the Countrey being so stony that it cannot be Cultivated Raimbe About mid way you find a Han built of black stones and called Raimbe over the Gate whereof there is a square Tower with four Windows after the manner of our Steeples Saxa is a pretty Han having a Mosque in the middle and a Fountain by the side of it Without it you see a little Castle near to which runs a River that divides itself into four and thirty Branches and there you find three Bridges where there is a Caffare to be paid The day following you come to Damascus seven hours traveling from Saxa but first about an hour and a halfs journey from Saxa you cross over a Bridge upon the River that comes from Saxa For the four first hours the way is stony after that betwixt two little Hills and on the right hand of a ruined Village called Caucab that is to say Star Caucab the place of St. Pauls Conversion is the place where our Lord said to St. Paul Saul Saul why Persecutest thou me The rest of the way is over most fertile Plains CHAP. LVIII Of the City of Damascus and the places that are to be seen about it THE first thing that may be seen at Damascus is the Bezestein Damascus which is Beautiful enough and hath three Gates from whence you go to the Castle which is all built of Stones cut in Diamond cut but it is not easie for Franks to enter it At first you come to a Court of Guard with several Arms hanging upon the Wall and two pieces of Ordnance each sixteen spans long About fifteen steps further is the Mint where the Jews Work. A little beyond that there is a Dome of no great Workmanship but supported by four so great Pillars that three men can hardly fathom one of them round Fifty paces from thence you enter through a large Arched Hall into the Divan where the Council is held painted with Gold and Azure after the Mosaick way and in it there are three Basons full of excellent water When you come out of the Castle you see the Ditches half a Pikes depth and twenty paces over wherein on the side of the Town a little Canal of water runs which waters the Gardens about that are full of Orange Limon Pomgranet and several other Trees Through the middle of the Castle runs a branch of the River with which they can fill the Ditches when there is occasion On the outside of the Walls of the same Castle hang two Chains of Stone one of which contains sixteen Links and the other fourteen cut one within another by matchless Art each Link being about two fathom long and one and a half wide and the two Chains are of one entire Stone a piece From thence you come to a fair Mosque about twenty Paces Square painted all over with Mosaick work in Gold and Azure and paved with Marble Melec Daer in the middle of it is the Sepulchre of Melec Daer Sultan of Aegypt After that you must see the House of the Tefterdar wherein there is a little Marble Mosque of most lovely Architecture and painted with Gold and Azure There are several lovely Rooms in it of the same fashion at each Window whereof you have a little Fountain of most clear Water which is artificially brought thither in Pipes In this House there is a door and several great Windows with copper-Lettices which look into the great Mosque and thence one may see without molestation but Christians are forbidden to enter it upon pain of Death or turning Turk From that door and the Windows one may perceive a great part of the Mosque which may be about three hundred paces long and threescore wide The Court is paved with lovely Stones most part of Marble shining like Lookin-glasses Round about this Court there are several Pillars of Marble porphyrie and Jasper incomparably well wrought which support an Arch that ranges all round painted with several pieces in Mosaick work The Porch of the Mosque faces this Court and the entry into it is by twelve large Copper-Doors embossed with Figures with several Pillars most part of Porphyrie whose Capitals are gilt The walls are painted with lovely figures in Gold and Azure The Turks themselves have so great a veneration for this place that they dare not pass through the Court without taking off their Pabouches and certainly 't is one of the loveliest Mosques in all the Turkish Empire It was heretofore a Christian Church built by the Emperour Heraclius in Honour of St. Zacharias the Father of St. John Baptist and they say there is a Sepulchre in it where the Bones of that holy Prophet rest You must also see the Fountain where St. Paul recovered his sight and was Baptized by Ananias which is in the Streight-street so called in the Acts of the Apostles under a Vault in the Bazar near to a thick Pillar called the Ancient Pillar then you go up to the House of that same Judas with whom St. Paul Sojourned to be instructed in the Christian Religion and Baptized there you see a great door armed with Iron and huge Nails within which is the Chamber where the said Saint Fasted three Days and three Nights After that you go out of the Town by a Gate called Bab cherki Bab Cherki That is to say East Gate near to which in former times there was a great Church built in honour of St. Paul but at present the Turks have made a Han of it the Steeple remains still and is very ancient Work. Continuing your way along the Town-Ditches and about fifty paces Southward from the said gate you see a great square Tower joining to the walls in the middle of which there are two Flowers de luce cut in Relief and well shaped and at the side of each of them a Lyon cut in the same manner Betwixt these Flowers de Luce there is a great Stone with an Inscription upon it in Turkish Characters About three hundred paces further you come to the Gate called Bab Kssa Bab Kssa that is walled up under which is the place where St. Paul was let down in a Basket to avoid the persecution of the Jews Sixty paces from thence over against the Gate The Porter St. George is the Sepulchre of St. George the Porter who had his Head struck off upon pretence that he was a Christian and had made St. Pauls escape The Christians of the Countrey reckon him a Saint and have commonly a Lamp burning upon his Tomb. Returning the same way back to the Town The House of Ananias you pass by the House of Ananias which is betwixt the East Gate and St. Thomas Gate and there you find fourteen steps down to a Grott which is the place where Ananias instructed St. Paul and taught him the Christian Doctrine And on the left hand is the hole but now stopp'd up by which Ananias went under ground to St. Paul
the Earth hath brought forth stones instead of Grapes Having travelled in this manner till towards three of the Clock in the Afternoon we found a Village called Kefarhevar where Kefarhevar a Village our Moukires being in the humour to tell stories told me that Heretofore Nimrod dwelt there and that from thence he shot Arrows against Heaven VVe past that Village and having descended into a Valley and then mounted a little up again we came to Village called Beitima Beitima a Village where we took up our Lodging in a noble stable for in it was a place of Earth raised two foot high to make a separate appartment for the men from the Beasts Next day being Friday the eight and twentieth of March we set out half an hour after five in the Morning At first we did nothing but mount and descend during the space of two hours afterwards we entered into a great plain full of stones except in some places that were sowed and that plain reaches as far as Damascus There are a great many Villages in it Many Villages in the Territory of Damascus and at first we saw one called Catana about half a French League to the left of us Then we past near to another called Artous a little after we perceived one to our right hand named Mahtamia and so a great many more after that we left the High-way that leads to the Town and struck off to the left till we came to a great Village called Soliman and from thence to another named Salaia which was the Village of our Moukires where they would have had me to lodge had I not kept a great clutter with them these Blades go commonly to that Village to change their Beasts VVe went on then on our Journey and having past near to many Gardens Arrival at Damascus I arrived at Damascus about three of the Clock after Noon In all this Journey we saw but four VVolves of a greyish white Colour they were in company together and seemed not at all to be afraid of us for instead of running away they retreated at a foot pace onely we saw also several Covies of Patridges CHAP. IV. Of the City of Damascus AFter I had rested some days in Damascus I resolved to view the City but before I undertook it I took my necessary measures and since one must be assisted by some who have power I failed not to pay a visit to Topgi Bassa who received me most courteously and civilly I shall mention hereafter who this is and the good Offices he did me The City of Damascus has eight Gates to wit the East-Gate The number of gates in Damascus and their names or Bab-Charki that looks on the South-side along the VValls that are opposite to the East Bab-Tchiaour that looks to the South Bab-Jabie that looks to the VVest but somewhat Southward Bab-Choucaroua or Bab-Espahi that 's to say the Spahies Gate because furniture necessary for Horse-men is sold there it looks to the VVest it is also called the Serraglio Gate because it is opposite to the Serraglio Bab-Paboutch so called because it is the place where they sell Paboutches or shoes it looks betwixt VVest and North but somewhat more towards the VVest Bab-Fardis that 's to say the Gate of Paradise which looks betwixt VVest and North but more towards the North Bab-Salem or Gate of Peace so called because no dues are payed either entering in or going out at it a Grand Seignior having given it that Privilege it looks to the North Lastly Bab-Thomas which bears the Name of that Saint because in the outside there is a ruinous Church adjoyning to it dedicated to St. Thomas which looks to the North. The Circuit of the Town I went round the City on the outside of the Walls in an hour and a quarter walking pretty fast but the Suburbs are as big again as the Town and amongst others the Baboullah a Suburbs without the Gate Jabie reaches three or four Miles in length It is called Baboullah as one would say the divine Gate because that way goes the present which is sent from Damascus to Mecha In surrounding the place I observed that the Walls are not to be seen on the outside but from Bab-Tchiaour passing before Bab-Charki and then before Bab-Thomas to Bab-salem the rest being covered with Houses from Bab-Tchiaour to Bab-Thomas the VValls are double well built and very high having fair Battlements flanked at several distances with good Towers for the most part round some are square but of them there are but few The Inner-walls are about four fathom high The outer which are at some two fathoms distance from them are about three fathom and a half high and the space between ls filled up wlth Earth near four or five foot thick Before these VValls there is a Ditch about five fathom broad and two fathom or two and a half deep The length of Damascus I once measured the length of the City that 's to say from Bab-Charki to Bab-Jabie which is the Streight-street I was a quarter of an hour in walking it and reckoned two thousand one hundred paces The house of Ananias Let us take a view of the particular places and things That which first of all Travellers visit at Damascus is the House of Ananias which is inhabited by a Scheik I went thither with some friends and for some aspres we were suffered to enter in Having passed the gate and turned to the left hand by fourteen steps we descended into a Cellar which heretofore was a Church seeled and paved with Mosaick work of which some remains are still to be seen in the Pavements at present it is a Mosque and light enough to be so deep under ground that place as they say was the Chamber where Ananias lodged when God commanded him to go to Saul as it is related in the Acts of the Apostles Bab-Charki the East gate St. Paul's gate The beginning of the Streight-street The Gate Jaby Having visited that house wherein there is nothing curious besides the Antiquity of it we went to the Gate called Bab-Charki that 's to say the East-Gate it is likewise called St. Pauls Gate because it is near the place where that Holy Apostle was let down from the walls in a Basket. At that Gate begins the Streight-street mentioned in Holy Scripture which reaches as far as the Gate Jabie When we were past that Gate we turned to the right hand and having advanced a few paces we saw in one of the square Towers which are in the City-VVall about two fathom high two Free-stones on each of which there is a Flower-de-luce very well cut there is a third with an Inscription in Lingua Franca but the Characters are so worn out that they cannot be read Upon two other stones at the side of each Flower de-luce there are two Lions cut and near to each Lion a great Thistle Some will needs believe that the French
there are so great numbers of Sparrows in Persia that they destroy all things and scare-Crows are so far from frightning them that they will Pearch upon them At eight a Clock we passed by a little covered Kervanseray called Tscherchab Tscherchab which puts an end to the Corn-Fields for beyond that there is hardly any thing to be found but Desarts sowed with stones about two hours after we passed by another Kervanseray Tenghinoun like to the former called Tenghinoun and a little further to the Left Hand we saw a small Forrest of Palm-Trees We afterwards marched on for the space of about two hours through very stony Ground and then came to good even Sandy way Half an hour after one in the Afternoon we passed by a covered Kervanseray called Ouasili Ouasili and keeping on our way over little Sandy Hills we came at three a Clock to another which is also covered Schemzenghi and called Schemzenghi where we stopt and this place is seven Agatsch from Lar. These Kervanserays are not built as others are but are little covered buildings about six Fathom long and as many broad on the outside and about a Fathom and a half high in the middle of each Front there is a Gate and you enter by these Gates under so many Vaulted Walks which run cross-ways within and have each about two Fathom in length they leave in the middle or Centre of the cross they make a little Square about two Fathom every way covered with a Dome In some of them there is in each Vault a half pace of stone two foot high and about a Fathom broad in the outside is the House of the House-keeper or Condar as they call him it stands along one of the sides of the Kervanseray and instead of Walls is only enclosed with a little Hedge in the mean time all the Provisions you are to expect must be had out of these wretched Hovels When there is no body in the Kervanseray these House-keepers retire to their Village or Huts which is out of the way a quarter or half a French League from thence and sometimes Travellers must go look for them when they have had no notice of their coming In the Angles of these Kervanserays there are commonly little Chambers which have the Doors on the outside and the rest of the place is for the Horses there is no other water but what is drawn out of Cisterns of which there are many in the Fields a little way from the Kervanseray We parted from that wretched Lodging Friday the third of April about four a Clock in the Evening and Travelled through a large very even Plain where we saw in many places the Ground whitened over with Salt which is made by the Rain Bahadini Tschektschek about half an hour after five we passed by a covered Kervanseray called Bahadini and about seven by another called Tschektschek by this last there is a Hut where Rhadars Lodge about eight a Clock we entered in amongst Hills and had up Hill and down Hill in very bad stony way where having turned to and again till nine of the Clock we came into a fair large Plain and there marched on till about half an hour after eleven at Night when we passed along a great Village where grow many Palm-Trees from which it hath taken the name of Hhormont Hhormont and a little beyond it there is a covered Kervanseray where we Lodged this place is five Agatsch from Schemzenghi We parted from thence on Saturday half an hour after a eleven a Clock at Night and took our way full South by a very bad and stony Road. Sunday about four a Clock in the Morning we passed by a little covered Kervanseray called Serten then taking our way Eastward Serten Bedgi-Paria after an hours Travelling we found another called Bedgi-Paria a little after we came to a running water the clearness whereof tempted us to fill our Mataras or leathern Bottles but it was good luck that I bid one of the Company who alighted purposely from his Horse to