Tythimalus Paralius and also a kind of Conyza Diosc out of one Root there spring up several Stalks whereof some grow upright but the greater part of them lie down upon the ground and so shoot new Roots which afterwards sprout out into new Stalks it beareth long Olive-leaves which are thick fattish and somewhat woolly and have a strong and equally sweet smell for the rest as the Flowers it is very like unto the great one You find there also the lesser and greater Medica which the Moors to this day still call Fasa Likewise so great and many Squills that the Inhabitants weed them up chiefly those that grow near their Gardens and fling them up in high heaps like Stones There also groweth Securidaca minor Tribulus terrestris by the Inhabitants called Haseck and a kind of Echium which groweth by the way as you go to St. Jame's Church which from thence is situated upon an ascent at a Mile's distance Hereabout and in other adjacent places groweth a great quantity of Sugar-canes so that there is yearly sold a great many Sugar-loaves that are made thereof These are as high and big as our Canes and not much differing from them but within and down towards the Root where they are best they are full of this pleasant Juice wherefore the Turks and Moors buy a great many of them being very pleasant to them to chew and eat for they are mightily pleased with Sweet-meats whereof they have variety Before they begin to eat or chew them they stript off the long Leaves and cut away what is tasteless so that only the juicy and good remaineth which is hardly two Foot Of the thus prepared Canes they carry many along with them through the Streets and cut off one piece after another skale them and so chew and eat them openly every where in the Street without shame for they are principally near the Root very tender and feel as mellow between your Teeth as if it were Sugar it self So the Turks use themselves to Gluttony and are no more so free and couragious to go against their Enemies to fight as they have been in former Ages The Sugar Canes do not grow there from Seeds neither are they propagated by the Root but by the Canes themselves whereof they lay into the Ground some green pieces of two or three Joints long and that they may grow the sooner they bore prety large holes in between the Joints when they begin to grow they sprout out in the Joints and grow up into great Canes and so bring in good profit There also by the Rivers are found Anthillis marina Visnaga the first Apocymum and Oleander with Purple Flowers by the Inhabitants called Defle and a delicate kind of Scabiosa Melisra Maluca and if you go to the Gardens you see Heliotropium majus Convolvulus folio acuto Vitis nigra Phaseolus Turcicus with yellow Flowers which still retain the ancient Name of Lubie Lysimachia lutea and wild Vines called Labruscae whereon nothing groweth but only the Flowers called Ocnanthe and also a Shrub like unto the Polygonus of Carol Clusius which climbs up into high Trees and hang down again from the Twigs and I very believe they are the same with Ephedra whereof Pliny maketh mention in the 7 th Chapter of his 26 th Book When I went farther with an intention to consider the Plants that grew in the Country first came before me some Sycomors whereof chiefly Dioscorides and Theophrastus make mention and tell us of two sorts and when I called these things to mind I light of one of the second sort of Sycomors whereof abundance grow in Cyprus wherefore these wild Figg-Trees might be called the one the Cyprish Sycomore-Tree and the other the Aegyptian Sycomore-Tree according to the places where they are most frequent and fruitful I found a great many of them the Moors and Arabians call them Mumeitz they are as great and as high as the white Mulberry-Trees and have almost the same Leaves but they are only somewhat rounder and are also whole at or about the sides they bear Fruit not unlike to our Figg-Trees only they are sweeter and have no little Seeds within and are not so good wherefore they are not esteemed and are commonly sold only to the poorer sort of People they grow in all Fields and Grounds as you may see by the Words of the second Book of the Chronicles in the 9 th Chap. Vers 27 th And the King made Silver in Jerusalem as Stones and Cedar-Trees made he as the Sycomore-Trees that are in the low Plains in abundance Zacheus did climb upon such a one when he had a great mind to see our Saviour Essaias also maketh mention of them in his 9 th Chap. Vers 10. and Amos in his 7 th Chap. Vers 14. where he saith of himself I was a Herds-man and a Gatherer of Sycomore-Fruit These two sorts are very like one another in Stem Leaves and Fruit only as the Fruit of the one comes more out of the great Stem and great Twigs so that of the other does the same but not out of the Stems and Twigs immediately but out of Twigs or Sprouts without Leaves of the length of five or six Inches whereon they grow sometimes very thick and in a bunch together These Trees bear Fruit three or four times yearly which are small of an Ash colour oblong round like Prunes and are found upon the Trees almost all the Year long Hereabout also grow many Thorns whereof is made mention in the Scriptures by the Inhabitants called Hauseit and by the Arabians Hausegi but the Latins call them Ahamnus and also white Poplars still to this day called Haur by the Arabians There also groweth a great and high Tree which beareth delicate Leaves and Flowers pleasant to look upon by the Inhabitants called Zensetacht but by Rhazes and Avicenna Astirgar Astergir and Azadaracht whereof you see here and there several planted in the Streets to make a pleasant Shade in the Summer the Fruit thereof remaineth upon them all the Year long until they put out again a new for they are hurtful and kill the Dogs if they eat thereof Near the Town upon the Highlands where you see abundance of Corn-fields and abundance of pleasant Olive-Trees that reach quite up to Mount Libanus are found Polium montanum Pecten veneris ferrum equinum Chamaeleon niger with its sharp pointed and black Roots and Leaves very like unto the Leaves of Carlina whereof the Stalks are of a reddish colour a Span long and of the thickness of a Finger whereon are small prickly Heads of a blewish colour not unlike to these of the little Eryngium Another fine Plant grows thereabout called Sathar in their Language but when I consider its beautiful Purple-coloured Flowers and its small Leaves which are something long withall I rather judge it to be the Hasce of the Arabians or the true Thyme of Diosc which we call Serpillum Romanum It
