castle depending on the Basha of Aleppo Some hundreds of paces Northwards from thence behind a Hillock there is a Village of the same Name with the Han. We parted from that place the same day about ten a Clock at Night and in our way all Night long we found a great many shallow Cisterns dug on little Hillocks for receiving the Rain-water and at the foot of the Hillock there is another opening by which they goe down three or four steps to take the Water we found already the day before some of these which are made for the Arabs and Shepherds Next day being Monday the 28th of April about two in the morning we passed by a ruinated Han called Han Hherte Han Hherte and at break of day arrived at the Town of Marra encamping just before the Han. Marra That Town is at most but a good Village we could hardly find bread in it and there is nothing to be seen on all hands but Cellars and ruined Vaults the best thing is the Han which is well built of Free-stone it is a large square Court round which there is a Portico wherein are Mastabez seeing I often make use of that Term which is the proper word of the Countrey though I have already I think made known what it means nevertheless for the satisfaction of the Reader I tell him once more that a Mastabe is a kind of a half pace that 's to say that the Floor is raised two or three foot from the ground and there the Travellers lodge In the middle of the Court of this Han there is a little Mosque with a Dome covered with Lead at the end of it there is a little Court round which runs a Portico the Roof whereof is supported on each side by two Arches separated by a Pillar between the two close by there is a Bagnio with a large Dome covered with Lead but it is shut and useless for want of Water Next you 'l find a covered street where there is a Coffee-house and five or six Shops on each side and at the farther end are four Arches the remains of an Aqueduct which butted almost in a right Angle upon these four Arches it was carried thither from a Mosque some hundreds of paces distant in the fields where there was a Wheel to draw Water out of a Brook that ran by it which came from the Countrey towards Antioch This Aqueduct brought the Water behind the upper part of the covered street into the Bagnio that is joyned on the one side to the Street and on the other side to the Han it was built of rough Stone as the Arches that still remain are which at the other end are joyned to the great Mosque This great Mosque hath six little Domes the Roofs rough cast and at the end of it there is a pretty fair Minaret The rest of the Town is altogether beggarly It had also another Han of which nothing now remains but the Gate and some Arches which daily run into decay The houses are scattered here and there and no better than Owls-nests the Walls are of Stones two or three foot high piled one upon another without any Art on all hands there are great large Free-stones and pieces of Pillars to be seen some of which still retain some fragments of inscriptions Amongst these Ruines I saw a door about four foot high and half a foot thick with crosses and roses cut upon it it is all of one piece with its hooks which enter into holes purposely made above and below That door is of a greyish Stone very hard as the sides to which it shuts are and it requires no less than two men to open and shut it it is still in case and daily made use of Marra heretofore was a good Town but the Turkish Tyranny is the cause of its desolation they say that the Ruines of a Church built by the Christians when they were Masters of that Town are still to be seen there but because it is at some distance in the Countrey I did not go thither The Francks in this place pay four Piastres for Caffare and we stopt there all that day because the Turks celebrated the Bairam the Moon having appeared the Evening before We parted not then till Tuesday the nine and twentyeth of April at two of the Clock in the Morning about break of
Damascus Kfr. and is by others called Malhomar Some of it was sent in my time Malhomar from Aleppo to Venice for the same purpose it was sent for by a Merchant residing in Venice who had formerly lived at Aleppo I remember that I have read upon that Subject in the History of Stones written by Anselmus Boetius de Boot in the Chapter of the Lythanthrax or Pit-coal that the Boors of the Countrey of Liege make an Oyntment of Pit-coal wherewith they anoint the Eyes of the Stocks of their Vines least the insects should gnaw them Mixto oleo hic carbo emolliter eoque unguento Agricolae vites oblinunt ne earum oculi ab insectis erodantur I was told that in Cyprus and many other places of Turkey they use a little drug for the same ends At Aleppo when the Grapes are ripe they bring them to the Town Grapes in Sacks of Goats hair without breaking though sometimes they be brought eight French Leagues from that City These Grapes have a very thick Skin are all white and make a very strong Wine the best time to gather them is in the Month of May. All buy as many as they stand in need of for making of Wine for it is the Custom of the Inhabitants of Aleppo that every one makes his own Wine in his own house after this manner The way of making Wine at Aleppo They put the Grapes into a great square fat of wood where they press them with mens feet and then the Wine runs into a Pale or a shallow Tub through a hole and strainer at the bottom of the fat When it is all run out they put it with the Lees into very large Earthen Jarrs where it works for thirty or forty Days these Jarrs are covered onely with a Board and a Cloath over it without any fear of its taking vent In this manner they leave it as long as they please nay sometimes a whole Year carefully stirring it every day And when they have a mind to drink it they draw it off provided the time at least wherein it was to work be over and they put it with the lees again into the fat where they strain it a second time When it runs no more they put the lees into a bag and press them in the same press with mens Feet till no more come out and what comes out runs into the rest Then they spread the Stalks of the Grapes that have been so prest in the fat and pour upon them all the Wine again and so let it run through a third time This being done it is clear fit for drinking and hath no lees They then barrel it up and in that manner make Wine at Aleppo all the months of the year but as I have already said it is onely White-wine for there are no red nor black Grapes in all those Quarters The Christians in that City make very good Brandy but they who sell it are obliged to put about six Drachms of Alum into a Bucket full of Brandy to make it stronger for otherwise the Turks would not like it They drink very good Water at Aleppo observing a great deal of circumspection in the use of it It is indeed River-water but it is diverted from the River about three Leagues above Aleppo near a place called Ailan from whence it is brought into the City in open Aqueducts which coming near the Town are conveyed under ground to Fountains whence they take the Water These Aqueducts have been made for purifying the Water which is very muddy and also for supplying the City for the River being low in the Summer-time the Gardens drain all the Water almost with their Pousseragues The Francks have Cisterns also which they fill with the Water of these Aqueducts by opening a hole in the Cistern through which the Water comes and then stopping it again aswell as the mouth of the Cistern which they open not but in Summer and these Cisterns are made not onely to keep the Water very cool but also to make it pure and clear They have besides another excellent way of clarifying it that is they put the Water into great Jarrs of unburnt Clay through which it distills and falls into Vessels put underneath to receive it This River of Aleppo comes from Antab two days Journey from thence and loses it self under ground about half a league beyond Aleppo many think that it comes from Euphrates near to which it hides it self under ground and appears again at Antab Though commonly they eat but little Fish at Aleppo nevertheless they have sometimes great plenty but onely when they are brought from Euphrates The little River furnishes several Trouts which are not above a Fingers length and very small but exceeding good They take good Eeles in it which though they be but small are most delicious There are also a great many Crabs in that River which are broad and flat Crabs and pretty good They are at no pains to fish for them when the Mulberries are knit because these Crabs delighting in that Fruit fail not to ramble about and crawl up the Mulberry-trees to feed on the fruit and then it is no hard matter to catch them Cucumbers The Cucumbers are so good in Aleppo that not onely the Countrey-People but the Francks also eat them green skin and all and they do no hurt though they be eaten in great quantity it is the same all over Mesopotamia There is no salt used in this City but what is brought from a place a day and a halfs Journey of Caravan distant towards the North-East it is made of Rain-water which in the Winter falls into a spacious low place that makes a kind of a Pond and that Water having extracted the Salt out of the ground it covers congeals and is formed into Cubes of Salt like to Sea-Salt it is brought to Aleppo on Mules but is nothing near so good as Sea-Salt There is very good Turkey Leather made at Aleppo There also aswell as at Damascus they prepare the Sagri which is that we call Chagrine in France but much more of it is made in Persia They are so jealous of their secret in preparing of Turkey Leather that they suffer no body to enter their houses The Sagri is made of the crupper-piece Skin of an Ass The way of making Chagrin they shave that skin so long till it become smooth white and thin like Partchment but what they do with it afterwards is all mystery I did all I could to learn it but could not onely I was told by a Jew who trades in it and deals much with them that they put some very small grain upon the skin so prepared which being pressed makes at first little dents in it but these dents afterwards filling up again they make that grane which we see in Chagrin but he assured me that he knew not in the least what grain it was they made use of I came to
know afterwards in Persia that when they make the Sagri after they have shaved the skin they wet it and put it upon a little frame of wood to which they fasten it by streight cords then they lay the grain which perhaps is no more but sand pretty thick all over it and so expose it to the Sun when it is dry they beat off that sand or grain knocking the back-side of the skin with a stick and then they wet it again and put the grain to it a second time which sometimes after they beat off again in the same manner and that 's the whole mystery They drive a pretty good trade at Aleppo in Cabrons hair that is the hair under the belly of some he Goats which is very fine and used in the making of hats I was told that when they are put on board great care must be taken that they be not wet because then they would be in danger of taking fire of themselves in a short time like Hay that is brought in before it be dry and some Ships have been burnt by that means though that happen not always infallibly Blew-Dye The Dyers of that Countrey make a most excellent blew dye They put in it as we do Indigo and Pomgranat-peels but besides that they have this particular secret They fill their great fats that are of Earth with water and put into it two or three Oques of Indigo according to the bigness of the fat and the goodness of the Indigo and for some time they stir the liquour in the fat until the Indigo be all dissolved and well mixt afterwards they put into it Dogs-turd prepared in this manner They take about an Oque of that Excrement and boil it in water then they strain that water and put it into the fat adding afterwards some of the water of dates For making of that date-water there is no more to be done but to put about an Oque of Dates into water and stir them well rubbing them with the hands in the water so that all the substance of the Dates may be dissolved and nothing remain but the stone then having passed that liquour through a strainer which looks then like honey they put it into the fat For want of Dates they make use of the Juice of black grapes well stamped and for want of grapes they take the Juice of stamped figs. In Aleppo they use grapes having no dates Four days after they have put in these waters of Dogs-turd and Date they add to it about two handfulls of unslacked Lime The preparation of that dye requires seven or eight days and sometimes a fortnight during that time they keep a gentle fire of Camels-dung under the Fat but so weak that it serves onely to keep the dye always warm they put no urine to it using Dogs-turd in stead of it which they say makes the Indigo to stick better to the things that are dyed There is an Indian living at Aleppo who paints Boxes and Canes of Pipes on which he makes a great many Circles and little points of divers Colours but being the onely person that knows the secret he is so jealous of it that he will not teach any other and it was to no purpose for Monsieur Bertet to offer him five and twenty Piastres to oblige him to tell it me CHAP. VIII The Sequel of the Observations of Aleppo WHilst I was at Aleppo there was a Zineh kept Zineh that word literally signifies Ornament but here it signifies a Festival or if you please a publick rejoycing These Zinehs here are more magnificent than at Caire where the houses onely of the Consuls Beys and the great Bazar are adorned and nothing else of any note But seeing there are many rich Merchants in Aleppo by reason of the great trade of the place at all times when there is a Zineh every one hangs his shop inside and outside with the finest stuffs he can get covers the Floor with lovely Carpets and lays rich Cushions upon them lights a great many Lamps and Wax-Candles and so all the Bazars being covered it yields a glorious prospect You shall see a Bazar whereof all the houses are hung with Velvet of several pieces or streaks another with Cloath of Gold and Silver another with Cloath another with wrought Stuffs and so every Bazar according to the trade of it and the Wealth of the Tradesmen who live there The gates of the great men are also adorned with costly Stuffs lovely Arms and all sorts of Lamps During that time they are day and night in their Divans which nevertheless are onely their Shops transformed into Divans But all the shops in Turkey are raised two or three foot from the ground and there as I told you they spread Carpets and lay Cushions all round and on the outside have rails of wood which they also cover with Carpet They visit each other and mutually receive their visits in their Divans and there they entertain themselves with Coffee and Sorbet musick after their way and their little Lute which they call Tamboura The Zineh which I saw at Aleppo was appointed for seven days Zineh for the Birth of a Prince beginning on Sunday the two and twentieth of June the reason of that rejoycing was the Birth of the Grand Signiors Eldest Son whereupon immediately Agas were sent from Constantinople to all the Towns of Turkey to publish the news and appoint Zinehs So soon as the Aga arrived the Zineh was proclaimed all over the Town and then the Guns of the Castle proclaimed it more loudly which continued Morning and Night all the days following If any had failed to rejoice and to adorn his house of whatsoever Nation religion or quality he was he would have been deeply fined and if a Subject of the Grand Signiors Bastonadoed besides During the Zineh all walk freely day and night up and down the City which in the Night-time is lighted by a great number of Lamps in all the Streets where there is constantly so great a Croud that one has much adoe to pass All treat one another and make merry with their friends Not so much as the Jews but force a publick rejoycing and they are to be seen in troops up and down danceing to the musick of instruments The second day of the Zineh the Musellem being come to the great Khan to visit the Scheick Bandar he is the Judge of the Merchants and Master of the great Khan he was received upon a Divan erected before the Gate where at first he was regaled with Coffee A Comedy after the way of Turkey Sorbet and Wine Then about ten of the Clock he was conducted to another Divan prepared against the Wall at the lower end of the Court to see a Comedy to be acted by Jews The Court served for a Theatre there are onely two Cresset-lights of Pine-wood which they took care to keep burning and that suffised to light all that great
if fastened to the stern as ours are Bir. We came a shoar at Bi r which is a little Town in Mesopotamia upon the side of the River the houses of it beginning below at the Water-side and reaching up to the top of a hill the Castle which seems to be pretty enough is also situated upon an ascent The Walls of the Town are entire and as the houses are built of little square Stones got in the hill which is all of a soft Rock but within there is nothing but Ruines We encamped on the top of the hill without the Town and arrived there half an hour after eight having first payed custom for all Merchants goods at so much a load so soon as we crossed the River The Burying-place of Bi r is on the other side of the River in Syria and they give this reason for it that our Saviour being come as far as Euphrates gave a man a Handkerchief on which his Picture was stamped that he might therewith go and convert the people of Mesopotamia but that this man being curious to see what it was and having unfolded the Handkerchief contrary to the commands of our Lord it flew into a Well and that our Lord knowing this said that that Land was good for nothing and therefore went no farther this is the cause why they will not bury their dead there Others tell this story in another manner which I shall relate when I come to speak of Orfa Friday the fourth of July we parted from Bi r Departure from Bir. about two a Clock in the Morning and took our way a little different from what we had held till we came there for we directed our course East-North-East untill we came to Orfa About nine in the Morning we encamped in a Field near to a hill where heretofore had been a great Town called Aidar Ahmet at present there is nothing of it to be seen and a little Brook runs by it among Reeds Next day being Saturday the fifth of July we set forwards on our Journey about two a Clock in the Morning Tcharmelick and about five a Clock passed by Tcharmelick which was formerly a little Town with a Castle built by one Delivar Basha who was Basha of Diarbeck upon a little eminence with a Han for the convenience of the Caravans and that because of the many Robbers upon that road as there is still at present All was built of stones taken out of the Ruines of Aidar Ahmet but there is no more now remaining but a little of a Castle with a small Village at the foot of it and part of the Walls of the Town whereof two gates are still to be seen the Han which is still entire is very pretty We went on and about nine in the Morning encamped in a place where formerly stood a great Town called Yogonboul Yogonboul at present it is no more but a confused heap of stones amongst which there are some Wells of Rain-water We parted from thence the same day about ten of the Clock at Night and ascended by bad ways Next morning being Sunday the sixth of July at one a Clock in the Morning we travelled along a lovely way made in the Rock two fathom deep a fathom broad and eight fathom long before that way was cut there was no travelling by that road Then we went down an ugly descent which continues as far as the Town of Orfa where we arrived about two a Clock in the Morning and encamped near the Walls The Town of Orfa which is the ancient Edessa is about two hours march in circuit the Walls of it are fair and pretty entire it is almost square Orfa Edessa but within there is hardly any thing but Ruines to be seen and nevertheless it is very populous On the South-side there is an adjoining Castle upon a hill with large and deep Ditches though they be cut in the Rock it is large in compass but full of Ruines and has onely some pittifull old broken Guns on the top of the Castle there is a little square Turret from whence one may see a great way The Chamber of Elias and the People of the Countrey say that Elias lived in that little Chamber On the side that looks towards the Town there are two great Stone-pillars at six or seven steps distance one from another and standing upon their Pedestals they are of Corinthian order Pillars of Corinthian order consisting of seven and twenty lays of stone a piece each lay contains but two stones and each stone is nineteen Inches high being two foot and a half in Diametre The People of the Countrey say that heretofore there were two others like to these and that one of the Thrones of Nimrod was placed upon these four Pillars The throne of Nimrod that from this place to which they bear great reverence Abraham was thrown headlong into the Furnace that was underneath and that at the same instant a Spring of Water gushed out which is running at present and fills a Canal close by it is a great many fathom in length and five or six in breadth whose Water having washed all the Town loses it self under ground at some hours Journey from thence There is so great plenty of Fish in this Canal that they appear in great shoals and I take them to be Carps but they say that if a man should catch any in this Canal and eat of them he would not fail to fall into a Feaver and that 's the reason they suffer no body to catch them unless on the other side of a little Bridge which is at the end of the Canal for they say that being taken beyond that Bridge there is no danger in them Betwixt the Castle and the Canal there is another smaller one distant from the greater about fifty paces whose Waters joyn together at the end of the Channel Seeing the Inhabitants of Orfa fancy all to be miracle in their Countrey they say that it is another source which sprung out of a place into which they threw a slave who seeing that Abraham received no hurt by his fall and that Water gushed out miraculously from the place into which he was precipitated told Nimrod that that man was a true Prophet and not a Sorcerer as he said whereupon he caused him also to be precipitated Had it not been for that Orfa could not have subsisted so long but must have perished for drought for there is no Water in that Town but what comes from those two Sources On the South-side of the Castle there are several neighbouring Hills that command it and especially one which the People of the Countrey call Nimrod Tahhtasi that 's to say the Throne of Nimrod because they believe that his chief Throne was upon the top of that hill there are a great many Grotto's in these hills where they say an hundred thousand of Nimrod's Soldiers quartered Next day I went out of the Town
hair come for it falls off every year Having then passed by a great many sorry Ruines of houses and crossed a little Brook about half an hour after nine we were got by a large round Pond full of yellowish Rain-water where the Curds were watering a great number of Cattel of which the chief and most common are black Goats of whose hair they make their Tents The Village of Teldgizre Mount Taurus Half an hour after ten we passed by a great Village called Teldgizre which was to our left and then we were got so near Mount Taurus that was also to our left that it was not above an hours march to the foot of it following the current of a little Brook which was on the same side half an hour after eleven we came and encamped near a great Village called Kizilken by which that rivulet runs I observed on the way that day that they were but then cutting down their Corn whereas at Aleppo they begin to cut about the end of May or beginning of June After we were encamped we felt notwithstanding our Pavillions so hot a Wind A hot Wind. that it seemed to have mustered together and brought with it all the heat of the Air and I think that a man standing near a great flame which the Wind blew upon his face could not feel a hotter Air. Kizilken is a great Village all inhabited by Syrians we found some Carpous Kizilken or water-Mellons there which were ripe and good and these did us a great deal of kindness In the night-time there came Robbers several times but they that watched making as if they would fire upon them they made some silly excuses and marched away From Kizilken we parted next day being Friday the eighteenth of July half an hour after one of the Clock in the Morning and continued our way East-South East about four a Clock we saw on our right hand two very solid well built houses but abandoned as well as the old Ruines that were to our left Half an hour after seven we arrived at a great Village called Kodgiasar where the Customer came to take his dues Kodgiasar but not knowing that I was a Franck asked me nothing In former times it was a very great Town and some very high and substantial Buildings still remain and amongst others a spacious Church rarely well built First you enter into a large Court along which stands the Church that hath seven doors all stopt up except the middlemost which hath a great Nich on each side over these doors there has been Mosaick work the place whereof is still to be observed and at the four Corners of the Court there has been four very high square Steeples covered with little Domes of which at present there are onely three remaining and of these too but one entire The other two want onely the Dome they are built of pretty little Free-stones with Ornaments of Architecture and so is the Church also the middle wherof is covered with a Dome rough cast over and the Walls supported by good large stone-Butteresses The Turks having converted it into a Mosque have made a Keble in it and a little Pulpit to preach in Near to this Town runs a Water that passes under a Bridge of five Arches to say the truth it is not very good but there are good Wells and each house has one There is one in the middle of the Court of that Church and hard by it a kind of Dome supported by several Pillars but for what use I know not unless it be to wash in as the Turks do when they go to their Mosque Kodgiasar is over against Merdin that stands upon a hill to the North-East of it the Castle is on the very top of the hill and is seen at a great distance Merdin being four hours Journey from Kodgiasar The Customer of Merdin came to our Camp for his dues and demanded of me as a Franck five Piastres and therefore made my man Prisoner but my Moucre brought him out he was informed that I was a Franck by a Turk of the Caravan who was the onely man of them all that shewed any aversion to me The Castle of Merdin is so strong that the Turks say no Army is able to take it seeing they have both Spring-water and Cistern-water They will have it that Tamarlan lay seven years before this Castle who to shew them that he would continue there untill it were taken caused the Trees below it to be cut down and new ones planted of the fruit of which when they began to bear he sent to the Garrison and that the besieged to make the best shew they could sent him Cheese made of Bitches milk as if it had been of the Milk of Ewes which wrought a good effect for he was perswaded by that that they had not as yet spent their sheep and despairing to force them he raised the Siege though he had prevailed in all the other Sieges that he attempted There is a Basha at Merdin and almost all the Inhabitants of Kodgiasar are Robbers We stayed there all Saturday because the Customer had not as yet agreed with our People what he was to have of every load having asked too much at Kodgiasar there still remain many fair Steeples and other antiquities standing in several places The same Saturday the nineteenth of July there arrived a little Caravan near to our Camp which came from Aleppo and was going to Van. On Sunday the twentieth of July we parted from Kodgiasar about three a clock in the morning half an hour after five we past by a great Village called Toubijasa Toubijasa which was on our left hand and is onely inhabited by Syrians So soon as we passed it we came into a great plain sowed with Cucumbers and Melons A Field of Melons and Cucumbers of which those of our Caravan took as many as they could eat and carry with them notwithstanding the Cries of the poor People Men Women and Children who had no better payment than ill words as if they had been much in the wrong for complaining that their Goods were forcibly taken from them About nine a Clock we passed a little Water and after that found the Tents of some Curds three quarters after nine we encamped near a Village called Futlidge Futlidge near to which there is a Well of good Water in Winter they encamp at a Village near the Mountains Caradere called Caradere a little on this side because there are Grotto's in them to lodge in We parted about two of the Clock in the Morning directing our way East-South-East such hot Vapours steemed out of the Earth that for breath and that I might not be stiffled I was forced to fan my self which made me think of the Sausiel which I had already heard so much of Half an hour after five we saw on the side of the way to the left the Ruines of a great Castle
