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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
end_n	land_n	league_n	west_n	1,826	5	9.5326	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A53322	The voyages and travells of the ambassadors sent by Frederick, Duke of Holstein, to the Great Duke of Muscovy and the King of Persia begun in the year M.DC.XXXIII. and finish'd in M.DC.XXXIX : containing a compleat history of Muscovy, Tartary, Persia, and other adjacent countries : with several publick transactions reaching near the present times : in VII. books. Whereto are added the Travels of John Albert de Mandelslo (a gentleman belonging to the embassy) from Persia into the East-Indies ... in III. books ... / written originally by Adam Olearius, secretary to the embassy ; faithfully rendered into English, by John Davies.	Olearius, Adam, 1603-1671.; Mandelslo, Johann Albrecht von, 1616-1644.; Davies, John, 1625-1693.	1669 (1669)	Wing O270; ESTC R30756	1,076,214	584

of their refreshments at this place In the Isle of Teneriffe there is a Mountain called El Pi●o de Terraira It is certainly the highest Mountain in the World since that a man cannot get it up in less then three dayes and that must be too either in Iuly or August in as much as all the year besides it is covered with Snow though there never fall any in those Islands It is so high that it may be seen at the distance of sixty Leagues and from the top of it a man may discover and easily count all the other Canary Islands though some of them be above fifty leagues distant from this The Island of Fierro is also one of the most considerable of all the Canaries and I conceive that name to be given it upon this account that its soil not affording so much as a drop of fresh water seems to be of Iron And indeed there is in this Island neither River nor Rivulet nor Well nor Spring save that towards the Sea-side there are some Wells but they lie at such a distance from the City that the Inhabitants can make no use thereof But the great Preserver and Sustainer of all remedies this inconvenience by a way so extraordinary that a man will be forced to sit down and acknowledge that he gives in this an undeniable Demonstration of his Goodness and infinite Providence For in the middest of the Island there is a Tree which is the only one in its kind in as much as it hath no resemblance to those mentioned by us in this Relation nor to any other known to us in Europe The leaves of it are long and narrow and continue in a constant verdure Winter and Summer and its branches are covered with a Cloud which is never dispelled but resolved into a moisture which causes to fall from its leaves a very clear Water and that in such abundance that the Cisterns which are placed at the foot of the Tree to receive it are never empty but contain enough to supply both men and beasts Some affirm that above a hundred leagues West of the Can●ries there is sometimes seen an Island called St. Borondon which they say is very delightful and fertile and inhabited by Christians yet can it not be said what Language they speak nor how the Island came to be peopled The Spaniards of the Canaries have often endeavoured to find out the said Island but whether it be that it is alwayes covered with a thick mist which hinders it from being discovered or that the current of the water thereabouts was so strong that it is a hard matter to land thereat certain it is that as yet it subsists only in the opinion wherewith most Sea-men are prepossessed that certainly there is an Island in those parts The 30th of November the wind South-south-west we got 31. leagues to the North-east and were at noon got to 40. degrees 32. minutes Latitude December 3. With the same wind we got 34. Leagues taking our course North-east The 4. The wind North-east carried us twenty seven Leagues to East-north-east The 5. The wind came to South-west and continuing the same course we got 34. leagues This day it was just eleven moneths that we had been tossed up and down the Sea for we left Surat the 5. of Ianuary though our Voyage had been prosperous enough ever since our departure from the Island of Madag●●ear The 6. The same wind was heightned into a tempest but having it Easterly we got 50. leagues that day When a man is once come to the Azores he may assure himself all the year after of a West-wind which will bring him into England and never almost turns to South or North though it may sometimes vary some points of the Compass from one side to the other The 7. The wind came to the North-west and we got 39. Leagues to East-north-east The 8. The wind turn'd to South-west and was so high that we got 47. leagues keeping on the same course The 9. The wind South-south-west we got 31. leagues to North-north-east We were this day at 49. degrees 13. minutes It was very cold and we found bottom at 68. fathom the Sand very white In the evening we founded again and found some change in the Sand which was yellower then that in the morning at fifty three fathom water The wind changed at night