sort of Horminum with small woolly and dissected leaves a Garden-Cypress with gold-colour'd flowers Seabiosa Anchusa and a Salvia which hath many roundish leaves and about their square stalks grow purple-colour'd Bells wherein is its black Seed like unto that of Melissa Molucca whereof I have made mention above In the Corn also groweth Leontopetalon in their Language Aslab with its brown-colour'd round Root and large Leaves which are roundish and very near divided like unto these of our Paeonia the Stalk hath at the top which is about a foot high and hollow more Twiggs whereof the point of each of them beareth several small purple and yellow Flowers which make roundish Bladders that contain one two and sometimes three Seeds the Children use to play their Tricks with them as they do with the Flowers of Papaver erraticum in our Country The great Roots they bruise and rub with it Spots in Cloaths which they as they say draw out immediately By these in the Corn groweth also the true Chrysogonum of Diosc which is as high as the former and also in Flowers Stalks and roundish Root which is redder within very like it only the Stalk is slenderer and hath more and longer by-shoots or germina at the end whereof you see stately yellow Flowers so that it is thicker and more spriggy than the other Its pennated Leaves whereof there are commonly four that come from the Root with long foot-foot-stalks almost as slender as a Thread lye close to the Ground as you may easily imagin and have every one their Ribs two and two Leaves growing together on each side one after another so that four of them stand together in a cross they are darkish green and at the out side where they are broader very like unto Oaken leaves Now as these and others that grow in these Countries are as yet very little known so may also the following that groweth in plowed Fields be reckoned among the unknown which is very like unto the Lycopsis of Diosc for which in my opinion it ought to be taken This Plant hath a red Coat and a straight Stalk about two foot high from whence round about below spread themselves many strong and rough Leaves in a circle as if it were from one center not unlike the wild Bugloss they decrease a little by degrees as they grow higher and higher Out of each of them close to the Stalk sprouts out many Twigs with their peculiar small Leaves as you see in Echium between them shoot out very tender purple-colour'd Flowers which are whole within and divided into six small or longish Leaves almost like unto these of the Caryophillus montanus In the beginning of February I have seen several Sorts of Hyacinths and the Oriental one in the greatest quantity which they call Zumbel in their Language In April I saw another very delicate one known to them by the name Ayur with long and very small Leaves of our Philangium it groweth pretty high and beareth at the top four Stalky Flowers the Leaves thereof are very like in shape and colour unto the three Leaves that stand up in our Flower de luce the Root is very like to that of a Tulip whereof I have also seen a great number in these Grounds of all sorts of colours I have also found some Daisies like unto our own and also another sort of them with nine or ten white saffron-Saffron-flowers which sprout sooner in the Spring in the Corn not so bare as ours but between the Leaves The Leaves are pretty thick but narrower longer and narrower pointed than the before-mentioned They also spread more about upon the Ground and come from a white Coat with a brown-red Skin surrounded and divided in the middle it is called Kusan in their Tongue but by some others it is still called Surugen These and a great many more strange Herbs have I found but because they were unknown to me I forbear to mention any more of them But yet I cannot but describe to you one more for the taking of which I and my two Comrades fell into great danger as we often did both of Turks and Moors which needs not all to be related here This is called by the Inhabitants Rhasut and also Rumigi it hath a strong yet unpleasant savour and about four stalks of a whitish colour and so tender towards the Root and so small as a Packthread whereon at each side grow seven or eight tender ash-colour'd Leaves one against the other distributed like unto those of Osmond-Royal only they have round Ears towards the Stâ—lk like unto the small Sage and between the lowermost which are a little more distant Flowers like unto our Aristolochia yet a great deal bigger of a more brownish colour and hanging on longer Stalks The Root striketh very deep and is very like unto our Pellitory of a drying quality and somewhat hot as the bitter taste intimates When I was busie about this tender Plant and strove to get it out whole which took me up the more time because I had no proper Tools by me a Turk well armed came galloping upon us to see what we were doing but when we perceived him to be fuddled and that he earnestly set upon us to make booty of us each of us gave him according to his own desire seeing that he would not leave us without it something that so we might get rid of him so he rode away very well pleased out of our sight so that we took no further care of him But before I could get the Root quite out he came back again with full speed upon us so I bid my Comrades to run to the next Olive-Trees and I would follow them presently but when I saw him come pretty near me and found I could not get the Plant whole I pulled it up as well as I could and so ran to my Companions But when I came to the Olive-trees I found they were ran several Olive-trees further which stand row by row and found my self quite alone and destitute and that I must defend my self behind the Tree so he came down upon me with his Cymeter drawn and fetch'd one blow after the other at me which I still declined running from one side of the Tree to the other so that they went into the Tree and mangled it mightily In the mean time defending my self thus unarmed against him I took a Resolution that if he should take hold of his Bow and Arrow to shoot at me which he could not do except he left his Cymeter to run in upon him and struggle with him But this Fight during very long and perhaps his Anger did not give him leave to think of it I found out another way knowing them to be very covetous to make my self free again with a piece of Money and to give him a small Silver piece which in their Language they call Saict worth about three-pence or a Groat so pulled it out and shew'd it him still