and amongst others we saw a flight altogether like Francolines save that they have an unpleasant smell though the flesh of them be firm and very good to eat They were so numerous that I think a grain of small shot could not have past through without hitting some of them and they made a Cloud above five hundred paces in length and fifty in breadth About six a Clock we began to have little hills on our right hand which lasted about two hours And we passed near to one out of which they have Sulphur which they purifie and melt into Canes This Sulphur is a very white Earth for we were pretty near that hill which is almost wholely of Sulphur We stopped on the Curdistan shoar two hundred paces from thence about Sun-setting and rested upon the ground by the Water-side some of the Company stayed on board to guard the Kelecks for the Arabs when they see Kelecks many times come swimming and take what they can and then make their escape in the same manner They have besides the cunning when they are swimming to put some branches of trees upon their heads that it may not be thought they are men The water over against these hills is no broader than the length of the Pont Marie at Paris That Night we had a very hot Wind which sometimes brought with it cold gusts also and I observed they were not so strong as the others I was afraid it might have been the Samiel because it blew from that hill of Sulphur Next Morning being Saturday the ninth of August we embarked about break of day Hills of Sulphur We still saw on the side of Mesopotamia some hills of Sulphur which we smelt We met several People Men Women and Girls that crossed the Water stark naked having a Borrachio under each Arm-pit and their baggage on their heads and amongst the rest we saw two Girls who swam over without any help Half an hour after Sun-rising we perceived on the Water-side to the left hand Houses of Arabs several of the Arabs houses square and about two fathom high they were made of Poles and covered with leaves their Cattel were hard by and also their Horses which are always saddled These are their Summer-houses for in the Winter-time they shelter themselves under their Tents of black Goats hair Alyhamam Hot Baths About six a Clock we stopt at a Village called Alyhamam in Mesopotamia there are a great many natural hot Baths there and I make no doubt but these Waters run through Sulphur The People of the Countrey have dugg great Pits in the Earth under little Domes wherein they bath themselves for my own part I thought it enough to wet a finger therein and found it very hot but not scalding Sick people come there from all quarters and are cured but especially Lepers There are a great many always there from Mosul which is but a days Journey of Caravan distant All the Houses of this Village are by the Water-side they are all about two fathom square and the Walls and Roofs are onely of Canes interlaced with branches of Trees we rested there about two hours and then continued our Voyage The Sun that day was several times overcast with Clouds that did us a great kindness after Noon we stopt a little to stay for the other Keleck which was not come up About three a Clock we came to Asiguir Asiguir which is a place where the remains of the Foundation of a Bridge are still to be seen over which the Water runs with so much noise that we heard it half an hour before we came to the place When we were got there we went a shoar on the left hand because there is onely a small passage near Land for the Kelecks and in the Summer-time it is so shallow that many times they are forced to keep in the middle and go over stones that rise to the brim of the Water and make a kind of cascade or fall We all took our Arms to defend us against the Lions which are there in great Numbers amongst little Coppises however we saw none When the Keleck had passed near the shoar the current carried it into the middle of the River so that it could not stop till it came to an Island which is about fifty paces from the main Land and thither we went to it up to the knees in water A little after we had a great many hills to the right hand and on the first of them there is still some remains of a Castle called Top-Calai that 's to say the Castle of Cannons Top-Calai they say it was built by Nimrod as well as that Bridge which he had built for his convenience in going to his Mistress whom he kept on the other side Besides that we saw a great many other hills of Sulphur and one amongst the rest very high the Sulphur whereof appeared very yellow and smelt strong About half an hour after we saw the end of these Mountains and had others on the left hand covered over with Trees A quarter of an hour after we saw on the left hand River of Zarb the place where the River of Zarb falls into the Tigris It 's a great River more than half as broad as the Tigris very rapid and the Water thereof is whitish and cold They say that it comes very far off from the Mountains of Curdistan and is onely Snow-water On the same side about a French League up in the Countrey there is a hill by it self on which are the Ruines of a Castle called Kchaf Kchaf Having passed this place which looks like a little Sea we had constantly to the left hand Woods full of Lions Boars and other wild Beasts We rowed on till the Sun was setting not knowing where to lye because we durst not go a shoar on the side of the Woods for fear of Lions and on the side of Mesopotamia we saw Arabs at length just at Sun-setting we stopt near Woods which are all of Tamarisk and Liquourice and set a guard both against Men and Beasts From Mosul to this place they reckon it two days Journey and a half by Caravan After midnight three Robbers stark naked approached but finding themselves discovered they dived into the water and disappeared nevertheless this gave us a great allarm for they who saw them ran in all haste to the Keleck crying out like men in extreme danger and the rest not knowing what the matter was and thinking that they had a Lion at their heels threw themselves desperately into the Keleck whilst those that were asleep on board awaking at the noise and imagining there was a Lion in the Keleck endeavoured to get out In short so great was the disorder that no man knowing what he did it is a wonder we did not kill one another Sunday the tenth of April about break of day we put forward again and half an hour after past by the foot of a
till within three or four days Journey of Schiras and that rain lasted from the beginning of August untill the middle of September so that it seemed the Winter of the Indies had shifted into that Countrey but that was lookt upon as a thing extraordinary The VValls of Ispahan The Circuit of Ispahan The City of Ispahan is walled round with Earthen Walls which is singular to it for in Persia most part of the Towns have none at all It requires about four or five hours to make the round of this City but there are a great many large Houses that have but few living in them and which take up a great deal of space because of the spaciousness of the Gardens Great Gardens some houses taking up twenty Acres of ground nay it is not long since there was nothing but Gardens on the side of the Fort But now there are many Buildings there and that quarter is called the New Town where the Air and Water are better than in the old Town The New Town This City hath seven Gates of which these are the Names Der-Vasal Lembon Der-Decht Der-Mark Der-Tockhi Der-Cha Gerestan Der-Nasanabad and Der-Vasalchab which is not far from the Serraglio The City of Ispahan hath also great Suburbs where many Persons of Quality live The best built most beautifull and richest of all is the Suburbs of Giolfa that lies beyond the River of Senderu and the Walls of its Gardens being near that River in this Burrough or Suburbs live the Armenians whom Schah Abbas the first transplanted thither after he had ruined a Town of that Name in the Upper Armenia And they thought fit to give to this new Habitation the Name of their ancient Town and Countrey to preserve the memory of it so that to distinguish them from the others they are commonly called Giolfalu that 's to say one of Giolfa All round Giolfa there are a great many other Cantons which are likewise pretty well built not onely of Armenians who have left their own Countrey to come and live there but also of other Nations There are the Cantons of Ecrivan Nackhuan Chaksaban Sirou-Kainan Gaur Sitchan Mekrigan c. The quarter of Taurislu called Tauris-Abad or Abis-Abad which is opposite to Giolfa on this side the River towards Ispahan is much bigger than Giolfa but neither so pleasant nor so well built The beauty of the houses of pleasure which Persons of Quality have in the Suburbs consists in great Divans having in the middle and before them Basons of Water and the Gardens which are full of two or three kinds of Flowers and these commonly Turkey Gilly-Flowers Marsh-Mallows and some other such all very ordinary Flowers but yet lasting many Months of the year give a pleasant prospect The Persians fit in the cool in these Divans every one with his Pipe of Tobacco which is the most delightfull Employment they have when they are at home There are many squares in Ispahan but of all that which is called the Meidan is not onely the loveliest but I think that of all regular Piazzas The Meidan it is the greatest and finest place in the World. It is about seven hundred common paces in length and two or three hundred in breadth so that it is above twice as long as broad It is built all about and the Houses are all in form of Portico's over which there is another second range of Arches more backwards which serve for Galleries and a passage to the rooms of some adjoyning Kervanserais and seeing these houses are all of an equal height they yield a very lovely prospect All round the place at some little distance from the Buildings there is a fair Canal of Spring-water made by the Schah Abbas the first who for greater embellishment caused plane-Trees at competent distances to be planted all along which render that place exceedingly delightfull but they dayly decay because they neglect the planting of Trees in the place of those that are wanting At one end of the place that is on the North over the Gate of the Bazar there is a Bell round which is this inscription Ave Maria gratia plena A Bell. They say that it was taken out of a Monastery of Nuns at Ormus On the two sides of that Bell are great Balconies or Galleries Galleries where every Evening at Sun-set and at midnight many men assemble who make musick some with the ordinary trumpet some with Timbrels and others with an extraordinary kind of trumpet which perhaps has not as yet been heard of in France and therefore I have thought fit to give a description of it A long copper Trumpet These trumppets are made of copper and streight about eight foot long the body of it is of an unequal bigness for the end that is put to the mouth is an inch in diameter but about an inch from it the neck is very narrow Hence our speaking Trumpets and then enlarges again to the breadth of an inch and the end or mouth out of which the sound and wind comes is almost a foot and a half in diameter These trumpets are taken in two at the middle and they put the upper part into the lower at the great end where it easily enters when they have a mind to sound they skrew the two parts together but they had need of a strong Arm to hold that long Pipe of copper out right when they sound it It makes a strong deep sound so that the musick is heard all over the City but it is not at all pleasant and is more proper to fright People with an Allarm than to divert them As you go from that place of the Meidan where these musicians meet which as I said is at the North end of it towards the South there are two Banks five or six foot high and above a fathom distant which serve for playing at the mall on horse-back and the bowl must go betwixt those Banks The Mall About the middle of the Place there is a high Tree or Mast erected on the top whereof there is a round ball A Mast where they shoot with Arrows and there Horse men practice Archery riding at full speed and not shooting their arrow till they be past which they do by turning themselves quite round upon the crupper of the horse The Gate of Aly. A little farther to the right or West-side is the Gate of Aly called Aly-Capi which is a large plane Gate over which there is a lovely Divan the roof whereof is onely supported with wooden Pillars and the King comes often to take the Air in this place Entering in at this Gate you go along a great Alley to another large Gate The threshold of a Gate in Veneration whose threshhold is a step of round stone to which the Persians shew great respect and that is it which is properly called the Gate of Aly. All malefactors that can make their escape into a Court
Water-works which fall into Basons The sides of that Canal are paved into the Street and make a way of Free-Stone for Foot-men which eases them of the inconvenience of meeting horses that go lower in the Street In short this Street is divided by the River of Senderu on which there is built a very lovely Bridge A Bridge of lovely Structure of a pretty singular structure which joyns together the two parts of the Street This Bridge which is called by the Name of him that built it to wit Alyverdy-Chan and which is also named the Bridge of Julpha is built of good Brick with edgings of Free-Stone and supported by a great many little and low stone-Arches It is about three hundred paces long and about twenty broad but in the middle where Carts and Horses goe it is not above four fathom broad and is no higher in the middle than at the two ends On each side instead of a Parapet it hath a Gallery covered with a plat-form both which are very commodious for Passengers These Galleries are raised above the level of the Bridge above half a pikes height The going up to them is by so easie Stairs that horses may without trouble ascend them men are there secure from bad weather or the heat of the Sun and yet have an open Air and fair prospect for these vaulted Walks have a great many Windows that look upon the River If a man desire a more open passage he hath the plat-form over this gallery that equally reaches from one end of the Bridge to the other But it is so hot upon it in the Summer-time that the other way is more commonly taken which serves also many times for a Horse-way in the Winter that they may avoid the Water that fills up the middle of the Bridge when the River overflows which sometimes happens though in the Summer-time it be so low that there is hardly any Water in it so that they have been forced to use art in paving the bottom in that place very smooth that so it may fill its Channel by spreading its Waters equally This Bridge then hath five passages one in the middle and four in the two sides to wit the two covered Galleries and the two Plat-forms over them which are above twelve foot broad with Rails both towards the Bridge and River Nay there is a sixth passage when the water is low which during the great heats of Summer is very delightfull for its coolness and that is a little vaulted Gallery which crosses all the Arches from one end of the Bridge to the other it is low underneath and reacheth to the bottom of the River but there are Stones so laid that one may step over without wetting the foot they go down into it from the Bridge by steps made in the thickness of the Walls There are also two other Bridges upon that River to the right hand and all the three are at above half a miles distance from one another The first above this is very plain but the other which they call the Bridge of Schiras for one thing exceeds the first in beauty and that is a Hexagone place which it hath in the middle where the Water of the River hath a lovely fall Let us now consider Hezar Dgerib which ends the fair Street of Tcheharbag The name of it imports a thousand Dgerib and Dgerib is a certain land measure which the Persians have as we have the pearch the fathom and other measures Before this house there is a large square Court at the end whereof stands the Building which consists of a Divan onely one story high with Chambers at its four corners and it hath the same front towards the Garden which in reality is very pretty The Gardens of Hezar-gerib This Garden of Hezar-gerib hath six stories of Terrasses the Earth of which is supported by stone-Walls and these stories are raised about a fathom in height one above another There are a great many Alleys or Walks in that Garden both in length and breadth which reach all from the one end to the other and are very streight and even save that in those which reach in length at every story one must ascend seven or eight steps The chief Walk or Alley that begins at the building is very broad but that which renders it altogether charming is a stone-Canal in the middle of it of the same breadth as that of the Street Tcheharbag which answers in a streight line to this and hath no Water but what it receives from it The Canal of this Walk is far more beautifull than that of the Street and affords a lovely prospect in regard that at every two fathoms distance there are Pipes which spurt up Water very high and that at each story there is a sheet of Water that falls into a Bason underneath from whence it runs into the Canal On each side of these sheets of water there is a pair of Stairs and a way that leads streight up I leave it to the Readers imagination to conceive the pleasantness of that prospect and the beauty of these Cascades which are the first object that offers and surprises the sight of those that enter into this Garden Walking then along the great Alley after you have advanced a little you cross over a Canal a fathom broad which cuts it as it does all the other Walks that are parallel thereunto but without breaking them for it runs under little brick-Arches Mounting up to the fourth story you 'll find a large place where there is a Bason of eight sides above twenty fathom in diameter and three foot deep of water it hath Water-pipes that play all round it besides one in the middle On each side of this place you have a large covered Divan built of Brick but open on all hands with a bason of water in the middle These are really charming places especially for enjoying the cool wherein the Levantines place their greatest delight Having ascended three stories more you come to a pretty high Building which bounds the Walk and on both sides of it there is a wall that separates this part of the Garden from the other beyond it to the front of this Building there is a bason of water Then you enter into a Hall made cross-ways open on the four sides at each Corner whereof you 'll find little rooms Over that there is another story which is much the same From that Hall you enter into the other part of the Garden and recover the great Walk or Alley again which is continued in a streight line through the Hall There you have the Canal and Sheets of Water in the same manner as in the other save that in this part the basons are above the sheets of water whereas in the former they are under them Having mounted the sixth story you 'll find an octogone Bason of the same bigness as the former with a Divan or Kiosk on each hand After you have
ascended three stories more you pass over a Canal three fathom broad which runs cross all the Walks of the Garden that are parallel to this as the other does which is at the other end A little farther you find a bason before a building much of the same contrivance as the others are which puts an end to the Walk and the length of the Garden All these Waters come from the River of Senderu by Chanels that divert them three or four Leagues above the City which having watered and embellished this Garden run and lose themselves in the Fields Many such Chanels are drawn from this River above the City for watering the Gardens which otherwise would be barren For besides that the Wells could not furnish a sufficient quantity of water their water is not so good as that of the River which is made very fat by the grounds that it runs through Every day is appointed for giving Water to a certain quarter and every Garden is taxed to pay thirty forty or sixty Abassis a year more or less according to its bigness for the water once a week None of these Canals return to the River but lose themselves in the Fields which makes the River to be much lessened when it comes to the City so that having run thorough it at a little distance farther it loses it self also in the Fields The Persians are so carefull to have water for their grounds The care of the Persians for having VVater that in many places they make Aqueducts under ground which bring it from a far nay and that many Leagues off They make them almost two fathom high and arch them over with Brick In making of them they digg at every twenty paces distance or thereabouts and make large holes like wells in which they go down and so carry on the Aqueduct because they cannot continue in going on so far under ground and these Aqueducts cost a great deal of money Although the Garden I have been describing is so magnificent yet you must not imagine to find such lovely Grass-plats and borders of Flowers as are in Europe There you have onely young Fruit-trees in great numbers with great Plane-Trees planted in a row which are the ornament of it The fruits of Hezar-dgerib so that in fruit-Season it is very pleasant walking there and since for a little money all are welcom one may eat as many as he pleases There is plenty also of Rose Bushes there and the Gardiners make money of their Roses This Garden is the Kings so are one half of those of Tcheharbag the rest belong to Chans and these Gardens are almost all of the same contrivance that 's to say that their beauty consists in long streight walks and abundance of Fruit-trees Rose-bushes and Plane-Trees which yield them a considerable revenue and therefore they are well kept so that when I went to the Garden of Hezard-gerib I saw a great many People at work in levelling the walks which had been spoilt by the Rain and Snow There is no Burying-place in Ispahan but they are all without the City Burying-places so as all over Persia and the Levant CHAP. V. A Continuation of the Observations of Ispahan and particularly of the manner of ordinary Buildings Materials for Masons ALL the Houses of Ispahan are built of Bricks baked in the Sun dawbed over with Clay mingled with Straw and then white cast over with a very fine and white Plaister which they get out of the neighbouring hills from a stone that being burnt is crushed and broken with a great rowler drawn by a Horse The charges of building a House The charges of building a house they commonly divide into three equal parts one for Brick another for Plaister and the third for Doors Windows and other timber necessary for a house However something may be saved in the Brick for out of the very place where the house is to be built Earth may be had for making all the Bricks that are necessary and furnishing Straw to be mingled with the Earth for the making of them the rest will not amount to above an Abassi and a half the thousand but the truth is it will cost three times as much in employing them In the rest of Persia the Houses are onely built of that sort of Brick made of Earth wrought with cut Straw and well incorporated which is afterwards dried in the Sun and then employed but the least Rain washes them away and dissolves all They make also tiles which they burn in a Kiln yet they seldom use them but for their Floors and Stair-cases some but few pave their Terrasses with them The Roofs of Houses Nevertheless it were much more profitable to pave them with Bricks for being onely of Earth they must be repaired once a year because of the Rain and Snow which spoil them all nay and as often as Snow falls they must of necessity throw it off assoon as they can else it would rot and by its weight bear down the houses but seeing for all their diligence they must needs with the Snow throw a good deal of Earth also from the Terrasses which are loosened by it it would be much safer to pave them because then the Snow might be more easily thrown off and nothing spoilt but it must be also confessed that the Terrasses cannot always be paved because of the uneavenness of the Rooms underneath some being higher and some lower nay and some of them having Domes which make the Terrasses very irregular and all crooked and convex in several places Much water at Ispahan There is so much Water at Ispahan that one may have a Well dug for three or four Abassis commonly and when it is dug they put down in the bottom one or two Pipes of baked or burnt Clay about three or four foot high and of the same Diameter as the Well is to keep the ground on the sides from falling in and choaking it up The Walls that go round the Terrasses are all pierced through checker ways with square holes about four or five inches square not onely to ease the Walls which are onely of Earth but also to let in the Air on all sides The Persians use no Cranes in building of their Houses but they raise high banks of Earth on which they drag along what the Crane would lift Many times they need neither of the two for all that they employ is light enough They make their houses commonly front the North to receive the fresh Air and they who can make them separated and open on all the four sides They make their little Vaults very quickly and in building of them use Timber as with us The Masons call for their materials as if they were singing all these Vaults are of brick sometimes baked in the Sun and sometimes in the Oven or Kiln according as they 'll be at the charges of it It it is pretty pleasant to see a
Mason at work there for he calls for what he wants as if he were singing and the Labourers who are always attentive to the tone serve him most punctually In Persia commonly they make the Floors of the Rooms of Joists Floros on which they lay planks and over them a Mat or Store and then a lay of Reeds which they cover with Clay half a foot thick But they observe to mingle Salt with the first lay of Earth Salt mingled with Clay that the Worms may not get into the Timber underneath They who will not be at the charge of boards or planks put onely in place of Joists pieces of Timber as thick as ones Arm and over them two Matts and then the Reeds which they cover with Clay salting also the first lay The Persians make their Lime of Stones which they burn as we doe and when they have taken them out of the Kiln they break them into small pieces When they are to use it they prepare it in the manner following The way of preparing Lime They sweep a place very clean to sift the Lime in and when it is sifted they make it up in a heap sharp at the top like a Sugar-Loaf then they sift Ashes upon it and that in almost as great a quantity as the lime that being done they sweep the adjoyning place very clean and water it and over the wet sift a very slight lay of Ashes then with Iron-shovels they throw upon it their Lime mingled with Ashes working and incorporating them well together When they have cast on three or four shovel fulls one of them throws upon it about a quarter of a Bucket full of Water or somewhat less and the rest cast very fast upon the wet Lime other Lime mingled with Ashes so that they give not the Water time to penetrate through that first lime then they throw on a good deal of water more and then another quantity of lime and ashes and they keep this course untill they have put all the lime which they had mingled with Ashes into a heap and the water they throw upon it is so little in regard of the quantity of that matter that it scarcely appears to be wet After this they sweep a neighbouring place and having watered and then covered it with a few Ashes as before they turn over again the mixture that they may well mingle and incorporate the Ashes with the lime and so turn it over from one side to another several times that 's to say nine or ten times But it is to be observed that after the first time they pour no more water upon the mixture but onely from time to time lightly sprinkle with the hand the outside of the heap to keep it a little humid without appearing to be wet but every time they cast the heap from one side to another they are sure first to sweep the place water it and then to scatter a few Ashes upon the same and then with their Iron-shovels they turn the heap I wondered to see these People when they prepared their lime that they were not afraid to burn their feet going bare footed upon that Stuff nor yet to wrong themselves by receiving into their Mouth and Nose the dust of the lime when they sifted it When they have thus well mingled the Ashes with the lime they divide the Stuff into several heaps which they spread a little giving to each about four foot of Diameter and one foot in thickness After that four of them stand round the heap and beat the Stuff with sticks somewhat crooked about two foot and a half long the handle they hold them by being two fingers thick with a little round knob at the end to keep them from slipping through their hands then they grow greater and greater till about the middle where they are as big as ones Arm and round so far and from that place where they bend and make an obtuse Angle with the other half they grow thicker and thicker according as they come nearer the end and are round on the concave side but flat on the convex and about the end are about six fingers broad These Clubs are of Ash They beat this Stuff with one hand two and two over against one another singing Y a allah Y a allah and other attributes of God and keeping time to this tune which seems to be essential to the trade they beat as our Threshers do sometimes in one place sometimes in another stooping at every blow and nothing but the flat side of the Club hits the matter They beat every heap so about half an hour without intermission and then go to another which they beat as much and continue this exercise almost an hour without resting onely now and then shifting their hand after this they take breath a little for the space of half a quarter of an hour or less and then fall to their business again In this manner they beat every heap four or five times and every time they leave it it is all reduced to the thickness of about half a foot in the middle falling thinner towards the edges and then one of the men takes a spade wherewith he breaks the Lumps and turns it all up again into a heap cooling it with a little water that he throws upon it with his hands When every heap is sufficiently beaten they spread it well so that it be alike thick in all places and a little hollow in the middle then they strow chopt Straw upon it such as they give to Horses they 'll spread upon a heap of lime about a sack full such as they give their Horses provender in so that the lime is all covered over with it with that they pour into the middle of it about four Buckets of water and mingle all together stirring it well with their shovels that the materials may be well incorporated and when all is reduced into a kind of soft morter they fall a beating it a new sometimes with their shovels and sometimes with the end of their Clubs Then they open it again in the middle making a round hole a good foot and a half wide so that it looks like a Well raised a good foot above ground they fill this hole with water pouring in about two Buckets full and so leave it after they have smoothed the outside with the back of their shovels so that it looks polished and of a blewish colour that 's to say like blew Fullers-Earth or Clay to take out grease and spots with these holes are always kept full of water till they be ready to use the Stuff When they are to use it they work it with a great deal of water and mingle therewith about half the quantity of Straw that was employed in the first working of it then they beat it well with shovels and leavers pouring on so much water that it is reduced almost into a liquid running mud I have seen it so employed for