and coming to North-east was just in our teeth The 10. About noon the wind came to south-South-west and we found we had got 22. Leagues The 11. At break of day we saw two English Vessels and soon after we discovered on our left hand that point of England which is called The Lands end and in the County of Cornwal The wind was against us which oblig'd us to endeavour doubling the point by Laveering We made shift to get that day 16. Leagues The 12. The wind still contrary we continued Laveering We saw another English Vessel but could not come near it The 13. The wind south-South-west and south-south-South-south-west we continued our course to East-south-east and to East with a point towards the South We got that day 64. Leagues and were at 49. degrees Latitude Then we chang'd our course taking it to East-north-east to get into the channel which divides England from France The 14. we saw two Scotch Ships and a Dunkirker We came somewhat near them but the Sea made such a noise that we could not possibly hear one the other The 15. We continued our course to East-north-east and met three Dutch Ships bound for Br●sil That day we passed in sight of the Isle of Wight which lies at 50. degrees 36. minutes Latitude and at 19. degrees and 4. minutes Longitude The 16. About 10. in the morning we passed in sight of Dover-Castle and at noon came to the Downs We cast Anchor near three men of war which lay at Anchor in the same Road and thus we compleated our Voyage in the 12. month after our departure from Surat There were in the same Road above a hundred other ships lying at Anchor in expectation of some change of weather which was then so boystrous that for two days we could not get out of our Ship The Lord Admiral who commanded the Men of War ventured to send his Shallop to our Ship to congratulate the Presidents safe return The 19. The wind being somewhat laid the Admiral invited the President to dinner I went along with him and participated of the civility wherewith he received him I must confess I was somewhat surprised to see upon the Sea such a prodigious quantity of silver Plate and a Table as well furnished as that I may boldly say the King was not better served at London then the Admiral was in his Vessel We were so well treated there that night began to draw on ere we got away Our Ship was not above a Musket shot from the Admiral 's but we were no sooner got into our boat

THE Voyages and Travells OF THE AMBASSADORS Sent by FREDERICK DUKE of HOLSTEIN to the Great Duke of Muscovy and the King of Persia. Begun in the year M.DC.XXXIII and finish'd in M.DC.XXXIX Containing a Compleat HISTORY OF Muscovy Tartary Persia. And other adjacent COUNTRIES With several Publick Transactions reaching near the Present Times In VII Books Whereto are added The TRAVELS of JOHN ALBERT de MANDELSLO a Gentleman belonging to the Embassay from PERSIA into the East-Indies CONTAINING A particular Description of INDOSTHAN the MOGUL'S Empire the ORIENTAL ILANDS JAPAN CHINA c. and the Revolutions which happened in those Countries within these few years In III. Books The whole Work illustrated with divers accurate Mapps and Figures Written originally by ADAM OLEARIVS Secretary to the Embassy Faithfully rendred into English by JOHN DAVIES of Kidwelly The Second Edition Corrected LONDON Printed for Iohn Starkey and Thomas Basset at the Mitre near Temple-Barr and at the George near St. Dunstans Church in Fleet-street 1669. The Compleat History of MUSCOUY TARTARY PERSIA the East INDIES Translated by I. D To the Right Worshipful The GOVERNOUR and FELLOWSHIP of ENGLISH MERCHANTS for discovery of New Trades in MUSCOVY RUSSIA c. Right Worshipful HAd these been the Travels of some private Person I should have contented my self with a personal Dedication thereof But being the accompt of a Solemn Embassy sent to two of the greatest Princes of Europe and Asia upon so Publick and Noble a Design as that of the Silk-Trade carried on with vast charge and many difficulties for several years the address of my Endeavours herein is most properly due to that Body of Merchants to whom the advancement of our Trade into those Parts is particularly recommended It is not unknown to you what opposition this Negotiation met withall from the several Parties therein concern'd and consequently you can best judge what advantages may be made thereof in order to the Interest of this Nation The Travels of particular Persons have their benefit and delight but those of Ambassadors have this further recommendation that they contain such Discoveries as having been made to Them out of a deference to their Publick and Sacred Character were not to be expected by any others Travelling only upon a Private Accompt They were first published by Adam Olearius a Person by his near Relation to the Embassy whereof he was Secretary his Knowledge of the Mathematicks but particularly his Acquaintance with the Languages of the Countries through which they Travell'd perfectly accomplish'd for a Work of this Nature What he writ of these Travels in his