taste it first for he found it to be as Salt as Salt it self Our way continued still bad till about seven of the Clock in the Morning that we came to a Kervanseray called Tengbidalan this Kervanseray is covered as many others are Tengbidalan but it is much finer It is a Square about eight Fathom in the middle of each Face there is a great Arch by which one enters into Vaults which make a Cross as in the others but they are higher and it is not under these Vaults that Travellers Lodge for the Chambers are in the four Corners about three Fathom square two or three foot raised from the Ground and open on the two sides within where there are great Arches from the Floor up to the Vault each Chamber hath its Chimny and other small conveniences the Place in the middle is covered with a Dome in which there is a great round opening in the top By one of the Gates of this Kervanseray there runs a very clear Brook about a good Foot broad which falls into an oblong square Bason in the middle and keeps it always full then it passes farther in such another Canal as brought it and runs out at the opposite Gate this Brook comes from a Hill two Muskets shot from the Kervanseray it falls down from it impetuously in a Channel above a Foot broad and about half as deep and is received on the first Pillar of a broken Arch which is shaped like a Well there are a great many of these broken Arches in a row with some ruins of the Pillars and I believe they have been beaten down by the force of the water which in time of Rain is very great at that place nay some of it too ran then betwixt the Pillars perhaps it was because they were afraid of that accident that they brought not the water upon these Arches which in all appearance were only made for Ornament The water falling down into this Well runs under Ground about twenty Fathom length and comes up again by the Pillar of the first of the Arches that remain entire to the number of eleven this Pillar being also like a well and rising to a height it glides away in a Channel like to that which comes from the Hill save that it is carried along these Arches that are about a Fathom and a half high till coming to a higher Ground the Canal is not above two Foot high and a little farther runs level with the Ground where making several turnings and windings it waters the Roots of a great deal of Liquorice growing by the sides of it until it come to the Kervanseray The truth is that water is not good to drink and it is only necessity that makes men use it when there is none in a Cistern close by but it serves at least to cool the Kervanseray and to wash any thing in
Adjoyning to this Kervanseray there is another very little one through which the same water runs and a little farther there is a third which is bigger but somewhat ruinous This place is five Agatsch from Hhormont We parted from thence Monday the sixth of April half an hour after Midnight at first for above an hour we had very bad stony way but it proved pretty good afterward about two in the Morning we passed by a little covered Kervanseray called Berkei Dobend and about four a Clock by another called Dgei Hhon Berkei Dobend Dgei Hhon at break of day we entered into bad way again where we clambered up and down for above an hour among stones and then we found the way better till we came to a covered Kervanseray called Kor Bazirghion Kor Bazirghion that is to say the Merchants Ditch where we arrived about eight a Clock This Kervanseray is of the same bigness as the other where we Lodged the day before it is built much after the same manner having in each Corner three Chambers of which the one which is on the inside is open by Arches on two sides and the other two have their Door without the Kervanseray this place is five Agatsch from Tengbidalan We parted from thence about half an hour after one a Clock in the Morning during a large quarter of an hour we had bad stony way and about half an hour after five we passed by a little covered Kervanseray Berkei Soltouni called Berkei Soltouni about three quarters of an hour after seven we came to such another near to a great Village called Coureston Coureston four Agatsch from Kor Bazirghion we left the Caravan at this place because our Carriers took Camels to finish the Journy with and resolved to Travel only by day and to be four days longer by the way I therefore took a Camel to carry my man and baggage and a guide to shew us the way which from thence to Bender is so difficult that he who hath Travelled it fifty times may lose himself there in so that it is absolutely necessary to take a man of the Country if one would not wander out of the way We parted about eleven a Clock at Night and presently entered into a great sandy Plain which nevertheless is peopled and hath a great many Villages that are to be seen here and there this is occasioned by the abundance of Palm-Trees that this Country is full of the Soil being proper for them though very barren for any thing else About an hour after Midnight we passed by a little covered Kervanseray Dobrike called Dobrike which is an Agatsch and a half from Coureston and a little after we passed over an Aqueduct which is level with the Ground and called Pariabzahed Aly Pariabzahed Aly. this Aqueduct brings water from a Spring at the Foot of the Hills that are to the Left Hand towards the North in digging it was discovered and the water of it is very good Betwixt three and four of the Clock we went over a very high and fair Bridge above three Fathom broad and betwixt seven and eight hundred common Paces long it is well Paved and has a side-Wall on each side about a Foot and a half high under this Bridge runs a River above nine or ten Fathom broad which is heard at a great distance by reason of the noise it makes in its course there is no drinking of the water of it for it is Salt and it discharges it self into the Sea about six hundred Paces from thence Rohhouna The name of that River is Rohhouna that is to say the running River and that is the name they give to all great Rivers it comes from Kermont Pouli Seugh the name of the Bridge is Pouli Seugh that is to say Stone-Bridge or otherwise Pouli Coreston before this River comes to the Bridge it runs by the Foot of the Hills on the Left Hand Northwards and there it begins to be Salt when it comes to this Bridge which indeed is only upon the side of it finding it so runs along the side of it and discharges but part of its water underneath in passing which running under the Arches and finding the Ground lower on the other side of the Bridge falls with great impetuosity and that makes the rumbling noise that is heard at such a distance the rest of the water running along by the Bridge turns afterwards towards the South and loses it self in the Sea. Being over the Bridge we went a long a Causey above two Fathom broad and all Paved about a thousand Paces in length which hath a good Parapet or Breast-Wall about a Foot and a half high Wednesday the eighth of April about six of the Clock in the Morning we came to a covered Kervanseray called Ghetschi Ghetschi six Agatsch from Coureston There is another besides close by which is not covered but like the rest in all things else and a little ruinous There were several Tents of black Goats hair thereabout and as soon as we arrived a great many Women and Girls came out of them to visit us they were cloathed with blew streakâ—d Drawers and a blew Shirt over them their Noses Ears Arms and Feet were full of Silver Copper Bone or Glass-Rings every one of them held an Earthen Porringer full of Yogourt or Sower Milk and a little Vessel full of the same under their Arms and to invite us to buy some of them in our presence dabbed four Fingers and a Thumb into their Budgets and pulled out Butter full of Straws which they mingled with the Milk that was in their Porringers and then poured out more Sower Milk out of the same Borrachy their Husbands are all Fishermen and both men and women are Inhabitants fit for such a Country We parted from that place the same day half an hour after six in the Evening and continued our Journy along the sandy Plain about eight a Clock we passed a narrow streight betwixt little Hills and having kept turning about half a quarter of an hour we found two ways the one to the Left Hand over a pretty high Hill and the other to the Right which hardly appeared we followed this last leaving that to the Left Hand which is very dangerous if we may believe the people of the Country for they would needs persuade us that on that Hill there were Dgius who killed all Passengers by that word Dgius they understand evil Spirits Dgius which they say are of a middle Nature betwixt Angels and Men. This imagination then they have and give it out for a very certan thing that in that Hill there is a Tlisim or Charm by vertue whereof the Dgius prevail Tlisim and that they make Cauldrons there the sound whereof may be heard for they all agree that some men have been there and come safe back again who related all these things but they say that none but such
and at the Guard four Fingers broad at least but growing broader and broader it is five Fingers broad at the end and draws not into a point this man seems to present to the Woman a Posie of Flowers with the Right Hand and rests his Left Hand upon the Handle of his Sword. A little farther about ten Fathom from thence and at the same height of Ground Two other Figures there are two other Figures of the same bigness of which the first is of a young Man without a Beard whose curled Locks hang backwards behind his Head on it he carries a great Globe it might be taken for a Turban but in my Opinion it appears not to be his Head-attire though he hath no other he looks towards the neighbouring Figure and hath the Left Hand shut wherein he seems to hold somewhat the Right Hand is stretched out as if ready to receive what is presented to him The Figure that is by him seems to be of a Woman for she hath pretty round Breasts nevertheless she wears a Sword by her side like to that which I have just now described her Head-attire seems to be the Cap of a Dervisch somewhat long and all round upon her Left Shoulder she hath a little Basket or perhaps it is only the Tresses of her Hair she seems to present something with her Right Hand to the man who is looking towards her and her Left Hand is upon the Handle of her Sword. All these Figures seem to have the Body naked and only some few foldings of a Garment towards the Legs In short the two last are almost in the same posture and action as the two first but one cannot tell what it is they present to one another for the extremities of their Hands as well as many other parts of their Bodies are worn out and eaten by the weather The Work appears very well hath been good though all the proportions be not exactly observed I looked about all along the side of the Hill but could see no more and I believe there has been some Temple there This place is so covered with Trees and encompassed by Marishes by reason of the many Springs thereabouts that few people know of it and of all the Franks the Reverend Father Athanasius a bare-Footed Carmelite living at Schiras Father Athanasius was the first that found it out by chance as he was walking in that place and it being my fortune to pass by Schiras sometime after he led me to it The people of the Country call that place Kadem-Ghah that is to say the place of the step Kadem-Ghah because say they I know not what old Man walking in that place a Spring of water gushed out under his Foot it is but a few steps wide of the High-way that leads to the Salt-Lake an Agatsch distant from thence Though all these Antiquities be curious enough yet they are not that which they call the Antiquities of Tschehel-minar so much mentioned in Relations and which are in effect the same at present in Persia as the Pyramids are in Egypt that is to say the finest thing in its kind that is to be seen and the most worthy of observation One may go thither in coming from Ispahan by Main The way to Tschehel-Minar or Abgherim and the way is not long but the way to it from Schiras is by Badgega which is the first Kervanseray upon the Road to Ispahan and after two hours march from thence there are two ways whereof that to the Left goes to Ispahan you must leave it and take the way to the Right Hand which leads to Tschehel-minar Having Travelled about two hours and a half that way in a pretty good Road amongst Heath there is a Village on the Right Hand where one may stop and bait Having passed this Village you enter into a great Plain where after you have Travelled three quarters of an hour you pass over a Causey a Fathom and a half broad and about an hundred paces in length a little after you find another three hundred paces long and a little beyond that just such another having Travelled a little farther you go over another Causey five hundred paces in length beyond which after three quarters of an hours Journy you come to a great Bridge of two large Arches which is called Pouli-Chan in the middlemost Pillar of it there is a Room with some steps to go down to it which would be very delightful to take the fresh Air in if it were not uninhabitable by reason of the prodigious swarms of Gnats that haunt it The River of Bendemir runs under this Bridge and is at that place broad deep and full of Fish the water looking very white they assured me that it swells so high in the Winter-time that it reaches over the Arches almost level with the Parapet after you have passed that Bridge and Travelled an hour longer in a Plain you leave a Village upon your Left Hand and an hour after another to the Right and then within another hour you come to the Village called Mirchas-Chan near to which is Tschehel-minar being but a quarter of an hours Journy from it This Village stands in a most spacious and Fruitful Plain watered with a great many waters there you have a Kervanseray to Lodge in because in the Winter-time it is the way from Ispahan to Schiras and going Eastward but somewhat to the South from this Village you arrive at Tschehel-minar CHAP. VII Of Tschehel-minar and Nakschi Rustan I Am of their Opinion who will have Tschehel-Minar to be part of the Ancient Persepolis which was built in the place where at present stands the large Burrough of Mirkas Chan not only because of the River which Diodorus Siculus and others mention to be there under the name of the little Araxes which is now called Bendemir but also of many other marks that cannot be called into question All Tschehel-Minar is built upon the skirt of a Hill. The first thing that presents to view upon ones arrival is a great Wall of blackish stones four Foot thick which supports a large Platform or Terrass reaching from South to North about five hundred Paces in length to the West side it hath the Plain to the East beyond a great many magnificent ruins of Buildings whereof it makes the beginning it hath the Hill which bending into a Semicircle forms a kind of Amphitheatre that embraces all those stately ruins to ascend to the top of this Terrass you must go to the farther end of it towards the North where at first you will find two Stair-Cases The first Stairs of Tschehel-Minar or rather one Stair-Case of two ascents or if you please a double Stair-Case which on each side hath fix and fifty steps of a greyish stone and are so easie that Horses go up them without any difficulty having ascended by one of the sides of that double Stair-Case up to a square Landing-place where one may