afterward they count no more of the money but onely filling up the empty Scale of the Balance until it weigh as much as the other wherein the Toman is counted and when they find that both sides weigh not alike they examine the pieces The Man of Ispahan is a weight of twelve pounds The Man. In Geometry the Persians make use of a certain Measure which they call the Farsange and is as much as three Miles Farsange The Mile the Mile contains four thousand Cubits the Cubit four and twenty Fingers and the finger six Barley Corns laid side-ways this account I had out of a Persian Book of Geography I have measured six Barley Corns with a pair of Compasses and found that eight times that Measure of six Barley Corns laid by one another side-ways make eight common Inches So that the four and twenty Fingers will make eighteen Inches or a common Foot and a half which is exactly a Cubit and so the Mile will be six thousand common Feet which make four thousand Cubits The Geographers degree The same Persian Geography makes the Degree to be two and twenty Farsanges or Parasanges and a seventh Part I think I have said elsewhere that a Farsange or Parasange makes a French League CHAP. VIII The Continuation of the Observations of Ispahan Of the Nature of the Persians The language of the Court. AT the Court of Persia they speak nothing but Turkish but a Dialect of Turkish so different from what is spoken at Constantinople that one may say it is a quite different Language The reason why they speak Turkish there and not Persian is not onely because the Turkish Language hath been introduced by the different Powers of Turks and Tartars who conquered Persia but also because that Language which commonly none speak but those that belong to the Court distinguishes them from the rest of the People and gives them a certain Pre-eminence and Authority which they affect to have on all occasions The nature of the Persians as being extremely vain glorious and proud This gives us an opportunity to say somewhat of the Nature of the Persians By what I could find in them it may be confidently said that they are extremely vain The Persians are vain and voluptuous and much given to Luxury which puts them to vast expences not onely in Apparel and Furniture but also in Servants whom they entertain in great Numbers and in their Table too which according to their Power they fill with Diversity of Dishes In the Countrey they carry about with them an infinite deal of baggage because they will have all their Conveniencies as if they were in the City and their Tents are not inferiour in magnificence to the Tents of any other Nations which makes most of them to be beggarly poor and destitute of Money Persons of Quality lead a very idle Life in Persia in the Morning they come to Court but at Noon return home where they spend the rest of the day in smoaking Tobacco If they pay a Visit to any of their Friends all their Exercise is smoaking of Tobacco and that is the greatest part of their Conversation They take their Tobacco in a pretty singular manner they draw the Smoak of it through Water by means of a large Vessel full of Water which they hold betwixt the bowl and end of the Pipe through which the Smoak passes that Vessel is commonly of glass when they go a visiting they fail not to have their Vessel and Pipe carried along with them They play there also at Draughts and Chess wherein the Armenians imitate them much There are a great many in Persia who understand the Mathematicks and they are generally curious of Sciences The Persians are Mathematicians and Phylosophers They have all the Parts of Philosophy and Mathematicks and there have been good Authors of that Nation who have written of them as well as of Ethicks and Morality But with these laudable Curiosities they are somewhat importune and uneasie for their Curiosity is in some manner insupportable they stop at the meanest thing to do that which they call Tamacha that 's to say to consider and admire it and if they perceive that you have any little knack they take a pretext from that to examine all you have They make Astrolabes very well and have not that aversion which the Turks have to the figures of Animals Not hating the Figures of Animals on the contrary they commonly use them upon their Works both of painting carving and sculpture but their Pictures for the most part are as lascivious and obscene as can be imagined and indeed They are lascivious they as well as the Turks are much addicted to impurity and especially to that abominable Crime which in France is punished by fire They are subject to quarrelling and fighting which happens pretty often amongst them and then they bang one another soundly with Cudgels contrary to the Turks who must stand a tryal for a cuff of the hand but in Persia if there be no bloud spilt there is no danger A Melefactor that hath killed another man is delivered up to the Prosecutor When a man hath killed another the next of Kin or the Widow of the party deceased demands her Husband's bloud then the Murderer endeavours to compound with the parties for money but if they will not which happens often enough the Criminal is to be deliver'd over tied and bound into the hands of the Prosecutor who may do with him what he pleases Commonly he makes him suffer a great deal of torment before he put him to death Persian Women cruel especially when he falls into the hands of a Woman but because by delivering up in this manner the Malefactor into the hands of the Prosecutor there is nothing for the Judges to do they always endeavour what lies in their power to compound the business for money of which they take a good share The Persians revengefull There are a great many that compound willingly but the Persians are naturally so revengefull that notwithstanding their Agreements the Relations of the party deceased leave not off seeking for occasion of revenging him and are not content untill they have accomplished it thinking that their honour is concerned so to do In the administration of Justice avarice reigns in Persia as well as in Turky and all the World over Nothing without presents and therefore there is nothing to be done without presents If any man hath been robbed he makes his complaint to the Deroga who is as the Sous-basha in Turky the Deroga sends abroad his men causes those he suspects to be apprehended and to make them confess the Robbery puts them to the rack The thing robbed being found again he takes a tenth and sometimes a sixth part he takes nothing from the Francks The Deroga takes nothing from the Francks but they make him a present and commonly he shews them
bits of Straw so that it looks more like brown Paper than bread if a Stranger were not told it he might be mistaken And some French when first these Cakes were brought before them took them for course Napkins They make great use of Earthen ware which is very pretty especially because of the lovely Varnish they give it it is made in Kerman and I was assured that the Dutch had the invention from thence of making that false purcelane which we call Hollands purcelane Butter In Persia generally they make not use of Butter of Cow's Milk alone because it is not good but they mingle it with the Butter of Ewes Milk which is much better The Yogourt is an ordinary Ragoe in that Countrey I remember that I have described it already and shall onely now add how they season it in the Spring they cut Fennel into small bits and with Turpentine-seed which in that season is still green and begins onely to look a little reddish they put it into the Yogourt to qualify the coldness of it Torschi They also make Torschi or a preserve of that seed in Vinegar into which they put the Berries to be pickled whole The Persians way of drinking VVine The Persians by their Law are prohibited to drink Wine as well as the Turks but they are not so scrupulous as to that point When they drink VVine they do it without mixture after the Levantines manner who never drink water with it but when they drink VVine they have pots of water by them whereof now and then they take large draughts Bowl of Punch The Francks use a Beverage there which they call a Bowl of Punch and is cooling They take a large Earthen Bowl that holds four or five quarts and fill it half full of water then they put in as much VVine with the Juice of Limons Sugar Cinamon and Nutmeg which they drink in full draughts in the Summer-time Ice-houses in Persia The Persians make great use of Ice even in VVinter but never of Snow they make not their Ice-houses as in France and this is their way They raise a wall towards the South three or four fathom high Along that wall on the North-side they digg a Ditch about three fathom deep and as much broad and Northwards from the Ditch they make several beds six or seven fathom long and one fathom broad which are separated one from another by little Dykes of Earth like Salt-pits some are two or three foot deep and others one foot When it is very cold they bring the River-water into these beds which freezes very quickly and when it is thick and hard they break the Ice of the hollowest beds into great pieces which they carry into the Ditch where they lay it in very good order Then they break the Ice of the shallower beds and having put it into the Ditch upon that which they had laid there before they beat it into very small morcels with a spade or shovel and fill up all the chinks that are betwixt the large pieces with them At night they throw a great deal of water over all which they do with the skins of gourds cut in two pieces and fastened to the end of long poles this water freezes in the Night-time and joyns all the Ice into one piece In the mean time they bring in more water into the beds that it may freeze there after which they remove the Ice into the Ditch where they place it above the former in the same manner untill it be a fathom and a half high then they cover all with Straw and Reeds two or three foot thick and when they would take out any for use they open the Ditch but in one place This is an easie invention at at Ispahan where the Air is very dry and where there is but little moist Weather It would seem some few of these Ice-houses might be sufficient for a whole great City and nevertheless there are a great many such made in several places near the Town A good many in Persia take Opium The use of Opium but it is a drug that so enslaves those who are addicted to it that if a man hath once made it customary to himself and after forbear to take it no less than his life is in danger so that if a Tereaqui as they call them all over the Levant go ten Leagues from the Town and forget to take Opium with him if he find none in the place he comes to though he should immediately return back again and make all the haste he can yet he would not get to the Town in time enough to save his Life CHAP. XI The Continuation of the Observations of Ispahan Of the Court of Persia HAving treated of the nature of the Persians of their Carriage Apparel and way of living we may now see how their Monarch governs them whom he makes use of for executing his Orders and at the same time observe some of his recreations Persia is a Monarchy governed by a King Monarchy of Persia The King of Persia absolute in all things who has so absolute a power over his Subjects that no limits can be set to it He meddles in Religion and they do not begin the Ramadan nor any Festival till first they have had his leave and sometimes he keeps them back a few days according to his pleasure though the Moon wherein they are to be celebrated hath been seen His Subjects never look upon him but with fear and trembling and they have such respect for him and pay so blind an obedience to all his Orders that how unjust soever his Commands might be they perform them though against all Law both of God and Nature Nay if they swear by the King's head their Oath is more Authentick and of greater credit than if they swore by all that is most sacred in Heaven and upon Earth He observes no form of Justice in most of his Decrees and without consulting any Person no not the Laws and Customes he judges of lives and fortunes as seems best to him without any regard to those who feel the weight of his power The kinds of punishments not regulated and that without observing the kinds of punishments that are in use in the Countrey but appointing such as his fancy suggests to him According to this Principle two years ago he commanded the Nazer who had vexed him to be exposed naked to the Sun and the Nazer is one of the chief Officers of that Court This was presently put into execution and he was exposed to the heat of the Sun and the rage of flies in the great place from Morning till Night at which time the King discharged him Whilst he was thus exposed no body minded him no more than if he had been a Dog which was a great instance of the inconstancy of fortune and of the friends she gives but both counterfeit and real friends have this excuse that on
such occasions it is most dangerous to render good Offices to a Man who is in disgrace with the King. He orders many times the Ears and Nose to be cut off Schah Sefi heretofore inflicted that punishment the upon an Ancient Person of Quality who had been in great favour with the Great Schah Abbas his Predecessour This cruel Prince being angry with the good old man who was in his presence Great barbarity commanded a Son of his to cut of his Ears which that unnatural Son presently executed the King commanded him then to cut off his Nose which was likewise done with that the old man finding himself so abused by his own Son and by order of his King whom he had not offended but who acted merely in a brutish Capricio said to the cruel Prince Ah Sir after this I ought not to live any longer cause me to be put to death He had no great trouble to obtain his desire nevertheless that it might not seem to be a favour to him how inhumane soever it was the Prince as if he feared of being accused this of Clemency in granting him death would needs accompany it with this piece of Cruelty that his Son must be the instrument of that sad Office and the Executioner of his own Father He bid his Son then cut off his head and told him that he gave him all his Estate This unnatural and infamous Parricide without delay obeyed that unjust order and cut the head from the Parent who had given him his Life It is remarkable that the chief Persons of Court are not exempt from those storms and that commonly they are the Objects of these cruel Sentences and yet no body murmurs at it Sometimes he is content to take part of their Estates sometimes he takes all and never fails to do so when he puts them to disgrace His nearest Relations soonest feel the effects of this tyrannical Power For the Kings of Persia are so afraid of being deprived of that Power which they abuse and are so apprehensive of being dethroned that they destroy the Children of their Female Relations when they are brought to bed of Boys by putting them into an Earthen trough where they suffer them to starve and when they come to the Possession of the Crown and Scepter it is their first Care and first Act of Royal Authority to cause the Eyes of all their Brothers Uncles Cousins Nephews and other Princes of their Bloud barbarously to be put out which is done with the point of a Cangiar wherewith the Eyes are plucked out whole and afterwards brought to the King in a Bason and seeing the Executioners of this Tyranny are commonly the first whom the King pleases to send on that errand some of them are so unskilfull at it that they butcher them in such manner that several have thereby lost their Lives A Prince without Eyes learned in the Mathematicks At Ispahan I saw one of those Princes at his House whose Eyes had been plucked out he is a very learned man especially in the Mathematicks of which he has Books always read to him and as to Astronomy and Astrology he has the Calculations read unto him and writes them very quickly with the point of his Finger having wax which he prepares himself like small twine less than ordinary packthread and this wax he lays upon a large board or plank of wood such as Scholars make use of in some places that they may not spoil Paper when they learn to design or write and with this wax which he so applies he forms very true letters and makes great calculations then with his Fingers end he casts up all that he hath set down performing Multiplication Division and all Astronomical calculations very exactly Change of VVives Sometimes the King of Persia takes the Wife of one of the Lords of his Court and gives him another for her out of his Serraglio whom many times he takes back and restores the man his own again It may very well be believed though that those whom the King bestows so are neither Begums which is the Title of Queens and Princesses nor the chief Khanums or Ladies of his Serraglio Great Jealousie of the King of Persia For he is extremely jealous of his Wives though he has a vast number of them and his Jealousie is so extravagant that if a man had onely looked upon them he would be put to death without remission wherefore when he takes them with him into the Countrey there are Eunuchs who have power of life and death and with good blows of a Cudgel order all to keep out of the way by which they are to pass from the Palace till they be out of the Town and then they say there is Courouk on that way that 's to say Courouk that it is not lawfull to pass it nay they also pitch tents at the ends of all the Streets that lead into the way to the end that no prospect may be allowed even to the sharpest sighted though otherwise these Ladies be well enough covered in Kagia-vehs upon Camels When the King comes with them to Giolfa all the men must leave their houses and flie into the Countrey none daring to stay at home whilst the Haram is passing but the women and when he is in a tent in the Fields if the fancy take him to send for them they fail not to give notice that there is a Courouk and then all forsaking their tents run away as far as they can The Courouks are troublesome at Ispahan and yet the present King made a great many whilst I was there he hath made no less than forty in three Months time and nevertheless every man was obliged to leave his house whatsoever weather it was cold or hot and flie to the hills if he had no friend living at some distance to whom he might betake himself In former times the Courouk was onely for those places where the King past with his Haram now they make it for some Leagues round the quarter comprehending within it even the adjoyning Villages The Kings of Persia exercise also this tyranny Courouk of Provisions that they make now and then Courouks of Fish poultry and other provisions which they like and when there is such a Courouk of any thing no body dares to sell any unless it be for the King's use in my time there was a Courouk of Fish and Poultry during which it was impossible to have any for love or money and that lasted some weeks How great soever the Power of the Persian Kings may be yet sometimes they moderate it and submit to reason Familiarly of the Kings of Persia They shew great familiarity to Strangers and even to their own Subjects eating and drinking with them pretty freely which this Prince often does as I saw whilst I was at Ispahan and after my departure he sent several times for the French and made them so drunk that they fell
a Corschi These men have vast numbers of Cattle The Goulams are Slaves or the Sons of Slaves of all Nations The Goulams and chiefly of Renegado Georgians all their male issue to the hundredth Generation are of this body And there are about fourteen thousand of them in service who have from five or six to eight Tomans of pay they have also many great Lords of their Body and their chief is called Kouller Agasi The Tufenkgi are men raised the Villages The Tufenkgi and chiefly Renegado Armenians they are about eight thousand and have the same pay as the Goulams have but are looked upon onely as Peasants without reputation They were the last that have been instituted for the use of the Musket they march on horse-back but when they are to fight alight The Corschi and Goulams carry bows and arrows and fight on horse-back yet some of them carry the Harquebuse The Souldier's Sons have pay The Sons of Soldiers receive pay so soon as they are seven years old and it is augmented proportionably as they grow in Age. Besides these the King of Persia has Guards who carry the Musket A new Militia of guards but it is not long since they were instituted by an Eatmad Doulet who made use of that invention to undo the Divan Beghi then in being The Story is that a certain Person having one day found the Sister of that Eatmad Doulet in a debauched place before he was as yet raised to that dignity carried carried away her drawers and then talked of it in several places which extremely netled the Brother who at that time dissembled his displeasure Not long after being made Eatmad Doulet he resolved to undo that man who had defamed his Sister and to compass his designs cunningly he brought things so about that the King bestowed the Office of Deroga upon this man At this he was much surprised and thought that the Eatmad Doulet had forgot the trick he had put upon his Sister so that he fell to rob and cheat briskly and the rather that he was supported by the Divan Beghi When the Eatmad Doulet found that he had robbed enough he accused him before the King of abuses committed in his Office and much oppression who not being able to justifie himself was condemned to have Peggs driven through his feet to be hanged up with his head downwards and in that posture to receive a great many Bastonadoes all which was publickly put into Execution in the Meidan in spight of the Divan Beghi who did all he could to hinder it That offended the Eatmad Doulet so that he resolved to undoe him also and for that end made a Renegado Armenian Deroga who put into purses by it self all the money he got in his Office by fines and sealed these purses by order from the Eatmad Doulet who by these purses made the King sensible that if a Deroga got so much a Divan Beghi must needs get much more On the other hand the Divan Beghi who was not asleep brought complaints from all hands against the Deroga that that might reflect upon the Eatmad Doulet but these People passing no higher than the Aali Capi the complaints reached not the Princes Ear. In fine one day when the King was to go abroad the Eatmad Doulet armed several men with Muskets and placed them in guard at the Gate of the King's Palace The King as he was going out observing this new guard failed not to ask what the meaning of it was the Eatmad Doulet being there on purpose answered that it was he who had placed those guards there for his Majesties security because the Divan Beghi stirred up the People to sedition against him presently the King who was a little credulous which is a thing too common to all Princes who are not acquainted with matters but as it pleases those who are about them to inform them returned back in a great fright and sent presently to apprehend the Divan Beghi with orders to pluck out his Eyes which was instantly put into Execution publickly in the Meidan and from that time forward this guard hath been entertained in the service of the Kings of Persia Chief Officers Eatmad Doulet Sedre Sepeh Salar Kouroukgi Bassa Koular Agasi The chief Officers of the Crown are the Eatmad Doulet who is the first of the Kingdom next to the King the Sedre the Sepeh Salar who is a Generalissimo the Kouroukgi Bassa the Koular Agasi or General of the Goulams In my time there was no Sepeh Salar and they make none now but in time of War which being ended the Office also expires The Sedre is the chief in spiritual Affairs he is the high Priest of the Law as in temporals the Eatmad Doulet is the chief Minister however this man is more considerable and takes place of the Sedre Wherein it is observable that the dignities of the Church are not annexed to the Doctors of the Law as in Turkey but many times from being Sedre one is promoted to the Dignity of Eatmad Doulet Officers of Religion The Sedre The Scheick-el-Selom and the Cadi Next to the Sedre in Spirituals there are two under him who decide all points of Religion and make all contracts testaments and other publick deeds they judge also of Divorces and of all civil Debates and Processes The one is called Scheick-el-Selom that 's to say Scheick of the Law and the other Cadi Their Authority as well as Office is almost equal nevertheless the Scheick-el-Selom has some preference They are established in all the principal Towns of Persia and even in Ispahan and the King nominates them on whom they onely depend Pichnamaz In every Mosque as well as in the King's Houshold there is a Pichnamaz this is the director of the Prayers who says the Prayers and makes the rest say them and therefore he stands always foremost that the rest behind may see him Imam and do as he does in Turkey he is called the Imam They who pronounce the Prayer aloud are inconsiderable fellows that have good Voices who are hired for that and commonly they are young Boys There are Mulas who have great Salaries out of Ecclesiastical Revenues for teaching all comers Mulas Sciences and the Law and they are properly the Doctors Hodgia whom the Turks call Hodgia In Persia they all wear white turbans These Mulas are also in Persia like Clerks or Notaries they make the deeds of conveyances of purchases contracts and other deeds to make these Writings Authentick they must have the Bull of the Scheick-el-Selom or of the Cady but many neglect that Circumstance besides they are not very willing that the Scheick-el-Selom or Cadi should know their Affairs and therefore they think it enough to have the Writings drawn by a Mula with the seals onely of the Mula and party concerned These Bulls or Seals are stones with their names cut on them upon which they put a
there are so great numbers of Sparrows in Persia that they destroy all things and scare-Crows are so far from frightning them that they will Pearch upon them At eight a Clock we passed by a little covered Kervanseray called Tscherchab Tscherchab which puts an end to the Corn-Fields for beyond that there is hardly any thing to be found but Desarts sowed with stones about two hours after we passed by another Kervanseray Tenghinoun like to the former called Tenghinoun and a little further to the Left Hand we saw a small Forrest of Palm-Trees We afterwards marched on for the space of about two hours through very stony Ground and then came to good even Sandy way Half an hour after one in the Afternoon we passed by a covered Kervanseray called Ouasili Ouasili and keeping on our way over little Sandy Hills we came at three a Clock to another which is also covered Schemzenghi and called Schemzenghi where we stopt and this place is seven Agatsch from Lar. These Kervanserays are not built as others are but are little covered buildings about six Fathom long and as many broad on the outside and about a Fathom and a half high in the middle of each Front there is a Gate and you enter by these Gates under so many Vaulted Walks which run cross-ways within and have each about two Fathom in length they leave in the middle or Centre of the cross they make a little Square about two Fathom every way covered with a Dome In some of them there is in each Vault a half pace of stone two foot high and about a Fathom broad in the outside is the House of the House-keeper or Condar as they call him it stands along one of the sides of the Kervanseray and instead of Walls is only enclosed with a little Hedge in the mean time all the Provisions you are to expect must be had out of these wretched Hovels When there is no body in the Kervanseray these House-keepers retire to their Village or Huts which is out of the way a quarter or half a French League from thence and sometimes Travellers must go look for them when they have had no notice of their coming In the Angles of these Kervanserays there are commonly little Chambers which have the Doors on the outside and the rest of the place is for the Horses there is no other water but what is drawn out of Cisterns of which there are many in the Fields a little way from the Kervanseray We parted from that wretched Lodging Friday the third of April about four a Clock in the Evening and Travelled through a large very even Plain where we saw in many places the Ground whitened over with Salt which is made by the Rain Bahadini Tschektschek about half an hour after five we passed by a covered Kervanseray called Bahadini and about seven by another called Tschektschek by this last there is a Hut where Rhadars Lodge about eight a Clock we entered in amongst Hills and had up Hill and down Hill in very bad stony way where having turned to and again till nine of the Clock we came into a fair large Plain and there marched on till about half an hour after eleven at Night when we passed along a great Village where grow many Palm-Trees from which it hath taken the name of Hhormont Hhormont and a little beyond it there is a covered Kervanseray where we Lodged this place is five Agatsch from Schemzenghi We parted from thence on Saturday half an hour after a eleven a Clock at Night and took our way full South by a very bad and stony Road. Sunday about four a Clock in the Morning we passed by a little covered Kervanseray called Serten then taking our way Eastward Serten Bedgi-Paria after an hours Travelling we found another called Bedgi-Paria a little after we came to a running water the clearness whereof tempted us to fill our Mataras or leathern Bottles but it was good luck that I bid one of the Company who alighted purposely from his Horse to taste it first for he found it to be as Salt as Salt it self Our way continued still bad till about seven of the Clock in the Morning that we came to a Kervanseray called Tengbidalan this Kervanseray is covered as many others are Tengbidalan but it is much finer It is a Square about eight Fathom in the middle of each Face there is a great Arch by which one enters into Vaults which make a Cross as in the others but they are higher and it is not under these Vaults that Travellers Lodge for the Chambers are in the four Corners about three Fathom square two or three foot raised from the Ground and open on the two sides within where there are great Arches from the Floor up to the Vault each Chamber hath its Chimny and other small conveniences the Place in the middle is covered with a Dome in which there is a great round opening in the top By one of the Gates of this Kervanseray there runs a very clear Brook about a good Foot broad which falls into an oblong square Bason in the middle and keeps it always full then it passes farther in such another Canal as brought it and runs out at the opposite Gate this Brook comes from a Hill two Muskets shot from the Kervanseray it falls down from it impetuously in a Channel above a Foot broad and about half as deep and is received on the first Pillar of a broken Arch which is shaped like a Well there are a great many of these broken Arches in a row with some ruins of the Pillars and I believe they have been beaten down by the force of the water which in time of Rain is very great at that place nay some of it too ran then betwixt the Pillars perhaps it was because they were afraid of that accident that they brought not the water upon these Arches which in all appearance were only made for Ornament The water falling down into this Well runs under Ground about twenty Fathom length and comes up again by the Pillar of the first of the Arches that remain entire to the number of eleven this Pillar being also like a well and rising to a height it glides away in a Channel like to that which comes from the Hill save that it is carried along these Arches that are about a Fathom and a half high till coming to a higher Ground the Canal is not above two Foot high and a little farther runs level with the Ground where making several turnings and windings it waters the Roots of a great deal of Liquorice growing by the sides of it until it come to the Kervanseray The truth is that water is not good to drink and it is only necessity that makes men use it when there is none in a Cistern close by but it serves at least to cool the Kervanseray and to wash any thing in