own Language the German was so kindly receiv'd that it soon after Travell'd into several others which gave some encouragement to the ●endring of them into English the more seasonably at this time in as much as this Kingdom especially this City begins to disperse its Industrious Inhabitants and spreads the Wings of its Trade into the most remote Cantons of the World Which that it may do till its Wealth at home and Honour abroad be so highly improv'd as that this Corner of the Vniverse may give Laws to the Noblest parts thereof shall be the constant and earnest wish of Right Worshipful Your most humbly devoted Servant JOHN DAVIES TO THE READER HISTORY hath this advantage of Philosophy that it instructs more efficaciously this of Romance that it is more divertive inasmuch as Examples make a deeper impression than Precepts and Truth Instils into rational minds a satisfaction which they find not in Fables But Travels have this over and above that they do both incomparably better than History For as on one side a man reflecting on the Policy and Morality of divers Nations deduces thence useful Lessons of Prudence and delightfully surveys the strange Circulations of humane Nature so on the other he finds the greater divertisement in the Relations out of this regard that he participates of the Pleasure which charms the Travellers but not of the hardships hazards and inconveniences wherewith they are attended The Travels into Muscovy and Persia publish'd by Adam Olearius have been so well receiv'd by such as were able to judge of the worth of that Piece that I dare presume others will take it kindly to find in this Edition what he had promis'd the World in his first The aboad he had made at Moscou and Ispahan and the knowledge he had acquir'd of the Language of the Country had as he affirmed then brought him acquainted with the mysteries of their Religion but printing his Book in some hast he omitted many things which he should otherwise have inserted He hath since done it at leisure so fully that it seems to be quite another Relation in as much as considering this Revision what is now publish'd is both a more curious and more compleat Piece They will find that he hath added thereto the Maps of LIVONIA MVSCOVY the CASPIAN-SEA PERSIA and the INDIES and what may be justly accounted the greatest curiosity the Course of the Great River WOLGA whereof there had been little seen in these parts before and without which it were impossible to track the Travellors through all those remote Countries Besides which there is in this Edition of ours a Map of CHINA and several other pieces of Sculpture for the further satisfaction and entertainment of the Reader There is no necessity of repeating here what the Preface of the first Edition entertain'd the Reader withall concerning the occasion of the Embassy sent by the Duke of Holstein into Muscovy and Persia the endowments and worth of that great Prince the noble design he had fram'd to himself for carrying on the Silk-Trade by Land the difficulties or rather impossibilities which happened in the prosecution thereof the insolent rash and extravagant carriage of the Ambassador Brugman his treacherous designs and unfortunate end But I cannot forbear giving some account of the Illustrious Iohn Albert de Mandelslo the Heroe of the Travels into the East-Indies which title I give him in regard there are in his Travels some miraculous adventures MANDELSLO a Gentleman well born had his Education at the Duke of Holstein's Court to whom he had been a Page Hearing of an Embassy intended for Muscovy and Persia he would needs be one in it and as if he were that Vertuous Man who looks upon the whole World as his Country he would not depant 〈◊〉 he had obtain'd his Prince's leave to see the other parts of Asia During his aboad at Ispahan he got acquainted with some English Merchants who speaking to him of the Indies rais'd in him a desire to go thither The King of Persia to engage his stay at his Court proffers him a Pension of ten thousand Crowns he slights the favour of so great a Prince gets on horse-back with no great Sums about him and sets forward on his Journey with a retinue of three German Servants and one Persian who was to be his Guide and Interpreter but forsook him when he

be on the Coasts of Denmark which our Captain took for the Isle of Bornholm and we perceived that we had directed our course streight towards the Country of Schonen so that if we had not at the break of day discover'd Land and found we were at 4. fathom water which soon oblig'd us to alter our course there had been an end of both us and our Ship About 9. of the clock we discover'd the Island of Bornholm and the wind being fair made all the fail we could But about ten at night when we thought our selves most secure and made accompt to rest our selves after the precedent night's toil even while Brugman one of the Ambassadors was charging the Master's Mate to be carefull and the other answer'd there was no danger since we had Sea-room enough the Ship being then under all the