seen at one time together about the number of 3 or 4000 Camels They are strong and hardy Creatures fit to carry heavy Burthens and also to subsist without Drinking in the greatest Heats for Three Days together They stale out between their hind Legs so that those that go in Caravans behind them must have a great Care that they be not hit by them and so become all bedaubed Their Horses are very Noble Neat and fit for business they seldom feed them more than once a Day altho' they ride them very hard all Day long through the Wildernesses They commonly cut off all the Hair from their Mains and Tail so that their Tails remain very naked and look something like the Tail of a Lion They put their Wives on little Asses and also upon high Camels with their Children three or four of them together in Boxes as it is the fashion in these Countries They are of a brown Colour like unto our Gypsies and almost the fourth Part of them black which difference of Colour proceedeth from that in travelling up and down to places where Blacks are They sometimes leave their own there and take Blacks in the room of them The King of Arabia is always encamped in the Fields and never cometh into a place that is shut up or enclosed and this the less now after the Mischance of losing his Son that retired into one happened so he goeth from place to place like unto the Tartars so that often it is not known where he is In the Summer time he goeth further to the North and in the Winter to the South to avoid both the Heat and Cold and to have better Subsistance and Provision for himself his Men and Cattle So it hath happened several times that the Arabians in their march have come too near to the Turks Dominions and the Turks again to his from whence arose between these two great Princes such Differences that they are come to great and bloody Wars And yet for all this as I am credibly informed they have now both made a peculiar League and Contract between them wherein it is agreed that if the Grand Turk should go to a War with his Neighbours then the Arabian King will Assist and Defend him wherefore the Grand Signior writes to him as his Cousin and good Friend and is to pay him the sum of 60000 Ducats yearly as his certain Salary or retaining Fee And besides all this the Sultan sends to the New King of Arabia after the Decease of the Old one a Standard with his Coat of Arms in it which together with other Presents he sends him with usual Ceremonies to congratulate him on his happy coming to the Throne and to renew and confirm their Alliances Their Religion doth contribute not a small matter to this which together with all their Ceremonies and all other Points is the same almost they profess in both Nations And they take as many Wives as the Turks do neither do they extol or magnifie one before the other because they come from better Parents being they buy them all from them And therefore none of them is excused because she cometh from a greater Extraction from doing the Family-business nor hath a poor one more put upon her because she came from mean Extraction So one of the King of Arabia's Wives is a Daughter of a Man that keepeth a Sawing-Mill at Racka which by him although of a mean Extraction is as much respected as any of the rest Her Father and Brothers are very good People they came very often to us and shewed great Compassion for that we were so abused by the Publican His Milk is not drawn by Horses as ours are nor by Water for they know nothing of that but two of them cut the Wood with great hand-labour During our staying there a Young Arabian Gentleman nearly related to the King of Arabia came very often to us to the Water-side who was always accompanied with Twenty Servants with Bows and Darts he had a delicate white Turbant on and a long Violet coloured Caban made of Wooll but his Servants went pretty bare for some of them wore black Caps and long Indigo coloured Shirts with wide Sleeves which they girt up with broad Leathern Girdles wherein stuck bended Daggers or Bagonets as it is their usual Custom It once happened that some of us being upon the High-Town Walls together from whence we had a pleasant Prospect down into the Valley to the great River Euphrates this same Gentleman came to us again and seated himself with his Retinue over against us and presented us with some dried Cicer Pease whereof I have made mention before and some Cibebs mixt together which we thankfully received and to shew our thankfulness we presented him again with some Almonds Figs Nuts and some very good Sweet-meats we had brought with us from Halepo which he also received very kindly So we all began to eat each of us part of his Present and drunk with it some Water of the Euphrates After we had eat them all and we thought the time to be long he beckon'd to one of his Musicians and bid him to divert us with his Instrument which he pulled out presently which about the Neck looked very like unto a Cittern and we expected to hear some rarity but when I looked upon it and saw it had but one String that was as big as a Cord of their Bows he began to play some of their Tunes but with what Art and Dexterity you may easily fansie He did this for almost two Hours and according to his Opinion very harmoniously but we thought the time so long that we were very glad when he had done About the River I found that sort of Acacia that beareth roundish and brown-coloured Pods called Schock and Schamuth by the Arabians Some Thorns called Algul whereon the Manna falleth chiefly in the County of Corascen as Avicen tells us Chamesyces some strange kinds of Mosses which are very much differing in bigness Among the rest I saw the low prickly Herb by some esteemed to be the Tragun of Dioscorides Below close to the River I found the Herba Sacra of Dioscorides which the Learned Carolus Clusius hath accurately described in his Second Book and the 45th Chapter of his History of Out-landish Plants and just by these more strange ones chiefly a delicate one growing plentifully there in the Sand which had from Five to Eight tender Stalks which spread themselves into others that were very full of Joints so that it crept rather on the Ground than grew up by each of them stood three or four roundish Marjoram or Origanum Leaves together and above between them some Star like white Flowers with six pointed Leaves like unto our Ornithogalum each of them on a peculiar foot-Foot-stalk the Seeds thereof I have not seen but the Roots are small and fibrous which together with their small bitterness have a pretty exsiccating quality and so in this