was advised to it by other Portuguese for he answered haughtily that he would not be taught by any man what he was to do Nevertheless his bravery not succeeding according to his expectation Unseasonable bravery and finding himself hard put to it he became calmer and gave consent but too late to follow that Counsel for the Enemies were under the Walls and at length he was forced to Surrender the place So soon as the Persians became Masters of it they opened the Canal as well knowing the importance of it Oisters at Ormus They catch excellent Oisters about the Isle of Ormus they are as small as English Oisters but so hard that it is not possible to open them with a Knife nay it is not very easie neither to break them with a Hammer The Sand of Oâ—â—…s The Sand of Ormus is also much talked of for the dusting of writing and for that end a great deal of it is Transported into Christendom Lareca A League to the South-West of Ormus is the Isle of Lareca which is longer than Ormus but the Ground as bad and Sandy It reaches in length from North North-West to South South-East and there is nothing remarkable in it unless it be the Fort and that is no great matter neither The Dutch began it under colour of settling a Factory there but the Persians smelling out their design drove them off and finished it it is at present kept by a very few men A little farther off to the West Error in Geography Quesomo South-West about a League and a half from Lareca though it be marked five in the Map is the Isle of Quesomo which is twenty Leagues in length it is Fruitful and well Inhabited and stretches from East to West The Land about Gomron or Bender-Abassi is no better than that of Ormus The Land about Bender-Abassi or Gomron is good for nothing for it is all Sand the water they drink there is brought from a Cistern without the Town they drink also of another which is esteemed better water and that out of a Well three Parasanges distant from the Town in a place called Isin both are very dear because of the trouble in bringing them so far nevertheless the water is very unwholesome because of little Worms that are in it which if they be drank down with the water slide betwixt the Flesh and the Skin Worms between the Skin and the Flesh and fall down into the Legs where they grow to the full length of the Leg and are never bigger than a Lute-string as I have been told for I never saw any of them this causes a great deal of pain they make a little hole in the Skin through which they shew their Head and for a Cure they must be drawn by little and little out of that hole drawing only a little every day and twisting it about a stick according as they draw it out until it be wholely out but this requires a great deal of patience for if they draw too much out at one time or draw too hard it breaks and what remains in the Leg causes racking pains for which there is no other remedy but to lay open the Leg and make the Incision as long as that which remains to be taken out This water has another bad quality in that it swells the Testicles The meat is also very unwholesome at Bender-Abassi and they scarcely eat any but Kids Flesh which is the best of the bad and Pullets In fine the best way to preserve ones Health at Bender-Abassi is to keep a very regular Diet Remedies for keeping ones Health at Bender eating so moderately that one hath always an Appetite to quench a red hot Iron in the water to strain it afterwards through a Linnen Cloath and to be always chearful There is no Pasture-Ground in all that Territory and therefore the Cows Hogs and other Beasts live hardly upon any thing else but Fish-Heads Shell-Fish stones of Dates and a little Hay which is brought some Parasanges off and indeed the Milk tasts altogether Fishy for I speak by experience their Horses they feed with Hay and Barley After all there cannot be a more dangerous Air than that of Comoron especially in Summer when it is so excessively hot Cruel and dangerous heat at Bender-Abassi that the Inhabitants are forced to leave it and remove three or four Parasanges off where most of them live in Tents nay the very Garison of the Fort removes leaving only a few men who are weary of their lives Nevertheless that place so abandoned is in no danger of being surprised because that time is the Winter of the Indies wherein there is such terrible Rain Great Thunderings at Bender Wind and Thunder that it would seem the World were to be reduced to its first Chaos so that during that Season no Ship can keep the Sea where Shipwrack is inevitable And indeed there is but one Season for crossing over to the Indies which the Portuguese have named Mouson Mouson and which they have certainly borrowed from the Arabick word Mouson which signifies Season but in short that word is used in all Languages to signifie the time of Sailing which lasts one half of the Year to wit from the end of October to the end of April Bender has a pretty safe Road for to the North it hath the main Land of Persia The Road of Bender-Abassi to the South the Isle of Ormus and to the South-West Lareca which is to the Westward of Ormus from which it is but a League distant Vessels come to an Anchor in it near to the Isle of Ormus on the West side and to go to the Indies they Sail betwixt the Isle of Ormus which is to the South of Bender-Abassi and the Coast of Arabia Foelix A Parasange to the East of Comoron there is one of those Trees called the Banians Trees because the Banians make commonly Pagods under them Banians Trees the Portuguese call it the Tree of Roots because Roots come out of every Branch that fasten in the Ground and grow as other Trees do in so much that one of these Trees may make a whole Forest I shall not describe it because I never saw it since there was no going thither by reason of the excessive heat The Author saw it since in his Travels in the Indies where he has given a description of it and therefore I refer the Reader to Linschot and Jonston who have given a description of it Under this there is a Pagod or Temple of the Banians I stayed but a week at Bender-Abassi and then was obliged to turn back again there being no probability that I could embark there for the Indies seeing I must have run too great a danger if I had stayed longer for a favourable occasion There were but six Vessels there which were bound for the Indies four Dutch Ships one Armenian and a Moor as for the
and at the Guard four Fingers broad at least but growing broader and broader it is five Fingers broad at the end and draws not into a point this man seems to present to the Woman a Posie of Flowers with the Right Hand and rests his Left Hand upon the Handle of his Sword. A little farther about ten Fathom from thence and at the same height of Ground Two other Figures there are two other Figures of the same bigness of which the first is of a young Man without a Beard whose curled Locks hang backwards behind his Head on it he carries a great Globe it might be taken for a Turban but in my Opinion it appears not to be his Head-attire though he hath no other he looks towards the neighbouring Figure and hath the Left Hand shut wherein he seems to hold somewhat the Right Hand is stretched out as if ready to receive what is presented to him The Figure that is by him seems to be of a Woman for she hath pretty round Breasts nevertheless she wears a Sword by her side like to that which I have just now described her Head-attire seems to be the Cap of a Dervisch somewhat long and all round upon her Left Shoulder she hath a little Basket or perhaps it is only the Tresses of her Hair she seems to present something with her Right Hand to the man who is looking towards her and her Left Hand is upon the Handle of her Sword. All these Figures seem to have the Body naked and only some few foldings of a Garment towards the Legs In short the two last are almost in the same posture and action as the two first but one cannot tell what it is they present to one another for the extremities of their Hands as well as many other parts of their Bodies are worn out and eaten by the weather The Work appears very well hath been good though all the proportions be not exactly observed I looked about all along the side of the Hill but could see no more and I believe there has been some Temple there This place is so covered with Trees and encompassed by Marishes by reason of the many Springs thereabouts that few people know of it and of all the Franks the Reverend Father Athanasius a bare-Footed Carmelite living at Schiras Father Athanasius was the first that found it out by chance as he was walking in that place and it being my fortune to pass by Schiras sometime after he led me to it The people of the Country call that place Kadem-Ghah that is to say the place of the step Kadem-Ghah because say they I know not what old Man walking in that place a Spring of water gushed out under his Foot it is but a few steps wide of the High-way that leads to the Salt-Lake an Agatsch distant from thence Though all these Antiquities be curious enough yet they are not that which they call the Antiquities of Tschehel-minar so much mentioned in Relations and which are in effect the same at present in Persia as the Pyramids are in Egypt that is to say the finest thing in its kind that is to be seen and the most worthy of observation One may go thither in coming from Ispahan by Main The way to Tschehel-Minar or Abgherim and the way is not long but the way to it from Schiras is by Badgega which is the first Kervanseray upon the Road to Ispahan and after two hours march from thence there are two ways whereof that to the Left goes to Ispahan you must leave it and take the way to the Right Hand which leads to Tschehel-minar Having Travelled about two hours and a half that way in a pretty good Road amongst Heath there is a Village on the Right Hand where one may stop and bait Having passed this Village you enter into a great Plain where after you have Travelled three quarters of an hour you pass over a Causey a Fathom and a half broad and about an hundred paces in length a little after you find another three hundred paces long and a little beyond that just such another having Travelled a little farther you go over another Causey five hundred paces in length beyond which after three quarters of an hours Journy you come to a great Bridge of two large Arches which is called Pouli-Chan in the middlemost Pillar of it there is a Room with some steps to go down to it which would be very delightful to take the fresh Air in if it were not uninhabitable by reason of the prodigious swarms of Gnats that haunt it The River of Bendemir runs under this Bridge and is at that place broad deep and full of Fish the water looking very white they assured me that it swells so high in the Winter-time that it reaches over the Arches almost level with the Parapet after you have passed that Bridge and Travelled an hour longer in a Plain you leave a Village upon your Left Hand and an hour after another to the Right and then within another hour you come to the Village called Mirchas-Chan near to which is Tschehel-minar being but a quarter of an hours Journy from it This Village stands in a most spacious and Fruitful Plain watered with a great many waters there you have a Kervanseray to Lodge in because in the Winter-time it is the way from Ispahan to Schiras and going Eastward but somewhat to the South from this Village you arrive at Tschehel-minar CHAP. VII Of Tschehel-minar and Nakschi Rustan I Am of their Opinion who will have Tschehel-Minar to be part of the Ancient Persepolis which was built in the place where at present stands the large Burrough of Mirkas Chan not only because of the River which Diodorus Siculus and others mention to be there under the name of the little Araxes which is now called Bendemir but also of many other marks that cannot be called into question All Tschehel-Minar is built upon the skirt of a Hill. The first thing that presents to view upon ones arrival is a great Wall of blackish stones four Foot thick which supports a large Platform or Terrass reaching from South to North about five hundred Paces in length to the West side it hath the Plain to the East beyond a great many magnificent ruins of Buildings whereof it makes the beginning it hath the Hill which bending into a Semicircle forms a kind of Amphitheatre that embraces all those stately ruins to ascend to the top of this Terrass you must go to the farther end of it towards the North where at first you will find two Stair-Cases The first Stairs of Tschehel-Minar or rather one Stair-Case of two ascents or if you please a double Stair-Case which on each side hath fix and fifty steps of a greyish stone and are so easie that Horses go up them without any difficulty having ascended by one of the sides of that double Stair-Case up to a square Landing-place where one may
rest and which is proportioned to the breadth of the Stairs you continue to go up by the upper part of the Stair-Case which goes contrary to the lower part my meaning is that the upper part of the Stair-Case above the Landing place goes North whereas the lower went Southward and the upper part of the other side which went North below goes Southward above so that these two Stair-Cases which bore off from one another in their first part draw near again in the second and Land in on the same place above and that upper part of the Stair-Case has forty six steps Being come to the top of the Stair-Case you find a Walk and traceing it Eastwards you see two great Pilasters in Front which bear nothing at present but seem to make the two sides of an Entry they appear to be but of one single stone apiece though they be very high On the inside of each of these Pilasters you see the Figure of a Beast cut in Demi-relief but it is hard to tell whether it be a Horse or an Elephant and I should rather take it to be the latter at least it seems to me to resemble that more however it be these Figures are about three Fathom high and are as I said in half body along the inside of the Pilaster one opposite to another the Head turned towards the Terrass-Walk and Stair-Case or if you will towards the Plain Beyond these two Pilasters there are two great Chamfered Pillars in front and which in all appearance are what remains of four in Square Then you find two other Pilasters like to the first with each a Figure on them of an Animal in Demi-relief of the same height and opposite to one another on the inside but the Figures of these seem to be Griffons and they are Back to Back with the Elephants looking Eastward to the Hill whereas the Elephants look Westward to the Plain these four Pilasters with the Pillars seem to have made a Portico Advancing a little forward you find on the Right Hand a great Oblong Square Bason A great Bason two Fathom and a half in length almost as much in breadth and about three Foot deep it is all of a greyish stone Turning from thence to the Right Hand and going about twenty steps Southward you find a second Terrass higher which hath a jutting out in the middle with a Stair-Case on each side there are two others at the two ends of the Terrass but these four Stair-Cases are almost buried under Ground nevertheless one may still see several Figures upon so much of the Terrass-Walls as are above Ground At the least which is as I said by the jutting out in the middle you see a Lion devouring a Bull which is often repeated By the other there are three Ranges of Bas-reliefs representing as I take it Sacrifices Bas-reliefs representing Sacrifices for many persons are there represented as going in Procession one after another and Armed some only with Swords and Daggers others with Swords Bows and Arrows and others again seem to be carrying Vessels There you see also several kinds of Beasts as Sheep Oxen Dromadaries and other Animals When you are at the top of these Stairs you come upon a Platform where there are a great many Pillars some buried under Ground and others broken A place full of Pillars and you only see the Bases of most of them nevertheless there are seventeen still standing and these with the others whereof nothing but the Bases are to be seen make according to my account twelve Ranges from East to West and from South to North in breadth consist of nine Pillars a piece they are about seven Fathom high and at three Fathom distance one from another all Chamfered and some with double Capitals they are all of an extraordinary Order which yet hath great affinity to the Dorick It appears by what remains upon some that all of them have supported Statues or perhaps Idols and at present they serve the Storks to build their Nests on Going on Southward from thence you see a square Building A square building much adorned with Bas-reliefs and part of the Walls thereof still standing It is pierced on all sides with Doors and Windows which are embellished with many Demi-reliefs especially the sides of the Doors which are of big greyish stones as the rest of the Edifice is Upon these sides of the Doors the Figures are much the same as on the rest of the Building and opposite to one another there you see an old Man followed by two Servants one of them holding in both his Hands a great Staff with seven branches at the end of it which uphold an Umbrello just over the Head of his Master the other holds a Manipule in one Hand and in the other a Crosier or crooked Staff liker to Cricket-sticks than the Crosiers carried by Bishops nevertheless by the way of holding it one may judge that it is something resembling a Bishops Crosier for the Crook is carried up over the Masters Head. In some of these Doors there is but one Servant as in the one he only who carries the Manipule and the Crosier and in the others he that holds the Umbrello The Doors of the other two Faces are almost a like and at the side of each Door on the inside you see a Man fighting with a Beast that is erected against him with the Left Hand he holds a short Club over the Head of it and with the Right sheaths a Dagger in its Belly all these are to the natural bigness nay some of them are bigger Next to this Building you see the ruins of a like Fabrick Buildings but hardly any thing standing on the sides of the Doors within there are still to be seen two men each holding a Pike as if they Guarded these Doors along the two sides of these Buildings there is a little Walk about a Fathom and a half broad that runs betwixt the Building and a Wall at the end of this last which is so ruinous you find a double Stair-Case cut in the Rock but it is almost hid under the ruins as well as the Wall betwixt the two which supports the Earth and is full of Demi-reliefs whereof there is no more but the Heads to be seen A little beyond that there is square Terrass not much raised from the Ground A square Terrass and supported by a Wall which is also embellished by several Figures in Demi-relief that are half covered under Ground and in this place there remain many round Bases beyond that Terrass that buts upon a large open places which reaches length from West to East as far as the Hill and fronts towards the South there is no more now remaining one comes down from thence by a pair of Stairs which turning to the Left you find at the side of the Terrass and are made in the Rock it self that in this place supports the Earth Returning back
Frontispiece there is Table of Bas-reliefs reaching down to the Ground whereon Men are represented Fighting on Horse-back but it is somewhat defaced Two steps from thence there is another Table of Bas-reliefs two Foot from the Ground about a Fathom and a half high and three Fathom broad where you see a Gigantick Horse-man Armed Capapie having a Crown on his Head with a Globe upon it his Left Hand is upon the Handle of his Sword and with the Right he lifts up a Woman whom he holds by the Arm near to whom there is a Man kneeling and in supplicant manner streatching forth his Hands The people of the Country say that this Horse-man is Rustan who would carry away his own Daughter and that his Son the Maids Brother beseeches him to let her alone Behind the Horse-man there is another great Figure standing upright but much defaced it hath a long Cap round at the top this Figure is all over full of Inscriptions which seem to be Greek but so worn out that it cannot be Read four steps from thence there is another Frontispiece like the other two at the bottom whereof there is a Bas-relief but all defaced Twenty paces from thence there is a fourth Frontispiece more of the same likeness with a Bas-relief underneath representing men a fighting but it is a little ruinated Opposite to this place at a few paces distance from the Hill there is a square Building A square Building in fashion of a Tower three Fathom broad and four high with a Terrass over on the top there is a kind of Architrave of the Dorick Order all of a white shining stone like Marble though it be not all the stones are three Foot high or thereabouts and three Fathom long so that there is but one in each Lay of the front The Gate of this Building looks to the Hill and is three Fathom high and one Fathom wide it is above half filled up with large stones that have been put into it In the Lintel of the Gate there are two great round holes into which went the ends of the shutting Gates that served for Hinges On each of the other three faces there are six inches and two other square ones over them but less they are all of greyish and black stone and sixty paces from thence there is a round piece of Bas-relief An Altar An hundred paces more foreward there is a kind of a round Altar cut in the Rock two Fathom from the Ground at the bottom of which there is a Man with a Head-piece on his Head his two Hands rest upon his Sword which stands before him with the point downwards he is accompanied with five Men on his Right Hand and four on his Left all with Head-pieces on their Heads but of these five there is no more to be seen but the Bust all the rest from the Feet up to the Breast being as it were behind a stone or Parapet which is on each side none but he in the middle is seen all over all of them have their Hair and Beards made up in Tresses Bas-relief six paces from thence there is a piece in Bas-relief a Fathom from the Ground one Fathom and a half high and four Fathom broad representing two Gigantick Horse-men facing one another so that their Horses Heads touch one of the Horse-men hath a long Cap round at the top with a brim four Fingers broad in his Left Hand he holds a great Truncheon in manner of a Scepter and with his Righ the pulls a Ring which the other pulls also with his Right Hand and hath a Globe on his Head if we may believe the people of the Country these two Horse-men are Rustan Sal and Rustan Colades behind this latter there is a great Figure of a Man or Woman somewhat defaced streatching forth the Hand to hinder as it were the Globe which is on his Head from falling to the side of each Horse there is a Vessel for holding of water fastened with Chains and shaped like a Pine-Apple after the manner of the Levantines who carry always a Mataras full of water A Pillar upon a Rock Some paces from thence upon a rising Rock there is a Pillar four Foot high a little farther likewise upon a rising Rock there are two Pedestals by one another and besides there are other Pillars scattered up and down here and there The people of the Country believe that all these things have been made by Dgius or Spirits Dgius or Spirits whom as they say Solomon who had power over them commanded to Build them The truth is whoever were the Work-men they have been Artists for they are well done and of curious design The good people say more that in the Chamber of the first Frontispiece there is a Treasure but that one cannot come at it because one must go over a Wheel of stone that is in the Chamber and that a Man having once attempted it the Wheel turned and crushed him to pieces they may say what they please as to that because to get up to it there is need of such long Ladders that few would be at the pains to attempt it They say also that on another neighbouring Hill beyond this there was a Gate of a City which they call the City of Solomon another at that Pillar I mentioned The Town of Solomon which is to be seen on the Right Hand as you come from Mirchas-Chan and a third on the other side of Tschehel-minar if so that Town must have had above eight Agatsch in Circumference As for Tschehel-minar many are of Opinion that it was the Palace of the Kings of Persia who held their usual Residence in Persepolis which Alexander the Great being Drunk Burnt at the instigation of a Miss but besides that this place is too little for the compass of a Palace that might answer the magnificence of the Kings of Persia in those days the Tombs that are in the Hill shew the contrary moreover since these places seem never to have been covered I had rather think that it hath been some Temple and that is probable enough because of the Pillars on which were Idols and all know that the Temples of the Ancient Persians were uncovered These Buildings have been spoilt not only by the weather but also by Men especially by a Governour of Schiras whom covetousness prompted to make great havock of them because he was obliged to defray the charges of all whom Curiosity brought thither to see them which was like to have cost him his Head the King having been extreamly displeased at so unworthy an action At Nakschi Rustan and Tschehel-minar there are Birds as big as Black-Birds which have the Beak of the same bigness and length but both it and the rest of their body is of a Flesh-colour so that one would think at first fight that these Birds had no Feathers unless on the Head Wings and Tail which are black they are
to the Mules Belly for five or six and in some places more than seven Fathom in breadth it is so broad and deep in Winter that it can no ways be Foarded over and then they must go by a very narrow way cut out in the Hill on the Left Hand which is very dangerous for if the Mule make one false step it is lost for good and all About three quarters after ten we began to go up Hill in very bad way and that during an hour and a quarter we sometimes also went down Hill but not much and always in very bad way having the River on our Right Hand certainly I never saw worse way than what we had during that whole day At Noon we arrived at a Kervanseray called Kervanseray Narghisi Narghisi which stands on the top of the Hill it is seven Parasanges from Kameredge and was so full of people that came from Bender Rik that hardly could we have shelter you find nothing to eat there because it hath no Dukondar the River runs by the foot of the Hill on which it stands We parted from thence Sunday the fourth of October half an hour after one in the Morning and Travelled on Westward in bad enough way Three quarters after two we went down a very rugged way but the worst is at first the rest being pretty good but that it is narrow and upon the edge of an exceeding deep Precipice so that the Mules are in the same danger as in those we past which made us alight and lead down that descent we got down about half an hour past three and a little after came into a very even Plain and all Sowed Land we Travelled on there Southward until seven a Clock when to the Right Hand we again found the River of Bouschavir which we Foarded over and stopt on the other side of the water There is no Habitation there and yet the place has a name being called Sefid Rou Sefid Rou. it is four long Agatsch from Kervanseray Narghisi We parted from thence Munday the fifth of October half an hour after four a Clock in the Morning and holding streight West we Travelled in a Plain until eight a Clock that we arrived at a pitiful Kervanseray which consists in three nasty Chambers and all black with Soot it is called Tschah-Ghonbez that is to say the Well of the Vault the water that is drank there is drawn out of a Well hard by some hundred of paces distant there is a Village called Dehkone that is to say Old Village which is distant from Sefid-Rou three Agatsch and Sefid-Rou is not properly a Menzil Tschah-Ghonbez but commonly they come from Kervanseray Narghisi to Tschah-Ghonbez in a day our Muletor made us make two of it that he might keep Company with his Brother who was at Sefid-Rou and Travelled but small Journies We parted from Tschah-Ghonbez Tuesday the sixth of October at one a Clock in the Morning and continued our way over a very even Plain due West About half an hour after six we Foarded over a Salt water that was but shallow from that we had all along a Plain covered with Sand to Bender Regh where we arrived about half an hour after nine it is seven Agatsch from Tschah-Ghonbez Bender-Regh The Bender Regh that is to say sandy Port or Harbour is a little Town built along the Sea-side at a place where it runs into a long narrow Channel that turns and winds but is not deep Most of the Houses of this Town are made of Mats laid upon a Trellis or Lettice of Poles interlaced nay the Walls that encompass the Houses are of no better stuff so that there is neither Iron nor Masons work in them There are some however made of Brick baked in the Sun Cemented with morter made of Clay and Straw Most of the Inhabitants of that place are Arabs and all speak both Arabick and Persian the Governour is an Arab and depends on the Governour of Schiras The Soil about it is all Sand and the water they drink is fetched from a Well a good Agatsch from the Town nevertheless there is a great deal of Corn from the neighbouring Villages loaded at this Port to be Transported to the Isle of Bahrem and Bassora from whence they bring them Dates The Sea-Ports of Persia are Bender-Abassi Berder-Congo Sea-Ports Bender-Abassi Bender-Congo Bender-Rischer Bender-Regh Bender-Delem three days Sailing from Bender-Abassi Bender-Rischer ten days Sailing from Bender-Congo Then the Mouth of the River of Boschavir below which is Bender-Regh or Bender-Rik a days Sailing from Bender-Rischer and three days Journy by Land beyond that is Bender-Delem a days Sailing and two day Journy by Land from Bender-Rik CHAP. IX Of the Voyage from Bender-Rik to Bassora THE day we arrived at Bender-Rik a Bark put out from thence in the Morning for Bassora and the same day two Barks came from Bassora Letters from the Basha of Bassora which brought Letters to the Governour from the Basha of that place wherein he prayed him to send him twelve Barks to fit out with Soldiers for his defence against seven Bashas who by orders from the Grand Signior were preparing to attack him because he had not obeyed some Orders from the Port. This was very unpleasant News to us nevertheless being resolved to go to Bassora whatever might happen we agreed with the Patron of a Bark to pay him fifteen Abassis for the passage of the Reverend Father Provincial my self and three servants but I must first describe the fashion of these Barks They are great Boats built much like the Germes of Egypt which have no Deck Barks of Bender-Regh and are round in the inside the Bark we went on Board of was above six Fathom long two Fathom broad and no less in depth there were two little Decks in the Stern which made two small Cabins one over another he that stood by the Helm was placed on the second the other which was the lower was no more but a Hurdle of Palm-Tree Branches laid upon sticks that went cross-ways and there was a Deck also in the Stem or Head the stern was higher than the Head but was made sharp as well as it the Mast was high and big the Yard uniform with a great Sail and on each side there were four Oars that is to say so many Poles with a board a Foot and a half long and half a Foot broad fastened with three Ropes to the end of each of them but it is chiefly to be observed that there is not a bit of Iron in these Barks the truth is They have not a bit of Iron ours had an Anchor of Iron but it was a thing extraordinary because commonly they are only of Wood. The Planks of the Barks are fastened together by small Cords that go through holes made in them and that they may hold sure and the Cords keep streight they drive little pegs of Wood into the