sail she could make struck against a Rock which was cover'd by the water The shock made such a horrible noise that it made all start up The amazement we were in surpris'd us so that there was not any one but might easily be perswaded that the end of both his Voyage and Life were neer at hand At first we knew not where we were and in regard the Moon was but newly chang'd the night was so dark that we could not see two paces from us We put our ●antern at the Castle and caus'd some Muskets to be discharg'd to see if there were any help to be had neer us But no body made answer and the Ship beginning to lye on one side our affliction began to turn into despair so that most cast themselves on their knees begging of God with horrid cries that he would send them that relief which they could not expect from men The Master himself wept most bitterly and would meddle no further with the conduct of the Ship The Physician and my self were sitting one close by the other with a design to embrace one another and to die together as old and faithful friends in case we should be wrack'd Others took leave one of another or made vows to God which they afterwards so Religiously kept that coming to Reuel they made up a portion for a Poor but Virtuous Maid who was married there The Ambassador Crusius's Son mov'd most compassion He was but 12. years of age and he had cast himself upon the ground importuning Heaven with incessant cries and lamentations and saying Son of David have mercy on me whereto the Minister added Lord if thou wilt not hear us be pleas'd to hear this Child and consider the innocence of his age At last God was so gracious as to preserve us though the Ship struck several times with great violence against the Rock About one in the morning we saw fire whence we inferr'd that we were not far from Land The Ambassadors commanded the Boat to be cast out with design to get into it with each of them a Servant and to go streight towards the fire to see if there were any means to save the rest but no sooner had they thrown in two Cabinets in which were the Credential Letters and some Jewels ere it was full of water which had almost occasion'd the loss of two of our people who had leapt first into it thinking to save themselves in so much that they had much ado to get into the Ship ere the Boat sunk We were forc'd to continue there the rest of that night expecting to see a period of that danger At break of day we discover'd the Isle of Oleand and saw the ruins of a Danish Ship which had been cast away thereabouts a month before The wind being somewhat abated two Fishermen of the Isle came aboard us and Landed the Ambassadors having a very considerable reward for their pains and after them some of their retinue About noon we found the two Cabinets and when the Sea was a little calm'd many people of the Isle came in to our relief to get off our Ship from among those Rocks but with this misfortune that as they would have let down the Anchor which they had carried in the Boat about a hundred paces from the Ship the Boat over-turn'd so that those in it were toss'd into the Sea Our Masters Mate went immediately with one of the Isle boats to their relief and in regard as they were over-turn'd some caught hold of the Boat others of an Oar or somewhat else as also that the Wine they had drunk a little before had somewhat heightned their Courage we had the time to send twice to them and to save all but our Carpenter who was lost for want of having fasten'd on somewhat that might have kept him above water While they were getting off our Ship the waters increas'd so as that the wind coming to the North-West made our passage thence into the Sea the easier Whither we were no sooner gotten but the wind turn'd again to South-West and brought us safely through the streight of Calmer which is so much the more dangerous in that season of the year in as much as the Sea thereabouts is full of Rocks and that even in the Summer time it is ill sailing there by reason of the banks of Sand. The Ship stay'd for the Ambassadors at Calmer whither they got by Land upon the first of November and came aboard neer an old ruin'd fort called Ferstat Being come to Calmer we sent back a Page and a Lacquey to Gottorp to get other Credentials the Sea-water having spoil'd those we had at first It was there also taken into consideration whether it were not our best course to take our way by Land through Sueden or prosecute our Voyage by Sea The latter was resolv'd on and that we might do it with the less danger we laid out for a skilfull Master for the Baltick Sea but there being none to be had we took only two Pilots who conducted us half a League through the Sand banks till we were got into the main Sea The 3. we continu'd our course and pass'd by a Rock called the Suedish Lady which we left on the lar-board From Calmer thither are accounted eight Leagues About noon we spy'd the Castle of Bornholm in the Isle of Oeland At night we doubled the point of the Isle with such a Tempest from the North-East that the fore-part of the Ship was more under water than above it and ever and anon our sails were wash'd by the Waves Another misfortune was that our Pump was out of order in so much that till it could be made to do its Office all the Kettles and other Vessels were little enough to empty out the water This trouble lasted till the next day at noon with so much danger to us that if the wind had not chang'd it would have been impossible for us to escape shipwrack But the wind being somewhat better for us than it had been we kept on our course and came towards night in sight of Gotland The Isle of