standing behind the Tree As soon as he saw it he gave over and beckened to me to give it him so I stepp'd to him and when I reached it to him he took it But my Table-book fell out of my Pocket when I pulled out the Money upon the Ground wherein I had recorded many things which when he saw he would have it also but I refusing it he grew mad and began to renew the same Game again then I repented that I did not dismount him when I gave him the Money yet I consider'd that if I should have done him a Mischief as he deserved yet although I had never so good a Cause I was sure I must be cast and perhaps come to a greater mischief and hurt so I gave him it and after he had received it he was pacified and rode away But to come to my former purpose again I found about the River the other Tragium Diosc in the ploughed Grounds and afterwards also in abundance upon the Hill but generally in moist places near to the Spring that runs down the Hill Its Root is whitish pretty long and slender from thence spread themselves some woody Stalks not above a little finger long whereon grew towards the top many Leaves together which were long and had of each side of their rib small Leaves one opposite to the other which were just like the Trichomanes divided only somewhat longer about the bigness of these of Asplenium and are as they delicately green within but without and against the Ground of an Ash-colour and woolly chiefly the small ones that are just sprouting out between the others Out of these first-mentioned Stems come first naked long Stalks upon which grow at the top Violet-brown Flowers close together as if it was an Ear of Corn The Inhabitants call it Secudes and so did the ancient Arabians chiefly Avicen in the 679th Chapter where he also attributeth this Vertue that it is very proper in the Bloody-flux In their Gardens the Turks love to raise all sorts of Flowers wherein they take great delight and use to put them on their Turbant so I could see the fine Plants that blow one after another daily without trouble In December I saw our Violets with dark-brown and white Flowers whereof they gave me in that Season several Nosegays Then came the Tulips Hyacinths Narcissies which they still name by the old name Nergis Before all other I saw a rare kind with a double yellow Flower called Modaph and a strange Convolvulus hederae foliis with great purple Flowers whereout grew Seed-vessels as you see in the new Harmala with three distinct Capsula's wherein is kept its black Seed to which they attribute the vertue of evacuating tough Slime This is found sometimes in Gardens and by the Inhabitants called Hasnisca and the Persians Acafra and Serapio Chapt. 273. Habalnil the Latines Granum Indicum and Carthamus Indicus and he that hath a mind to know more of it let him look into the Author himself in the above-mentioned place in the 306th Chapter of Avicen and the 208th of Rhases I also found in their Gardens Balm Basil and a fine sort of Amaranthus which for his colour-sake may be called Symphonia Plinii and therefore called Parrots Feather I cannot forbear before I conclude to mention some which I found here and there in the Batzars and among them a strange sort of Lillies which as I am told grow in sunny moory mossy and moist places whereon groweth a long Stalk of the same colour and thickness of ours only a great deal broader but broadest of all at top where it is about three fingers broad so that it is like unto a Spatula that is painted at one end On this Stalk grow at each side several tender Leaves which are pretty long but very small and pointed and at the top thereof some white Flowers like unto ours When I was thinking of this at several times what they were called by the Ancients it came into my mind that I had read of them in Theophrastus lib. 4. cap. 9. and I really believe it to be the same But whereas Theophrastus writes in the quoted place that they do not touch the Ground I can say nothing to it for I never saw any of them growing They have also some small Roots to sell called Mamirani tchini good for Eyes as they say they are yellowish like Curcuma but a good deal longer and thinner and knotted and very like unto our Poligonatum and may be esteemed to be the true Mamican whereof Rhases maketh mention in several places There is also among others brought a great quantity of the Juice of Scammony that is still very soft it cometh in Leathern Bags from out of the Country and so it 's sold to our Merchants in their Fondiques but those that buy it must have a great care because it is often adulterated that they be not cheated There is also a good deal of the Juice by the Apothecaries called Opium and by the Inhabitants Ofinn which the Turks Moors and Persians and other Nations take inwardly not only in War at the time when they go to fight their Enemies to make them couragious and valiant but also in time of Peace to drive away Melancholy and Care or at least to ease it Their religious People make also use of it but above all the rest the Deruis and take so much of it that it maketh them presently drowsie and without consideration that when after their barbarous and silly way they cut slash or burn themselves they may feel less smart or pain If any one hath so begun to make use of it they take about the quantity of a large Pea at a time they cannot well leave it off again except they have a mind to throw themselves into a Sickness or other Inconveniencies For as they confess themselves that if they omit taking of it they find themselves very ill in their Bodies Opium is commonly taken from the white Poppy-heads in their Language called Cascasch wherein they cut when they are young and tender a spiral or winding-circle round about it from top to bottom one under the other out of those runs some Milk which they let be there until it groweth thick then they gather it and make it into Balls like unto our perfumed Soap-balls Being that the Turks use this Opium so commonly it happens sometimes that they take so much of it that it is very dangerous wherefore they have an Antidote as I was informed that is the Root Aslab whereof I have made mention before which they give to bring them to rights again I found also in the great Batzars a sort of Alga sold in their Shops which was dark-red and therefore very useful for Dyers it had Stalks of the thickness of a Finger and was surrounded with several thin Scales or rather Leaves and round Wherefore it may be taken to be a Saderva Serap and Herb Alargivan of Andreas Bellunensis