midnight we had a fresh Gale from North-West Monday Morning the twelfth of October the Wind slackned very much but changed not and therefore we weighed Anchor at half an hour after eight and standing away South-West we were soon after becalmed Towards Noon we Rowed a little and half an hour after had a breeze from South-West with which we bore away North-West till three in the Afternoon when we entered into the River Caron that comes from the Hills above the Town Souster Caron Souster Khusistan Susa Ahasuerus Coaspes Choasp Tiripari Zeimare which is the Capital Town of Khusistan and was in ancient times the Town of Susa where Ahasuerus held his Court. This River of Caron must be the Coaspes of the Ancients nay they assured me that there is still at present near to the Town of Souster a Hill called Choasp where the River of Caron which Sanson calls Tiripari Tiritiri and Zeimare hath its source but what reason he has for these names I cannot tell since no body could give me any account of them though I have enquired of many who all told me they knew of no such thing On the Right Hand to the West there is an Isle called Dorghestan and on the Left or towards the East Dorghestan Gheban is the Island of Gheban the point whereof is called Mouele and Gheban because all that Country is called Gheban and is the limits of the Kingdom of Bassora on that side In that place to the Left Hand there is a piece of of Palm-Tree-Wood fixed in the Ground to serve for a signal when it his high water not to go beyond it and they call that signal Dgioudoh The Land here on both sides depends on the Basha of Bassora The usual way to Bassora is by Sea to the mouth of Schat-el-Aarab The way to Bassora which they enter and go by water to Bassora but we put in to the River because our Sea-men who had nothing to do at Bassora being only come to take in Dates imposed upon us telling us that we must go to Gheban to take in fresh water and wood which we wanted and that it was also the shortest cut to Bassora but that great Barks went not that way because it was not deep enough which we too easily believed So soon as we were got into the River we came to Anchor in a Fathom water At low water the River at that place is but very little salt and a little higher it is fresh even when it is Flood Being Flood about midnight our men fell to their Oars but Rowed not above an hour and then came to an Anchor The Country about seems to be very good Land it is low even and green on all Hands and we saw many Cows there feeding in the Meadows which look much like the Meadows of Holland Tuesday the thirteenth of October about ten a Clock in the Morning our Sea-men went a shoar and Towed us up till one of the Clock when being over against a Village where there are a great many Palm-Trees we hoisted Sail with a North-West Wind that lasted not long and so came to an Anchor again Our men went a shoar to hear News as they said of Bassora and coming back in the Evening told us that all things were in confusion at Bassora that the Basha was marched with his whole Army towards Bagdad and that all Barks were taken up for Transporting of Soldiers and that therefore they durst go no farther but were resolved to return empty to Bender-Rik This was all false A cheat of the Sea-men and the truth was they had no mind to go any farther designing to take in their Cargoe at the place we were at where there is plenty of Dates and that was the reason they had brought us that way Nevertheless we must pretend to believe all the Knaves told us and try to find another Bark to carry us to Bassora We sent then a servant next day to look for one and he brought us a small thing wherein the men promised in four and twenty hours to carry us to the Town for six Abassis which we gave them These Barks are flat bottomed about a Fathom high one and a half broad and about five Fathom long The Stern is very low but the Head is as high again and draws into a sharp point as the Gondolos of Venice Barks on the River of Caron These Barks are not Caulked but only Pitched over on the outside which they do in the manner following When they are to Pitch a Daneg for so they call that sort of Bark in Arabick ten or twelve paces from the Daneg they make a Furnace of Earth the upper part whereof is made like a Cauldron into that they put the Pitch and the fire underneath and when the Pitch is almost melted but not altogether liquid a man comes with a little wet Shovel in his Hand and another lays some of this Pitch upon it The Pitching of a Daneg and then puts water upon the Pitch which the first carrying to the Daneg and stirring the Pitch with a piece of Wood to which it does not stick he that is working at the Daneg takes the Pitch in his Hand and dawbs it as one would do Plaster upon the Daneg and then with a Rowler which is not altogether round he spreads it upon the Vessel and in that manner Pitches it all over on the outside These Barks are made very strong the sides being about a Foot thick and all the Planks are Nailed with great Nails such as are driven into Gates in France they have likewise a Mast of an indifferent bigness Indeed these Barks make but heavy way especially in the middle of the water where they cannot use a Sail if they have not the Wind in Poop and nevertheless they load them so deep that they are not above half a Foot above water We embarked in one of these Boats about half an hour after three in the Afternoon it was full of a kind of very long green Rushes that have a great point at the end whereof they make very fine mats Our Crew consisted of two Sea-men and a Master the two men Towed us on Land till half an hour after six that we came before a Village to the Left Hand there we cast Anchor our Men unloaded all the Rushes and going afterwards to the Village we we saw no more of them till next day This is a great Village and has a square Castle with eight Towers to wit one at each corner and one in the middle of each side but they are all of Earth and so thin that a double Musket could batter them all down This place is called Koutmian Koutmian that is to say Castle Mian and they make many Danegs there The Country of Gheban reaches from thence to the mouth of the River of Caron and in all that space the Land on both sides the River is called Gheban it
is very good Soil and if Cultivated would produce any thing but is is neglected through the Laziness of the Inhabitants who content themselves with their Dates there being in that Country vast Woods of Palm-Trees We parted from Koutmian Thursday the fifteenth of October half an hour after eight in the Morning and at first put over to the other side of the River where our Men went a shoar to Towe us our course being due North-West At that place the River grows pretty broad and I think is as broad as the River of Seine at Paris and yet is very deep and makes many Islands About Eleven a Clock we stopt at a Village to the Left Hand on the water side from whence we parted at one of the Clock About half an hour after nine at night we saw to our Right Hand the end of the Isle Dorghestan Dorghestan Koutschemal which from thence reaches to the Sea. We stopped before a Castle called Koutschemal which stands on the main Land near the end of that Island and on the same Hand This is a very large Castle and the Basha of Bassora has a Palace in it which as I was told is very beautiful and as some say he keeps his Treasure there Over against this Castle but a little higher on the other side of the water there is another square Castle with a Tower at each Angle We parted from that place Friday the sixteenth of October at six of the Clock and having the Wind at South we made Sail and stood away North-West A quarter after eleven Kout-Muethel we passed by a square Castle called Kout-Muethel which was on our Left Hand and is flanked with eight Towers one at every corner and one in the middle of each side and near to it there is a little Canal A little farther we saw a Straw-House where Officers of the Customs live who did not visit us but only ordered our Master to carry us to the Custom House of Bassora Leaving then the River of Caron we entered into a Canal called Haffar Haffar which was to our Left Hand or to the South-West of us at that place it is not two Fathom over in other places it is less but towards the middle is very broad it hath been made for a Communication betwixt the River of Schat-El-Aarab and the Caron there is good Land on each side of that Canal but it is not Cultivated and bears only plenty of Date-Trees The Canal makes many turnings it is very deep and our Men shoved the Bark forwards with Poles Three quarters of an hour after Noon we saw a Canal to the Right Hand which loses it self in the Fields and a little after another to the Left that runs into the Caron near to Kout-Mnuethel as I said before and then our Men went on shoar to Towe us There the Canal of Haffar grows very broad and at the end is above seven or eight Fathom over About four a Clock we saw a Canal that spends it self in the Fields Half an hour after we passed betwixt two square Castles each of which have a Tower at every Angle and one in the middle of each side they are called Kout-Haffar Kout-Haffar because they lye at the end of the Canal Haffar that has its mouth to the South it is about six French Leagues from thence to Bassora and about twelve to the Sea. We then entered into the River made up of the Tygris and Euphrates joyned into one the Arabs call it Schat-El Aarab that is to say the River of Aarabs We turned then to the Right Hand and stood away North-West having to our Left the Isle Dgezirak-Chader Dgezirak-Chader and seeing we had a breeze of Wind from the South we spread our Sail. Half an hour after five in the Evening we saw to our Left the end of the Isle called Dgezirak-Chader which reaches from the Canal by which they go to Bahrem to the mouth of Schat-El-Aarab there are Palm-Trees yet their Soil is not good but from the Canal of Bahrem till over against or a little above the Canal Haffar for from thence to the Sea the Land is barren perhaps because it being very low the Sea overflows it at high water Next to the Islle Chader we saw on our Left Hand the Canal by which they go to Port Calif and Bahrem it runs towards the South and passes betwixt the Isle Chader and the main Land of Bassora it is very broad and has above eight Fathom water but there are great stones in some places of it From thence to Bassora the River is above twice and a half as broad as the Seine is at Paris and yet is very deep all over Three quarters after six we saw on our Right Hand the beginning of a long Island called Dgezirat-el-Bouarin and a little after we had on the same hand the Isle El-Bochasi Dgezirat-el-Bouarin El-Bochasi El-Fayadi and not long after the Isle El-Fayadi to the Left Hand These are all great Islands full of Palm-Trees and nevertheless the Channel is every where very deep and broad The Wind slackened so at this place that we scarcely made any way at all however we drew near to the shoar on the Left Hand or West side and about half an hour after eight our Men took their Oars and Rowed till three quarters after ten at night when we stopt close by the shoar before a Castle of the Bashas that seems to be very lovely it has many Pavillions all made into Windows and Porticos for taking the fresh Air in the Summer-time and indeed these Castles are only for pleasure for they could make no great defence We parted from that place Saturday the seventeenth of October at six a Clock in the Morning half an hour after we entered into a Canal to the Left Hand which runs South-West we had on our Left Hand a very spacious Castle pretty entire on the side of the Canal but all ruinous towards the Sea-side This Canal at high water is as broad as one half of the Seine but when the Tide is out it is but a sorry Brook full of Mud. The Town of Bassora lies on the two sides of this Canal though along the sides of it there be nothing to be seen but Gardens the Houses being backwards We came along that Canal till eight a Clock in the Morning when we arrived at the Custom-House which is almost at the bottom of it and having had our Goods viewed we went to Lodge with the Reverend Fathers the bare-footed Carmelites which is not far distant at that time there was but one Religious Italian there Arrival at Bassora called Father Severin With a good Wind they come often from Bender-Rik to Bassora in a days time From Bender-Rik to Bassora in a day though sometimes it makes a Voyage of three weeks We found no preparations for War at Bassora only the Basha of the place finding that the Basha of Bagdad suffered
they come no higher than Rousvania which is a Village at a little distance from Euphrates where the Goods are put a shoar and carried upon Camels to Bagdad and there embarked on the Tygris but small Barks can come from Bi r to Bassora down the River of Euphrates The Commodities of Persia may come by the Ports of Comron and Gongo The Indian Commodities may easily come by the Gulf of Persia as also those of the Red Sea and Arabia Foelix embarking them at the Port of Calif which is but only eight days Journy from Bassora and in that manner an exchange might be made of all Commodities from one Country to another which would bring infinite Riches to that place and though it be not so at present Great resort to Bassora yet many Vessels repair thither especially since the destruction of Ormus where heretofore all the Traffick of these Seas was managed Since that time many Vessels come to Bassora loaded with Indian Commodities and the time or Mouson as they call it Mouson when these Ships come is in the month of July and there they stay till the end of October when that is past they cannot get out of the River because of contrary Winds and exactly at that time the Mouson for going to the Indies begins which lasts till the beginning of May. When I came to Bassora there were fifteen great Vessels there belonging partly to the Dutch and partly to Mahometans which took in no Goods but Dates What is loaded at Bassora and of that Commodity they load so much that they furnish all the Indies and make great profit of them they carry off also some Horses and which is more a vast deal of ready mony for the Indies During the four months of the Mouson Bassora is full of strangers not only those that come by Sea from the Indies but also such as come from about Bagdad to buy Indian Commodities and therefore during that time the Houses are dearer than all the other eight months of the Year during which there are none there but the people of the Country For three months of the year to wit July August and September the heat is almost insupportable in that Town especially when the South-East Wind blows and this Year one thousand six hundred sixty and five in the month of July there died in Bassora of that Wind called Samiel which I have mentioned else where Samiel at Bassora four thousand people in three weeks time During these heats all lye upon their Terrasses without any apprehension of the malignity of the Air that is only bad then by the excess of heat which is so uneasie that they must have water every minute at their Mouths though that water be unwholesome too for though it be the same water of Schat-El-Aarab yet running in that narrow Canal through the Town it is very thick and full of Dirt and besides at low water there is none to be â—ad nothing remaining but a nasty Brook of Puddle so that there being a necessity of casting up Banks of Earth in several places to keep in the water in little Ponds where the water-carriers may have it at all times and most of the meaner sort of people doing their needs and washing their Cloaths in that Canal the water must needs be very impure and unwholesome Though there be plenty of Grapes about Bassora yet they make no Wine nor Brandy there Wine prohibited at Bassora both being forbidden under severe penalties The Basha hath suffered the Carmelites now and then to make some but they paid a round sum of mony for the permission and that was the reason why they made no more but have it brought from Schiras for saying of Mass and entertaining the Franks that Lodge with them when they pass that way Heretofore the Basha had a design to build the Town within the Precinct of the Castle which is upon the River at the end of the Canal but he was taken off that for fear the English and Dutch might batter it down with great Guns upon the least displeasure they met with it would certainly have stood better in that place not only for prospect and the benefit of the River-water but also because the Ships Anchor close by Bumps and Tumours a Disease at Bassora There is a Distemper at Bassora very common in the months of July August and September and that is a breaking out of certain hard Bumps or Tumours in the Groin Thighs Neck and many other parts of the Body which being cured in one part break out many times in another for my part considering the way how I was told that Disease seizes people I thought it might be a kind of Plague however they assured me that commonly no body died of it and yet most have it which they say is only caused by the abundance of Dates they eat in this Town especially the poor A month before I came to Bassora a Greek Captain died at the Carmelites of a Botch or Bump which after it was cured in his Thigh where first it broke out broke out again in his Throat where it grew so big inwards that at length it choaked him The Air dangerous when the heats are over When the great heats are over which is commonly about the end of September one must Cloath himself very warm for the Air then is dangerous and many are to be seen who have their Mouth all awry occasioned by sleeping abroad in the Air during that time from the end of October until January it is very cold in the Nights and Mornings but lasts no longer than till the Sun be two or three hours high Weights of Bassora Patman Aatari Kelle or Mekkes Mony of Bassora The weights of Bassora are the Patman which contains twelve Mans of Tauris the Aatari which is the third part of the Patman or four Mans of Tauris and the Kelle otherwise called Mekkes which contains eight and forty Oques The most esteemed mony at Bassora is the Venetian Chequin which is worth seven Abassis and a half but it is rare and is brought up at that rate by those who would Travel into the Indies or send mony thither they are also desirous of the Piastres or Ryals both old and new the old are worth three Abassis and a half and the new three Abassis The Piastre Aboquelle is also scarce and is worth fifteen Schais of Bassora the most current mony is the Persian piece of five Schais which is worth five Schais and a half of Bassora mony these Schais are little pieces of Silver very thin which are coined by the Basha of Bassora who Coins also pieces of two Schais Mangours and half Schais all of Silver he likewise Coins Mangours which are Copper-pieces of which thirty make a Schai and six of these Mangours make a Para five of which goes to a Schai they have also Copper-pieces that are worth three Mangours Basha
the Sultan or Governour of Bahrem fifteen Abassis a year The King of Persia's Right in the Pearls the King of Persia has not one penny of that Revenue for it all belongs to Mosques only all the Pearls that weigh a half Medical or more belong to him and nevertheless he makes a liberal Present to the Fisher-man that brings him such but also if any of them fail to do it and sell such a Pearl out of his Dominions were it even at the Worlds end the King is soon acquainted with it and to be revenged he puts to death the whole Family and all the Kindred of the Fisher-man even to the seventh Generation both Males and Females Every one of these Barks hath Men for Diving to the bottom of the Sea and picking up the Shell-Fish or Nacres and the rest serve to draw them up for all are not Divers The Barks go fifteen twenty or thirty Leagues off of Bahem along the Coast and when they are at a place where they think there may be good Fishing they come to an Anchor in five Fathom water and then two Divers make ready one on each side to go down for Nacres All their preparatives consist in stripping themselves naked and taking a piece of Horn cloven in the manner of a pair of Pincers as the Gentleman represented it to me which they always hang about their Necks by a piece of Pack thread before they jump into the water they put it upon their Nose like a pair of Spectacles and that keeps their Nostrils so close that the water cannot enter them nor can they fetch breath above water by the Nose neither Besides this accoutrement every Diver provides himself of a great stone which he fastens to a long Rope and of a Basket tied to another and puting the Rope to which the stone is tied betwixt the Toes of one of his Feet and taking the Basket in his Hand he leaves the ends of the two Ropes on Board and Dives into the Sea. The stone carries him immediately to the bottom where being come he casts loose the Rope of the stone from his Foot which they on Board pull up and without losiing time he quickly picks up all the Nacres he sees and puts them in his Basket and when it is full comes up again The rest hall up the Basket whilst he takes a little breath and smoaks a Pipe of Tobacco and having done so he returns again to the bottom in the same manner coming and going so from eight a Clock in the Morning till Eleven Then he goes to Dinner with his comrades and feeds on Pilau and Dates which are their common Food and about Noon he goes a Diving again and continues at work till three a Clock but no longer because the water is then too cold When they have got on Board a good quantity of these Nacres they unload them upon some bank of Sand and there open them every one having an Iron Instrument purposely for that the Master of the Bark in the mean time never taking his Eyes off of them least they might purloin a Pearl for if they be not carefully lookt to they will cunningly whip them into their Mouth as soon as they have opened the Nacre Now if the Master made them open them on Board it would be worse still for if any of them found a fair Pearl he would nimbly throw the Nacre down into the hold without being perceived and when the Bark were to be made clean he would not fail to be Swabber and throwing all the Shells and Fish into the Sea for they know not what it is to make any Works of Mother of Pearl he would hide the Pearls he had thrown down and then go sell them for a small matter in the Town and which would be worst of all he would Work no more after because when these Blades have once got at little mony by such means it is not possible to make them Fish any more so long as it lasts The Revenue of the Basha of Bassora But to return to the Basha of Baslora he has a considerable Revenue and I have been assured that it amounts to no less than eight hundred thousand Piastres though in exacting it he be a little Tyrannical The Custom-house of Bassora yields him a great deal and he lets it not out to Farm as is usual in other places but entertains a Customer or Schah Bender as they call him who has a Salary from him and is accountable for all he receives Besides he has from every Palm-Tree half a Schai a year and that branch of his Revenue he lets out to a Man who yearly pays him for it fifty thousand Piastres He gets moreover a great deal of the Persians who go every year to Mecha Pilgrims of Mecha for all of them pass by Bassora and the Basha sells them the Camels they stand in need of at what price he pleases besides they give him thirty five Chequins a Head for which he sends with them a Guard of three hundred Troopers to wait upon them to Mecha and back again to Bassora These Pilgrims willingly pay the mony to be secured from the Arabian Robbers In five and twenty days time they go from Bassora to Mecha and when they are come back the Basha buys their Camels at an easie rate and sells them Horses very dear to carry them home he takes the same course with the Merchants who during the Mouson buy Horses from him to be Transported they must buy them at what price he pleases to demand if they would have them because it is Prohibited that any man whosoever sell Horses during that time nor dare they sell at any other time without a Licence from him which is never obtained without a Present Indeed last year the Basha of Bagdad did him a bad and un-neighbourly Office for by Letters he invited the Persians that intended to go to Mecha to come and pass by Bagdad promising to give them safe Conduct for twenty Chequins a Man so that most part to save fifteen Chequins went by Bagdad and a very few came by Bassora This is the Road from Bassora to Mecha which the Pilgrims commonly take The Road from Bassora to Mecha They set out from Bassora by the East Gate and go to Dgiam-Hali three Agatsch from Bassora where there is bitter water in the Ditch of a Castle that stands in that place where heretofore the Town of Bassora was built the way to it from Bassora is by a Causey which hath salt-water on each side They go from thence to Dgebel-Senan five Agatsch off where there is fresh-water from Dgebel-Senan to Tscha-Haffer where they find a Well of indifferent good water and that is six Agatsch Journy In this place they make Provision of water for seven days Travelling in all which way there is neither water nor Habitation to be found Having Travelled seven days they find a Well of good water where
Captain making use of the occasion failed not to tell the Merchants who waited for our Ship that she would not come this year which they believed to be true and went aboard with their mony on his Ship. All this proceeded from the fault of the Vikil that stayed behind at Bassora who detained the Ship in the Harbour a Fortnight longer than he should have done to get on Board some Goods which payed not above an hundred Piastres Freight and in the mean while he lost the Freight of a great deal of Goods and Mony and of many Passengers that were at Carek Congo and Comoron who embarked in the Ships which touched at these Ports before us When we had put a shoar all the Goods and the Man who was to take care of them we weighed Anchor three quarters of an hour after seven making all the Sail we could and Steering away South South-East with a very easie Wind about ten a Clock we were becalmed till midnight when there blew a little Gale at East but as easie as the former and with it we bore away South Next day about two or three a Clock in the morning we Sailed by the Isle of Rischer which was to our Larboard This Island is very near the main Land and makes a little Port which is called Bender-Rischer a days Journy from Bender-Regh and there is a Fort on it which belonged formerly to the Portuguese At break of day we made two Ships on Head of us one of which had put out from Carek five days before us Half an hour after seven we were off of the Isle of Coucher Coucher that was to our Larboard and is a pretty big Island At eight a Clock we got a Head of one of the Ships that had been before us the other which was at some distance put us into some apprehension for a few hours time for by his manner of working he gave us cause to think that he had a mind to be up with us and we were affraid he might be a Corsair but at length he Steered the same Course that we did About ten a Clock we were becalmed Three quarters after twelve the Wind being Southerly we Steered away East A quarter after two we Steered South-East Three quarters after three a Clock the Wind chopping about to South-West we stood away South South-East And thus the Wind being but very easie did nothing but chop and change until the evening that we were becalmed Wednesday the eighteenth of November towards day having an easie Gale from East South-East we Steered our Course South South-West about half an hour after nine it blowing hard from South we bore away West South-West About three quarters of an hour after ten the Wind turned South South-East and we Steered East Half an hour after noon the Wind slackened much and about five a Clock in the evening we were becalmed About half an hour after nine we made a Sail to the Windward of us and another on Head but a great way before us we cast the Lead and found seventeen Fathom water At ten a Clock at night the Wind turned East South-East and blew pretty hard and we Steered away South South-West finding only thirteen Fathom water when we heaved the Lead After midnight we past Cape Verdestan which was to our Larboard This is a very dangerous Cape and one night several Portuguese Ships being Land-lockt there when they thought themselves far enough off of it were cast away We Sailed within three or four Leagues of it and when it was day saw it a Stern of us About half an hour after nine the Wind turned South South-East and we Steered East About noon we saw several Taranquins Half an hour after one the Wind turned South South-West and we bore away South-East We were then off and on Cape Naban to our Larboard Cape Naban and made it but very dimly but coming up more and more towards it we made it very plain and saw along the Sea-side Rocky Hills which seemed to be very steep and at the foot of them a great many Palm-Trees We continued our Course off and on with these Rocks till five a Clock that we saw the end of them at least in this place they run far up into the Land and leave a very level Coast in this low Country is the Village called Naban which gives the name to the Cape Here we cast the Lead and found only seven Fathom water there is but little water all along that Coast and therefore we presently tackt and stood off to the West about ten a Clock at night the Wind turned North-East and we Steered away South South-East Friday the twentieth of November by break of day we made the three Ships that put out the same day with us from Bassora two of which were at a pretty good distance to the Starboard and the other very near a Head of us it was this last which some days before we had taken for a Corsair we made also to our Larboard the Land of Persia but at a great distance A quarter after nine a Clock in the morning having a very easie Gale from North North-West we put out our Main and Fore-Top-Galant-Sail and kept on our Course South South-East in a short time we left all the other Ships a Stern About noon the Wind blew much fresher and about three a Clock we stood away East South-East about five a Clock we took in our Top-Galant-Sails the Mizan and Mizan-Top-Sails because it would have been dangerous to have made so much way in the night-time that was now coming on for we might have run within Land considering that the Wind freshened more and more and we bore away South South-East that we might keep without the Isle of Lara If it had been day we would have Steered our Course betwixt the main Land and that Island but we durst not venture it in the night-time being safer to leave it to the Larboard we made account to have Sailed by that Island about midnight but we saw it not though we had all along light enough to discern a little of the main Land near to which it lyes We concluded then that we had past that Isle of Lara in the night-time but next day we found that we were out in our reckoning Nevertheless seeing we did not find out our mistake till after noon about six a Clock in the morning we Steered away East bearing in towards the Land for fear we might be cast too far to the Leeward of Congo About half an hour after six our Long-Boat that was fastened to the Stern filled full of water and sunk under the surface of the Sea we presently furled all Sails but the Sprit-Sail and three Seamen swam to the Boat to fasten another Rope to it which they held by the end then they went into it and we halled it to the Leeward side of the Ship and took out a little Anchor that was in her this being done our