The Dropsie is not very rare in the Province of Kilan but there are very few troubled with the Stone in any part of the Kingdome and for the Gout it is a Disease not yet known among them The Inhabitants are Long liv'd it being an ordinary thing to see persons of a hundred years of age I knew a Judge in the Province of Serab between Mokan and Ardebil who was a hundred and thirty years of age and the Father of Hacwerdy who went along with us into Holstein was above six score Their temperance and sobriety contributes much to the good constitution of their Body the continuance of their Health and length of their Lives As to the soil of Persia the Province of Kilan excepted which is very fertil it is sandy and barren in the Plains every where in a manner checquer'd with little red Stones and not bringing forth ought but Thistles and Reeds which they use for firing in their Kitchin instead of Wood where there is not any The Province of Kilan only hath nothing of this drought But in the uneven parts of the Country where the Mountains make several Valleys the ground is very good Accordingly in these places it is that most of their Villages are seated inasmuch as they are very Ingenious in conveying the water which rises out of the Mountains by Chanels of about four foot in breadth which they use in their Gardens and many times in till'd Lands to those places where it seldome Rains To give the earth that moisture which Heaven hath deny'd it they raise up the ends of their Lands which are about fifteen or twenty fathom square a foot higher than any other part into which they let in the water out of their Chanels over Night and the next Morning let it out again so that the earth which hath been thus moisten'd receiving the Sun-beams almost perpendicular brings forth all sorts of fruits in great abundance In the Cultivation of their grounds they make use of Ploughs which are so big in those places where the soil is strong and fat as it is in Iruan and Armenia that many times twenty or four and twenty Buffles or wild Oxen are hardly able to draw them and they require six men to drive them The furrows are a foot deep and two foot broad They ordinarily sow only Rice Wheat and Barley They care not for Rye and when there chances to be any Grains of it among the Wheat as this often degenerates into the other they weed it out and cast it away Oats is a kind of Grain not known among them They sow also Millet Lentills Pease and Beans They call the Ciches Nagud and the common Pease Kulul They sow also whole fields of Ricinus or Palma Christi which they call Kuntzut They beat the Grain thereof to get an Oyl out of it which they call Schirbach and it is sweet and pleasant and very good to eat The Peasants eat also the Grain and mixing it with Ciches and Currens they make their Deserts of it There is in a manner no Province of Persia but brings forth Cotton which they call Pambeh and there are whole fields cover'd therewith especially i● Armenia Iruan Nachtzuan Kera●●ath near Arasbar in Adirbeitzan and in Chorasan It grows upon a Bush two or three foot high having leaves like those of the Vine but much less and shoots forth at the extremity of its Branches a bud of about the bigness of a Nut which when fully ripe opens in several places and thrusts out the Cotton through the clefts that are in the shell Though there be abundance of it spent in all sorts of Stuffs made in the Country yet do they drive a vast Trade with that which is unwrought The Province of Kilan brings forth also a kind of Flax the thread whereof is very good and fit for Cloath The domestick Creatures as well such as are us'd in carriage as others are Sheep Goats Buffles Oxen and Cows Camels Horses Mules and Asses The ordinary Forrage for Horses is Barley mixt with Chaff or Rice mixt with shredded Straw The Persians water not their Horses till an hour and a half after they have eaten contrary to the ordinary custom of the Turks who water theirs immediately after they have given them their allowance There is in Persia a certain kind of Herb which they call Genscheht which is sown much after the same manner as we sow Saint-foin once in seven years It grows up three foot high and brings forth blew Flowers It is cut twice a year and they are only Persons of quality who give it their Horses There is very little common Hay unless it be in the Province of Iruan and Armenia In some Provinces they do not make any at all because there is Grass enough all the