beene reputed alwayes a verie commodious and pleasurefull countrie It is wholie at this day vnder the Turke The mountaine Taurus goeth along from the West vnto the East part of it The greatnesse of it is such that it hath comprehended many kingdomes and great prouinces beside cities of great fame On the South-east part thereof neare Palaestina lyeth Cilicia the chiefe citie thereof is Tarsus the countrie of Saint Paul the place whither Salomon sent for great store of his golde and prouision for the Temple whither Ionas also fled when he should haue gone to Niniue In the straites of this Cilicia neere to the mountaine Taurus did Alexander giue the great ouerthrowe in person to Darius in the ioyning of their first battaile Westward from Cilicia lyeth the prouince called Pamphilia wherein standeth the citie Saeleucia built by Seleucus one of the foure great successors of Alexander the great On the West of this Pamphilia extending it selfe euen to the sea is Lydia where reigned sometime Croesus who was so renowmed for his aboundant riches Herein standeth as a sea-towne Halicarnassus the countrie of Herodotus and of Dionysius who wrote the Romane Historie which cittie was sometimes a kingdome as in the time of Xerxes to whose aide against the Graecians did goe Artimisia the Queene of Halicarnasse and here raigned Ada another Queene in the time of Alexander the great Vpon the sea-coast Northward from Lydia standeth diuers of those cities vnto the which Iohn in his Reuellation did write his seuen Epistles as Smyrna Pergamus Sardis and Ephesus but other of them as Laodicia Philadelphia Thiatira doe stand more in the inland Sardis was a citie of great pleasure and profite which is that place the winning whereof by the Greekes did so displease one of the kings of Persia that he caused it euerie day at dinner to be remembred vnto him that the Graecians had taken Sardis and that he must not cease till he had recouered it againe Ephesus was one of the most famous cities of the worlde the greatest glorie whereof did arise by reason of the most magnificent Temple of Diana which was at Ephesus to the building whereof all Asia the lesse did verie bountifully contribute It is reported to haue beene two hundred yeeres in building and at seuen seuerall times as otherwise so especiallie by lightning to haue bin set on fire but the final destruction of it was by a base person named Herostratus who of purpose set it on fire to make himselfe famous More Northward toward the Sea-coast lyeth Phrygia which was the countrie from whence the Goddesse called Bona Dea or Pessinuntia and Cybile was brought to Rome In this countrie liued Gordius who knit that knot that Alexander cut hoping thereby to obtaine as an oracle had foretolde the whole kingdome of Asia In this countrie stoode Troy the siege whereof by the Graecians is made so famous by the Poetrie of Homer and of Virgil. Yet Northwarde from Phrygia lyeth the Countrie of Bithynia which was sometimes a kingdome where Prusias raigned that had so much to doe with the Romanes In this countrie standeth the citie Nicea where the first generall Councel was held against Arrius the Heretike by Constantine the great thereof called the Nicene Councell Here standeth also Chalcedon where the fourth general Councell was held by the Emperour Martianus against the heretike Nestorius From Bithynia East-ward on the North-side of Asia the lesse standeth the countrie of Paphlagonia where was the citie built by Pompey the great called of his name Pompeiopolis From thence Eastward ioining to Armenia is the kingdome of Capadocia which bordereth on Armenia Northward from thence near to the sea called Pontus Euxinus lieth the kingdome of Mithridates which was called Pontus This Mithridates had long warres with the Romanes whose subiects he caused to be slaine all in one night throughout Asia the lesse He was afterward ouerthrowne by Pempey the great Romane By him was inuented that preseruatiue against poison which of his name is called Mithridate There were also in Asia the lesse some other small countries as Galatia Lycia Caria and some other De Syria Palaestina SOuthward from Cilicia and Asia the lesse lieth Syria called Palaestina hauing on the East Mesopotamia on the South Arabia on the West Tire and Sidon and the end of the Mediterran sea The people of this Syria were in times past called the Aramites In their language is the translation of the new Testament called the Syriacke In this countrie standeth Antioch which was sometimes one of the famous Patriarks seas and is a citie of reckoning vnto this day Here also standeth now the Citie of Aleppo which is a famous Mart towne for the Marchandizing of the Persians and other of the East and for the Turkes and such countries as bee adioyning Here standeth also Tripolis The South part of Syria lying downe toward Aegypt and Arabia was the place where the children of Israel did dwel beeing a countrie but of small quantitie not in length two hundren Italian miles yet was so fruitfull flowing with milk and honie as the scripture calleth it that both it did maintaine aboue thirtie kings and their people before the comming of the children of Israel out of Egypt and also was sufficient afterwarde to relieue the incredible