those Spouts not that I thought the danger so very great being they were to the Leeward of us and in reality they wrought more admiration than fear in me Nevertheless there was a great consternation amongst our Company all Hands were at work and our Franks kept a heavy stir calling and asking whether any one had the Gospel of St. John they addressed themselves to me and I told them that I was a saying it and whilst they prayed me to continue one of them brought a Knife with a black handle asking if any body knew how to cut the Spouts I made answer that I had been informed of the way that some used to cut them but that I would not put it in practise because it was a bad and unlawful superstition he objected that the Spouts were so near that they would quickly fall upon the Ship and infallibly sink her and that if he knew the secret he would do it I endeavoured to reassure him and the rest from the fear which made him speak so telling them that the Spouts being to the Leeward there was not so much danger as they imagined And in short to put that thought quite out of their Heads I plainly told them that I neither would do that superstitious Art my self nor teach any body else how to do it and that for the Gospel of St. John I should willingly persist in saying it because it was a good and lawful means to procure protection from God Almighty And indeed I forbore not to say it till all the Spouts were dispersed which was not before one a Clock after noon or thereabouts A B C D E F G H I At length seeing the Air on all Hands full of tempestuous Clouds he ordered the Ships Head to be turned North-West which was very hard to be done for the Sea hindered the Ship from coming about though the Wind was then at East and we stood in to Quesomo near which about a quarter after two we came to an Anchor in seven and twenty Fathom water to the South of that Island so that we put back again above a League Then the Pilot was for bringing the Yards by the Board and lowering the Main-Top and Fore-Top-Masts fearing they might be damaged by the storm but the Captain would not give way to it During the rest of the day we had many flurries with continual showers of Rain but whilst these are blowing over I will enlarge a little in the description of the Spouts which I have only occasionally mentioned I am apt to believe that few have considered Spouts with so much attention A description of Spouts as I did those I have been speaking of and perhaps no man hath made the Observations which chance gave me the occasion of making I shall here give an account of them with that plainness I profess in the Relation of all my Travels thereby to render things mere sensible and easie to be comprehended The first we saw was to the Northward betwixt us and the Isle of Quesomo about a Musket shot from the Ship we were then Steering North-East The first thing we perceived in that place was the water boyling up about a Foot high above the surface of the Sea it looked whitish and over it there appeared somewhat like a blackish smoak but not very thick so that the whole looked very like a bundle of straw set on fire but only as yet smoaking see the Figure A this made a dull noise like to a Torrent running impetuously in a deep Valley but it was mingled with another somewhat more distinct noise resembling the loud hissing of Serpents or Geese A little after we saw as it were a dark puff of steam much like to a smoak which turning very fast tapers up to the Clouds and this puff seemed to be a Pipe as big as ones Finger see the Figure B the same noise still continuing Then the light put it out of our sight and we knew that that Spout was spent because the water boyled no more up so that it lasted not above half a quarter of an hour This being spent we saw another Southward of us which began in the same manner as the former did presently after there appeared another by the side of this Westward and then a third by the side of the second The most remote of the three might have been somewhat more than a Musket shot distant from us and all the three appeared like so many bundles of Straw a Foot and a half or two Foot high that yielded a great deal of smoak see the Figure A and made the very same noise that the first did Afterward we saw so many Pipes reaching down from the Clouds upon the places where the water bubbled and every one of these Pipes at the end which joyned to the Cloud was as large as the wide end of a Trumpet and resembled that I may explain my self intelligibly the Teat or Dug of a Beast streatched perpendicularly downwards by some weight see the Figure C. These Channels or Pipes seemed to be of a paleish white and I believe it was the water in these transparent Pipes which made them look white for in all appearance they were already formed before the water was suckt up in them as may be judged by what follows and when they were empty they appeared not in the same manner as a Glass-Pipe that is very clear being set in the light at some distance from our Eyes appears not unless it be full of some coloured liquor These Pipes were not streight but in some places crooked see the Figure D neither were they perpendicular on the contrary from the Clouds into which they seemed to be inserted to the places where they drew up the water they sloaped very Obliquely as you may see by the Figure D and what is more singular the Cloud to which the second of these three was fastened having been driven by the Wind the Pipe followed it without breaking or leaving the place where it drew up the water and passing behind the Pipe of the first they made for sometime a Saltier or the Figure of St. Andrews Cross see the Figure E in the beginning they were all three as big as ones Finger as I have already observed but in the progress the first of the three swelled to a considerable bigness I can say nothing of the other two for the last that was formed was almost as soon spent that to the South continued about a quarter of an hour but the first on the same side lasted somewhat longer and was that which put us into the greatest fear and whereof I have still somewhat more to say at first the Pipe of it was as big as ones Finger then it swelled as big as a mans Arm after that as big as ones Leg and at length as big as the Trunk of a good Tree as much as a Man can Fathom about see the Figure F. We could plainly see through that
chief Dome is pretty enough and being accompanied with several little ones and two Minarets the whole together looks very pleasant all that pile is supported by forty four Pillars placed two and two and the Pavement is of Marble The Chair of the Imam is there as in other Mosques but besides that in a corner to the Right hand there is a large Jube resting upon two and fourty Pillars eight Foot high apiece which must only have been built to hide the Women that go to the Mosque for that Jube is closed up as high as the Sealing with a kind of Pannels of Plaster with holes through and there I saw above two hundred Faquirs who held their Arms cross ways behind their Head without the least stirring Amedabad being inhabited also by a great number of Heathens there are Pagods Santidas Pagod The Ceremonie of King Auranzeb for converting a Pagod into a Mosque or Idol-Temples in it That which was called the Pagod of Santidas was the chief before Auranzeb converted it into a Mosque When he performed that Ceremonie he caused a Cow to be killed in the place knowing very well that after such an Action the Gentiles according to their Law could worship no more therein All round the Temple there is a Cloyster furnished with lovely Cells beautified with Figures of Marble in relief representing naked Women sitting after the Oriental fashion The inside Roof of the Mosque is pretty enough and the Walls are full of the Figures of Men and Beasts but Auranzeb who hath always made a shew of an affected Devotion which at length raised him to the Throne caused the Noses of all these Figures which added a great deal of Magnificence to that Mosque to be beat off Chaalem a Burying place The Chaalem is still to be seen in Amedabad it is the Sepulchre of a vastly rich Man whom the Indians report to have been a Magician and the Mahometans believe to be a great Saint so that it is daily visited by a great many out of Devotion It is a square pile of Building having on each side seven little Domes which set off a great one in the middle and the entry into that place is by seven Ports which take up the whole front Within this Building there is another in form of a Chappel which is also square when one is within the first which is paved with Marble one may walk round the Chappel that hath two Doors of Marble adorned with Mother of Pearl and little pieces of Chrystal The Windows are shut with Copper Lattices cut into various Figures The Tomb of the Mock-Saint which is in the middle of the Chappel is a kind of a Bed covered with Cloath of Gold the Posts whereof are of the same materials as the Doors of the Chappel are and have the same Ornament of Mother of Pearls and over all there are six or seven Silken Canopy's one over another and all of different colours The place is very much frequented and is continually full of white Flowers brought thither by the Devout Mahometans when they come to say their Prayers A great many Estrige-Eggs and hanging Lamps are always to be seen there also On the other side of the Court there is a like Building where some other Saints of theirs are Interred and not many steps farther a Mosque with a large Porch supported by Pillars with many Chambers and other Lodgings for the Poor and to compleat all there is a spacious Garden at the backside of the Mosque There are many Gardens in Amedabad and are so full of Trees that when one looks upon that Town from a high place it seems to be a Forrest of green Trees most of the Houses being hid by them and the Kings Garden which is without the Town and by the River-side contains all the kinds that grow in the Indies There are long Walks of Trees planted in a streight line which resemble the Cours de la Reine at Paris It is very spacious A spacious Garden or rather it is made up of a great many Gardens raised Amphitheatre-wise and in the uppermost there is a Terrass-Walk from whence one may see Villages at several Leagues distance This Garden being of a very great extent its long Walks yielded a very agreeable Prospect They have in the middle Beds of Flowers which are not above a Fathom and a half in breadth but which reaches from one end of the Garden to the other In the Centre of four Walks which makes a Cross there is a Pavillion covered with green Tiles Thither go all the young People of the Town to take the fresh Air upon the Banks of a Bason full of Water underneath The Sepulchre of a King of Guzerat at Amedabad Going thither we saw a pile of Building where a King of Guzerat lies Interred It is a square Fabrick and in the Opinion of the Indians the Magicians and Sorcerers entertain the Devil there It is covered with a great Dome having five smaller ones on each side and on each front of the Building there are Pillars which support these Domes Some Streets from thence there is to be seen a Sepulchre The Sepulchre of a Cow. where a Cow is interred under a Dome standing upon six Pillars They would have me go next to Serquech Serquech which is a small Town about a League and a half from the City The Indians say that in ancient times that place was the Capital of Guzerat because of the vast number of Tombs of Kings and Princes that are there but it is far more probable that that place was only destin'd for their Burying and that Amedabad hath always been the Capital I observ'd there a Building much of the same structure as that of Chaalem It hath the same Ornaments and is dedicated also to one of their Saints and all the difference is that this has thirteen Domes on each side and the Dome which covers the Chappel is painted and guilt in the inside Opposite to this Fabrick there is another like to it and dedicated also to a Saint Near to these Sepulchres I saw a Mosque like to that which I viewed at Amedabad and the only difference is that it is less It hath adjoyning to it a great Tanquies or Reservatory in the Chappels on the sides whereof are the Tombs of the Kings Queens Princes and Princesses of Guzerat to which they descend by several Steps of very lovely Stones Sepulchres of the Kings and Princes of Guzerat They are all of good solid work whereby it sufficiently appears that they have been made for Kings and Princes but they are framed according to the same Model They consist commonly of a large square Building that hath three great Arches on each Front and over them a great many little ones There is a large Dome in the middle and a great many little ones in the sides and in every corner a Tower with a little pair of Stairs in the thickness
of Marble The Sepulchre of the Governour of the King of Guzerat which a King of Guzerat raised in Honour of his Governour whom he loved exceedingly but it is kept in bad repair It contains three Courts in one of which are several Pillars of Porphyrie that still remain of a greater number There are many Sepulchres of Princes there also An Hospital for sick Beasts Heretofore there was in Combaye an Hospital for Sick Beasts but it hath been neglected and is now fallen to ruin The Suburbs are almost as big as the Town and they make Indigo there Indigo at Cambaye The Sea is half a League distant from it though heretofore it came up to the Town and that has lessened the trade of the place because great Ships can come no nearer than three or four Leagues The Tides are so swift to the North of the Gulph that a Man on Horse-back at full speed cannot keep pace with the first Waves and this violence of the Sea is one reason also why great Ships go but seldom thither The Dutch come not there but about the end of September because along the Coast of India that looks to Arabia and especially in this Gulf of Cambaye it is so bad for Ships in the beginning of this Month by reason of a violent West-wind that blows then and which is always accompanied with thick Clouds which they call Elephants because of their shape that it is almost impossible to avoid being cast away Having satisfied my curiosity as to what is remarkable in Cambaye Ways to return to Surrat I took leave of my Friends and there being several ways to go from thence to Surrat I advised which I had best to take One may go by Sea in four and twenty hours Almedie in an Almadie which is a kind of Brigantine used by the Portuguese for Trading along that Coast But these Vessels go not commonly but in the night-time that they might not be discovered by the Malabars The Gulf of Cambaye dangerous In the day-time they keep in Harbours and in the evening the Master goes up to some height to discover if there be any Malabar Barks at Sea. The Almadies Sail so fast that the Malabars cannot come up with them but they endeavour to surprise them and when they discover any one in a Harbour Malabar Gorsars they skulk behind some Rock and fall upon it in its passage Many of these Almadies are lost in the Gulf of Cambaye where the Tides are troublesome and the Banks numerous and that 's one reason why Men venture not to go to Surrat this way by Sea unless extraordinary business press them There is another way still by Sea which is to pass through the bottom of the Gulf in a Chariot over against Cambaye at low Water and one must go three Leagues and a half in Water which then is betwixt two and three foot deep But I was told that the Waves beat so rudely sometimes against the Chariot that it required a great many hands to keep it from falling and that some mischance always happened which hindred me from undertaking that course though I knew very well that when I was past it I had no more but eight and twenty Leagues to Surrat And therefore I chose rather to go by Land what danger soever there might be of Robbers as I was assured there was When my Friends found I was resolved to go that way they advised me for my security to take a Tcheron with a Woman of his Caste or tribe Tcheron to wait upon me till I were out of danger but I refused to do it and found by the success that I had reason to do as I did These Tcherons are a Caste of Gentiles who are highly esteemed amongst the Idolaters They live for most part at Baroche Cambaye and Amedabad If one have any of these with him he thinks himself safe because the Man acquaints the Robbers they meet that the Traveller is under his guard and that if they come near him he will cut his own Throat and the Woman threatens them that she 'l cut off one of her Breasts with a Razor which she shews them and all the Heathen of those places look upon it to be a great misfortune to be the cause of the death of a Tcheran because ever after the guilty person is an eye-sore to the whole tribe he is turned out of it and for his whole life-time after upbraided with the death of that Gentil Heretofore some Tcherons both Men and Women have killed themselves upon such occasions but that has not been seen of a long time and at present they say they compound with the Robbers for a certain Sum which the Traveller gives them and that many times they divide it with them The Banians make use of these People and I was told that if I would employ them I might be served for two Roupies a day Nevertheless I would not do it as looking upon it to be too low a kind of Protection So then I ordered my Coach-man to drive me the same way I came and to return to Souzentra that I might go to Surrat by the ordinary way though the compass he fetched made my Journey longer by seven Leagues and a half For all the caution I could use my men lost their way beyond Petnad and we found our selves at the Village of Bilpar the inhabitants wherof who are called Gratiates Gratiates are for the most part all Robbers I met with one of them towards a little Town named Selly he was a fellow in very bad cloaths carrying a Sword upon his Shoulder he called to the Coach-man to stop and a Boy about Nine or Ten years old that was with him ran before the Oxen My Men presently offered them a Pecha which is worth about ten French Deniers and prayed the little Boy to be gone but he would not till the Coach-man growing more obstinate obliged the Man to accept of the Pecha These Blades go sometimes in whole troops and one of them being satisfied others come after upon the same Road who must also be contented though they seldom use violence for fear of offending their Raja I wondered how that Gratiate being alone durst venture to set upon so many but the Coach-man told me that if the least injury had been offered to him he would have given the alarm by knocking with his Fingers upon his Mouth and that presently he would have been assisted by his Neighbours In the mean time this small rancounter convinced me that there was not so great danger upon the Roads as some would have made me believe We found our way again shortly after We then crossed the River of Mahy Mahy a River The Raja of the Gratiates makes good Robberies and coming out of it I gave half a Roupie to the same Gratiates whom I payed as I went to Amedabad The role belongs to the Raja of the Country who
had carried with her a great deal of Money Jewels and rich Stuffs to make Presents at Mecha Medina Grand Cheik and other places resolving to be very magnificent In fine Hugo having sufficiently tortured the Master Carpenter and the Carpenters Son whom he threatned to kill in his Fathers presence made them bring out what was in the Sea and seized it as he did the rest of the Cargoe This Action had made so much noise in the Indies that Hugo who was there taken for a French-man was abominated and by consequenee all French-men for his sake The Governour talked high of that Corsar to Father Ambrose who had much adoe to perswade him that he was not a French-man because he came with French Colours and for certain had a great many Frenchmen on Board However after much Discourse he believed him but for all that excused not the French from the Action wherein they had assisted him and still maintained that nothing but a design of Robbing had brought them into that Countrey The Father denied that it was their design but that they only came with Lambert Hugo to revenge an affront done to some French in Aden a Town of Arabia the Happy Aden lying in the eleventh Degree of Latitude and thereupon he told him what was done in that Town to the French some years before How that a Pinnace of Monsieur de la Meilleraye being obliged in a storm to separate from her Man of War and to put into Aden The Sunnis by force and unparalell'd impietie had caused all those that came ashore to be Circumcised though at first they received them well and promised to treat them as Friends That notwithstanding that the King of France as well as the Indians had disapproved the Action of the Corsar and French who were on Board of him because they had put his Subjects into bad Reputation by the Artifice of the Enemies of France but that he was resolved to dispell that bad Reputation by settling a Company to trade to the Indies with express Orders to exercise no Acts of Hostility there The French justified by Father Ambrose The Governour being satisfied with the Answer of Father Ambrose prayed him to write down in the Persian Language all that he had told him and so soon as he had done so he sent it to Court. The Great Mogul having had it read to him in the Divan was fully satisfied therewith as well as his Ministers of State and then all desired the coming of the French Ships The truth is that Governour shewed extrordinary kindness to the Sieurs de la Boullaye and Beber Envoys from the French Company the Companies Envoys and told them that on the Testimony of Father Ambrose he would do them all the service he could The English President an old Friend of that Fathers shewed them also all the Honour he could having sent his Coach and Servants to receive them and he assured the Father that they might command any thing he had Thus the Capucin by the Credit that he had acquired in the Indies dispersed the bad reports which the Enemies of France had raised against the French. CHAP. XII Of the Marriage of the Governour of the Town 's Daughter The marriage of a great Lord at Surrat WHil'st I was at Surrat the Governour of the Town married his Daughter to the Son of an Omra who came thither for that end That young Lord made his Trumpets Tymbals and Drums play publickly during the space of twelve or fourteen days to entertain the People and publish his Marriage upon a Wednesday which was appointed for the Ceremony of the Wedding The Ceremonies of the Wedding he made the usual Cavalcade about eight of the Clock at Night first marched his Standards which were followed by several hundreds of Men carrying Torches and these Torches were made of Bambous or Canes at the end whereof there was an Iron Candlestick containing Rolls of oyled Cloath made like Sausages Amongst these Torch-lights there were two hundred Men and Women little Boys and little Girls who had each of them upon their Head a little Hurdle of Ozier-Twigs The Cavalcade of the Wedding on which were five little Earthen Cruces that served for Candlesticks to so many Wax-Candles and all these People were accompanied with a great many others some carrying in Baskets Rolls of Cloath and Oyl to supply the Flamboys and others Candles The Trumpets came after the Flamboy-carriers and these were followed by publick Dancing-women sitting in two Machins made like Bedstids without Posts in the manner of Palanquins which several Men carried on their Shoulders They sung and play'd on their Cymbals intermingled with Plates and flat thin pieces of Copper which they struck one against another and made a very clear sound but unpleasant if compared with the sound of our Instruments Next came six pretty handsome led Horses with Cloath-Saddles wrought with Gold-thread The Bridegroom having his Face covered with a Gold-Fringe which hung down from a kind of Mitre that he wore on his Head followed on Horse-back and after came twelve Horse-men who had behind them two great Elephants and two Camels which carried each two Men playing on Tymbals and besides these Men each Elephant had his Guide sitting upon his Neck This Cavalcade having for the space of two hours marched through the Town passed at length before the Governours House where they continued as they had done all along the Streets where the Cavalcade went to throw Fire-works for some time and then the Bridegroom retired Sometime after Bonefires Bonefires prepared on the River-side before the Governours House were kindled and on the Water before the Castle there were six Barks full of Lamps burning in tires about half an hour after ten these Barks drew near the House the better to light the River And at the same time on the side of Renelle Renelle a Town there were Men that put Candles upon the Water which floating gently without going out were by an Ebbing-Tide carried towards the Sea. Renelle is an old Town about a quarter of a League distant from Surrat It stands on the other side of the Tapty and though it daily fall into ruin yet the Dutch have a very good Magazin there There were five little artificial Towers upon the Water-side full of Fire-lances and Squibs which were set on fire one after another but seeing the Indian Squibs make no noise no more than their Fire-lances all they did was to turn violently about and dart a great many streaks of Fire into the Air some streight up like Water-works and others obliquely representing the branches of a Tree of Fire They put fire next to a Machine which seemed to be a blew Tree when it was on fire because there was a great deal of Brimstone in the Fire-work After that upon a long Bar of Iron fixed in the ground they placed a great many artificial Wheels which play'd one after
are above four Foot Diametre and hard by there is a kind of Mahometan Chappel This Tanquie was made at the charges of a rich Banian named Gopy Gopy who built it for the publick and heretofore all the Water that was drank in Surrat came from this Reservatory for the five Wells which at present supply the whole Town were not found out till long after it was built It was begun at the same time the Castle was and they say that the one cost as much as the other It is certainly a Work worthy of a King and it may be compared to the fairest that the Romans ever made for publick benefit But seeing the Levantines let all things go to ruine for want of repair it was above six Foot filled with Earth when I saw it and in danger sometime or other to be wholly choaked up if some Charitable Banian be not at the charge of having it cleansed Having viewed that lovely Reservatory The Princesses Garden we went a quarter of a League farther to see the Princesses Garden so called because it belongs to the Great Moguls Sister It is a great Plot of Trees of several kinds as Manguiers Palms Mirabolans Wars Maisa-trees and many other planted in a streight line Amongst the Shrubs I saw the Querzehere or Aacla of which I have treated at large in my Second Part and also the Accaria of Egypt There are in it a great many very fair streight Walks and especially the four wich make a Cross over the Garden and have in the middle a small Canal of Water that is drawn by Oxen out of a Well In the middle of the Garden there is a Building with four Fronts each whereof hath its Divan with a Closet at each corner and before every one of these Divans there is a square Bason full of Water from whence flow the little Brooks which run through the chief Walks After all though that Garden be well contriv'd it is nothing to the gallantry of ours There is nothing to be seen of our Arbours Borders of Flowers nor of the exactness of their Compartments and far less of their Water-works About an hundred or an hundred and fifty Paces from that Garden The War-tree we saw the War-tree in its full extent It is likewise called Ber and the Tree of Banians as also the Tree of Roots because of the facility wherewith the branches that bear large Filaments take Rooting and by consequence produce other branches insomuch that one single Tree is sufficient to fill a great spot of Ground and this I speak of is very large and high affording a most spacious shade It s circuit is round and is fourscore Paces in Diametre which make above thirthy Fathom The Branches that had irregularly taken Root have been so skilfully cut that at present one may without any trouble walk about every where under it The Gentils of India look upon that Tree as Sacred A Sacred Tree and we might easily perceive that at a distance by the Banners which the Banians had planted on the top and highest Branches of it It hath by it a Pagod dedicated to an Idol which they call Mameva and they who are not of their Religion believe it to be a representation of Eve. We found a Bramen sitting there who put some Red Colour upon the Foreheads of those who come to pay their Devotions and received the Presents of Rice or Cocos that they offered him That Pagod is built under the Tree in form of a Grot the outside is painted with diverse Figures representing the Fables of their false Gods and in the Grot there is a Head all over Red. Charity towards Ants. In that place I saw a Man very charitable towards the Ants He carried Flower in a Sack to be distributed amongst them and left a handful every where where he met with any number Whilst we were abroad in the Fields we considered the Soyl of Surrat it is of a very brown Earth and they assured us that it was so very rich that they never dunged it After the Rains they sow their Corn that is after the Month of September and they cut it down after February They plant Sugar-Canes there also Sugar Canes and the way of planting them is to make great Furrows wherein before they lay the Canes they put a great many of the little Fish called Gudgeons Whether these Fish serve to fatten the Earth or that they add some qualitie to the Cane the Indians pretend that without that Manure the Canes would produce nothing that 's good They lay their pieces of Canes over these Fish end to end and from every joint of Cane so interred their Springs a Sugar-cane which they reap in their season The Soyl about Surrat is good for Rice also and there is a great deal sown Manguiers and Palm-trees of all kinds and other sorts of Trees thrive well there and yield great profit The Dutch water their Ground with Well-Water which is drawn by Oxen after the manner described in my Second Part but the Corn-land is never watered because the Dew that falls plentifully in the Mornings is sufficient for it The River of Tapty The River of Tapty is always brackish at Surrat and therefore the Inhabitants make no use of it neither for Drink nor Watering of their Grounds but only for washing their Bodies which they do every Morning as all the other Indians do They make use of Well-water to drink and it is brought in Borrachoes upon Oxen. This River of it self is but little for at High-water it is no broader than half of the River of Seine at Paris Nevertheless it swells so in the Winter-time by the Rain-water that it furiously overflows and makes great havock It has its source in a place called Gehar-Conde in the Mountains of Decan ten Leagues from Brampour It passes by that Town and before it discharge it self into the Sea it Waters several Countries and washes many Towns as last of all it does Surrat At low Water it runs to the Bar but when it flows the Sea commonly advances two Leagues over that Bar and so receives the Water of the Tapty CHAP. XV. The Port of Surrat The Port of Surrat THe Bar of Surrat where Ships come at present is not its true Port at best it can be called but a Road and I had reason to say in the beginning of this Book that it is called the Bar because of the Banks of Sand which hinder Ships from coming farther in The truth is there is so little Water there that though the Vessels be unloaded the ordinary Tides are not sufficient to bring them up and they are obliged to wait a Spring-tide but then they come up to Surrat especially when they want to be careen'd Small Barks come easily up to the Town with the least Tides The true Port of Surrat is Soualy two Leagues from the Bar. Soualy It is distant from the Town