we were at the Top we could not see far about being hindered by some Hills After we were come down from the Mountains into the little Village again our Conductors brought us into a pleasant Garden where their Wives came to us which brought to us several yet strange sorts of Milk-Meats to eat and very good Wine to drink so we sat down in the Grass according to their Fashion to eat and drink and to make merry and spoke to them in the common Arabian Country Language and what we could not speak out we made them understand by Signs After we had dined we returned them many thanks for all their Kindness and good Chear and so we went away By the way we saw more Plants viz. the Alyssum of Diosc a delicate kind of Cynoglossum And also near the Stairs some wild Fir-Trees Polium Montanum Marrubium Creticum Lobelii as I judged according to its shape A delicate yellow Jacea with scaly Heads and prickles like unto the Spina Solstitialis which is low yet it hath a long and strong Root covered with a gray and hairy Rind like unto the Victorialis the Leaves are jagged or laciniated of an Ashen colour and hairy as also the two before mentioned and another kind of Jacea with purple coloured Flowers which is very like unto the yellow one of Lobelius which I have also found in Provence in France near Aix saving only the prickles that are about the Heads Just before we came quite down I found two kinds of Linaria one whereof that is of a pretty bitter Taste puts forth long and slender Stalks from the Root closely surrounded with a great number of Linaria Leaves and hath at top one two or three long scaly Heads from whence issue small purple coloured Flowers the other groweth also in Leaves and Stalks almost like unto the first only they are smaller and tenderer and hath quite to the top abundance of light and small purple coloured Flowers round about it as the blue one of our Gardens At length after a long travelling and climbing we came just when the Night broke in down to the Monastery again after Supper we went strait to rest that we might be up early again to go for Tripoli After break of the Day when we had taken our leave of the Patriarch and his Brethren and made our selves ready for our Journey we came strait away By the way we saw several of Arbores Judae with their red coloured Husks and also in the Rock a fine Gnaphalium with Ash coloured roundish Mouse-ear Leaves and Snow-white double Flowers As we went on and were almost come to the House that stood upon the height whereof we made mention before these Inhabitants came down again got before us stopt us and would not let us pass until we had drunk with them Then we went on again and I found in the deep and dark Valley the right Medium Dioscoridis and Mindium Rhazis which I did spie immediately among the Bushes by its hight and specious purple coloured Flower This Plant is very like unto the Viola Mariana of the learned Rempert Dodonus very stately so that no great Difference can be found but only in the Leaves which in this are more carved like unto those of Plantain and in the Flowers which are more open and spread themselves with their long and narrow Leaves whereof each hath eight into a round Circle the Seeds I saw not because they were not yet ripe yet I found a greater Austerity in the Root than in the Seed Vessels Not far off I also saw in the Valley a strange Plant which was of the height of a Cubit and had whitish and woolly Leaves like unto our Mullein only they are less and grow quite to the Stalk as those of Tabaco or of Hyoscyamus Peruvianus of Rempert Dodon at the top thereof grow fine purple coloured and white double Flowers which stand close together as those of the yellow Amaranth or in the little Auricula Muris of Fuchsius so that according to all this having also fragrant Roots and like unto those of black Hellebore which broke because I pulled it up in haste as I judged by that part thereof which still was left to them I clearly take it to be the true Baccharis of Dioscor In the Valley further down towards the Water grew also the Oleander and the Apocynum Repens which climbeth upon the Trees that stand nigh it and covereth them so that it hangeth down again at the sides like the Ephedra of Pliny After we came out before the Mountain there appeareth the Italian Sphondylium Visnagia c. there we went into the next Village and looked after the Victuals we had left to refresh our selves When we came from thence I found the black Chamaeleon with its handsome blue coloured Tops Origanum Onites Lycium called also Zaroa by the Inhabitants the second Acacia with trefoil Leaves and when we came near to Tripoli to the old and high Rivolet between the Mountains I found the second Tragoriganum of Carol. Clusius Ceterach and low St. John's Wort a fine Chamaedrys c. but above all a Thorn-bush about the height of a Cubit very thick of Twigs and Stalks so that some of them lie upon the Ground The Stalks whereof many grow out of a Root of a drying quality and somewhat bitter are surrounded with a tender gray Rind underneath which is another reddish one to be found It s long tender Leaves that grow one against the other which are of the colour of Ashes underneath and green above are very like unto the Leaves of our Sanguisorba between them at the Top or the Crown sprout out many Thorns the biggest whereof divide themselves at the Top into other less ones in very good order so that some point down and some upwards and others towards the sides and some thereof sprout out further before the rest which sprout our early in the Spring and bear small greenish coloured starry Flowers from underneath them grow out small soft Berries of a whitish Colour and some reddish which are so close together and stand in their Ranks at the Top whereof the Flower is still plainly to be seen like unto our Currans The Seeds thereof I have raised in the famous Garden of the Generous and eminent Hans Heinrich Herwarts Alderman of this Place very easily and they grew up until they were ready to blow But as other Outlandish Plants do seldom endure our Climate so did this also die the next Winter It is called by the Inhabitants Bellen But I am of Opinion according to its shape for of its Virtue and Use I can say nothing because I never tried it that it is the Hippophië of Dioscor so long until others give me a better instruction Not far from hence I found on the Height near to the Town in a rough place another fine Plant not unlike unto our Gingidium only that it hath less Fenil Leaves and beareth a roundish