number of the twelue tribes of Israel It was noted of this countrie that whereas by the goodnesse of the Climate wherein it stoode and the fertilitie of the soile but especially by the blessing of God it was the most fruitfull land that was in the world nowe our trauailers by experience doe finde the countrie in respect of the fruitfulnesse to bee changed God cursing the land together with the Iewes the inhabitants of it It is obserued also for all the Easterne parts that they are not so fertile as they haue beene in former ages The earth as it were growing olde which is an argument of the dissolution to come by the day of iudgement Through this countrie doth runne the riuer Iordan which hath heretofore beene famous for the fruitfulnesse of the trees standing thereupon and for the mildnesse of the aire so that as Iosephus writeth when snow hath layen in other places of the land about the riuer it hath bin so calme that men did goe in single thinne linnen garments In this countrie standeth the Lake called Lacus Asphaltites because of a kinde of slime or Bytumen which dayly it doth cast vp being of force to ioyne stones exceeding fast in building This Lake is it which is called Mare mortuum a Sea because it is salt and dead for that no liuing thing is therein the water whereof is so thicke that fewe thinges will sinke therein insomuch that Iosephus saith that an Oxe hauing all his legges bound will not sinke in that water The nature of this lake was turned into this qualitie when God did destroy Sodome and Gomorra and the citties adioyning with fire and brimstone from heauen for Sodom and
which almost in all olde hystories were called by the name of Mauri Those of the other Mauritania being rather termed Namidae Into the Northwest part hereof did Hercules come and there did set vp one of his pillars which aunswereth to the other in Spaine at the straights of Gibraltar in times past called Fretum Herculeum On the South part hereof lay the kingdome of Bocchus which in the time of Marius had so much to doe with the Romanes In the Westpart of this Mauritania standeth the hill called Atlas minor and on the South part is the great hill called Atlas maior whereof the maine Ocean which lieth betweene Mauritania and America is called Mare Atlanticum This hill is so high that vnto those who stoode on the bottome of it it seemed to touch heauen with his top whereupon grew that fable of the Poets that Atlas was a giant who helde vp heauen with his shoulders This countrie hath beene long inhabited by the Sarazens who from thence finding it to be but a short passage into Spain did go ouer now seuen hundred yeers agone and possessed there the kingdome of Granado on the South-side of Spaine till they were thence expelled by Ferdinandus and Elizabeth or Isabell King and Queene of Castile In this countrie since that time haue the Spaniards taken some cities and holdes and so also haue the Portingales which by the diuers euent of victorie haue often beene lost and wonne by them Here it was that the Emperou Charles the fift had diuerse of his great warres agaynst the Moores as well as in the kingdome of Timis For the assistance of one who claimed to bee King of a part of this Countrie did Sebastian the king of Portingale goe with all his power into Africa in the yeare 1578. where vnaduisedly bearing himselfe hee was slaine togither with two other dying that day who claymed to bee Kings so that there it was that the battaile was sought whereof it is said that three kings dyed in one day which battaile was the ruine of the kingdome of Portingale and the cause of the vniting of a to the Crowne of Spaine Astrolegers did suppose that the blaging Starre which appeared the yeare before did signifie that ill euent This whole countrie doth containe in it besides some imperiall gouernment two absolute kingdomes the one the kingdome of Eezza or Fes which lieth on the North-part toward the Mediter and Spaine the other is the kingdome of Marocco which lieth from about the hill Atlas minor to the South and West part of Mauritania These are both Sarazens as be also their people holding true league with the Turke and with some other Christian Princes a league onely for trefique or Marchandise De reliquis Africae regionbius maritimis FRom beyond the hils Atlas maior vnto the South of Africa is nothing almost in antiquitie worthy the reading and those things which are written for the most part are fables In the new Writers there are some few things to be obferued As first that all the people in generall to the South lying within the Zona torrida are not onely blackish like the Moores but are exceedingly blacke And therefore as in olde time by an excellencie some of them were called Nigrita so that to this day they are named Negros as then whome no men are blacker Secondly that the inhabitants of all these parts which border or the sea coast euen vnto Caput bonae spei haue beene Gentiles adoring Images and foolish shapes for their gods neither hearing of Christ nor beleeuing on Mahomet till such time as Portingales cōming in among them haue professed Christ for themselues but haue wonne fewe of the people to imbrace their religion Thirdly that the Portingales passing along Africa vnto the East Indies