followers who have all their subsistence from it Some affirm that there are twenty five thousand Christian Families in Agra but all do not agree in that This indeed is certain Christians at Agra that there are few Heathen and Parsis in respect of Mahometans there and these surpass all the other Sects in power as they do in number Dutch Factory at Agra The Dutch have a Factory in the Town but the English have none now because it did not turn to account The Officers are the same as at Surrat and do the same Duties and it is just so in all the great Towns of the Empire We told you that the Foursdar or Prevost is to answer for all the Robberies committed in the Country And that was the reason why Mr. Beber one of the Envoys to the great Mogul for the concerns of the East-India Company in France Mr. Beber Robbed having been Robbed demanded from that Officer of Agra the Sum of thirty one thousand two hundred Roupies which he affirmed were taken from him That Sum astonished the Foursdar who told him that he did not believe he had lost so much and because the Envoy made Answer that the sum would certainly encrease if he delayed to pay down the Money and if he gave him time to call to mind a great many things which he had forgot He wrote to the Great Mogul and informed him that it was impossible that that Envoy could have lost so great a Sum. Monsieur Beber had also made his addresses at Court but it being pretty difficult to give an equitable sentence in the Case the King that he might make an end of it commanded the Foursdar to pay the Envoy fifteen thousand Roupies Liberality of the Great Mogul and because he was wounded when he was Robbed he ordered him out of his Exchequer ten thousand Roupies for his Blood. CHAP. XX. Of the Habits at Agra Habits at Agra FOr so many different Nations as are at Agra as well as in the rest of the Indies there is pretty great uniformity in the manner of apparel and none but the Mahometans called Moors by the Portuguese Moors distinguish themselves outwardly by a particular kind of Coif or head-attire but in all things else Breeches they are cloathed as the rest The Breeches of the Indians are commonly of Cotten-cloath they come down to the mid leg and some wear them a little longer so that they reach to the Anckle They who affect Rich cloathing wear Silk breeches striped with different colours which are so long that they must be plated upon the Leg much in the same manner as formerly Silk-stockings were worn in France Shirts The Shirt hangs over the Breeches as the fashion is all over the Levant These Shirts are fastened as the Persians are and heretofore had no greater opening than theirs but because the Moors Shirts are open from top to bottom as their upper Garments which they call Cabas are many People at present wear them in that fashion because they find them more commodious being more easily put on and off Besides that when one is alone he may open them and take the fresh Air. Arcaluck When it is cold Weather the Indians wear over their Shirt an Arcaluck or Just au corps quilted with Cotten and Pinked the outside whereof is commonly of a schite or Painted stuff The colours upon them are so good and lively that though they be soiled by wearing yet they look as fresh again as at first when they are washed They make the Flowers and other motely colours that are upon the Stuffs with Moulds Caba Over the Arcaluck they put the Caba which is an upper Garment but then it must be supposed the weather is not hot for if there be but the least heat they wear no Arcaluck and the Caba is put next the Shirt The Caba of the Indians is wider than that of the Persians and I cannot tell how to express the manner of it more intelligibly then by saying it is a kind of gown with a long Jerkin fastened to it open before and pleated from top to bottom to hinder it from being too clutterly It hath a collar two fingers breadth high of the same Stuff with the rest they button not that Vest as we do our Coats but they fold it cross ways over the Stomack first from the right to the left and then from the left to the right They tie it with Ribbons of the same Stuff which are two Fingers broad and a Foot long and there are seven or eight of them from the upper part down to the Haunches of which they only tie the first and last and let the rest hang negligently as being more graceful These Cabas are commonly made of white Stuff that 's to say of Cotten-cloath to the end they may be the lighter and the neater by being often washed and that agrees with the fashion of the Ancient Indians I say of Cotten-cloath There is no Flax in the Indies because they use no other in the Indies and have no Flax there Nevertheless some wear them of Painted cloath but that is not the Gentilest manner of Apparel and when the Rich do not wear White they use Silk and chuse the broadest Stuff they can find which commonly is streaked with several colours Girdle They use only one Girdle whereas the Persians have two nay and it is not very dear neither being only of White-cloath and it is rare to see the Indians make use of the lovely Girdles of Persia unless they be wealthy persons of Quality When it is very cold the Indians wear over all the Cloaths I have been speaking of a Garment or Vest called Cadeby Cadeby Lovely Vests at Agra and then the Rich have very costly ones They are of Cloath of Gold or other Rich Stuff and are lined with Sables which cost very dear At all times when they go abroad they wear a Chal which is a kind of toilet of very fine Wool made at Cachmir Chal or Toilet These Chals are about two Ells long and an Ell broad they are sold at five and twenty or thirty Crowns a piece if they be fine nay there are some that cost fifty Crowns but these are extraordinary fine They put that Chal about their Shoulders and tie the two ends of it upon their Stomack the rest hanging down behind to the small of their Back Some wear them like a Scarf and sometimes they bring one end to the Head which they dress in manner of a Coif They have of them of several colours but those the Banians wear are most commonly Fild-de-mort and the Poor or such as will not be at the charges wear them of plain Cloath The Turban worn in the Indies is commonly little The Turban of the Indies That of the Mahometans is always White and the Rich have them of so fine a Cloath that five and
the Presents they made him at this Solemnity But he rewarded them afterwards by Offices and Employments And this is the course the King commonly takes with them and few complain of it CHAP. XXIX Of the Beasts of the Country of Azmer and of the Saltpetre THere is in these Countries a Beast like a Fox in the Snout which is no bigger than a Hare the Hair of it is of the colour of a Stags and the Teeth like to a Dogs It yields most excellent Musk for at the Belly it hath a Bladder full of corrupt Blood and that Blood maketh the Musk The Musk Animal or is rather the Musk it self They take it from it and immediately cover the place where the Bladder is cut with Leather to hinder the scent from evaporating But after this Operation is made the Beast is not long liv'd There are also towards Azmer Pullets whose Skin is all over black Pullets as well as their Bones though the Flesh of them be very white and their Feathers of another colour In the extremity of this Province the Maids are very early Marriageable Maids Marriageable at 8 or 9 years of age and so they are in many other places of the Indies where most part can enjoy Man at the age of eight or nine years and have Children at ten That 's a very ordinary thing in the Country where the young ones go naked and wear nothing on their Bodies but a bit of Cloath to cover their Privities Most of the Children in these Countries have the same playes to divert them with as amongst us they commonly make use of Tops Giggs The Childrens playes and Bull-flies in the season of Childrens Trumpets and many other Toys of that nature The People are rude and uncivil The Men are great clowns and very impudent they make a horrid noise when they have any quarrel but what Passion soever they seem to be in and what bitter words soever they utter they never come to blows The Servants are very unfaithful and many times rob their Masters There are very venemous Scorpions in that Country Venemous Scorpions The remedy of Fire but the Indians have several remedies to cure their Stinging and the best of all is Fire They take a burning Coal and put it near the wound they hold it there as long and as near as they can The venom keeps one from being incommoded by the heat of the Fire on the contrary the Poison is perceived to work out of the Wound by little and little and in a short time after one is perfectly cured The ways of this Country being very Stony The Oxen are shod they shoe the Oxen when they are to Travel far on these ways They cast them with a Rope fastened to two of their Legs and so soon as they are down they tye their four Feet together which they put upon an Engine made of two Sticks in form of an X and then they take two little thin and light pieces of Iron which they apply to each Foot one piece covering but one half Foot and that they fasten with three Nails above an Inch long which are clenched upon the side of the Hooffs as Horses with us are shod Seeing the Oxen in the Indies are very tame Indian Oxen. many People make use of them in Travelling and ride them like Horses though commonly they goe but at a very slow pace Instead of a Bit they put one or two small strings through the Gristle of the Oxes Nostrils and throw over his Head a good large Rope fastened to these strings as a Bridle which is held up by the bunch he hath on the fore part of his back that our Oxen have not They Saddle him as they do a Horse and if he be but a little spurred he 'll go very fast and there are some that will go as fast as a good Horse The Oxen are Saddled These Beasts are made use of generally all over the Indies and with them only are drawn Waggons Coaches and Chariots allowing more or fewer according as the load is heavier or lighter The Oxen serve to draw Coaches as well as Carts and Waggons The Oxen are Yoaked by a long Yoak at the end of the Pole laid upon their Necks and the Coach-man holdeth in his hand the Rope to which the strings that are put through the Nostrils are fastened These Oxen are of different sizes there are great small and of a middle size but generally all very hardy so that some of them will Travel fifteen Leagues a day There is one kind of them almost six Foot high but they are rare and on the contrary another which they call Dwarfs because they are not three Foot high these have a bunch on their Back as the rest have go very fast and serve to draw small Waggons White Oxen are very dear They have white Oxen there which are extraordinary dear and I saw two of them which the Dutch had that cost them two hundred Crowns a piece they were really lovely strong and good and their Chariot that was drawn by them made a great shew When People of quality have lovely Oxen They have great care of the Oxen. they keep them with a great deal of care they deck the ends of their Horns with sheaths of Copper they use them to Cloaths as Horses are and they are daily curried and well fed Their ordinary Provender is Straw and Millet The food of the Oxen. but in the Evening they make each Ox swallow down five or six large Balls of a Paste made of Flower Jagre and Butter kned together They give them sometimes in the Country Kichery which is the ordinary Food of the Poor Kichery and it is called Kichery because it is made of a Grain of the same name boiled with Rice Water and Salt Some give them dryed Pease bruised and steeped in Water After all no part of this Province is fertile but the Countries about Azmer and Soret for the Countries of Gesselmere and Bando are Barren The chief Trade of Azmer is in Saltpetre The Saltpetre of Azmer and there are great quantities of it made there by reason of the black fat Earth that is about it which is the properest of all other Soils to afford Saltpetre The Indians fill a great hole with that Earth and pound it in Water with great pounders of very hard Timber when they have reduced it into a Liquid mash they let it rest to the end the Water may imbibe all the Saltpetre out of the Earth The way of making Salt-petre This mixture having continued so for some time they draw off what is clear and put it into great Pots wherein they let it boil and continually scum it when it is well boiled they again drain what is clear out of these Pots and that being congealed and dryed in the Sun where they let it stand for a certain time it is in its perfection
they assist those whom they call Penitents Their Penance consists in forbearing to eat for many days to keep constantly standing upon a Stone for several weeks or several months to hold their Arms a cross behind their head as long as they live or to bury themselves in Pits for a certain space of time But if some of these Faquirs be good Men Faquirs Rogues there are also very Rogues amongst them and the Mogul Princes are not troubled when such of them as commit violences are killed One may meet with some of them in the Countrey stark naked with Colours and Trumpets who ask Charity with Bow and Arrow in hand and when they are the strongest they leave it not to the discretion of Travellers to give or refuse These wretches have no consideration even for those that feed them I have seen some of them in the Caravanes who made it their whole business to play tricks and to molest Travellers though they had all their subsistence from them Not long since I was in a Caravane where some of these Faquirs were who took a fancy to suffer no body to sleep All night long they did nothing but Sing and Preach and instead of banging them soundly to make them hold their peace as they ought to have been served the Company prayed them civilly but they took it ill so that they doubled their Cries and Singing and they who could not Sing laugh'd and made a mock of the rest of the Caravane These Faquirs were sent by their Superiours into I know not what Countrey full of Banians to demand of them Two thousand Roupies with a certain quantity of Rice and Mans of Butter and they had orders not to return without fulfilling their Commission This is their way all over the Indies where by their Mammeries they have accustomed the Gentiles to give them what they demand without daring to refuse There are a great many Faquirs among the Mahometans as well as amongst the Idolaters who are also Vagabonds and worse than they and commonly both of them are treated alike The Province of Halabas pays the Mogul yearly above fourteen Millions The Moguls Revenue from Halabas CHAP. XL. Of the Province of Oulesser or Bengala and of the Ganges THe Province of Oulesser which we call Bengala The Province of Ouleser or Bengala Jaganat and which the Idolaters name Jaganat because of the famous Idol of the Pagod of Jaganat which is there is Inhabited by Gentiles no less fantastical in point of Religion than those of Halabas and this one instance may serve for a proof of it Strange Penance of a Faquir A Faquir intending to invent some new spell of Devotion that was never seen before and which might cost him a great deal of pains resolved to measure with his Body the whole extent of the Moguls Empire from Bengala as far as Caboul which are the limits of it from South East to North West The pretext he had for so doing was that once in his life he might be present at the Feast of Houly which I have already described and he had a kind of novices to wait upon him and serve him The first Action he did when he set out upon his Journey was to lay himself at full length on the ground upon his belly and to order that the length of his Body might be marked there that being done he rose up and acquainted his followers with his Design which was to take a Journey as far as Caboul by lying down and rising up again continually and to walk no more at a time but the length of his Body ordering his Novices to make a mark on the ground at the Crown of his Head every time he lay down to the end he might exactly regulate the March he was to make all was punctually performed on both sides The Faquir made a Cosse and a half a day that 's to say about three quarters of a League and they who related the Story met him a year after his setting out no farther off than at the utmost bounds of the Province of Halabas In the mean time he had all imaginable respect shewed him in the places he passed through and was loaded with Charity in so much that he was obliged to distribute the Alms he got amongst the Poor who in hopes of getting by him followed him in his Journey Many Mahometans live there also but they are no better than the Gentils The people for the most part are extraordinarily voluptuous they have a captious and subtil wit and are much given to pilfring and stealing The Women themselves are bold and lascivious and use all Arts imaginable to corrupt and debauch Young Men The Inhabitants of Bengala voluptuous and especially Strangers whom they easily trapan because they are handsom and wear good Cloaths The people in this Province live much at their ease because of its fruitfulness and above Twenty thousand Christians dwell there The Countrey was kept in far better order under the Patan Kings I mean before the Mahometans and Moguls were Masters of it because then they had Uniformity in Religion Mahometanism hath introduced disorder It has been found by experience that disorder came into it with Mahometanism and that diversity of Religions hath there caused corrruption in Manners Daca or Daac Daca or Daac is properly the capital City of Bengala it lies upon the banck of the Ganges and is very narrow because it stretches out near a League and a half in length along the side of that River Most of the Houses are only built of Canes covered with Earth The English and Dutch Houses are more solid because they have spared no cost for the security of their Goods The Augustins have a Monastery at Daca Galleys of the Gulf of Bengala The Augustines have a Monastery there also The Tide comes up as far as Daca so that the Galleys which are built there may easily Trade in the gulf of Bengala and the Dutch make good use of theirs for their Commerce Towns of Bengala Philipatan Satigan Patane Casanbazar Chatigan Towns. The Dutch Factory at Patan Ananas The Countrey is full of Castles and Towns Philipatan Satigan Patane Casanbazar and Chatigan are very rich and Patane is a very large Town lying on the West side of â—he Ganges in the Countrey of Patan where the Dutch have a Factory Corn Rice Sugar Ginger long Pepper Cotton and Silk with several other Commodities are plentifully produced in that Country as well as Fruits and especially the Ananas which in the out side is much like a Pine-Apple they are as big as Melons and some of them resemble them also their colour at first is betwixt a Green and a Yellow but when they are ripe the Green is gone they grow upon a Stalk not above a Foot and a half high they are pleasant to the taste and leave the flavour of an Apricock in the mouth The Ganges The Ganges
Seat of it is very pleasant and the top of the Hill on which it stands extreamly fertile it hath still four Reservatories or Tanquies for the private use of the Inhabitants There are a great many other Trading Towns in that Province and the Great Mogul receives yearly out of it above fourteen Millions The Revenue of the Province of Malva There are two kinds of Bats in that Countrey the one is like to that we have in Europe An extraordinary Bat. but seeing the other differs much I pleased my self in examining it in a Friends House who kept one out of curiosity it is eight Inches long and covered with yellowish Hair the Body of it is round and as big as a Ducks its Head and Eyes resemble a Cats and it has a sharp Snout like to a great Rat it hath pricked black Ears and no Hair upon them it hath no Tail but under its Wings two Teats as big as the end of ones little finger it hath four Legs some call them Arms and all the four seem to be glued fast within the Wings which are joyned to the Body along the sides from the Shoulder downwards the Wings are almost two Foot long and seven or eight Inches broad and are of a black Skin like to wet Parchment each Arm is as big as a Cats thigh and towards the Joynt it is almost as big as a Mans Arm the two foremost from the Shoulder to the Fingers are nine or ten Inches long each of the two Arms is fleshed into the Wing perpendicularly to the Body being covered with Hair and terminating in five Fingers which make a kind of hand these Fingers are black and without Hair they have the same Joynts as a Mans Fingers have and these Creatures make use of them to stretch out their Wings when they have a mind to flie Each hind Leg or Arm is but half a Foot long and is also fastened to the Wing parallel to the Body it reaches to the lower part of the Wing out of which the little hand of that Arm peeping seems pretty like the hand of a Man but that instead of Nails it hath five Claws the hind Arms are black and hairy as those before are and are a little smaller These Bats stick to the Branches of Trees with their Talons or Claws they fly high almost out of sight and some who eat them say they are good meat CHAP. XLII Of the Province of Candich THe Province of Candich is to the South of Malva The Province of Candich Berar Orixa and they who have reduced the Provinces have joyned to it Berar and what the Mogul possesses of Orixa These Countries are of a vast extent full of populous Towns and Villages and in all Mogulistan few Countries are so rich as this The Moguls yearly Revenue from Candich The Memoire I have of yearly Revenues makes this Province yield the Mogul above seven and twenty Millions a year The Capital City of this Province is Brampour it lies in the twenty eighth degree of Latitude about fourscore Leagues distant from Surrat Brampour the Capital of Candich The Governour thereof is commonly a Prince of the Blood and Auren-Zeb hath been Governour of it himself Here it was that the Sieurs de La Boullaye and Beber Envoy's from the French East-India Company quarrelled with the Banians A Quarrel the Sieurs La Boullaye and Beber had with a Banian to whom they were recommended When they arrived at Brampour these Banians met them with Basons full of Sweet-meats and Roupies in their hands The Gentlemen not knowing the custom of the Countrey which is to offer Presents to Strangers whom they esteem and imagining that the five and twenty or thirty Roupies that were offered them was a sign that they thought them poor fell into a Passion railed at the Banians and were about to have beat them which was like to have bred them trouble enough if they had been well informed of the custom of the Countrey they would have taken the Money and then returned some small Present to the Banians and if they had not thought it fit to make a Present they might have given it back again after they had received it or if they would not take it touch it at least with their Fingers ends and thanked them for their civility I came to Brampour in the worst weather imaginable and it had Rained so excessively that the low Streets of that Town were full of water and seemed to be so many Rivers Brampour is a great Town standing upon very uneven ground there are some Streets very high The Ground of Brampour and others again so low that they look like Ditches when one is in the higher Streets these inequalities of Streets occur so often that they cause extraordinary Fatigue The Houses are not at all handsom The Houses of Brampour because most of them are only built of Earth however they are covered with Varnished Tiles and the various Colours of the Roofs mingling with the Verdure of a great many Trees of different kinds planted on all hands makes the Prospect of it pleasant enough There are two Carvanseras in it one appointed for lodging Strangers and the other for keeping the Kings Money which the Treasurers receive from the Province that for the Strangers is far more spacious than the other it is square and both of them front towards the Meidan That is a very large place for it is at least Five hundred paces long and Three hundred and fifty broad but it is not pleasant because it is full of ugly huts where the Fruiterers sell their Fruit and Herbs The entry into the Castle is from the Meidan The Castle of Brampour and the chief Gate is betwixt two large Towers the Walls of it are six or seven Fathom high they have Battlements all round and at certain intervals there are large round Towers which jet a great way out and are about thirty paces Diametre This Castle contains the Kings Palace The Kings Palace at Brampour and there is no entring into it without permission the Tapty running by the East side of that Town there is one whole Front of the Castle upon the River-side and in that part of it the Walls are full eight Fathom high because there are pretty neat Galleries on the top where the King when he is at Brampour comes to look about him and to see the fighting of Elephants which is commonly in the middle of the River in the same place there is a Figure of an Elephant done to the natural bigness it is of a reddish shining Stone the back parts of it are in the Water The Monument of an Elephant and it leans to the left side the Elephant which that Statue represents died in that place fighting before Cha-Geban the Father of Auran-Zeb who would needs erect a Monument to the Beast because he loved it and the Gentiles besmear it
supported only by a row of Pillars cut in the Rock and distant from the floor of the Gallery about the length of a Fathom so that it appears as if there were two Galleries Every thing there is extreamly well cut and it is really a wonder to see so great a Mass in the Air which seems so slenderly underpropped A Mass of Rock in the Air. that one can hardly forbear to shiver at first entering into it In the middle of the Court there is a Chappel whose Walls inside and outside are covered with figures in relief Diverse Antick Figures in a Chappel Lovely Pyramides They represent several sorts of Beasts as Griffons and others cut in the Rock On each side of the Chappel there is a Pyramide or Obelisk larger at the Basis than those of Rome but they are not sharp pointed and are cut out of the very Rock having some Characters upon them which I know not An Obelisk with an Elephant The Obelisk on the left hand has by it an Elephant as big as the Life cut out in the Rock as all the rest is but his Trunck has been broken At the farther end of the Court I found two Stair-cases cut in the Rock and I went up with a little Bramen who appeared to have a great deal of Wit Being at the top I perceived a kind of Platform if the space of a League and a half or two Leagues may be called a Platform full of stately Tombs The Pagods of Elora Chappels and Temples which they call Pagods cut in the Rock The little Bramen led me to all the Pagods which the small time I had allowed me to see With a Cane he shew'd me all the Figures of these Pagods told me their Names and by some Indian words which I understood I perceived very well that he gave me a short account of the Histories of them but seeing he understood not the Persian Tongue nor I the Indian I could make nothing at all of it I entered into a great Temple built in the Rock it has a flat Roof and adorned with Figures in the infide as the Walls of it are A great Temple built in the very Rock In that Temple there are eight rows of Pillars in length and six in breadth which are about a Fathom distant from one another The Temple is divided into three parts The Body of it which takes up two thirds and a half of the length is the first part and is of an equal breadth all over The Quire which is narrower makes the second part And the third which is the end of the Temple is the least and looks only like a Chappel in the middle whereof upon a very high Basis there is a Gigantick Idol with a Head as big as a Drum and the rest proportionable A Gigantick Idol All the Walls of the Chappel are covered with Gigantick Figures in relief and on the outside all round the Temple there are a great many little Chappels adorned with Figures of an ordinary bigness in relief Figures of Men and Women representing Men and Women embracing one another Leaving this place I went into several other Temples of different structure built also in the Rock and full of Figures Pilasters and Pillars I saw three Temples one over another which have but one Front all three but it is divided into three Stories supported with as many rows of Pillars and in every Story there is a great door for the Temple the Stair-cases are cut out of the Rock I saw but one Temple that was Arched and therein I found a Room whereof the chief Ornament is a square Well cut in the Rock and full of Spring-water that rises within two or three foot of the brim of the Well There are vast numbers of Pagods all along the Rock For above two Leagues there is nothing to be seen but Pagods and there is nothing else to be seen for above two Leagues They are all Dedicated to some Heathen Saints and the Statue of the false Saint to which every one of them is Dedicated stands upon a Basis at the farther end of the Pagod In these Pagods I saw several Santo's or Sogues without Cloaths except on the parts of the Body which ought to be hid They were all covered with Ashes and I was told that they let their Hair grow as long as it could If I could have stayed longer in those quarters I should have seen the rest of the Pagods and used so much diligence as to have found out some body that might have exactly informed me of every thing but it behoved me to rest satisfied as to that with the information I had from the Gentiles of Aurangeabad who upon my return told me that the constant Tradition was The time when these Pagods were made that all these Pagods great and small with their Works and Ornaments were made by Giants but that in what time it was not known However it be if one consider that number of spacious Temples full of Pillars and Pilasters and so many thousands of Figures all cut out of a natural Rock Multitudes of Figures it may be truly said that they are Works surpassing humane force and that at least in the Age wherein they have been made the Men have not been altogether Barbarous though the Architecture and Sculpture be not so delicate as with us I spent only two hours in seeing what now I have described and it may easily be judged that I needed several days to have examined all the rarities of that place but seeing I wanted time and that it behoved me to make haste if I intended to find my company still at Aurangeabad I broke off my curiosity and I must confess it was with regret I therefore got up into my Waggon again which I found at a Village called Rougequi Rougequi Sultanpoura from whence I went to Sultanpoura a little Town the Mosques and Houses whereof are built of a blackish Free-stone and the Streets paved with the same Not far from thence I found that so difficult descent which I mentioned and at length after three hours march from the time we left Elora we rested an hour under Trees near the Walls of Doltabad which I considered as much as I could CHAP. XLV Of the Province of Doltabad and of the Feats of Agility of Body Doltabad THis Town was the Capital of Balagate before it was conquered by the Moguls It belonged then to Decan and was a place of great Trade but at present the Trade is at Aurangeabad whither King Auran-Zeb used his utmost endeavours to transport it Trade transported from Doltabad to Aurangeabad when he was Governour thereof The Town is indifferently big it reaches from East to West and is much longer than broad it is Walled round with Free-stone and has Battlements and Towers mounted with Cannon But though the Walls and Towers be good yet that is not the thing that