midnight we had a fresh Gale from North-West Monday Morning the twelfth of October the Wind slackned very much but changed not and therefore we weighed Anchor at half an hour after eight and standing away South-West we were soon after becalmed Towards Noon we Rowed a little and half an hour after had a breeze from South-West with which we bore away North-West till three in the Afternoon when we entered into the River Caron that comes from the Hills above the Town Souster Caron Souster Khusistan Susa Ahasuerus Coaspes Choasp Tiripari Zeimare which is the Capital Town of Khusistan and was in ancient times the Town of Susa where Ahasuerus held his Court. This River of Caron must be the Coaspes of the Ancients nay they assured me that there is still at present near to the Town of Souster a Hill called Choasp where the River of Caron which Sanson calls Tiripari Tiritiri and Zeimare hath its source but what reason he has for these names I cannot tell since no body could give me any account of them though I have enquired of many who all told me they knew of no such thing On the Right Hand to the West there is an Isle called Dorghestan and on the Left or towards the East Dorghestan Gheban is the Island of Gheban the point whereof is called Mouele and Gheban because all that Country is called Gheban and is the limits of the Kingdom of Bassora on that side In that place to the Left Hand there is a piece of of Palm-Tree-Wood fixed in the Ground to serve for a signal when it his high water not to go beyond it and they call that signal Dgioudoh The Land here on both sides depends on the Basha of Bassora The usual way to Bassora is by Sea to the mouth of Schat-el-Aarab The way to Bassora which they enter and go by water to Bassora but we put in to the River because our Sea-men who had nothing to do at Bassora being only come to take in Dates imposed upon us telling us that we must go to Gheban to take in fresh water and wood which we wanted and that it was also the shortest cut to Bassora but that great Barks went not that way because it was not deep enough which we too easily believed So soon as we were got into the River we came to Anchor in a Fathom water At low water the River at that place is but very little salt and a little higher it is fresh even when it is Flood Being Flood about midnight our men fell to their Oars but Rowed not above an hour and then came to an Anchor The Country about seems to be very good Land it is low even and green on all Hands and we saw many Cows there feeding in the Meadows which look much like the Meadows of Holland Tuesday the thirteenth of October about ten a Clock in the Morning our Sea-men went a shoar and Towed us up till one of the Clock when being over against a Village where there are a great many Palm-Trees we hoisted Sail with a North-West Wind that lasted not long and so came to an Anchor again Our men went a shoar to hear News as they said of Bassora and coming back in the Evening told us that all things were in confusion at Bassora that the Basha was marched with his whole Army towards Bagdad and that all Barks were taken up for Transporting of Soldiers and that therefore they durst go no farther but were resolved to return empty to Bender-Rik This was all false A cheat of the Sea-men and the truth was they had no mind to go any farther designing to take in their Cargoe at the place we were at where there is plenty of Dates and that was the reason they had brought us that way Nevertheless we must pretend to believe all the Knaves told us and try to find another Bark to carry us to Bassora We sent then a servant next day to look for one and he brought us a small thing wherein the men promised in four and twenty hours to carry us to the Town for six Abassis which we gave them These Barks are flat bottomed about a Fathom high one and a half broad and about five Fathom long The Stern is very low but the Head is as high again and draws into a sharp point as the Gondolos of Venice Barks on the River of Caron These Barks are not Caulked but only Pitched over on the outside which they do in the manner following When they are to Pitch a Daneg for so they call that sort of Bark in Arabick ten or twelve paces from the Daneg they make a Furnace of Earth the upper part whereof is made like a Cauldron into that they put the Pitch and the fire underneath and when the Pitch is almost melted but not altogether liquid a man comes with a little wet Shovel in his Hand and another lays some of this Pitch upon it The Pitching of a Daneg and then puts water upon the Pitch which the first carrying to the Daneg and stirring the Pitch with a piece of Wood to which it does not stick he that is working at the Daneg takes the Pitch in his Hand and dawbs it as one would do Plaster upon the Daneg and then with a Rowler which is not altogether round he spreads it upon the Vessel and in that manner Pitches it all over on the outside These Barks are made very strong the sides being about a Foot thick and all the Planks are Nailed with great Nails such as are driven into Gates in France they have likewise a Mast of an indifferent bigness Indeed these Barks make but heavy way especially in the middle of the water where they cannot use a Sail if they have not the Wind in Poop and nevertheless they load them so deep that they are not above half a Foot above water We embarked in one of these Boats about half an hour after three in the Afternoon it was full of a kind of very long green Rushes that have a great point at the end whereof they make very fine mats Our Crew consisted of two Sea-men and a Master the two men Towed us on Land till half an hour after six that we came before a Village to the Left Hand there we cast Anchor our Men unloaded all the Rushes and going afterwards to the Village we we saw no more of them till next day This is a great Village and has a square Castle with eight Towers to wit one at each corner and one in the middle of each side but they are all of Earth and so thin that a double Musket could batter them all down This place is called Koutmian Koutmian that is to say Castle Mian and they make many Danegs there The Country of Gheban reaches from thence to the mouth of the River of Caron and in all that space the Land on both sides the River is called Gheban it
makes it accounted the strongest place belonging to the Mogul It is an Hill of an oval Figure A Hill in Doltabad fortified which the Town encompasses on all sides strongly Fortified and having a Wall of a natural smooth Rock that environs it at the bottom with a good Citidel on the top whereon the Kings Palace stands This is all I could see from the place where I was without the Town But I learnt afterwards from a Frenchman who had lived two years therein that besides the Citadel there are three other Forts in the Place at the foot of the Hill Barcot Marcot Calacot of which one is called Barcot the other Marcot and the third Calacot The word Cot in Indian signifies a Fort and by reason of all these Fortifications the Indians think that place Impregnable I spent two hours and a half in coming from Doltabad to Aurangeabad which are but two Leagues and a half distant This was the third time that I crossed this last Town and about an hour after I came to the place where my company Encamped They waited only for a Billet from the Customer to be gone but it could not be had that day because it was Friday and the Customer who was a Mahometan observed that day with great exactness It is threescore Leagues and more from Aurangeabad to Calvar Calvar which is the last Bourg or Village belonging to the Mogul on the Frontiers of the Kingdom of Golconda We found eight Towns great and small before we came to Calvar to wit Ambar Achty Lasana Nander Lisa Dantapour Indour Condelvaly and Indelvay and that Countrey is so Populous that we continually met with Bourgs and Villages on our way An hour and an halfs march from Aurangeabad we encamped under the biggest War-tree A fair War. that I have seen in the Indies It is exceedingly high hath some branches ten Fathom long and the circumference of it is above three hundred of my paces The branches of it are so loaded with Pigeons that it were an easie matter to fill a great many Pigeon-houses with them if one durst take them but that is forbidden because they are preserved for the Prince's pleasure There is a Pagod under that Tree and many Tombs and hard by a Garden planted with Citron-trees We saw a stately Tanquie at the Town of Ambar it is square Ambar and on three sides faced with Free-stone with fair steps to go down to it In the middle of the fourth side there is a Divan that runs out into the Water about two Fathom it is covered with Stone and supported by sixteen Pillars a Fathom high It stands at the foot of a fair House from whence they go down into that Divan by two fine pair of Stairs at the sides of it there to take the Air and Divert themselves Near the Divan there is a little Pagod under Ground which receives day-light by the door and by a square airie and many Devout People are there because of the convenience of the Water On the Road we met with a great many Troopers who were going to Aurangeabad where there was a Rendez-vous appointed for an Army which was to march against Viziapour Five Leagues from the Town of Nander near a Village called Patoda Nander Extraordinary feats of Agility of Body we had the Diversion of seeing Feats of Agility of Body There was a great concourse of People and we had a place given us on an Eminence under the shade of a great Tree from whence we might easily see all the Plays The Tumblers did all that the Rope-dancers of Europe do and much more These People are a supple as an Eel they 'll turn their whole body into a Bowl and then others rowl them with the hand The finest tricks were performed by a Girl of thirteen or fourteen years of Age who Played for the space of two hours and more This amongst other Feats of Agility which she did appeared to me extreamly difficult She sat down upon the Ground holding cross-ways in her Mouth a long cutting Sword with the right Hand she took hold of her left Foot brought it up to her Breast then to her left side and without letting go that Foot she put her Head underneath her right Arm and at the same time brought her Foot down along the small of her Back Then she made it pass under her sitting and over the right Leg four or five times without resting being always in danger of cutting her Arm or Leg with the edge of the Sword And she did the same thing with the left Hand and right Foot. Whil'st she was shewing of that trick they dug a hole in the Ground two foot deep which they filled with Water So soon as the Girl had rested a little they threw into the hole a little Hook made like a Clasp for her to fetch out with her Nose without touching it with her Hands She put her two Feet on the sides of the Pit and turned her self backwards upon her two Hands which she placed on the sides of the hole where her Feet had stood Then she dived headlong into the Water to search after the Hook with her Nose The first time she missed it but the pit being filled full of Water again she plunged backwards into it a second time and upholding her self only with the left hand she gave a sign with the right hand that she had found what she sought for and she raised her self again with the Clasp at her Nose Then a Man took this Girl and setting her upon his Head ran at full speed through the place she in the mean time not tottering in the least Setting her down he took a large Earthen pot like to those round Pitchers that the Indian Maids make use to draw Water in and put it upon his Head with the mouth upwards The Girl got on the top of it and he carried her about the place with the same security as he had done without the Pot which he did twice more having put the Pot with the mouth downwards once and then with the mouth side-ways The same trick he shewed in a Bason wherein he turned the Pot three different ways Then he took the Bason and turned its bottom up upon his Head with the Pitcher over it The Girl shewed the same tricks upon it And at length having put into the Bason upon his Head a little wooden Truncheon a foot high and as big as ones Arm he caused the Girl to be set upright upon that Stake and carried her about as before sometimes she only stood upon one Foot taking the other in her Hand and sometimes she hurkled down upon her Heels nay and sat down though the carrier in the mean time went on as formerly Then the Man took the Bason from under the Stake and put it on the top of it where the Girl likewise appeared Then changeing the Play he put into the Bason four Pins or little Stakes of
Conventual Cordeliers and their Church is called St. Francis of the Jacobins who have St. Peters Church of the Jesuits who have St. Benet's Church and of the Capucius who have the Church of St. George By the Sea-side there is the finest Fish-market in the World it is a Street with Fish-mongers shops on both sides who have so great quantity of Fish upon their Stalls that it would surprise a man to see it There one may find all sorts of fresh Fish and at a very cheap rate The Greeks keep many Taverns or Publick Houses in Galata which draw thither many of the Rabble from Constantinople who are very insolent in their drink and very dangerous to be met with Going up from Galata you come to Pera which is likewise separated from Galata by Burying-places it is a kind of a Town where Christian Ambassadors dwell only the Ambassadors of the Emperor King of Poland and Republick of Ragousa having their residence in Constantinople The French Ambassador is very commodiously lodged in Pera having a fair large Palace which is called the Kings House and has on all hands a good Prospect looking one way towards the Serraglio of the Grand Signior over against which it stands upon a higher ground than the Serraglio Pera lying very high The Houses of Pera are handsome and hardly any body lives there but Greeks of Quality From Pera to Tophana there is a great descent and Tophana lies upon the Rivers side over against the Serraglio It is called Tophana that is to say the House of Cannon because it is the place where Guns and other Pieces of Artillery are cast and that gives the name to all that Quarter which is a kind of little Town The Houses of Galata Pera and Tophana are built in so good order that as these places stand some higher and some lower they represent a kind of Amphitheater from whence with ease and pleasure the Port and Sea may be seen CHAP. XXI Of Leander's Tower Scudaret the Princes Isle and the Black Sea. THough the Countrey about Constantinople be not so delightful nor so well peopled Iscodar as in France yet it is not without pleasant Walks you must take a Caique and go to Scudaret called in Turkish Iscodar and it is a good mile over to it You pass by the Tower of Leander which stands betwixt the Serraglio and Scudaret and you may go into it if you please This Tower is built upon a Rock in the Sea and is pretty strong there are several great Guns mounted in it which may batter the Port of Constantinople and the two mouths of the Bosphorus of Thrace and of the Propontis or as they say of the Black and White Seas there is a Well of excellent good fresh Water in this Tower but I cannot tell why they call it Leander's Tower. From thence you go to Scudaret which is a Village in Asia upon the Sea-side over against the Serraglio of Constantinople where the Grand Signior hath a sttately Serraglio and very lovely Gardens A little lower on the same side over against the seven Towers stands Chalcedon a Town anciently Famous and celebrated by the Fourth general Council that was held there but at present it is no more but a pitiful Village The Princes Isle which is four hours going from Constantinople is another Walk where the Air is excellently good though this Isle be not great yet it is very pleasant and contains two little Towns of Greeks The Chanel of the Black Sea is a rare place to take the Air upon this is the Bosphorus of Thrace which coming from the Black Sea to Constantinople enters into the Propontis and mingles its Waters with the White Sea at the broadest place it is about a mile over and is twelve miles in length Going from Tophana towards this Chanel you see to the left-hand on the side of Europe a great many lovely Houses and Gardens when you have entered into the Chanel you have on both sides the most charming and delightful Prospect in the World nothing offering to your view but stately Houses and Gardens full of all sorts of excellent Fruits Upon the side in Asia I saw a very pretty Castle where Sultan Ibrahim the Father of Sultan Mahomet who Reigns at present was hid for the space of twenty years to avoid the Death which Sultan Amurath put his other Brothers to This Castle is covered with many very high Trees that hinder it from being seen which is the reason as those who live there told us that few come to see it Along both the shores there are also a great many good Villages where one may have whatsoever is needful They take in this Chanel great quantities of good Fish of several sorts especially Sword-fish Sword-fish which are great and so called because on their Snout they have a long broad bone like a Sword or rather a Saw there are many Dolphins to be seen there which follow Boats playing and leaping out of the Water Six miles from Constantinople there are two Forts on this Sea the one in Europe and the other in Asia which serve for Prisons for Persons of quality and were built to put a stop to the Cosacks who were it not for that would often come and make Booty even in Constantinople seeing notwithstanding these Forts they sometimes give the alarm to that City In three or four hours time one comes to the end of the Chanel or Bosphorus of Thrace where the Black Sea begins In the middle of this mouth which is very narrow there is a little Isle or rather Rock distant on each hand from the main Land about fifty paces where being come you may go up to the top of it and there see a Pillar of white Marble which is called the Pillar of Pompey because they say it was raised by Pompey in memory of his Victory after that he had overcome Mithridates Close by this Rock and round it there are several others scattered here and there in the Water which many take to be the Cyanean Isles or Symplegades On the main Land of Europe side over against the Rock of Pompey's Pillar there is a Village on the Water-side with a Tower on the top whereof there is a Light for the convenience of Vessels that by mistake they may not run foul of the Rocks and be cast away for that 's a very dangerous Sea and many shipwrecks are made in it every year so that the Greeks call it Maurothalassa that is to say the Black Sea Maurothalassa not because the Waters of it are black but because Storms and Tempests rise on it so suddenly that they cause many losses and though the Weather be never so fair yet Vessels are often surprised there in a moment for besides that this Sea is not very broad there are several Currents in it caused by the Danube Boristhenes Tanais and many other smaller Rivers that discharge their Waters into it which occasion so many Eddies