a reddish Seed in the Figure of our male Balsam these are brought from Aegypt and by some thought to be the true Acacia Diosc whether it be so or no I cannot well tell because I never saw the Plant. Very near it in untilled places groweth Galega Sisynrichium Theophrasti which is very curiously delineated in the Book of Rempert Dodon de herbis floribus coron There is also found another fine Plant by the Inhabitants called Tharasalis which hath seven or eight waved Leaves which stand about a round Stalk almost as it is to be seen in Sisynrichium only they are a great deal broader and not so long when the Stalk thereof which is not above a cubit long is grown through and above them it gets at top a white Flower not very unlike unto the low blew Flower de Luce which blow early in the Spring it has a roundish Root like unto that of Narcissus and also has many long white Fibres Not far from thence when you get upon the Hill there groweth in the rough places others viz. Bistorta still by the Inhabitants called Zuph a fine sort of Verbacum Scorzonera with purple Flowers Saffron with small little Leaves and a delicate yellow Flower also Arisarum Homaid and Arum called by them Carsaami whereof there are four sorts among the rest a strange one with long Ears wherefore they call it in their Language Ovidne There also are about the Rivers some Anemones of several sorts and of several colours very beautiful as red purple colour yellow c. all which they call with a common name Sakaick and give an additional Name according to the colour to it viz. Schackaick achmar Sakaik assar Aserack c. that is to say red-yellow of a Violet colour c. which would be too long and tedious to describe all here Chiefly if I should at length relate the common ones as Wild Rue Asphodelus albus Rheseda Plin. Flos solis foliis minoribus serpilli Wild Onions and other innumerable more As you come down by another way back again nearer to the Corn-Fields you find other fine Herbs as the wild new Harmala a delicate sort of Astragalus foliis hedysari minoris and by it another which is very like unto Astragalus of Dioscor so that I really believe it to be the same There appear a great many of them upon the the heighth it is a low Herb with a long brownish Root as big and long as the Roots of Horse-radish which puts out at the sides some strong Fibres which are almost blacker and harder to cut than the Root it self Some of them go downwards and others the greater part upwards and bended like unto Horns These contain together with their sweetness also a dryness they shoot out at the top into several Branches of the same colour yet not above the length of a Finger which encline towards the Earth where out grow nine or ten small Leaves like Lentil-leaves not very unlike to those of Orobus and distributed after the same manner Between them sprout out purple-brown Flowers after them come long and thick and full Bladders whereof some are as big as those of the Colutea All these and several other Herbs have I preserved and glued to some Paper with great and peculiar care so that they are to be seen in their natural colours so exact as if they were green About the River up a Hill I found a tender and fragrant Herb with long and white Roots of a pretty acrimonious taste its Leaves were like unto our Coriander only somewhat rounder and not so much cut but only a little about the edges I found no Stalks nor Flowers for it was early in the year and about Easter which is the time of their first springing these they called Zarneb Melchi and the Inhabitants dig so many of these Roots that they send yearly several Chests-full into Persia where they use them as I am informed very frequently in Pains of their Backs and all other accidental Pains As far as I can see when I look upon the Leaves I reckon it to be the third sort of Daucus of Diosc A little lower as you come to the plow'd Fields I found also the second kind of Chondrilla of Diosc with round Roots of a smooth and dark-yellowish colour perhaps at the top half an inch thick and five or eight long whereon at the end where it is thinnest hangs another round Root of the bigness of a Chestnut which are so full of Milk that they are ready to crack at top where it is divided into three parts sprout out many long and small Grass Leaves together which lye flat upon the Ground between them come out yellow Flowers like unto these of auricula muris each whereof hath its peculiar Stalk Not far from it yet in rougher and stonier Ground groweth another Chondrilla which is like unto that former in all parts only the Leaves thereof are broader and more woolly and of an Ash-colour very like unto the Holostium of Montpellier As you go to the Grand Signior's Garden about a small mile from the Town at the Road I found a good many Plants viz. Draba Diosc call'd Orobanche Halinu Spina solstitialis a kind of Carduus Mariae Wild Cucumbers by them called Adiural hamar Xyphium Peplium Heliotropium tri coccum Caroli Clusii and also his Paronychia Hispanica and his third Lichnis with pale and red purple-coloured Flowers Coris Mathi. with yellow Flowers two delicate sorts of Geraniums and upon old Walls I found a little Rauckel with pale-colour'd Flowers Umbilicus Veneris and a great many more I cannot leave unmentioned those that are growing round about in the Fields and chiefly amongst them a Medica with dissected trifoliated Leaves and many more whereof some have long and straight and others many bended Pods in a cluster together I also found one with many white and hoary Heads which looked almost like unto Lagopodium and another little one with green-colour'd Pods pressed together so long and broad as those of Senna which were a great Ornament to the whole Plant. And also thereabout are found many sorts of Corn-flowers quite differing from ours Papaver erratic in their Language called Schuck of which they make a Conserve with Sugar and use it in Coughs Papaver corniculatum with stately purple Flowers I found also there Eryngium with blewish Tops and starred Heads Two sorts of Henbane whereof one that groweth in the Fields hath red and purple-colour'd Flowers the other which I found in the Town upon the old Walls had white ones by the Latines call'd Apollinaris Much thereabout in the Corn grew the less Melampyrum by them called Paponesck which at the top beareth thick yellow flowers very like unto the Melampyrum Tragi Item the second kind of Wild Cumin with yellow flowers and long bended pods Poterion Math. by the Inhabitants called Megasac which they stick up in their Chambers to keep them from being bewitch'd A delicate