haue fetled themselues in many places of those countries building Castles and townes for their owne safetie and to keepe the people in subiection to their great commoditie One of the first countries famous beyond Marocco is Guinea which we call Ginnie within the compasse whereof lieth the cape called Cape Verde and the other the Cape of the three points and the towne and Castle named Sierra Liona at which places commonly all trauailers doe touch that doe passe that way for fresh water and other shippe-prouision Our English men haue founde trafique into the partes of this countrie where their greatest commoditie as golde and Elephants teeth of both which there is very good store Beyond that toward the South not farre from the equinoctiall line lyeth the kingdome of Congo commonlie called Manicongo Where the Portingales at their first arriuall finding the people to bee heathens without God did induce them to a profession of Iesus Christ and to bee baptized in great aboundance allowing of the principles of religion vntill such time as the Priests did teach them to leade their liues according vnto their profession which the most part of them in no case enduring they returned backe againe vnto their Gentilisme Beyond Manicongo so farre to the South as almost ten degrees beyonde the tropicke of Capricorne lyeth the landes ende which is a promontorie now called by the name of Caput bone spei which Vascus Gama the Portingale did discouer and so called it because hee had there good hope that the land did turne to the North and that following the course thereof he might bee brought to Arabia and Persia but especially to Calicut in India Which course when himselfe and other of his countrimen after him did follow they founde on the coast vp towarde Arabia the kingdome of Mozambique Melinde Magadaxa and other whose people were all Gentiles and now are in league with the Portingales who haue built diuerse holdes for their safetie of which Countries and manners of the people he that listeth to reade may finde much in the hystories of Osorius and Petrus Maffeus But there is no matter of any great importance De Abissina imperio Presbyteri Iohannis IN the inland of Africa lyeth a verie large Countrie extending it selfe on the East to some part of the redde sea on the South to the kingdome of Melinde and a great way farther on the North vnto Egypt on the West vnto Manicorgo the people whereof are called Abissini and it selfe the dominion of him whom wee commonly call in English Prester Iohn but in Latine some tearme him Preciosus Iohannes because of his riches but in the most part Presbiter Iohannes writing of him that as he is a prince absolute so he hath also a Priestlike or Patriarchall function iurisdiction among them This is a very mightie prince and reputed to be one of the greatest Emperours of the worlde What was knowne of this countrie in former time was knowne vnder the name of Aethiopia but the voyages of the Portingales in these late dayes haue best described it The people therefore are Christians as is also their prince but differing in many thinges from the West Church and in no sorte acknowledging any supreme
plant in they sent thither two seuerall times two seuerall companies as Colonies to inhabit that part which in remembrance of the virginity of their Queene they named Virginia But this voyage beeing interprised on the charge of priuate men and not thorowlie being followed by the State the possession of this Virginia is nowe discontinued and the countrie at this present left to the old inhabitants Northward from thence on the sea-coast lieth Norombega which is the South-parte of that which the Frenchmen did without disturbance of any Christian for a time possesse For the French-men did discouer a large part of America on toward the circle Arctick and did build there some townes and named it of their owne countrie Noua Francia The Enlish-men about the yeare 1570. did aduenture farre for to open the North partes of America and sayled as farre as the very circle Arcticke hoping for to haue found a passage by the North to the Moluccos and to China which hitherto neither by the North of Asia nor by the North of America could bee effected by them by reason of the verie great colde and yse in that clymate The rest of the inland beeing an huge space of earth hath not hitherto by any Christian to any purpose beene discouered but by those neare the sea-coasts it may bee gathered that they all which doe there inhabite are men rude and vnciuill without knowledge of God Yet on the North-west part of America some of our English-men going through the straightes of Magellan and passing toward the North by Hispania noua haue touched on a Countrie where they found good entertainement the King thereof yeelding himselfe to the subiection of the Queene of England whervpon they tearmed it Noua Albion De Peru Brasilia WHen the Portingales had first begun their nauigation by Africa vnto the East Indies some of them intending to haue helde their course Eastwarde vnto Caput bone spei were driuen so farre West-ward by tempest that they landed in a large and great countrey which by a generall name is called Brasilia where they began to enter trafique and with Townes and Castles to plant