year long Of all Cattel they have most Sheep Of these they have very great Flocks and it is their most ordinary Food though it be not of so pleasant a tast to those who are not accustomed thereto They are much of the same bulk with those of Europe and sometimes a little bigger but short and flat-Nos'd with the Ears hanging down as our Spaniels They are but lean in regard the Tails which weigh ten twenty nay sometimes thirty pounds draw all the fat out of them The Tails have the bones and joynts as our Sheep have but the fat hangs to them in great gobbets like locks of Wool which much hinders them from running or leaping in Kurdesthan near Diarbeker and in Sirie they have the Invention of putting the tails of these Creatures upon a kind of little Cart with two Wheels which is fasten'd by a little stick to the Necks of them The Sheep we saw among the Tartars upon the Ca●pian Sea are in all things like those of Persia but those of the Tartars of Vsbeque and Buchar have a greyish long Wool curling at the ends into little white and close Knots like Pearls which makes a pretty show whence it comes that their fleece is more esteem'd than their flesh in as much as this kind of furr is the most precious of any us'd in Persia next to Sables They are very tenderly kept and for the most part in the shade and when they are oblig'd to bring them abroad they cover them as they do Horses These Sheep have as little tails as ours The Persians have also great flocks of Goats and they eat the flesh of them Of the Suet they make Candles and it is of their skins that they make the Leather which we call Marroquin or Spanish Leather and is brought through Moscovy and Poland into the other Provinces of Europe They have abundance of Buffles especially towards the Caspian-Sea in Ferab neer Ardebil in Eruan and Surul where some Peasants have five or six hundred of them They are kept in moist places and they say their milk is very cooling as is also the butter made thereof They have also Oxen like

those who keep the passages who make a mark in their Armes which they are oblig'd to shew as they come back for the Portuguez would not have the Decanines and Canarines come into the City without a Pass-port All the fresh-water they have within the City comes from a Fountain which represents a Lucrece out of whose Wound there comes Water enough to supply the whole City but the Ships take in fresh-water near the Castle above which there comes out of the Rock a Rivulet which there falls into the River The City hath now neither Gates nor Walls but the River which makes the Island secures it against the attempts which an open place might be exposed to The publick Buildings are very fair and the Palaces of great Persons very magnificent especially in their Houshold-stuffe The Inhabitants are either Castizes that is Portuguez born of Father and Mother Portuguez or Most zes that is born of a Portuguez Father and Indian Mother The Mestizes are distinguished from the others by their colour which inclines towards the Olive but those of the third Generation are as black as the Inhabitants of the Country which happens also in the fourth Generation of the Castizes though there were no mixture among them The Portuguez are either Titulados as those who are employed in the principal charges Fidalgos da casa del Rey that is Gentlemen in ordinary of the Kings House Mocos Fidalgos young Gentlemen that is the Sons of Titulados or Cavalleros or newly admitted to Gentility by the King Cavalleros Fidalgos Escuderes Fidalgos or simply Gentlemen There are also such as have the quality of Mocos da camra or Grooms of the Kings Chamber who pass also for Gentlemen All the rest are Hombres Honrados and Soldados The former are Merchants or Tradesmen and appear publickly with the same gravity and almost with the same retinue as Gentlemen in as much as some only excepted who cut Leather for Shooes and Stuffes for Clothes all the rest have their business done by Slaves No Person of Quality goes abroad afoot for some are carried by their Slaves in a Palanquin and others ride on Horseback or go in painted and gilty Gondoles but not any without a Slave to carry an Umblello or Fan. The Portuguez have the reputation of being very highly conceited of themselves but those of Goa are such in so high a degree as well in their gate as all their other actions that they treat as unacquainted with the World such as are newly come from Portugal and are not accustom'd to their manner of going and life They are excessively civil one to another nay they are in this so ceremonious and exact that he who should omit to render a person that gives him a visit the honour he conceives due to himself whether it be in making him sit down otherwise then he would or not bringing him to the street-door must expect the effects of a deep resentment whereof the least are cudgelling or caning which they liberally bestow on persons of mean condition who being below them have omitted giving them the respect they look for from those that are not their Equals though