Honey c. and to take any of these with some Bread for a good Entertainment The Honey in these Parts is very good and of a whitish colour whereof they take in their Caravans and Navigations great Leathern Bottles-full along with them this they bring you in small Cups and put a little Butter to it and so you eat it with Biskets By this Dish I often remembred St. John the Baptist the fore-runner of our Lord how he also did eat Honey in the Desarts together with other Food Besides this when we had a mind to Feast our selves some ran as soon as our Master had landed at Night to fetch some Wood and others in the mean time made a hole in the Ground on the Shoar in the nature of a Furnace to boil our Meat So every Company dressed accordingly what they had a mind to or what they had laid up in Store some boil'd Rice others ground Corn c. And when they had a mind to eat New Bread instead or for want of Biskets they made a paste of Flower and Water and wrought it into broad Cakes about the thickness of a Finger and put them in a hot place on the ground heated on purpose by Fire and covered it with Ashes and Coals and turned it several times until it was enough These Cakes were very savory and good to eat Some of the Arabians have in their Tents Stones or Copper-Plates made on purpose to bake them On the 4th Day being the last of September about Noon we came to the end of the Mountains before which without on this side lieth a very strong Citadel on a high Hill built three square by the Inhabitants called Seleby whereof two Points go downwards towards the River and the third upward a great way on the Mountain so that in its situation it is very like unto Baden in Switzerland Although it is demolished yet it is still very strong in its Walls that are to be seen at the top and on the sides chiefly towards the Hills and the River side to hinder the Passage both by Water and Land There are also still standing some Watch-houses without as you come towards it near the Mountains which may hold three or four Souldiers yet it lieth still to this Day in ruins and so desolated that nothing but Birds and Beasts inhabit it whereof a great many appeared on the Rivers side as Herns Ducks that were very large and of a delicate Colour and others among which were some of a white Colour called Pelicans by Aristotle and Onocrotali by others which are as big as Swans the Prophet Zephaniah maketh also mention of them in his second Chapter when he prognosticated the punishment that was to come to the Ninevites Assyrians and Moors there also appeared some quite black with long Necks whereof I did see abundance in my Travels into the Land of Promise and especially near Acon among the Rocks and Crags of the Sea as far as I could discern them at a distance they seemed to be a kind of a Sea-Eagle that feed more upon Fish than any thing else Six Miles lower and at the other side of the Euphrates lieth still another Fortification which is called Subian Seleby that is lower Seleby on a very high Bank and seeing that we sailed very near it I could not well discover it Of these two which way they were besieged and taken and also of the way of Government or ruling of the Kings of Arabia c. I should have been very glad to have been a little better informed but the Language wherewith I was not well acquainted did hinder me And suppose I should have understood it very well or enough to have made an enquiry after those Particulars yet I could not have done it without great Danger to have been taken for a Spy for they soon suspect Outlandish Men on every little occasion which those that Trade in these Parts have often experienced not without great Loss and Danger Beyond the Mountains in the low Country we saw more tilled Grounds and Habitations of the Arabians than we had done before wherefore our Master landed sooner than he used to do near a Village to take in Provision for our further Journey where the People brought Flesh and Indian Melons to us to sell Here it happened that about Midnight one of the Turkish Souldiers went out to ease himself to the River side and when he was busy about it a Moor came creeping along to him and thrust him into the River before he was aware of it and run away The Turk finding himself in the Euphrates fell a crying out for help I hearing him standing Sentinel that Night did not fail him but made what haste I could with my Scymeter in my Hand followed his Voice and came to the place although it was very dark drew him out and brought him into the Ship which was so kindly taken by the rest of the Turks that I got mightily into their Favour and received many Kindnesses of them all the way until we came to Bagdet the Garrison which they went to reinforce The first of October when our Voyage went on again there came early in the Morning a Post of six Arabians on Horse back to the River side to enquire of us whither their King was gone or where we thought they might find him they had received Letters for him from the Sultan wherefore they must follow him until they found him The Master of our Ship told 'em and so he did to every body that asked him that we had seen him in Mesopotamia which Province he called Amanachar that he was broken up with his Men to go back into Arabia where they would find him After this relation they departed and we went on our way and soon saw below a Town to our right at a distance called Seccard very well situated on an ascent belonging to the King of Arabia wherefore some of the Turks said that none but Haramiquiber that is great Thieves lived in it which they do out of spite to all them that are subject to any other Master than their Sultan This Town we passed by and went directly towards Deer another Town whence we were then three Leagues distant yet they do not accompt their distances by Leagues for they know little or nothing of it but rather reckon by Days Journeys for their Towns are so situated at such a distance that they have sometimes to go through divers Wildernesses several Days more or less before they arrive there Before we came thither one of the Ships in our Company did go too much toward one side toward a Branch of the River that runs by the Town for it divideth it self into several Branches where it got into the Mud and stuck Our Master seeing this landed immediately and did send his Men to help them So I got time to look after the strange Plants and found there about the River many great Tamarisk-Trees and also a