they wash they should say these words Bis millah el azem ve ellem doullillah allahdin islam Things unlawful when they wash That 's to say In the Name of the great God and praise to God the God of the Musulman Faith. When they wash there are some things unlawful which they call Meschreh as to wipe the Nose with the right Hand to wash any part oftner than thrice to wash with water heated in the Sun and to throw the water strong upon the Face There are many things also that render the Abdest unprofitable so that when any of these things happen they must begin it again Things that render them unclean And though they were not to pray yet after one of these they must wash their Hands or else they are unclean they are these If they happen to break Wind upwards or downwards if any blood or nastiness come out of their Body if they happen to Vomit fall into Passion faint away be Drunk laugh in time of Prayer embrace a Woman and touch any naked part of her to sleep during Prayer And indeed if any one fall asleep in time of Prayer the rest who are washed and prepared to pray will have a care not to awaken him for by doing so they would be unclean as well as he to be touched by a Dog or any other unclean Beast all these accidents evacuate the Abdest it must be renewed again before they begin their Prayers CHAP. XXXVII Of the form of their Mosques and their Prayers The form of the Mosques HAving spoken of their Ablutions some thing must be said of the form of their Mosques before I treat of their Prayers Their Mosques are called Mesdgid from whence the word Mosque hath been corrupted they are also called Dgemii that is to say place of Assembly These Mosques on the outside are like our Churches they have close by the side of them a Tower or Minaret and sometimes two four or six according to the stateliness of their Fabricks and these Minarets have a Balcony all round on the top Minarets The use they make of these Minarets is that at the hour of Prayer a Muezim goes up to the top of the Minaret and calls to Prayers The inside of the Mosques is very plain nothing to be seen but the four bare Walls on which the Name of God is written and in one of the Walls their is as it were a Niche which they call Keble that is to say the place to which they turn when they Pray This Niche in all the Mosques of Turkie is on the South Wall because when they pray they ought to turn towards Mecha Of the Keble which is to the South in respect of Turkie heretofore their Keble was towards the Temple of Salomon in Jerusalem to which they were to turn when they Prayed but Mahomet changed it in the second year of the Hegyra and put it on the side of Mecha which they have ever since observed They have also in their Mosque a piece of Stuff that has served at Mecha and a Pulpit where an Imam sometimes Preaches The floor of the Mosque is covered with Mats The hours of the Turks Prayers that the People may not be incommoded at Prayers They have Prayers five times a day the first is at break of day which they call Sabahnamaz the second at Noon which they call Oilehnamaz the third betwixt three and four of the Clock in the Afternoon which they call Quindinamaz the fourth at Sun setting which they call Akschamnamaz the fifth an hour after Night is in which they call Yatbinamaz On Friday which is their Sunday they have Prayers also at Nine a Clock in the Morning which they call Couschloucnamazi to which all goe and after that they may Work and open their Shops but most part Rest and make Merry that day which they call Dgiuma en hiun that is to say the day of Congregation When the hour of any of these Prayers is come for they whose business it is to mind that have for that end Hour-glasses and besides are regulated by the Sun when it shines a Muezim who is he that calls to Prayers goes up to a Minaret at every Mosque and stopping his Ears with his Fingers he sings and crys these words with all his force Allah ekber The words which the Muezims sing on the top of the Minarets allah ekber allah ekber eschadou in la illah illallah eschadou in Mahomet resoul allah hi alle sallatt hi alle fellat allah ekber allah ekber allah ekber allah ekber la illah illallah which is to say God is great God is great God is great God is great shew that there is but one God shew that Mahomet is his Prophet come and present your selves to the mercy of God and ask forgiveness of your Sins God is great God is great God is great God is great there is no other God but God he crys the same words towards the four Corners of the World beginning at the South and ending at the West Whilst he is crying every one does the Abdest and then all go to the Mosque They who cannot go to the Mosque say their Prayers at Home Being come to the Mosque Entring into the Mosques they leave their Shoes all leave their Paboutches or Shoes at the door and such as are afraid that they may be changed take them off their Feet and carry them with them in their Hand When they are entred they make a bow to the Keble then take their place and wait till the Imam which signifies Prelate begins their Prayer by these words Allah ekber that is to say God is great then they that are present say softly or aloud if they please I will imitate that Imam in what he doeth and they do all that he does And first The manner of the Turks Praying they put their hands upon their Shoulders and say Allah ekber then laying their Hands one over another upon the Navil they say some Prayers softly to themselves and at the end of every one prostrate themselves upon the Ground and say Allah ekber They are no longer prostrate than they can say a short Prayer then they rise and so prostrate themselves again several times If they pray in private they say to themselves I am going to say the Prayers appointed for the time which they name and pray as if they were in the Mosque They say the same Prayers every day only they repeat them more or less according to the Days When they lay their Hands upon their Shoulders the meaning of it is That they have quitted all Worldly Things and that they are in the presence of God. When they prostrate themselves that signifies that they adore God. At the Sabahnamaz when they pray How many Prostrations the Turks make they prostrate themselves eight times at Noon twenty times at the Quindy sixteen times at the Akschamnamaz ten times and at the Yatsinamaz twenty
a corner of a Street where they think they are not perceived they 'll lift the Veil to shew themselves to some Friend or Young-man that pleases them but in that they hazard their Reputation and Bastonadoes besides Now these Women are very haughty Turkish Women are haughty all of them generally will be clad in flowered stuffs though their Husbands can hardly get Bread nevertheless they are extreamly Lazy spending the whole day sitting on a Divan and doing nothing at all unless it be embroadering Flowers upon some Handkerchief and so soon as the Husband gets a penny it must be laid out for purchasing a Woman-Slave This great Idleness makes them Vicious and employ all their thoughts how to find out ways of having their Pleasures The Turks value not women much The Turks do not believe that Women go to Heaven and hardly account them Rational Creatures the truth is they take them only for their service as they would a Horse but seeing they have many of them and that they often spend their love upon their own Sex these poor Women finding themselves so forsaken use all means to procure what they cannot have from their Husbands who are very Jealous The jealousie of the Turks and put so little confidence in the frailty of that Sex that they suffer them not to shew themselves to Men and a Woman that should allow a Man to see her Face or Hands only would be reckoned Infamous and receive Bastonadoes on the Buttocks and therefore they suffer them not to go to the Mosques The Women go not to the Mosques Upon what grounds a woman may sue out a Divorce from her Husband where they would only distract the Men from their Devotion nor to Market nor yet to enter into their Husbands Shops They never show their wives to their Friends how intimate soever they be and in short they hardly ever stir out of doors unless to the Bath and these also men of Quality have at home and those of higher Quality keep Eunuchs to look to their Wives so that the greater Quality the Husbunds have the less liberty have they The wives have not the priviledge of Divorcing their Husbands as the husbands have of Divorcing them unless he deny them the things which he is obliged to furnish them which are Bread Pilau Coffee and Money to go twice a week to the Bagnio for if he fail in giving them any of these things they may goe before the Cady and demand a Divorce because the Husband is not able to maintain them Then the Cady visits the House and finding the Wives complaints to be just grants her Suit. A Wife may also demand divorce if her Husband hath offered to use her contrary to the course of Nature then she goes before the Cady and turns up the sole of her Slipper without saying a word the Cady understanding that Language sends for the Husband who if he makes no good defence is Bastanado'd and his Wife Divorced from him CHAP. XLIII Of the way of Mourning for the Dead among the Turks their manner of Burying and of their Burying-places WHen any one Dies in Turky the Neighbours soon have the news of it Of the way of mourning for the Dead for the Women of the House fall a Howling and crying out so loud that one would think they were in Dispair all their Friends and Neighbours having notice of this come to visit them and fall to making the same musick as they do for these visits are not rendered for Comforting but for Condoling They all then together weeping and in a mournful and doleful tone but still as if they were singing fall to rehearse the praise of the Deceased as for example the Wife of him that is dead will say He loved me so well gave me plenty of every thing I stood in need of c. And then the rest say the same making now and then all with one consent such loud cries that one would think all were undone The Burying of the Dead and this musick they continue for several hours together But the best of all is that so soon as the Company is all gone the mourning is over and so soon again as any Woman cometh a new Lamentation begins This lasts several days and sometimes at the years end they 'll begin again Such as cannot or will not weep hire Mourning Women who gain a good deal of money thereby At length after all these Lamentations comes the Ceremony that is to be observed before the Deceased be put in the Grave and his Relations and Friends having laid him out upon the Ground wash his Body and shave off his Hair for the Turks love so much to have their Bodies neat and clean that they make even the Dead observe it Next they burn Incense about him which they say scares away Evil Spirits and Devils who otherwise would muster about the Body then they wrap him up in a Sheet praying God to be merciful unto him but they sew not up the shroud at head and feet to the end the Deceased may the more easily kneel when the Angels that are to examine him The colour of the Palls of the Dead command him to do so They put him afterwards into a Coffin or Beer like to ours which they cover with a Pall that ought to be red if he be a Soldier that is Dead if it be a Scherif it ought to be a green Pall and if neither of the two a black one and a thwart over it they extend a Turban according to the Office he bore If he was a Janisary they put a red Turban if a Spahi a red one and a white and if he be a Scherif a green Turban for others they put a white one He is after that carried to the Burying-place then priests going before saying certain prayers and often calling upon the name of God after the Body comes the Relations and Friends then the Women who altogether crie along the Streets like Mad-women and holding a Handkerchief about their neck with both hands they pull it sometimes this way and sometimes that way as if they were out of their wits for Grief In fine being come to the Burying-place where the Corps is to de Interr'd they take it out of the Coffin or Beer put it into the Grave and so depart leaving the Women there to make an end of their Musick If it be a Person of Quality his Horses are led in state Horses led at Funerals Now the difference of the Turkish Graves and those of the Christians of the Country in the inside is this that after the Turks have put their Dead into the Grave they lay over a sloaping Board one end of it being set in the bottom of the Grave and the other leaning on the upper end of the same above so that it covers the Body which the Christians of the Country do not but neither of the two Bury their Dead in
makes a pretty good shew The Town lies backwards A Tree of an extraordinary extent and seems to be no great matter there is a Tree there of a vast extent and casts a prodigious shadow It can easily cover Two thousand Men and the Branches of it are supported by several Stone and Wooden Pillars there being under it several Barbers Shops Coffee-Houses and such like places with many Benches to sit on This Tree is like a Sycamore but that it bears a fruit like a Chesnut and serves for Tanning of Leather There was in Ancient Times in this Island a famous Temple of Aesculapius and it is also Illustrious Hippocrates Apelles for having been the Native Country of Hippocrates the Prince of Physitians and of Apelles the Prince of Painters The Knights of Malta held this Island when they were Masters of Rhodes and I was told that there were still many of their Monuments there Having taken in Water at Stanchio the same day after Sun-set we set Sail with a North-wind that soon slackened Next day being Thursday the Thirtieth of November betwixt Nine and Ten a Clock in the Morning he that look'd out made a Sail coming towards us from Rhodes we thought it might be a Corsar of Malta and shortly after we found we were not mistaken and therefore we stood back again with a South-west Wind which blew very fresh and came to an Anchor at Bodrou for we would not put back again to Stanchio because Vessels are not secure there from the South-east Wind. Bodrou is a Castle on the Main Land over against the Isle of Stanchio Bodrou which is but Twelve Miles from it There is a good Port there shut in on all hands and the entry to it is by the South-west but the Turks have suffered it with the time to be filled up with Dirt so that now there is no Water there for great Vessels Next Morning Friday the First of December we went a Shoar and bought some fresh Provisions in the Castle There are seven Gates to be passed before one can enter into this place Over every Gate there are several Coats of Arms which perhaps are the Arms of those who Commanded in that place whilst it belonged to the Knights of Rhodes for in some of them there are Crosses of Malta and the Walls are covered all over with such there being as I take it above Three hundred Escutcheons which appear to be newly made Having passed the second Gate there is on the Right Hand a Statue of an Armed Man upon the Ground but it wants the Head and upon the Wall over it some Bass-Reliefs very well cut Over the third Gate in the in-side under some Coat of Arms is this Inscription Propter fidem Catholicam tenemus locum istum and some more which I could not read Then on the Right Hand there is cut on a lovely Stone in the Wall Sarreboure 1130. There are many other pieces in Bass-Relief and Coats of Arms in several places upon the Wall that is beaten by the Sea and among others there