indeed they owe them not any Winter begins there towards the end of Iune with a south-South-west Wind which comes from the Sea and reigns for the space of four moneths all along that Coast from Diu as far as the Cape of Comory and during all that time the Sea is not only innavigable but there are few Havens where Ships can ride in safety and unexpos'd to Storms mixt with terrible Thunder and Lightning which disturb the Air there in that season Which is yet so much the more to be wondred at inasmuch as at the same time the Coast of Coromandel which is in the same Peninsula and at the same degree of elevation and in some places is but twenty Leagues distant from that of Malabar enjoyes a pleasant Spring and the most divertive season of the year Accordingly those who go from Cochim to Saint Thome by land as they pass over the Mountain of Balagatta which divides the whole Peninsula as the Apennine does Italy discover from the top of the Mountain on the one side a clear and temperate Air and on the other a Country cover'd with a perpetual mist and drown'd with the Rains that continually fall The same observation may be also made in those Ships which go from Ormus to the Cape of Rosalgate Where as they pass the Cape they suddenly pass out of fair Weather into dreadful Storms and Tempests Whence it comes that in those parts there are but two Seasons as there are also principally but two Winds that reign there in the Summer time to wit those of the East which the Portuguez call Therentos which come from the Land-side and blow from mid-night till mid-day but they are not felt above ten Leagues within the Sea and those of the West which they call Virasons which come from the Sea immediately after dinner and blow all the rest of the day This change of Seasons from one extremity to another is the cause of many Diseases among the Portuguez but the most common there are those which they call Mordexin which kills immediately burning Feavers and bloudy Fluxes against which they have in a manner no remedy but bleeding The Plague is a Disease not known in the Indies but ●o make amends they have the Pox which destroyes every year a great number of Portuguez For though the Country produces present and topical Remedies against the Disease yet so violent are their inclinations to Women who on the other side are as mad for Men that they will not take the time to be cur'd of a Disease which is not got off by Remedies if they be not accompany'd with a very regular diet The Women of those parts ●ave an excessive affection for white Men and being kept very much in restraint they are put to all imaginable inventions to let them know how passionately they love them and ●o get them into their Lodgings where they many times prosecute their delights even in ●he Husbands presence by means of a Drug which so stupifies his Senses as that he seems ●ither to have lost them or to sleep with his eyes open The Indians call this Herb Doutro Doutry or Datura and the Turks and Persians Da●ula Garcias ab horto and Christopher d' Acosta affirm that it is a kind of Stramonea that the Herb grows abundantly all over the Indies in the shade and that it is somewhat like Bears-foot They extract the juyce of it while it is green or they beat the Seed to powder and mix it in Conserves or put it into his drink whom they would reduce to that condition for twenty four hours during which time he is depriv'd the use of all his Senses so that he does not see what is done before him though his eyes be open unless some body moisten the soles of his

and Cotton sufficient to cloath the Inhabitants This Island was heretofore divided into ten Kingdoms but Men making this Voyage only for Traffick they are contended to visit those only next the Sea and omit to travel further into the Country where doubtless Riches are to be found unknown to the maritime Inhabitants The Portuguez give us account only of two Mediterranean Kingdoms which they call Andragidan and Arunau as also those of Achim Pedir Pacem Camparam Z●nde and Mancabo all on the Sea-side and on this side the Line The Hollanders for advance of their Commerce in the Isle of Iava have discovered the Kingdom of Polymbam beyond the Line and have made there a most firm establishment as may be seen in their Relations The Portuguez have there nothing at all but have freedom of Trade except hindred by the Hollanders The King of Achim hath united to his Crown the Kingdoms of Pedir and Pacem with almost all the Northern Coast of the Isle but he that reigned there in 1596. when the Hollanders first sailed into those parts was a Fisher-man that usurp'd the Crown and in the Siege of Polymbam was slain leaving only one Son of five moneths of age under the government of his Father in Law Which young Prince dying his Grandfather succeeded to the Crown and that was he the Hollanders treated with in the year 1668. The City of Achim stands in a wide Plain upon the side of a very broad River but so shallow that the least Boats get in with difficulty It hath neither Gates nor Walls the Houses all