which manifestly tending to Sedition and to the heightning of their Discontents by their mutual Complaints and by this free venting of their Grievances during the War at Candia the wise Vizier seeing the evil consequences that would follow if such Meetings and Discourses were any longer tolerated commanded that all the publick Coffee-houses should be shut up in Constantinople and several other great Cities of the Empire where the Malecontents used to rendevouz themselves and find fault upon every ill success and miscarriage with the administration of Affairs The Custom of the Turks to salute the Emperor or the Vizier Bassa's with loud acclamations and wishes of Health and Long-life when they appear first in their Houses or any publick place is derived from the Greeks who took it from the Romans This was done by them in a kind of singing tone whence Luitprandus Bishop of Cremona tells us that in a certain Procession 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at which he was present they sang to the Emperor Nicephorus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is many years which Codinus who lived just about the taking of Constantinople by the Turks expresses by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to wish or salute by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and at Dinner the Greeks then present wish'd with a loud voice to the Emperor and Burdas Ut Deus annos multiplicet as he translates the Greek The Turkish Coyn in it self is pitiful and inconsiderable which I ascribe not only to their want of Bullion but to their little Skill in matters relating to the Mint Hence it comes to pass that Zecchines and Hungars for Gold and Spanish Dollars and Zalotts for Silver stamp'd in Christendom pass current among them most of the great Payments being made in them they not caring either through Ignorance or Sloth to follow the example of the Indian or Persian Emperors who usually melt down the Christian Mony imported by the Merchants into their several Countries and give it a new stamp The most usual pieces are the Sheriphi of Gold somewhat less in value than a Venetian Zecchine and Aspers ten of which are equal to Sixpence English and some few three Asper pieces A Mangur is an ugly old Copper piece eight of which make but one Asper and is not I think a Turkish Coyn but rather Greek They have no Arms upon their Coyn only Letters embossed on both sides containing the Emperor's Name or some short Sentence out of the Alcoran The Turks look upon Earthquakes as ominous as the Vulgar do upon Eclipses not understanding the Philosophy of them During my stay in Constantinople which was above two years there hapned but one which was October 26. 1669. about six a Clock in the morning a stark Calm preceding It lasted very near a minute and we at Pera and Galata were as sensible of it as those who were on the other side of the Water but praised be God nothing fell and we were soon rid of the Fears in which this frightful Accident had cast us being in our Beds and not able by reason of the surprize in so little a space to have past through a Gallery down a pair of Stairs into the Court if we had attempted it The Turks made direful Reflections on it as if some Calamity would inevitably fall upon the Empire quickly forgetting the great Triumphings and Rejoycings which they exprest but a few days before for the Surrender of Candia In the year 1668 in August the Earth shook more or less for forty seven days together in the lesser Asia at Anguri Ancyra and for fifteen at Bacbasar as we heard from a Scotch Merchant who liv'd there and particularly that at this latter place on the second of August between three and four of the clock in the Afternoon it lasted for a quarter of an hour several Houses were overthrown and some hundreds of Chimneys fell it being a very populous Town and yet there were but seven kill'd The Trembling being so violent both Turks and Christians forsook their Houses and betook themselves to the Fields Vineyards and Gardens where they made their abode for several days Their Punishments are very severe this being judg'd the most effectual way to prevent all publick Disorders and Mischiefs They use no great formality in their processes If the Criminal be taken in the Fact and the Witnesses ready and present to attest it and sometimes if there be but probable circumstances without full conviction condemn him and soon after Sentence sometimes an hour or less hurry him away to execution For an ordinary Crime Hanging is the usual Death but for Robbery and Murder committed upon the High-way by such as rob in Parties and alarm whole Provinces or for Sacrilege or for any hainous Crime against the Government either Gaunching or Excoriation or cutting off the Legs and Arms and leaving the Trunk of the Body in the High-way or empaling that is thrusting an Iron stake thro' the Body out under the Neck or at the Mouth in which extreme torment the miserable wretch may live two or three days if the Guts or the Heart happen not to be wounded by the pointed Spike in its passage This Punishment seems to have been in use among the Romans Seneca's Epist 14. Cogita hoc loco carcerem cruces eculeos uncum adactum medium hominem qui per os emergat stipitem And so in his Book De Consolatione ad Marciam cap. 20. Alii capite conversos in terram suspendere alii per obscena stipitem egerunt alii brachia patibulo explicuerunt Murder is seldom pardoned and especially if the Relations of the murder'd person demand Justice The Circumcision though it be a sacred Rite is perform'd in their private Houses and never in the Moschs The Women colour their Eye-brows and Lids with an ugly black Powder I suppose to set off their Beauty by such a shadow and their Nails with the Powder of Kanna which gives them a Tincture of faint red like Brick as they do the Tails and Hoofs of Horses which they look upon as a great Ornament Their great Diversion is Bathing sometimes thrice if not four times a week They do not permit them to go to Church in time of Prayer for fear they should spoil their Devotion The Turks being of so brutish a temper that their Lust is raised upon the sight of a fair Object They are call'd oftentimes by the Names of Flowers and Fruits and sometimes fantastick Names are given them such as Sucar Birpara or bit of Sugar Dil Ferib or Ravisher of Hearts and the like Their Skill in Agriculture is very mean In their Gardens they have several little Trenches to convey Water where it may be most necessary for their Plants and Flowers They know little or nothing of manuring their Grounds Sometimes they burn their Fields and Vineyards after Harvest and Vintage partly to destroy the Vermin and partly to enrich the Soil They tread