themselues before that the Spaniardes had discouered Peru which is the South parte of America So that at this day whatsoeuer the King of Spaine hath in Brasilia it is in right of the crowne of Portingale The countrie is large hauing in it many people and seuerall kingdomes which are not all possessed by the Portingals but so that other Christians as namely the Frenchmen being driuen out of their countrie for religion haue set footing there though afterwardes againe they haue abandoned it The inhabitants hereof are men also vtterly vnlearned but men more ingenious then the common sorte of the Americans goodly of bodie and straight of proportion going alwayes naked reasonable good warriours after their countrie fashion vsing to fat such enemies as they take in the warres that afterwardes they may deuoure them which they doe with great pleasure For diuers of the people of these quarters as the Caribles and the Canibals are all eaters of mans flesh In this countrie groweth aboundance of that wood which since is brought into Europe for to dye red colours and is of the place whence it commeth called Brazil-wood the trees whereof are exceeding great After that the Spaniardes had for a time possessed Hispania noua for the desire of gold and pearle some of them trauelled towardes the South And as by water they found that sea Westward from Peru which is alwayes very calme and is by them called the South-sea as the other wherein Cuba standeth is termed the North-sea so by land they founde that huge mightie countrie which is named Peru wherein the people are for the most parte very barbarous and without God men of great stature yea some of them farre higher then the ordinarie sorte of men in France vsing to shoote strongly with bowes made of fishe bones and most cruell people to their enemies Among these the Spaniards partly by force but especially by perfidious treason did get infinite summes of golde and pearle wherein being allured and hoping for more by reason that a great parte hereof lyeth vnder the Zona Torrida They haue heare and there scatteringly vpon the sea-coastes set vp some Townes and Castles but are not able to possesse almost any thing of the land neither haue they as yet discouered the inwarde partes thereof Some of these Spaniardes desirous for to see how farre this land of Peru did goe towardes the South trauelled downe till at length they founde the landes end and a little straight or narrowe sea which did runne from the maine Ocean towardes Africa into the South sea One magelanus was he that found this straight and although it be dangerous passed thorowe it so that of his name it is called Fretum Magelanicum or Magelanes straightes And this is the way whereby as the Spaniards doe passe to the backside of Peru and Hispania noza so whosoeuer will compasse the whole worlde as some of our English haue done He must of necessitie for any thing that is yet knowne passe thorowe this narrowe straight Magellanus did finde on the other side towards the Pole the maine continent which also the Portingales in their voyages to the East Indies haue sometimes bene driuen vnto whereof nothing is discouered but that in one place they did see aboundance of Parats and greater then ordinarie whereof they did call it Psittacorum regio This is thought to be a mightie huge countrie conteyning in compasse all the degrees of longitude in the continent thereof and is supposed to goe vnto the South pole By reason that no sea is yet founde to breake in or breake through the same There be also described by some of our late writers certaine great Landes towardes the North-pole And our English-men in their Nauigations haue touched Gronland but the nature of them and whether they be such and so many as is reported is not certainely knowne FINIS
whereas in deed they came of Hagar the hand maid of Sara Abrahams wife and therefore should of her be called Ismaelites or Hagarens because they would not seeme to be come of a bond woman and from him whom they suppose a bastard they terme themselues Sarazens as comming from Sara they are called by some writers Arabians in stead of Sarazens their name beeing drawne from their first countrie In the countrie of Arabia standeth a citie called Mecha which is the place where Mahomet was buried and in remembrance of him there is built a great Temple vnto the which the Turkes and Sarazens doe yearlie goe on pilgrimage as some Christians do to the Holie land For they account Mahomet to be the greatest Prophet that euer came into the world saying that there were three great Prophets Moses Christ and Mahomet and as the doctrine of Moses was bettered by Christ so is the doctrine of Christ amended by Mahomet In this respect as we reckon the computation of our yeares from the incarnation of Christ so the Sarazens account theirs from the time of Mahomet The Turkes whose fame began now about two hundred yeares since haue imbraced the opinions and the religion of the Sarazens concerning Mahomet On the West-side of Arabia betweene that and Egypt lieth the gulfe called of the country Sinus Arabicus by some Mare Erythreum but commonly the red Sea not of one Erythrus as some suppose but because the sand and bankes there-about are in colour red This is that sea through