is one bearing a Fortress and under it these words F. Constantius de operibus cardinalibus there are also three Demy Lions issuant out of the Wall from the Head to half the Body Betwixt the fourth and fifth Gates on the Right Hand there are Bass-Reliefs of Men fighting among which there is something written in Lingua Franca but I could read nothing of it but 1510. Over the sixth Gate on the out-side there are three Escutcheons under which are these words Salva nos Domine vigilantes custodi nos dormientes nisi Dominus aedificaverit civitatem frustra vigilat qui custodit eam Then you come to a Platform where there are six Cannons that play towards the Sea. Over the seventh Gate also on the outside there are three Escutcheons and over the same Gate on the inside the same three Escutcheons with two words written in Gothick Characters which I could not read Under this last Gate which is of Iron there is a Court of Guard of fifteen or twenty Men. This is a good strong Castle the Walls are very high and built of a kind of Stone that great Guns cannot hurt it It is beaten by the Sea on one side and there are Port-holes in the Wall along the Sea-side which being Mounted with Cannon could easily hinder Ships from approaching it It is very strong also towards the Land and all the Walls are so sound that they seem as if they had been but lately built Horse cannot wrong it for it stands upon a Rock in a rising place where the Land is very narrow being on two sides encompassed by the Sea which as I said on one hand washes the foot of the Castle and is not half a Mile from the other side This Castle however might easily be taken by cutting off the Water that is brought to it by an Aqueduct for though there be Cisterns in it yet the Turks have suffered them to be so filled up with Earth that they are useless Among the Houses that are somewhat Ruinous there are a great many pieces of Pillars There are many Houses also without the Castle but no body lives in them in the Evening all and even the Cattle retire into the Castle The Country about is very fruitful in Grapes Figs and such like Fruit. This is all that I could observe of this Castle where I durst not eye any thing but in passing for fear of being taken for a Spie for when I stopt any where the Turks took notice of me CHAP. LXXII Our Departure from Bodrou and our Arrival at Rhodes WE stay'd some days at Bodrou because a strong South-west Wind blew still with much Rain Sunday the third of December it began to blow a little from North-north-West but it lasted not however we put out on Monday the fourth of December betwixt three and four in the Afternoon with an easie North-north-West Gale which lasted not three Hours but left us becalmed until Tuesday the fifth of December that blowing pretty hard from South-east we were forced to put back again We came to an Anchor before Stanchio for the Wind was contrary for carrying us to Bodrou We put out four Anchors that we might ride secure from that South-east Wind which made us dance bravely but notwithstanding all our Anchors we suffered much by the Storm For my part I strained my very Guts almost out with Vomiting and Reaching and when that was over I had such violent pains in my Side that I thought they would have killed me and then notwithstanding my pain I could not forbear to blame a little those who out of a desire of Travelling forsake their ease and die of the least Indisposition they fall into for want of help Opium A Turk taking pitty of me gave me Opium to eat not knowing what it was I swallowed it down but when he would have had me take another Dose I asked him what it
with the Knife The Master comes to them now and then with a Pattern and looking upon it tells them what they are to do as if he were reading in a Book nay faster too than he could read saying So many points of such a colour and so many of such another and the like and they are as quick at their work as he is in directing them CHAP. XI Of the Ovens that hatch Chickens ALL that I have related hitherto are such things as may be daily seen and whoever Travels into that Countrey may see them at his leisure when he thinks fit But there are also several other curious things that are casual and temporary and others again which yearly happen but at such a time and season I shall relate what I have seen of both according to the order of time they happen in and I saw them The first of these extraordinary things I saw at Caire was the artificial way of hatching Chickens one would think it a Fable at first to say that Chickens are hatch'd without Hens sitting upon the Eggs and a greater to say that they are sold by the Bushel Nevertheless both are true and for that effect they put their Eggs in Ovens which they heat with so temperate a warmth The manner of the Ovens for hatching of Chickens which imitates so well the natural heat that Chickens are formed and hatched in them These Ovens are in a low place and in a manner under ground they are made of Earth round within the Hearth or Floor of them being covered all over with Tow or Flocks to put the Eggs upon There are in all twelve of these Ovens six on each side in two ranks or stories there being two stories on each side and three Ovens in each storie These two sides are separated by a Street or Way through which they who work in them who are all Cophtes and those that come to see them pass They begin to heat their Ovens about the middle of February How the Ovens are heated and continue to do so for almost four months space They heat them with a very temperate heat only of the hot ashes of Oxen and Camels-dung or the like which they put at the mouth of each Oven and daily change it putting fresh hot dung into the same place This they do for the space of ten days and then lay the Eggs upon the Tow and Flocks that are within the Ovens ranking them all round and they 'll put about eight thousand in an Oven After twelve days time that the Eggs have been there the Chickens are hatch'd and come out so that the time of heating the Ovens and the time the Eggs have been in them make in all two and twenty days But it is pleasant to see these Chickens in one side some thrusting out their heads others striving and struggling to get out their bodies and others again which on the other side are quite out of the shell tripping up and down upon the rest of the Eggs for if you stay there but the least you 'll see all these progresses When they are all hatched they gather them up measure them in a Bushel that wants a bottom and sell them by that measure to all that please to buy and then divide the profit betwixt the Owners and the Masters of the Ovens During the four months that they plie this business they use above three hundred thousand Eggs but all do not succeed Such as have a very nice palate think that these Pullets are not so good as those which are hatched by a Hen but the difference is but little or rather it is only in fancy and it is still very much to imitate Nature so near Many think that this cannot be done but in Aegypt because of the warmth of the Climate but the Great Duke of Florence having sent for one of these Men he hatched them aswel there as in Aegypt The same also as I was told had been done in Poland and I certainly believe it may be done any where provided it be in some place under ground where no Air comes in but the great difficulty is to proportion the heat to such a temperate degree that there be neither too much nor too little either of which would prove unsuccesful CHAP. XII Of the Burying-place where the Dead rise IT is strange to see the Superstitions that reign among People and there is no Country that can pretend to be free from them only some have more and some less but the strangest thing of all is that they will not be undeceived and if any man offer to lay open the Cheat he is presently taken for an Atheist and wicked Person No People that I know are certainly more Superstitious than the Aegyptians as I shall hereafter make it out but at present it shall be enough to give one instance of it Upon the River-side near to old Caire there is a great Burying-place where many dead Bodies are Interred All the Inhabitants of Caire not only Cophtes and Greeks but also Turks and Moors are fully perswaded that on Holy Wednesday Thursday An imaginary Resurrection of the dead in Aegypt and Friday according to their account who follow the old Calendar the dead rise there not that the dead People walk up and down the Church-yard but that during these three days their Bones come out of the Ground and then when they are over return to their Graves again I went to that Burying-place on the Holy Friday of the Greeks and other Christians who follow the old Calendar that I might see what Ground they had for this stupid Belief and I was astonished to find as many People there as if it had been at a Fair for all both small and great in Caire flock thither and the Turks go in procession with all their Banners because they have a Scheikh Interred there whose Bones as they say come out every year and take the Air with the rest and there they say their Prayers with great Devotion When I came to the place I saw here and there some Sculls and Bones and every one told me that they were just come out of the Earth which they so firmly beleive that it is impossible to make them think otherwise for I spoke to some who one would think ought to have more sense than the rest and they assured me it was a truth and that when you are in a place where the Ground is very even while you are looking to one side Bones will come up on the other side within two steps of you I who would willingly have seen them come up before my Face not doubting but the Bones which were to be seen had been secretly scattered by some Santo's fell a jeering the Men An Apparition of the blessed Virgin in a Nunnery of the Cophtes Gemiane An Apparition of Saints among the Cophtes but finding that they were in the same errour with the rest I durst not say all
faced with lovely Marble in the middle whereof there is a Glory of Silver like the Sun with this Inscription about it Hic de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est About half a Foot from this Glory there is naturally upon a Marble Stone The figure of the Virgin and of her Son naturally imprinted on Marble The place of the Manger of our Lord. a figure in red Colour of a Virgin on her Knees and a little Child lying before her which is taken for the Blessed Virgin and her Son Jesus on whose Heads they have put two little Crowns of Silver-Plate Nine and twenty Lamps are kept burning before that Chappel Then you go down by three Marble-steps into a little Chappel where was the Wooden Manger into which the Virgin laid our Lord so soon as She had brought Him into the World this Manger is now at Rome in Santa Maria Majora And in the same place St. Helen caused another of white Marble Tables to be put on one of which set against the Wall is the natural Figure of an Old Man with a Monks Hood and long Beard lying on his Back and they 'll have this to be the Figure of St. Jerome which God was pleased should be marked upon that Stone because of the great love he had for that place Ten Lamps are kept burning before that Chappel two steps from which and just over against it is the Altar of Adoration of the Three Kings where there is a little Stone for a mark of the place The place of the Kings Adoration on which sat the holy Virgin with Her dear Son in Her Arms when She saw the three Wise Men come in who having laid down their Presents upon a little Bench of Stone at the foot of the Altar on the side of the Epistle adored Jesus and then offered him their Presents The Vault in this place is very low and supported by three Pillars of Porphyrian Marble before this Altar three Lamps burn At the other end of this place there was heretofore a Door by which one came down from St. Catharine's Chappel into this Grott before the Latin Monks lost it but at present it is Walled up and close by that Door there is a hole into which the Oriental Christians say the Star sunk after it had guided the Magi into this holy place This Grott is all faced with Marble both the Walls and Floor and the Seeling or Vault is adorned with Mosaick Work blackened by the smoak of the Lamps It receives no light but by the two Doors that are upon the Stairs which affords but very little Now this place is held in very great Veneration even by the Turks who come often and say their prayers there The Church of Bethlehem serves for a lodging to the Turks that pass that way But it is a very incommodious and unseemly thing that all the Turks who pass through Bethlehem should Lodge in the great Church with their whole Families there being no convenient Lodging in Bethlehem which is a great Eye-sore to the Christians who see their Church made an Inn for the Infidels But it is above all troublesome to our Latin Monks whom they oblige to furnish them with all things necessary both for Diet and Lodging CHAP. XLVI Of the Way of making what Marks Men please upon their Arms. WE spent all Tuesday the Nine and twentieth of April The Pilgrims of Jerusalem marked in the Arm. in getting Marks put upon our Arms as commonly all Pilgrims do the Christians of Bethlehem who are of the Latin Church do that They have several Wooden Moulds of which you may chuse that which pleases you best then they fill it with Coal-dust and apply it to your Arm so that they leave upon the same the Mark of what is cut in the Mould after that with the left hand they take hold of your Arm and stretch the skin of it and in the right hand they have a little Cane with two Needles fastened in it which from time to time they dip into Ink mingled with Oxes Gall and prick your Arm all along the lines that are marked by the Wooden Mould This without doubt is painful and commonly causes a slight Fever which is soon over the Arm in the mean time for two or three days continues swelled three times as big as it ordinarily is After they have pricked all along the said lines they wash the Arm and observe if there be any thing wanting then they begin again and sometimes do it three times over When they have done they wrap up your Arm very streight and there grows a Crust upon it which falling off three or four days after the Marks remain Blew and never wear out because the Blood mingling with that Tincture of Ink and Oxes Gall retains the mark under the Skin CHAP. XLVII Of what is to be seen about Bethlehem and of the Grott of the Virgin in Bethlehem WEdnesday the Four and twentieth of April we parted from Bethlehem at five a Clock in the Morning and went to see the holy places that are about it In the first place we saw on a little Hill on our right hand Boticella Boticella which is a Town wherein none but Greeks live and the Turks cannot live there for they say that if a Turk offer to live in it he dies within eight days Then a League from Bethlehem we saw the Church of St. George where there is a great Iron-ring fastened to a Chain through which the People of the Country A Ring that eures the Sick. both Moors and Christians pass when they are troubled with any Infirmity and as they say are immediately cured of it We went not thither because the day before the Greeks having been there met with some Turks who made every one of them pay some Maidins though it was not the custom to pay any thing and our Trucheman would by no means have us go thither that we might not accustome them to a new Imposition We left St. George's on the right hand and went to see a Fountain called in holy Scripture Fons Signatus Fons Signatus the Sealed Well which is in a hole under Ground where being got down with some trouble and a lighted Candle we saw on the right hand three Springs one by another the Water whereof is by an Aqueduct that begins close by the Fountain Heads conveyed to Jerusalem Near to that place there is a pretty Castle built some fifty or sixty Years since for taking the Caffares of the Caravans of Hebron a little farther are the three Fish-Ponds of Salomon The three Fish-ponds of Salomon they are three great Reser-servatories cut in the Rock the one at the end of the other the second being a little lower than the first and the third than the second and so communicate the Water from one to another when they are full near to this place his Concubines lived Continuing our Journey we saw in