built on piles and covered with Coco-leaves The Castle or Palace Royal stands in the middle of the Town which on two sides hath most excellent pleasant Forrests well stored with Apes Herns and all manner of Birds The Natives are flat-fac'd and of an Olive colour they cover their body with a Cotton or Silk Shirt and their head with a light Turbant of the same stuffe Children go stark naked only Girls have their secret parts hidden with a Silver-plate The Inhabitants of Guzuratta Malabar Negupatam Bengalan and Pegu and all Strangers that live among them cloath themselves after the same manner The Castle is fortified with a good Wall and Pallisado and well flanked so as the Artillery commands all the Avenues and streets of the Town The Houses in the Castle are built of the same matter and same form of those of the Town by reason the River which often overflows drowns them sometimes to the first story The piles that support them are gayly wrought and the Houses covered with Canes They enter into the Castle by seven Gates one within another which are neither curious nor strong Without the Kings special Licence none but the Life-guard and Women enter the Pallisado all others must sue for Audience or expect till the King sends for them Such as present themselves to him do him reverence with their hands joyn'd and lifted above their head crying Daula tua●con that is Long live the King He never recreates himself but with Women or appears in publick but either to see Cock-fighting to bathe in the River or hunt the Elephant He is serv'd only by Women or Eunuchs He uses his Subjects as slaves and governs by four Sabanders who are next in authority to him His Laws are fevere and punishments extreamly cruel so as one shall there meet a multitude of people without either hands or feet and have been so mutilated for miscarriages not worth the name of Crimes The King of Achim as almost all that inhabit the Coast of Sumatra is a Mahumetan for which reason I shall not need to say any more of their Religion only that they begin their Lent with the new Moon in the twelfth moneth and end it at the new of the next moneth observing abstinence all day during that time till night Whence it comes that their impatience to see the end of their Lent makes them still gaze in the West fixing their eyes up to the Heavens to find the new Moon which is no sooner seen but they fall to feasting and jollity for the remainder of that night In Sumatra they get no Corn but Rice sufficient of which the Inhabitants make good varieties particularly Cakes with Oyl they have plenty likewise of Beef and Buffles Goat and Mutton though none but the King hath priviledge to breed Sheep Oranges Lemmons Bonana Tamarindes Batalas Reddish Sprinage and Lettice in great abundance they drink Water or Arac made of Rice or Cocoes There is in Sumatra a Tree in the Malayan Language called Singadi in Arabia Gurae the Canarians call it Parizaticco the Persians and Turks Gul the Decanins Pul and the Portuguez Arbor triste de dia. It puts forth an infinite number of branches very small and full of knots from every knot comes two leaves like a Plumb-leaf save that they are as sweet as Sage and are covered with a beautiful white Every leaf hath its bud which opening thrusts forth small heads whereof each hath four round leaves and from each head comes five flowers composing as it were a Nosegay in such manner as the fifth is seen in the middle of the rest The flowers are white as Snow and a little bigger then the Orange-flower blows immediately as the Sun is set so suddenly that they are produced as 't were in the cast of an eye This fecundity lasts all night till the return of the Sun makes both the flowers and leaves drop off and so strips the tree that least greenness is not to be found upon it nor any thing of that admirable odour which perfum'd the Air and comprehended all that Asia affords of sweetness The tree keeps in this condition till the Sun hath left the Horizon and then it begins to open its womb again and deck it self with fresh flowers as if in the shades of night it would recover it self out of the affliction which it is put into by that Planet whose return enlivens the rest of the Universe There is not in the Island a Tree more common then the Cocoes and in regard 't is general through the Indies I will give here a brief description of it and first tell you there are four sorts thereof That which bears the fruit called Cocoes which are the Nuts of the Country is the most considerable not only of any Tree in this Country but indeed of any other part of the world This Tree not above a foot diameter grows in body exceeding high having not a branch but at the top where it spreads as the Date-tree The fruit comes not out of the branches but beneath out of the body in bunches or clusters of ten or twelve Nuts The flower is like that of a Chesnut and it grows only near the Sea or upon the River side in sandy ground and nevertheless grows so lofty that except the Indians who by practice climb it with as much agility and