the which by Moses the people of Israel were led when they fled out of Egypt from Pharao God causing by his power the waters to stand on both sides of them which they passed through as on drie land This is that sea through the which the spices of the East Indies were in times past brought to Alexandria in Aegypt and from thence dispersed into Christendome by the Venetians which spices and Apothicarie drugs are found to be far worse then before time they were by reason of the great moisture which they take on the water by the long nauigation of the Portingales by the backe part of Africa This is that sea through the which Salomon did send for his golde and other precious marchandise vnto the East Indies and not to the West Indies as some lately haue disputed Whereout the vanitie of that opinion may appeare that America and the West Indies were knowne in the time of Salomon for if he had sent thither his course had beene along the Med. and through the straights of Gibraltar commonly called Fretum Herculeum between Spaine and Barbarie But the Scripture telleth that the nauie which Salomon sent forth was built at Eseon Gabar which there also is said to stand on the red sea so his course might be East-ward or South-ward not West-ward In the desert of Arabia is the Mount Horeb which by some is supposed to bee the same that is called the Mount Sina where manie thinke it was that Abraham shoulde haue offered vp his sonne Isaac but it is certaine that it was the place where God in the Wildernesse did giue vnto the people of Israel his law of the ten commaundements with thundering lightning and earth-quake in most fearefull manner De Africa Egypto FRom Arabia and Palastina toward the West lyeth Africa hauing on the North-side from the one end of it to the other the Mediter sea The greatest part of which countrie although it hath beene gessed at by writers in former time yet because of the great heate of it lying for the most parte vnder the Zona Torrida and for the Wildernesses therein it was in former times supposed by manie not to bee much inhabited but of certaintie by all verie little discouered till the Portingales of late beganne their nauigation on the backe-side of Africa to the East Indies So exact a description is not therefore to bee looked for as hath beene of Asia and Eurupa Ioyned to the Holy land by a little Isthmos is the countrie of Aegypt which is a land most fruitfull as any almost in the world although in these daies it doth not answere to the felicitie of former time This is it which in the time of Ioseph did relieue Canaan with corne and the familie of Iacob which did so multiplie in the land of Aegypt that they were growne to an huge multitude when God by Moses did deliuer them from thence This countrie did yeeld exceeding aboundance of corne vnto the citie of Rome whereupon Aegypt as well as Cicilia was commonly called Horreum populi Romani It is obserued from all antiquitie that almost neuer any raine did fall in the land of Egypt whereupon the raining with thunder lightning and fire running on the ground was so much the more strange when God plagued Pharao in the dayes of Moses But the flowing of the riuer Nilus ouer all the countrie their cities onely and some fewe hils excepted doth so water the earth that it bringeth foorth fruit abundantly The flowing of which riuer yearly is one of the greatest miracles of the world no man being able to yeeld a sufficient and assured reason thereof although in Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus many probable causes and opinions are assigned thereof It is noted of this riuer if in ordinarie places it doe flow vnder the height of fifteene cubites that for want of moysture the yeare is not fruitfull and if it do flow aboue seuenteene cubites that there is like to bee a dearth by reason of the aboundance of the moysture the water lying longer on the land then the inhabitants do desire In Egypt hath learning bin very auncient But especially the knowledge of Astronomie and Mathematicks whereof before the time of Tullie their Priests would report that they had the discent for 1500. yeares exactly recorded with obseruation Astrologicall which as it is a fable vnlesse they doe reckon their yeares by the Moone as some suppose they did euery moneth for a yeare so it doth argue knowledge to haue bene among them very antient their Priestes had among them a kinde of writing and of describing thinges by picture which they did call their Hieroglyphica This in times past was a kingdome and by the Kinges thereof were built those great Pyramides which were held to be one of the seuen wonders of the world being mightie huge buildings erected of exceeding height for the magnificence of their founders There is part of two or three of them remaining vnto this day In Aegipt did stand the great Citie Memphis which is at this day called Cairo one of the most famous Cities of the East Here did Alexander build that Citie which vnto this day is of his name called Alexandria bing now the greatest Citie of merchandize in all Aegipt of which Ammiamus Marcellinus doth obserue that there is neuer any day or almost hath euer bene but that once in that day the Sun hath bene seene to shine ouer Alexandria This Citie was one