Friends pour odoriferous Oyles into it and in a short time both the Bodies are consumed In other places the Bodies are carried to the River-side in a covered Liter and being washed they are put into a hutt full of odoriferous Wood if they who are dead have left enough to defray the Charges When the Wife who is to be burnt hath taken leave of her kindred and by such Galantries as may convince the Assembly which many times consists of the whole Caste that she is not at all afraid of dying A Woman that endeavours to shew a fearlesness before she is burnt Pits wherein the Bodies of the Husband and Wife are burnt she takes her place in the Hutt under the head of her Husband which she holds upon her knees and at the same time recommending her self to the Prayers of the Bramen she presses him to set fire to the Pile which he fails not to do Elsewhere they make wide and deep Pits which they fill with all sorts of combustible Matter they throw the Body of the deceased into it and then the Bramens push in the Wife after she hath Sung and Danced to shew the firmness of her resolution and sometimes it happens that Maid-Slaves throw themselves into the same Pit after their Mistresses to shew the love they bore to them and the Ashes of the burnt Bodies are afterwards scattered in the River In the other places Interment of Bodies the Bodies of the dead are interred with their Legs a cross their Wives are put into the same Grave alive and when the Earth is filled up to their neck they are strangled by the Bramens There are several other kinds of Funerals among the Gentiles of the Indies but the madness of the Women in being burnt with their Husbands is so horrid that I desire to be excused that I write no more of it To conclude Mahometanisme in the Indies is a happiness for the Women The Women are happy that the Mahometans are become the Masters in the Indies to deliver them from the tyranny of the Bramens who always desire their death because these Ladies being never burnt without all their Ornaments of Gold and Silver about them and none but they having power to touch their Ashes they fail not to pick up all that is pretious from amongst them However the Great Mogul and other Mahometan Princes having ordered their Governours to employ all their care in suppressing that abuse as much as lies in their power The Mahometan Governors endeavour to hinder the burning of the Indian Women it requires at present great Solicitations and considerable Presents for obtaining the permission of being burnt so that the difficulty they meet with in this secures a great many Women from the infamy they would incur in their Caste if they were not forced to live by a Superiour Power The end of Mogolistan THE THIRD PART OF THE TRAVELS OF Mr. de Thevenot BOOK II. Of the INDIES CHAP. I. Of Decan and Malabar DEcan was heretofore a most powerful Kingdom Decan hath been a great Kingdom if one may believe the Indians it consisted of all the Countries that are in that great Tongue of Land which is betwixt the Gulfs of Cambaye and Bengala all obeyed the same King nay and the Provinces of Balagate Telenga and Baglana which are towards the North were comprehended within it so that it may be said that at that time there was no King in the Indies more powerful than the King of Decan but that Kingdom in process of time hath been often dismembred The Arrival of the Portuguese in the Indies and in the beginning of the last Age when the Portuguese made Conquests therein it was divided into many Provinces for they found there the Kings of Calecut Cochin Cananor and Coulam upon the Coast of Malabar Another King Reigned at Narsingue there were some Common-wealths in it also and the Dominions of him who was called King of Decan reached no further than from the limits of the Kingdom of Cambaye or Guzerat to the borders of the principality of Goa which did not belong to him neither Calecut was the first place of the Indies Calecut which the Portuguese discovered in the year One thousand four hundred and ninety eight under the conduct of Vasco de Gama The King of Calecut who at first received them friendly would at length have destroyed them at the instigation of Arabian Merchants and the greatest Wars they had in the Indies was against that King. The King of Cochin made Alliance with them and the Kings of Cananor and Coulam invited them to come and Trade with them Malabar Malabar which is the Countrey of all these Kings begins at Cananor and ends at Cape Comory the most powerful of all these Princes was the King of Calecut Samorin or Emperour who took the Quality of Samorin or Emperour The Port of Calecut lying in the Latitude of eleven degrees twenty two minutes is at some distance from the Town before the coming of the Portuguese it was the most considerable Port of the Indies for Commerce and Ships came thither from all parts The Town has no VValls because there is no ground for laying a Foundation upon for water appears as soon as they begin to digg There are no good Buildings in Calecut The Town of Calecut but the Kings Palace and some Pagods the Houses joyn not they have lovely Gardens and of all things necessary for life there is plenty in that Town Cochin King of Cochin The King of Cochin was a most faithful Friend to the Portuguese for for their sake he was deprived of his Kingdom by the King of Calecut but they restored him and gained so much upon him that he gave them leave to build a Fort in that part of the Town which is called Lower-Cochin upon the Sea side The Fort of Cochin taken from the Portuguese by the Dutch. to distinguish it from the Higher-Cochin where the King resides and from which it is distant a quarter of a League The Portuguese have held that Fort a long time but three or four years since it was taken from them by the Dutch. The Port of Cochin The Port of Cochin is very good there is six Fathom water close by the Shoar and upon a Planc one may easily come from on Board the Vessels The Town of Cochin is about thirty six Leagues from Calecut it is watered by a River Abundance of Pepper at Cochin A Man with a leg like an Elephant and there is plenty of Pepper in the Countrey about it which is fruitful in nothing else There are People in that Countrey who have Legs like an Elephant and I saw a Man at Cochin with such a Leg the Son Inherits not after his Father because a Woman is allowed by the custom to lye with several Men so that it cannot be known who is the Father of the Child she brings forth
by the Capidgi Basha and Chiaoux Basha This Aga gives the Grand Signior an account of his charge Spahiler Agasi and then returns After him the Spahilar Agasi is introduced in the same manner next the Cadilesquers then all the Officers of the Divan and last of all the Visiers All these Officers go every Divan day and give the Grand Signior an account of what they have done and none of them can promise to himself to bring back his Head again for the Grand Signior for a small matter will cause them to be Srangled upon the spot CHAP. XLVIII Of the Oeconomy or regulation of Provisions amongst the Turks Of the Money and Weights of Constantinople IN all things the Turks are so great lovers of Order that they omit nothing that can tend to the observance of it and because oeconomy and the regulation of provisions is one of the chief things that serve to maintain it they take a special care of that so that all things are to be had in plenty and at reasonable rates they never sell Cherries or other Fruits there when first they come in at the weight of Gold as they do in this Country things are sold there always at reasonable rates and he that hath taken the pains to bring his Fruit soonest to Market has no more advantage but to take Money before others if any one offered to exact upon a Turk in selling of his Goods he would be soundly Drubbed or else brought unto Justice and there be Condemned to Bastonadoes besides the payment of a Fine and therefore there are Officers that take care to examine the weights of those that sell Goods who daily go their rounds and if they find any Man with weights that are too light or that sells his Goods too dear they fail not upon the spot to order him so many blows with a Cudgel upon the Soles of the Feet and besides make him pay a Fine so that being afraid of that punishment they 'll always give you somewhat over and above the weight and so one may send a Child to Market provided it can but ask for what it wants for none durst cheat the Child and sometimes the Officers of the Market meeting it will ask what it payed for so much Goods and weigh them to see if the poor thing hath not been cheated for if it be they carry it along with them and punish the seller I saw a Man who sold Snow at five Deniers the pound The punishment of sellers by false Weights receive Blows upon the Soles of his Feet because his weight was not exactly full Another having sold a Child a Double worth of Onions and the Officers of the Market meeting this Child and finding that he had not enough went to that Man and gave him thirty Blows with a Cudgel They have also another punishment for those that sell with false Weights Another punishment for such as sell by false Weights which seems not to be so harsh but is more Ignominious as being more publick they put a mans neck into a Pillory made of two Boards weighing an hundred pound weight which he carries on his shoulders and with these being hung full of little Bells he marches up and down the Town to be laughed at by all that see and know him As to disorders and quarrels that happen in the Streets every one is obliged to hinder them and that all may be the more concerned in that there is a Law much received that if any dead Person be found in the Streets whether he be Christian Turk or Jew and it be not known who Killed him they before whose door the Dead Man is found are made to pay for his Blood and the set rate for the Blood of a Man The price of a mans Blood that hath been kill'd before any bodies door is five hundred Piastres or forty five thousand Aspres so that it is the interest of every one to see that no noise be made before his Door or at least to observe those that make it this is very exactly observed in relation to the Turks but the Christians have many times partial Justice done them When I was at Constantinople a poor Greek meeting some Turks coming out of a Tavern in Galata they asked him for some flowers that he had in his hand and he having given to the one and denied the other telling him he had no more the Villain gave the poor Greek a stab with a Cangiar in the Body and so fled This having happened before the Convent of the Jacobins the poor wretch was immediately carried into their court for relief but he was hardly there before he Expired which at the same time coming to the knowledge of the Vaivode or Bailiff of Galata he sent and demanded of the poor Religious and of a French Merchant that lived overagainst them the Blood of that Man Vaivode but luckily for them that Vaivode was Strangled four or five days after before they had paid their Money so that they were quitted for the fear of it To prevent accidents in the Night-time No man is abroad in the streets of Constantinople in the Night-time Under Basha all Persons whatsoever are prohibited to be abroad in the streets after that night is in except during the Ramadan and if the Under Basha who is as the Captain of the Watch or Constable and ought to walk about all night long meet any Man he carries him before the Cady who examines who he is and then being known he is led to Prison and beware of Bastonadoes next morning and of a Fine to boot if he give not good reasons why he was abroad at such an hour nay though he should be cleared without Blows or a Fine yet it is a disgrace to have been taken abroad in the Streets in the Night-time I think it will not be amiss to tell here what money they use at Constantinople The Turkish Chequin is worth two Piastres Money of Constantinople Turkish Chequin Piastre The Aslanie the Venetian is worth ten Aspres more the Piastre or Picade of fifty eight Sols is commonly worth ninety Aspres and sometimes only eighty The Aslanie is worth eighty Aspres and when the Piastre is but worth fourscore Aspres the Aslanie is but worth threescore and fifteen These Aslanies are the German Rix Dollars which have a Lion on one side and for that they are called Aslanies from the Turkish word Aslan that signifies Lyon. Isolotte The Isolotte is worth fifty five Aspres Aspres The Aspres are little pieces of Silver that have no other stamp but the Grand Signior's Name and are worth about eight Deniers or three Farthings a piece but there are many of them Counterfeit and one must have a care of that so that to receive half a Crown in them it requires half a quarter of an hour to examine the Pieces one after another but great payments require whole days That this may
be the more commodiously done they tell the Aspres upon Boards made for that purpose which they call Tahhta Tahhta that have a ledgeing to keep them from falling except at one end where it draws narrower by which they pour them into the Bagg on these Boards they pick out all the good ones and lay aside the bad They have also pieces of two three four five six ten Aspres c. And this is all the Silver Money they coin at Constantinople so that payments are hardly made in any other Money To an Aspre go six Quadrins Quadrins which are pieces of Copper about the bigness of a French Double they have also half Quadrins which they call Mangours when they say a Purse they understand five hundred Piastres or fourty five thousand Aspres which is the same thing As to their Weights Cantar Rottes Drachms Quirats Medical Oque the Cantar is a hundred and fifty Rottes the Rotte is twelve Ounces the Ounce twelve Drachms the Drachm is sixteen Quirats the Quirat four Grains the Medical is a Drachm and a half the Oque contains four hundred Drachms so that the Oque is worth three Rottes two ninths less CHAP. XLIX Of the Punishments and kinds of Death in Turkey Kinds of Punishments in Turkey .. The way of giving Bastonadoes on the Feet THE most common Punishments in Turkie are blows with a stick either upon the soles of the Feet or the Buttocks They give them on the soles of the Feet in this manner They have a great stick with two holes in it about the middle a large foot and an half distant from one another and through these two holes they put a cord He who is to be Bastanado'd lyes down upon the ground and his feet are put between that cord and the staff then two men take the staff by the two ends and each of them also pull an end of the cord that so he may not stir his feet that are fast betwixt the cord and the staff which they hold up very high In this posture he has no strength to move being only supported by his shoulders and then two other men each with a stick or switch about the bigness of the little finger beat upon the soles of the wretch one after another like Smiths striking upon an Anvil reckoning the blows aloud as fast as they lay them on until they have given as many as have been ordained or till he that hath power say It is enough The rowling of the eyes of him that suffers shews this to be a cruel punishment and there are some after it who for several months cannot go especially when they have received or as they say eaten three or four hundred blows but for the matter of thirty they are not at all disabled When they give them on the Buttocks Blows upon the Buttocks the party is laid upon his belly and receives the blows which are laid on over his Drawers in the same manner as upon the soles of the feet sometimes they give five or six hundred blows but that is the highest and when a Man hath been so handled a great deal of mortified and swollen flesh must with a Razor be cut off of his Buttocks to prevent a Gangrene and he is obliged to keep his bed five or six months without being able to sit up In this manner the Women are punished The Punishment of Women when they deserve it but never upon their soles This is a Correction frequently used by them and for a small fault and sometimes as I have said already they make him who hath received the blows pay so much money a blow Masters give no other Correction to their Servants and Slaves than blows upon the soles of their feet which they have for the least fault they commit The Turks well served and indeed they are wonderfully well served you 'l see their Servants stand in their presence a whole day together like Statues against a wall with their hands upon their belly expecting their Masters commands The Chastisement of School-boys The kinds of Death for Malefactors Christians serve for Hang-men which with the wink of an eye are obeyed School-masters chastise their Scholars with blows upon the soles of the feet instead of the whipping of Christendom The punishments of those who have deserved death are Hanging Beheading Empaling or throwing upon Tenter-hooks or Spikes of Iron When they carry any Man to be Hanged if they meet a Christian by the way they make him the Executioner and a French Merchant being on a time engaged in this office and finding no means to avoid it did what they bid him do and having hanged two asked them if they had no more to be dispatched in that manner whereat the Turks were so incensed that they threw stones at him saying That the Christian would have them all hanged so that it was his best course to make his escape In cutting off Heads they are very dextrous and never miss As for Empaling I shall speak of it in another place because it is not much practised at Constantinople Ganche a Punishment Now the Ganche or throwing upon Hooks is performed in this manner They have a very high Strappado stuck full of very sharp-pointed Hooks of Iron such as Butchers have in their Shambles and having hoisted the Malefactor up to the top of it they let him fall and as he never fails to be catched by a Hook in falling so if he hang by the middle of the body his case is none of the worst for he suddainly dies but if the Hook catch him by any other part he languishes sometimes three days upon it and at length enraged with pain hunger and thirst expires This Torment hath been thought so cruel that the Turks very seldom practice it Those that turn Christians they Burn alive hanging a bag of Powder about their neck and putting a pitched Cap upon their head But Christians that do or say any thing against the Law of Mahomet are taken with a Turkish Woman or go into a Mosque are Empaled though yet there be some Mosques into which Christians may enter at certain hours There are a great many other cases wherein if Christians do not turn Turks they are put to death for a Christian may redeem his life by making himself Turk whatsoever Crime he may have committed but the Turks have no way to save theirs CHAP. L. Of the Grand Signior's Militia HAving treated of the Grand Signior and his chief Officers we must now speak of the Forces that have got him so great a Power which he daily enlarges at the Cost of his Neighbours The Grand Signior keeps always a standing Army both in Peace and War which consisting of Horse and Foot is punctually payed once in two months The Infantry are of several Orders he hath first his Capidgis or Porters Capidgis or Porters who are as it were the Officers and Porters of the
always to be seen about the many holes that are amongst the ruins they are to be seen sometimes also at Schiras but that is only in the time of Mulberries of which at least of the white they are very greedy these Birds in bulk and shape are much like Starlings CHAP. VIII The Road to Bender-Rik I Bargained with a Muletor at Schiras to go to Bender-Rik at the rate of a Toman for five Mules for that Road is not proper for Horses which comes to ten Abassis apiece for the Mules Departure from Schiras to Bender-Rik and he obliged himself to carry us to Bender-Rik in seven days I went in the Company of the Reverend Father Denys a Polander Provincial of the bare-footed Carmelites who had two with him and I my servant We parted from Schiras Munday the eight and twentieth of September a little after midnight and went out of the Town by the West Gate which is called the Gate of Bassora because that is the way to it though there be neither Gate nor Walls at the place We took our way streight West Travelling in a Plain more fruitful in Bushes than any thing else about three a Clock in the Morning we past by a little wretched Kervanseray where there are Rahdars who demanded Toll of us but we answered that we were Franks and had an Order from the King not to pay any thing only we made them a Present of five Casbeghis This Kervanseray is two Parasanges from Schiras and is called Tschenar Rahdar that is to say the Rahdars Maple though there be no Maple-Trees there Near to it there is a new built Bridge of three Arches as I take it under which runs a little water but which in the Winter-time must be impetuous for near to that Bridge I saw the ruins of another which in all appearance hath been beat down by the water This water is called Abtschenar-Rahdar We past over that Bridge Abtschenar-Rahdar and half an hour after crossed another new one also of two Arches over the same River near to which are also the ruins of another Bridge These Bridges are called Poul-Hhadgikol that is to say the Bridge of Hhadgikol which perhaps Poul-Hhadgikol was the name of him that built them A quarter of an hour after we passed by the ruins of a Kervanseray that had been very spacious and seated upon the side of the same River which in appearance beat it down also though it stood upon a pretty high Bank the Chanel of the River being very deep at that place A quarter of an hour after we foarded over that River and began to ascend in a way that was pretty good except in some passes About half an hour after five we crossed a little Canal About six a Clock we were got into a Plain all full of Heath as the Hills about were and had very good way Half an hour after nine we came to lovely running streams The River of Preskiaft that come from a River called Preskiaft which waters the Country thereabout About ten of the Clock we met with two ways the one pretty narrow on a very steep Hill which has the same River running by the foot of it that is very deep there and if the Mules made a false step in this way which is high above the River they would not fail to fall into it and be in danger either of breaking their Necks or drowning The other way is on the other side of the River which may be crossed in several places where the water is shallow this was the way I took because it pleased my Mule so to do to whom I freely gave the Reins being persuaded that it was better acquainted with the Road than I was one of our Company who followed the other way had almost tumbled into the River Mule and all together perhaps the way that I took is covered with water in Winter and so there is a necessity of going the Hill way About half an hour after ten we came to a wretched Kervanseray which is no more but some sorry Vaults all black with Soot and full of Horse and Pullets dung however we had shelter there There are some Rahdars that live in that place to whom we gave a few Casbeghis The River of Preskiaft runs in a bottom at the back of this Kervanseray where there are four Arches remaining of a Bridge that has been in that place which are mightily decayed the water runs not under these Arches but at the side of them where the ruins of the rest of the Bridge may still be seen which seems to have been of eight Arches The River is not very deep at that place but very broad and one may see that in Winter it swells very high and overflows a great part of the Country about Hadgi-Zenon This Kervanseray is named Hadgi-Zenon and is eight Parasanges or Agatsch from Schiras We parted from Hadgi-Zenon Tuesday the nine and twentieth of September at two a Clock in the Morning and continued our way Westward We had not gone an hundred paces when we past over a new Bridge of four Arches under which runs the River Preskat afterwards we found a great many lovely waters that fall down from the Hill and I believe that in the Winter-time they overflow all the Land thereabouts which is very barren and stony bearing nothing but Heath wild Chess-Nuts and such like Trees Half an hour after three we came to a Hill called Estou Asbi Estou-Asbi and having a good way to go up an hour after we came to the top of it where there is a Lodge for Rahdars whom we satisfied with a Present of a few Cosbeghis then we had a little down Hill till about six a Clock we came into a large Plain full of water in the middle that makes a Marish which made us fetch a compass about for the space of two hours and above to gain a very high Mountain called Andgira Mount Andgira covered with Turpentine and other wild Trees about a quarter after eight we were got there and having passed by a Kervanseray Chadgeghi called Chadgeghi at the foot of it we mounted up a very stony way for the space of a long hour and then went down on the other side till about eleven a Clock when finding good water we rested at half way down the Hill under a Tree there being no Lodging but a kind of Cottage where commonly lives a man that sell Victuals and who was not there at that time it is six Parasanges from Hadgi-Zenon to this Menzil for so they call a Lodging place in those Quarters We parted from thence on Wednesday the last of September about two of the Clock in the Morning and having kept going down Hill still about an hours time we then Travelled on two hours Westward in a great Plain where there are a great many Oaks and other wild Trees which made the way that was of it self
good very pleasant Destberm Half an hour after five we came to a Lodge of Rahdars which is at the end of the Plain and is called Destberm commonly they make it a Menzil or days Journy from Chadgegih to Destberm because of the trouble of climbing over the Mountain which extreamly tires the Mules There being no water in that place but what is taken out of a beastly open Cistern we gave the Rahdars some Casbeghis and so went on A quarter of an hour after we found a Sepulchre in form of a square Chappel covered with a Dome and pretty near it two Cisterns We went downwards afterwards Chotal Ouscheneck by a very rugged descent called Chotal Ouscheneck in former times it was more rugged and I believe that neither Men nor Beasts could pass it but the Mother of Imam-Couli-Chan Governour of Schiras called Voli Naamet caused the passage to be made as now it is The Rock in many places is cut in the fashion of steps in other places it is Paved and all over where the way is so narrow that Beasts making a false step were in danger of tumbling into a Precipice there is a Parapet made of stone about a Foot and a half high and a Foot thick so that now it is passable though a great way of it one must alight and lead being come to the bottom of that descent for near three quarters of an hour we had very stony way and then came to a lovely Spring of water which spreads so over the Country that with its waters it covers a very large Plain it is called Abghine We saw that water the day before Abghine from Mount Andgira though there be a great Hill betwixt them We passed it at a narrow place upon a Bridge of two Arches which is all ruinous and is called Poul-Abghine Poul-Abghine Having Travelled on two hours and a half more over a barren Plain about half an hour after ten we came to Karzerum six Parasanges and a half from the last Stage Karzerum Karzerum is a Town of many Houses but all so miserable that in our Country the greatest Compliment that could be put upon it would be to call it Bourg or Village because it has a Market-place it depends on the Vizir of Schiras and is Commanded by a Kelonter there are two or three good Kervanserays it it and the water they drink there is brought above half a League from the Town but both in it and the Kervanserays there is water good enough for Beasts and the Kitchin. Here they would have seized our Mules to carry Provisions for the King to Ispahan but the Reverend Father Provincial going to wait upon the Kelonter to represent to him that we were Franks so soon as the Kelonter saw him he ordered that our Mules should not be taken because we were strangers They have a great many Grapes and Melons here and make Wine that may be made use of We parted from Karzerum Friday the second of October at two of the Clock in the Morning and Travelled on still Westwards in very good way Half an hour after four we passed by a sorry Village called Dris Dris where they have no water to drink but what is taken out of a little Lake About six a Clock we passed by a little River that runs in a bottom and there is a way along the side of it we took not that way but leaving both it and the River struck off to the Left Hand by a very stony way about seven a Clock we began to go up Hill in bad way and a quarter of an hour after found a Lodge of Rahdars to whom we made a Present of some Casbeghis and kept on mounting upwards till about eight a Clock and then having descended a little we came into a very even Plain but which produces nothing though there be not one stone in it Having Travelled therein an hour we passed by a Village called Kangh Turkon Kangh Turkon Kamaredge and still kept on in the same Plain till we came to a Village called Kamaredge at the farther end of it This Village is six Parasanges from Karzerum we arrived there half an hour after nine and Lodged in a House that was lent us for some small Gratuity the water we drank there is taken out of a Well close by We parted from that Village Saturday the third of October half an hour after three a Clock in the Morning A little after we passed by a Kervanseray called Kervanseray Khodgia Belfet it is not opened but in the Winter-time Khodgia Belfet when it Rains or Snows the rest of the Year it is shut and no body Lodges in it We continued going Westward but the way was very bad about four a Clock the way was so narrow that only one Mule could pass at a time it lyes betwixt two Hills that are very near one another but it is not above an hundred paces long immediately after we entered into another narrow pass among the Hills where the way is no broader and we went down Hill in very bad way until three quarters of an hour after four there we found a Caravan of several Mules and Camels which were coming from Bender Rik and we met with several others afterward every day Then we went up Hill for about a quarter of an hour and afterwards went down Hill again till six of the Clock in very irksome way and amongst dreadful Precipices being steep black Rocks where one is often forced to alight for fear of tumbling headlong After that we had good way but still amongst Hills until half an hour after six that we found a great broad and deep River Roudchone Bouschavir called Roudchone Bouschavir the water of which tasts a little sweetish the source of it is near the Town called Scheleston Scheleston which is a days Journy from Karzerum Northwards and it loses it self in the Sea towards Bender-Rik we Coasted along it at first in a Plain for the space of an hour and after that mounting during a quarter of an hour we continued our Journy by a flat way for another quarter and then lost fight of the River for the space of half an hour going up Hill all the while until about half an hour after nine we joyned it again and Travelled on along the sides of it an hour and a half in very good way There are many Villages thereabouts and much Cultivated Land some of which bears Tobacco I also saw in several places that fatal Shrub Kerzebreh About ten a Clock we Foarded over a large Brook that falls into the River of Bouschavir Bouschavir Sirt This may very well be the River which Sanson marks in his Map by the name of Sirt we Foarded it again a quarter of an hour after and then five times an end so that in less than half an hours time we crossed it six times having the water always up