When these Stones are removed you go down into a Vault by a little hole opposite to the mouth of the Well and there another great Stone is to be removed before you come at the Well which is sixteen fathom deep Cimented narrow at the top and wide at the bottom Over the aforesaid Vault there are some ruines of the Buildings of a Village two little Pillars are to be seen still standing and many Olive-Trees all round Near to that is the portion of Land which Jacob gave to his Son Joseph it is a very pleasant place and his Sepulchre is in it Mount Gerezim Mount Gerezim mentioned in holy Scripture is on the right hand as you go to that Well There is a Chappel at the foot of this Mountain where the Samaritans heretofore worshipped an Idol On the South side of the Town there is another Mount called in Arabick Elmaida that is to say Table Elmaida where they say our Lord rested himself being weary upon the Road There is a Cushion of the same Stone raised upon the Rock still to be seen and some prints of Hands and Feet and they say that in times past the figure of our Lords whole Body was to be discerned upon it This is a pleasant place having a full prospect of the Town To the West of it there is a Mosque heretofore a Church built upon the same ground where the House of Jacob stood on the other side there is a ruinated Church The House of Jacob. built in honour of St. John Baptist In this Town Travellers pay a Caffare Next day after an hour and an halfs travel you strike off the high Road to the right if you would see the Town of Sebaste standing upon a little Hill Sebaste about half a League wide of the Road where you still see great ruins of Walls and several Pillars both standing and lying upon the Ground with a fair large Church some of it still standing upon lovely Marble-Pillars The high Altar on the East end must have been very fine by what may be judged from the Dome which covers it and is still in order faced with Marble-Pillars whose Capitals are most Artfully fashioned and adorned with Mosaick Painting which was built by St. Helen as the People of the Country say This Church at present is divided into two parts of which the Mahometans hold the one and the Christians the other That which belongs to the Mahometans is paved with Marble The Sepulchre of St. John Baptist Elisha and Abdias and has a Chappel under Ground with three and twenty steps down to it In this Chappel St. John Baptist was Buried betwixt the Prophets Elisha and Abdias The three Tombs are raised four Spans high and enclosed with Walls so that they cannot be seen but through three openings a span big by Lamp-light which commonly burns there In the same place as they say St. John was put in Prison and Beheaded at the desire of Herodias Others say Macherus Samaria that it was at Macherus which is a Town and Fort where King Herod kept Malefactors in Prison This Town of Sebaste was also called Samaria from the name of Simri to whom the Ground whereon it is built belonged or from the name of the Hill on which it stands which is called Chomron Having pass'd Sebaste you are out of Samaria Genny which terminates there and pursuing your Journey you come to lodge at Genny They say that in this place our Saviour cured the ten Lepers There is a Mosque there still which was formerly a Church of the Christians the Han where you lodge is great and serves for a Fort having close by it a Fountain and a Bazar where Provisions are sold The Soil is fertile enough and produces plenty of Palm-Trees and Fig-Trees There is a very great Caffare to be payed there Next day after about two Hours march Ezdrellon you enter into a great Plain called Ezdrellon about four Leagues in length at the west end whereof you see the top of Mount Carmel where the Prophet Elias lived of which we shall speak hereafter At the foot of this Hill are the ruines of the City of Jezreel founded by Achab King of Israel where the Dogs licked the Blood of his Wife Jezebel Jezreel Brook Gison as the Prophet Elias had foretold In the middle of this Plain is the Brook of Gison where Jabin King of Canaan and Sisera his Lieutenant were slain by Deborah the Prophetess and Judge of Israel and by Barak chief of the Host of Gods People Many Battels have been fought in this Plain as may be seen in holy Scripture After you have passed this Plain and travelled an hour over Hills you come to Nazareth of which and the places that are to be seen about it I have already said enough Now I 'll set down the way from Nazareth to Damascus CHAP. LVII The Road from Nazareth to Damascus SUCH as would go to Damascus may lye at Aain Ettudgiar which is a Castle about three Leagues from Nazareth mentioned by me before in the fifty fifth Chapter and there is a Caffare to be paid there The next day you lye at Menia Menia Sephet by the Sea-side of Tiberias The day following you see from several places on the Road the Town of Sephet where Queen Esther was Born standing on a Hill. Josephs Pit. About four hours Journey from Menia you see the the Pit or Well of Joseph into which he was let down by his Brothers there is no water in it the mouth of it being very narrow but the bottom indifferent wide and may be six fathom deep It is covered by a Dome standing on four Arches to three of which so many little Marble-Pillars are joined as Butteresses for the Dome the place of the fourth Pillar is still to be seen and it appears to have been not long agoe removed Close by this Pit there is a little Mosque adjoining to an old Han. Two hours journey from that Pit you cross over Jacob's Bridge Jacobs Bridge Dgeseer Jacoub which the Arabs call Dgeser Jacoub this is the place where this Patriarch was met by his Brother Esau as he was returning with his Wives and Goods from Laban his Father in law The Bridge consists of three Arches under which runs the River of Jordan and falls afterwards into the Sea of Tiberias about three hours going from thence On that side the River runs there is a great Pond to be seen When you have passed this Bridge you are out of Galilee and there you pay a great Caffare Then you come to Lodge at Coneitra which is a little Village Coneitra wherein there is a very old large Han built in form of a Fort with three Culverines within the precinct of it there is a Mosque a Bazar and a Coffee-House Saxa and there also you pay a Caffare Next day you lye at Saxa and have bad way to it
but they made me a present of one After we had seen these places we returned to the Convent about eleven of the Clock and having Dined on good fresh Fish Another Grott of Elias we went to see the Grotts of the holy Prophets Elias and Elisha that are near to the Convent there is also a third but it is full of Earth and the door walled up Lower down towards the foot of the Mountain is the Cave where the Prophet Elias taught the People it is all cut very smooth in the Rock both above and below it is about twenty paces in length fifteen in Breadth and very high and I think it is one of the lovliest Grotts that can be seen The Turks have made a little Mosque there Mount Carmel and all the Country about Emir Tharabe is commanded by a Prince named the Emir Tharabee who pays yearly to the Grand Signior a Tribute of twelve Horses Having thanked the Fathers for their Civility which we acknowledged by a charitable Gratuity we embarked again about four a clock in the Afternoon in the same Bark that had brought us and arrived at Acre about seven at Night CHAP. LX. The way from Acre to Soursayde Baruth Tripoly and Mount Libanus and from Tripoly to Aleppo with what is to be seen in these places I shall here make a little digression from my Travels and observe what is to be seen in those quarters The first night you leave Acre you Lodge at Sour about half way there is a Tower near the Sea where a Caffare must be paid About an hour and a half before you come to Sour a few steps from the Sea-side you find a Well of an octogone figure about fifteen foot in diameter which is so full of Water that one may reach it with the Hand and as they say they have often attempted to sound the depth of it with several Camels load of Rope but could never find the bottom It is taken to be the Well of Living Waters mentioned in the Canticles The Town of Sour is upon the Sea-side and was anciently called Tyre there it was that our Lord Cured the Canaanitish Womans Daughter There are lovely Antiquities to be seen in this place From Sour you have a days Journey to Sayde and there is a Tower upon this Road also where there is a Caffare to be paid Sayde is a pretty Town upon the Sea-side and the Ancient name of it was Sydon Before the Town there is a little Fort Built in the Sea. The Countrey about Sayde is lovely and full of Gardens among others there are two about two Musquet Shot from the Town The Sepulchre of Zebulon Baruth Gie. that are full of excellent Orange-Trees wherein they shew the Sepulchre of Zebulon one of the twelve Sons of Israel Next day you may go and lye at Baruth About an hours travelling from Sayde to Baruth there is to the right hand a Village called Gie with a great deal of Sand about it and they say that that is the place where the Whale cast out Jonas after he had been three days in the Belly of it There are two Caffares to be paid on that Road. The Soil about Baruth is pleasant and good bearing abundance of White Mulberry-Trees for the Silk-Worms Having next day travelled half a League from Baruth you see a Cave on the right hand which was heretofore the Den of a huge Dragon Two hundred paces further there is a Greek Church upon the same Ground as they say where St. George Killed that Dragon when it was about to have Devoured the Daughter of the King of Baruth Half an hours travelling from thence there is a Bridge called Baruth's Bridge of six Arches and there is a Caffare to be paid there About two hours Journey from that Bridge you find another under which runs a River called in Arabick Naor el Kelb that is to say the Dogs River without doubt because there is a Ring cut in the Rock to which is fastened a great Dog cut on the same Rock that is still to be seen in the Sea. They say that in times past that Dog Barked by Enchantment when any Fleet came and that his Bark was heard four Leagues off A little above the descent where the Dog is this Inscription is cut in great Characters upon the Rock IMP. CAES. M. AURELIUS ANTONINUS PIUS FELIX AUGUSTUS PART MARI BRITANNIUS At the end of this Bridge there is a Marble-Stone eleven Span long and five broad on which is an Inscription of six lines in Arabick Characters From thence you go and lodge at Abrahim The day following you lye at Tripoly by the way on the Sea-side Tripoly Gibel Patron Amphe you see the Towns of Gibel Patron and Amphe Tripoly is a very pretty Town with a neat Castle at the foot of which a little River runs several Gardens full of Orange-Trees and White-Mulberries encompass the Town which is a mile from the Sea where there are several Towers planted with Cannon to defend the Coast Here it was that St. Marina being accused of Incontinence did Penance in Mans Apparrel Next day you go to Mount Libanus Mount Libanus Cannobin about five Hours and a halfs travelling from Tripoly you come to Lodge at Cannobin which is a Village where the Patriarch of Mount Libanus Lives there is a Church and Monastery in it The day following you go to the Cedars which are an hour and a halfs going from Cannobin and you pass through a pretty Village called Eden which is about an hour from Cannobin Eden .. Twenty three Cedars in Mount Libanus It is a Foppery to say that if one reckon the Cedars of Mount Libanus twice he shall have a different number for in all great and small there is neither more nor less than twenty three of them All that Inhabit this Mountain are Maronite Christians Having seen Mount Libanus you come back to Tripoly from whence if you have a mind to go to Aleppo you must take the following Road from Tripoly French Castle Ama. you come to lodge at a Castle called the French Castle standing upon a high Hill which was Built in the time of Godfrey of Boulloin From thence you have a days Journey to Ama which was heretofore a fair large Town but at present is half ruined tho' it still contains some lovely Mosques and Houses Built of black and white Stones intermingled At the end of the Town there is a great Castle upon a Hill almost all ruined and uninhabited the Walls of it are very thick and high built of pretty black and white Stones disposed in several Figures and the little of them that remains shews their ancient Beauty The Gate of the Castle is adorned with Inscriptions in Arabick Letters and the entry into it is made like a Court of Guard. There is an Oratory on the South side of it like to those wherein the Turks say their Prayers There are several Grotts well
the Reys calling as loud as ever he could made them at length hear him and the Greeks who were at Jaffa to know him Then in stead of Alarga they called to us Taala which exceedingly rejoyced us and the meaning of that was that we should come in so that we entered the Port about ten a Clock at Night For my part I was afraid it might have been a Trick that so they might have easily sunk us when we were got nearer But it proved otherwise for we were received as Friends We found all the People in Arms ready to flie and the Women and Children were already gone from Jaffa Here we had the comfort to be pittied that we should have been Rifled even by Christians for they knew us as having been once before at Jaffa and had had intelligence of our being taken We stayed at Jaffa for fair Weather until Friday the four and twentieth of May when the Wind presenting we set out about Noon and within two or three Hours after were got out of sight of Land the Wind calming in the Evening we came to an Anchor and next Morning Saturday the five and twentieth of May by break of day we weighed and sailed upon a Wind about three or four a Clock in the Afternoon we made Land and standing in to it came to an Anchor at Sun-setting not being able to weather a Cape on head of us because the Wind was contrary Next day being Sunday the six and twentieth of May we weighed by break of day and presently made two Sail whereof the one seemed to be a Ship and the other a Galliot we rowed off from them as much as we could and at length after some hours lost sight of them but about Noon again we saw the Galliot a stern of us Our Consort ran presently ashoar and instead of doing the like we rowed and made all the sail we could so that in a short time we lost sight of the Galliot once more but making her again a little after we rowed again a little and so lost sight of her the third time At first when we made those Sails my mind misgave me that some Misfortune attended us and indeed I was an unlucky Prophet for I told the rest that as yet we were too far from Damiette to be taken and that as we had been already taken within ten Miles of Acre so we should be taken within ten Miles of Damiette Having then lost sight of that Galliot once more about six a Clock at Night we came to an Anchor at a place from whence we could see three Vessels riding at an Anchor also Our design was so soon as it should be Night and calm to endeavour to double a point of Land that we were not far short of and then we would have been pretty near Damiette and avoided that which befel us but our Company slept too long for Monday the seven and twentieth of May they turned out about two hours before day and having weighed Anchor made all the way they could with Sails and Oars but at break of day when we were not twenty miles from Damiette we saw two Cayques full of Men coming against us then would our Company have stood back again but it was too late And the Cayques making up with all speed a Turk who was a Passenger with us tied his bundle about his Neck and jumping over-board got quickly ashoar without the loss of any thing the rest whether it was that they could not Swim so well or that they hoped we might gain shoar before they could board us did not imitate him I had then some apprehensions that they as well as the Corsairs might discharge their choler upon us who were Franks But at length the Cayques being come within Musquet-shot of us all the Turks who were Passengers in our Sanbiquer leaped over-board to save themselves on shoar and the Greeks having fired the two Petreras they had did the same It pitied me much to see these poor People flie from their own House for so I call their Sanbiquer and to leave all their Goods to the Plunder and Discretion of those Mad-men carrying nothing with them but a Chaplet or two of certain Bisket which they sell strung upon Chaplets Presently one of the Caiques fired a Cros-bar Shot out of a Blunderbuss into our Poop Corsairs that were Franks which had it hit but a hands breadth lower would have killed us all and sunk the Sanbiquer to rights but seeing no body appear on board of us they made after those who were making their escape to shoar for being near land the water was very shallow which made the Soldiers finding ground to jump into the Sea with a Sword in one hand and a Pistol in the other and pursue the poor Wretches firing at those whom they could not overtake In the interim I prayed our Capucin and another French Monk that was with us to go up upon the Deck and put out a white Flag which they did and putting up a Handkerchief upon the end of a stick called in French to those who remained in the Caiques that we were French they bid us lower our Sail which we easily did but it was so great that we could not furl it In the mean time it covered all our Sanbiquer and they fearing there might be more still hid underneath durst not come but having told them that without their assistance they could not furl it and that they need not fear any thing they came on board where knowing us to be Franks they offered us not the least injury as the former had done only took of our baggage and things what they found here and there in the Vessel though we ourselves kept still a good share of them It was then a sad spectacle to see the Soldiers return loaded with Spoyl leading by the hand those whom they had taken a-shoar and who were all stript to the shirt as soon as they had been taken When they were come on board our Sanbiquir they search'd in all places to see if they could find any thing worth the taking and made Captive seven Turks in all Being all on board our Sanbiquer or in their own Caiques they carried us to their Ships and by the way told us how they had made us the evening before but that not having seen a Galliot which they had in company for two days they took our Sanbiquer for her till next morning when we stood close in by the shoar they were convinced it was not she and that if they had not taken us for their Galliot they would have given us a visite the same evening that they saw us CHAP. LXIII Of what happened on Board the Corsairs so long as we were with them and our Arrival at Damiette WIthin an hour we came on board the Corsairs being two Ships the one Commanded by Captain Santi called otherwise Ripuerto of Legorn and the other by Captain Nicolo of Zante We were made
that which nourishes the Country and at that Solemnity they yearly Sacrificed a Boy and a Girl upon whom the Lot fell first cutting their Throat and then throwing them into the Nile In memory whereof the Turks at this day make the above-mentioned Figures of a Man and a Woman which they fill with Fire and in this manner they divert themselves during the three Nights allotted for that rejoycing and when the Water is very high there are Men who Swim in the Khalis A Swimmer loaded with Chains with Iron-Chains One of these Swimmers I saw pass by and not without Ceremony Before him went a great Boat full of People of whom some beat the Drum others had Fire-locks to shoot at those who should throw stones and then he came in the middle of twenty Persons that Swam about him His Hands were tied behind his Back and his Feet bound with a Chain of Iron that weighed ten pound weight he stood upright in the Water and discoursed with those that were about him not seeming in the least to move He was followed by five or six Boats full of People ready to take him up if he chanced to sink In this manner he came in the Water from old Caire where the Khalis begins to the place where it ends which is a long League For a reward he has from the Basha a Vest and a thousand Maidins and besides that he goes about the Town with a Box and gets somewhat more In this manner he goes twice on two several days There is another also who Swims in Chains surrounded as the other from end to end of the Khalis and holds in each hand a dish of Coffee with a Pipe of Tobacco in his Mouth without spilling the Coffee He performs this twice and has the same reward as the other had These Swimmers shew only on Fridays so that one may see them once a Week during four Weeks CHAP. LXVII Of the Arrival of the Bey of Girge at Caire WEdnesday the fourth of September Mehmet Bey The arrival of the Bey of Girge who was then Bey of Girge arrived near to Caire and Lodged at Bezeten beyond old Caire in Tents This Bey had been a Slave to one Haley Bey who died very Rich in the year One thousand six hundred fifty five when he was Bey of Girge which is fourteen or fifteen days Journey from Caire up the Nile In his Life-time he had made four of his Slaves Beys of whom this was one and after his death Bey of Girge When Haley Bey died he left behind him Fourscore thousand Camels and about as many Asses and besides that a vast Treasure of Coyned Money and Jewels among which there was a Cup made of a Turkeis worth above an Hundred thousand Crowns This Man lived at a very high Rate and there was not a day but he spent a thousand Crowns in his House at Caire though he were not there but much more when he was His Successor Mehmet Bey I speak of was sent for by two Agas one after another and commanded in name of the Basha who had no kindness for him to come to Caire and account for what he was in Arrear to the Basha for that is a Beyship depending on the Bassaship of Caire The design of the Basha was to draw him to Caire under this pretext then to deprive him of his Beyship and give it to another which was a secret he had discovered to no Man living The Bey who suspected the Basha's design having at first slighted his Commands resolved at length to come but seeing the Basha knew that he came with a great Retinue he sent an Aga to command him back This Aga found him at three days Journey from Caire and acquainted him with his Orders which the other slighted and proceeded on his Journey till he came near to Caire Thursday the fifth of September all the Beys and other Persons of Quality went out to visit him as also all the Militia of the Country The Beys and the Cadilesquer who was no friend to this Basha had laid their Heads together to make the Basha Mansoul in case he gave bad Reception to this Bey because besides that they were all his friends they always stick together against the Basha He made his entry into Caire on Saturday the seventh of September and that I might have a full view of that entry I went to Cara Meidan which is a great Court or Square in the Basha's Palace at the end whereof the Stables are This is a large and spacious place but longer than broad The Basha came down and went into a Kieusk which is about the middle of the length of this place on the right hand as you enter it from the Romeille The Basha staid for him here because the Bey would not go to his Appartment fearing he might not be strong enough for him there Thither came all the Men of the Beys and all the Spahis Chiaoux Muteferacas and in a word all the Militia ready to fight For seeing they knew not the Basha's design and saw on the other hand that the Bey was well accompanied they doubted it might come to blows These Men of the Beys played for the matter of two Hours with the Dgerit or Zagaye which was a great Diversion to me for there I saw them at near distance with safety and ease whereas when they see a Christian abroad in the Fields they many times dart their Dgerit at him After that they drew neatly up into very close Order And at the same time by the Gate opposite to that which goes into the Romeille the Arabs of this Bey entred the place armed with Pikes and Shables four fingers broad every one with his Iron-Hook a finger broad and as big as ones Hand with a Wooden Handle to take up their Pikes without alighting from Horse-back as they run after they have darted them at any Body as they who make use of Arrows have such another Iron-Instrument wherewith they hook up their Arrows from the Ground and both are very dextrous at it These Hooks they carried in their Sleeves and were all very well Mounted and not ill Clad for Arabs They were in number above Three thousand and among them marched the sixteen Caschefs or Bailiffs Caschefs The Toug of the Bey who are Subjects of this Bey and his Sous-basha After these came the Toug of the Bey which is a Horses Tail at the end of a Pike and a large fair pair of Colours Then came above Two thousand Harquebusiers on Horse-back well clad carrying all their Harquebuses before them and their Shables by their sides and of these the last forty had on Coats of Mail Semhin or Serban Vambraces Steel-Caps Neck-pieces and in a word they were all in Mail and followed by the Beys foot who are called Semhin or Serban These are Men who have no Pay but from him receiving none from the Grand Signior They were about four
us into a Grotto hollowed in the Rock where he shewed us a place where it is said Elias fasted sometimes Elias's Grotto and was fed by a Raven In a hole hard by he shewed us the place where the People of the Countrey say the forty Martyrs are buried but no Tomb Bones nor Ashes are to be seen there He shewed us besides in the Roof of that Grott which is a natural Rock very hard and like to Pit-coal from which much water drops the figure of a hand which they say is the hand of Elias but which is indeed no more but the Veines of the Rock which represent but very imperfectly long and great fingers to the number of more than five or six and I cannot tell if ever Elias was there As to the forty Martyrs this is the Story they tell of them A Jewish Child having secretly left his Excrements in a Mosque the King or Basha being informed next Morning that such a Packet had been found there was highly enraged and caused enquiry to be made after the Authour The Jew who was an Enemy to the Christians told him that he knew for a certain that they had done it in contempt of his Religion whereupon he caused them all to be put into prison and some time after forty of them out of a charitable Zeal to save the rest confessed themselves guilty of the pretended Crime upon which he caused all the forty to be put to death though he knew very well they could not all have been guilty Upon the same hill but at some hundreds of paces from thence is the place of the seven Sleepers Seven sleepers as the People of the Countrey think There they shew a Grotto where there are seven holes stopt nay some say that they sleep there still but in relating these things they confound so many Histories that it is very hard to know the truth of what they believe We came back to the Town by the Gate of Paboutches To have a full view of Damascus The place for having a full view of Damascus one must go to that place of the forty Martyrs It lies towards the middle of a Mountain that is to the North of the City is long and narrow and reaches from East to West to the East it draws into a point and at the West-end is the Suburbs called Bab-Ullah which I mentioned before reaching in length above three or four Miles Westward This City is in the middle of a spacious Plain on all hands surrounded with Hills but all distant from the Town almost out of sight those on the North-side is where that of the forty Martyrs are the nearest On the North-side it hath a great many Gardens full of Trees and most Fruit-trees these Gardens take up the ground from the Hill of the forty Martyrs even to the Town so that at a distance it seems to be a Forest Another day I went by the Bashas Serraglio and having advanced a little North-wards in the first street to rhe left hand I found a Mosque which had formerly been a Church dedicated to St. Nicholas The Church of St. Nicholas now a Mosque I entered it and found it to have been a very large and stately Church with a spacious Court environed by a Cloyster whereof the Arches are supported by many great marble-Pillars All that Cloyster and Court which is still paved with large fair Stones belonged to the Church with a great space enclosed and covered which they have changed into a mosque and they have demolished all the Vaults which covered that which I call the Court and brought into it one of the Rivers of Damascus called Banias that runs through the length of it there they load the Camels that are to go to Mecha with Water and for that end alone they have brought the Course of the River that way There are a great many Trees also in it which render it a very pleasant place The Dervishes Being come out of that Court I went to the Dervishes which are a little farther on the same side They are very well lodged and have several Gardens through which the River Banias runs before it reaches the Church of St. Nicholas The Name of Dervish is made up of two Persian words to wit of Der which signifies Door and Vish signifying Threshold as if one should say the threshold of the door Their founder took that Name to intimate that his design was that that order should particularly make profession of humility by comparing themselves to the threshold of a door that all People tread upon Having viewed that house I kept on my way and came to the Green of Damascus that is not far from it It is a large Field or Grass-plat which they call the Meidan encompassed on all hands with Gardens and the River Banias runs through it About the middle of it there is a little Pillar in the ground The place where God made the first Man. about four foot high and they say that that is the place where God made the first Man. It is a very pleasant place and therefore when any Person of Quality passes by Damascus he pitches his Tents there The lovely Hospital of Morestan When I was come into that field I turned to the right and entered into the Morestan which is at the middle of one of the sides of that field I found my self in a square Cloyster covered with little Domes supported by marble Pillars the first bases of which are of Brass on the side I entered at and just opposite unto it there are Chambers for receiving Pilgrims of whatsoever Religion they be Every Chamber is covered with a great Dome and hath its Chimney two Presses and two Windows to wit one towards the Green and one on the other side The Cloyster has twice as many Domes as the Chambers have the side on the right hand is appointed for Kitchins where there are many great Kettles wherein daily and even during the Ramadan they boil Pilau and other such Food which they distribute amongst all that come of whatsoever Religion they be On the side opposite to the Kitchins is the Mosque and before it a lovely Portico covered with Domes as the rest of the Cloyster is but they are somewhat higher and supported by more lofty Pillars This Mosque is covered with a very great Dome having a lovely Minaret on each side and all these Domes and Minarets are covered with Lead Within the Green there is a fair Garden along the sides of the Cloyster where many Trees are planted it is railed with rails of Wood on the four sides of it which are five or six foot high so that it leaves in the middle a large Square paved with fair Free-Stone wherein there is a Bason of an oblong Figure or rather a very large Canal through which the River Banias runs This Hospital was built by Solyman the second who took Rhodes for the accommodation of
Turky they 'l suffer no body to ride on Horse-back with both Legs on one side as Ladies did in France when I left it the reason of that odd order is because the Turks believe that the two Gyants Gog and Magog who were Rebels against God A Posture in riding forbidden rode in that manner they are so prejudiced with that false Zeal that so soon as they see any body in that posture they hurle stones at him till he has altered his way of sitting At Damascus and Aleppo when they would whiten their Walls with Lime they cut hemp into small bits and mingle it with moistened Lime The manner of preparing Lime which they dawb the Wall over with where it would not hold without the hemp because the Walls are onely of Earth Holes in Tombs and Graves I observed at Damascus that the Turks leave a hole of three fingers breadth in diametre on the top of their Tombs where there is a Channel of Earth over the dead body That serves to cool the dead for the Women going thither on Thursday to pray which they never fail to do every Week they pour in water by that hole to refresh them and quench their thirst and at the end of the grave stick in a large branch of Box which they carry with them purposely and leave it there to keep the dead cold They have another no less pleasant custome and that is when a Woman hath lost her husband The Women ask counsel of their dead Husbands she still asks his counsel about her affairs For instance a Woman sometimes two years after her husband's death will go to his grave and tell him that such a person hath wronged her or that such a Man would marry her and thereupon asks his counsel what she should do having done so she returns home expecting the answer which her late husband fails not to come and give her the Night following and always conform to the Widows desire The Womens Mourning It is a pretty ridiculous thing too to see the Mourning which the Women at Damascus appear in at the death of their relations and even the Christian women I had that diversion one Evening about eight a Clock at Night when I was at the Capucins gate I perceived several Maronite women returning from the lodging of one of their relations who died three hours before there was above twenty of them and they made a great deal of noise some singing and others crying knocking their breasts with their hands joined together and two Men carried each a Candle to light them When they were over against the Maronites Church which is before the house of the Capucins they stopt and put themselves in a ring where for a long time they snapt the fingers of the right hand as if they had been Castanets against one anothers Noses keeping time to the songs they sung as if they rejoyced whilst some of them from time to time howled and cried like mad Women At length having performed that Musick a pretty long while they made many bows to the East lifting up the right hand to their head and then stooping it down to the ground having done so they marched foreward with the same Musick as before The way of threshing Corn. At Damascus and almost all Turkey over they thresh not the Corn but after it is cut down they put it up in heaps and round the heap they spread some of it four or five foot broad and two foot thick This being done they have a kind of sled made of four pieces of Timber in square two of which serve for an Axle-tree to two great rowlers whose ends enter into these two pieces of Timber so as that they easily turn in them round each of these rowlers there are three Iron-pinions about half a foot thick and a foot in diametre these pinions are full of teeth like so many saws there is a seat placed upon the two chief pieces of Timber where a man sits and drives the horses that draw this Machine round upon the lay of Corn that is two foot thick and that cutting the straw very small makes the Corn come out of the ear without breaking it for it slides betwixt the teeth of the Iron When the straw is well cut they put in more and then separate the Corn from that hashed Straw by tossing all up together in the Air with a wooden shovel for the Wind blows the Straw a little aside and the Corn alone falls streight down The way of feeding Horses They feed their Horses with that cut Straw In some places that Machine is different as I have seen in Mesopotamia where in stead of these pinions round the rowler they have many pegs of Iron about six Inches long and three broad almost in the shape of wedges but somewhat broader below than above fastened without any order into the rowlers some streight and others cross ways and this Engine is covered with Boards over the Irons whereon he that drives the Horses sits for he has no other seat to sit upon they take the same course in Persia nevertheless in some places they cut not the Straw but onely make Oxen or Horses tread out the Corn with their feet which they separate from the Straw as I have said Of all the Corn which they prepare in this manner Barley is the oneiy grain they feed their Horses with In the Morning they give every Horse an Ocque of that Barley and four at Night which they mingle with cut Straw and that 's all they have the whole day In Persia the Horses have Barley onely at Night but in the Day-time they give them a Sack of Straw Let us now see how they make Butter at Damascus The way of making Butter which is the same way all Turkey over They fasten the two ends of a stick to the two hind feet of a Vessel that 's to say each end of the stick to each foot and the same they do to the fore-feet to the end these sticks may serve for handles Then they put the Cream into the Vessel stopping it close and then taking hold on it by the two sticks they shake it for some time and after put a little water into it Then they shake it again untill the Butter be made which being done they pour off a kind of Butter-milk by them called Yogourt which they drink When they would have this Yogourt more delicious they heat the Milk and put a spoonfull of sower Milk to it which they make sower with runnet and by that mixture all the Milk becoming Yogourt they let it cool and then use it or if they have a mind to keep it they put it with Salt into a bag which they tye very fast that what is within may be pressed and let it drop until no more come out Of that matter there remains no more in the bag but a kind of a Butter or rather white Cheese
Town of Ardeville whom he brought down from the Race of Aly and who besides was held in great Veneration amongst them for his Piety in the practice whereof he had constantly lived according to the Rule of the Sofis of whose Sect he made profession The Persians call themselves Schiai Schiai because they think it enough to follow the commands of their Law and they who follow the Law of the Turks are called Sunni because besides Matters of Obligation Sunni they also follow Counsils of Devotion For example a Sunni being asked if he be of the Law Sunni or Schiai he must say that he is Sunni whatsoever danger there may be in making that profession But the Schiais think not that a matter of Obligation and on a like occasion they would frankly say that they were Sunni if they saw any danger in professing themselves to be Schiais and so in many other things Not but that the Persians practise some of the Counsils for instance it is a Counsil and not a Precept of their Law that when they see a Funeral passing by they turn at least three steps to accompany the Corps some time and that they even lend their Shoulders to help to carry it if it be needful nevertheless there is nothing more common in Persia than to see when any Burial passes all those who meet the company lend their Shoulders at least for ten or twelve steps to help to carry the dead body The Months are the same with the Persians as with the Turks The months of the Persians save that the former begin one day sooner Not but that they are regulated as well as the Turks by the Moon but these reckon not the first day of the Moon but when they see it which is commonly the second day and the Persians who are knowing in the Speculation of the Stars and who fail not to make Astronomical Calculations regulate themselves according to the course of the Moon and therefore they begin their Month and by consequence their Ramadan a day sooner They celebrate their little Bairam or Easter of Sacrifices The Feast of the little Bairam called Aidel Kerban The Sacrifice of a Camel. in the same manner as the Turks and Sacrifice some Sheep in memory of the Sacrifice that Abraham would have offered of his Son Ishmael for they say that it was Ishmael that was to have been Sacrificed and not Isaac But at Ispahan they Sacrifice a Camel with great ceremonies they lead him out of the City and there the King or in his absence the Governour of the Town strikes him with a Lance and then all fall upon him and hack him to pieces with Swords Axes and Knives Having vented part of their Zeal upon the poor Beast they employ what remains of it against one another fighting so furiously that many are alwaies left dead on the place The cause of this mad Devotion is because each quarter of the Town comes to this ceremony with their Banner and endeavours to have a piece of the Camel all are very eager to have it they quarrel pull and hale it from one another and at length fall to down-right blows That which makes the quarrel greater and gives occasion to bickerings is that each quarter pretends to a certain part of the Camel which hath at all times been granted them one the Leg another the Belly and so of the rest and seeing they are not all agreed upon these pretensions every one strives to maintain his right by force and there are always some who out of too much Devotion to eat of the Camel are excused from ever eating more Moreover there are two Factions in Ispahan which always entertain great feuds betwixt themselves and that is the reason that they never meet in a Body as in a Procession but they fight till they kill one another one of these Factions is called Aideri and the other Naamet Vllahi from the names of two men who commanded severally in the two Villages The Factions of Aideri and Naamet Ullahi whereof Ispahan consists These two Villages that were near one another being encreased have made one single Town and there is still at Ispahan a Gate called Derdeicht of which the one of the two Leaves of the Gate belongs to one of the two Factions and the other to the other But to return to the Ceremony of the Camel the piece that can be got is distributed in each quarter every Family hath a Portion of it which they Boil and then eat with a great deal of Devotion In other Towns in stead of a Camel they kill an Ox but without any Ceremony for a Butcher kills it and all the Dervishes and poor people come and take every one a piece besides every private person in his own House kills some Sheep most part of which he distributes amongst the poor Differences in Prayers betwixt the Persians and Turks There is also some difference betwixt the Persians and Turks as to their Prayers In Persia they call to Prayers but three times a day to wit so soon as it is Light at Noon and at Sunsetting and they call no oftner on Friday Nor is the call made from the tops of the Steeples neither because from thence one might see the women in the Houses and therefore the call is only made from Terrasses The Turks and Persians make their ablutions both alike but in saying their Prayers they have this difference that the Sunni hold their Hands one over another upon their Stomach and the Schiai observe not that posture besides these last in time of Prayer lay down a little gray stone before them which they always carry about and every time they prostrate themselves on the ground lay their Forehead on that stone The Stone of Kerbela which is made of the Earth of Kerbela the place where Hussein the second Son of Aly was killed by the men of Yezid his Tomb is there still and that place is called after his name Imam Hussein it is about four days journey from Bagdad betwixt Tygris and Euphrates it is a very famous place of Pilgrimage amongst the Persians and amongst the Turks also whither many people of both Sexes and all conditions resort They there take of the Earth which they knead and make little stones of and sell them all over Persia The death of Hussein This is the relation they give of the death of Hussein who was the second Son of Aly. After the death of his Father he was called by the inhabitants of the Town of Coufa who owned him for the Lawful Califfe but Yezid the Successour and Son of Muavias and second Califfe of the Family of the Ommies who was then at Damascus having intelligence that Hussein was upon his march to that Town with all his Family sent out a good Troop of Horse to bring him to him alive these men overtook him at Kerbela and so streightned him that they left him not so
rest and which is proportioned to the breadth of the Stairs you continue to go up by the upper part of the Stair-Case which goes contrary to the lower part my meaning is that the upper part of the Stair-Case above the Landing place goes North whereas the lower went Southward and the upper part of the other side which went North below goes Southward above so that these two Stair-Cases which bore off from one another in their first part draw near again in the second and Land in on the same place above and that upper part of the Stair-Case has forty six steps Being come to the top of the Stair-Case you find a Walk and traceing it Eastwards you see two great Pilasters in Front which bear nothing at present but seem to make the two sides of an Entry they appear to be but of one single stone apiece though they be very high On the inside of each of these Pilasters you see the Figure of a Beast cut in Demi-relief but it is hard to tell whether it be a Horse or an Elephant and I should rather take it to be the latter at least it seems to me to resemble that more however it be these Figures are about three Fathom high and are as I said in half body along the inside of the Pilaster one opposite to another the Head turned towards the Terrass-Walk and Stair-Case or if you will towards the Plain Beyond these two Pilasters there are two great Chamfered Pillars in front and which in all appearance are what remains of four in Square Then you find two other Pilasters like to the first with each a Figure on them of an Animal in Demi-relief of the same height and opposite to one another on the inside but the Figures of these seem to be Griffons and they are Back to Back with the Elephants looking Eastward to the Hill whereas the Elephants look Westward to the Plain these four Pilasters with the Pillars seem to have made a Portico Advancing a little forward you find on the Right Hand a great Oblong Square Bason A great Bason two Fathom and a half in length almost as much in breadth and about three Foot deep it is all of a greyish stone Turning from thence to the Right Hand and going about twenty steps Southward you find a second Terrass higher which hath a jutting out in the middle with a Stair-Case on each side there are two others at the two ends of the Terrass but these four Stair-Cases are almost buried under Ground nevertheless one may still see several Figures upon so much of the Terrass-Walls as are above Ground At the least which is as I said by the jutting out in the middle you see a Lion devouring a Bull which is often repeated By the other there are three Ranges of Bas-reliefs representing as I take it Sacrifices Bas-reliefs representing Sacrifices for many persons are there represented as going in Procession one after another and Armed some only with Swords and Daggers others with Swords Bows and Arrows and others again seem to be carrying Vessels There you see also several kinds of Beasts as Sheep Oxen Dromadaries and other Animals When you are at the top of these Stairs you come upon a Platform where there are a great many Pillars some buried under Ground and others broken A place full of Pillars and you only see the Bases of most of them nevertheless there are seventeen still standing and these with the others whereof nothing but the Bases are to be seen make according to my account twelve Ranges from East to West and from South to North in breadth consist of nine Pillars a piece they are about seven Fathom high and at three Fathom distance one from another all Chamfered and some with double Capitals they are all of an extraordinary Order which yet hath great affinity to the Dorick It appears by what remains upon some that all of them have supported Statues or perhaps Idols and at present they serve the Storks to build their Nests on Going on Southward from thence you see a square Building A square building much adorned with Bas-reliefs and part of the Walls thereof still standing It is pierced on all sides with Doors and Windows which are embellished with many Demi-reliefs especially the sides of the Doors which are of big greyish stones as the rest of the Edifice is Upon these sides of the Doors the Figures are much the same as on the rest of the Building and opposite to one another there you see an old Man followed by two Servants one of them holding in both his Hands a great Staff with seven branches at the end of it which uphold an Umbrello just over the Head of his Master the other holds a Manipule in one Hand and in the other a Crosier or crooked Staff liker to Cricket-sticks than the Crosiers carried by Bishops nevertheless by the way of holding it one may judge that it is something resembling a Bishops Crosier for the Crook is carried up over the Masters Head. In some of these Doors there is but one Servant as in the one he only who carries the Manipule and the Crosier and in the others he that holds the Umbrello The Doors of the other two Faces are almost a like and at the side of each Door on the inside you see a Man fighting with a Beast that is erected against him with the Left Hand he holds a short Club over the Head of it and with the Right sheaths a Dagger in its Belly all these are to the natural bigness nay some of them are bigger Next to this Building you see the ruins of a like Fabrick Buildings but hardly any thing standing on the sides of the Doors within there are still to be seen two men each holding a Pike as if they Guarded these Doors along the two sides of these Buildings there is a little Walk about a Fathom and a half broad that runs betwixt the Building and a Wall at the end of this last which is so ruinous you find a double Stair-Case cut in the Rock but it is almost hid under the ruins as well as the Wall betwixt the two which supports the Earth and is full of Demi-reliefs whereof there is no more but the Heads to be seen A little beyond that there is square Terrass not much raised from the Ground A square Terrass and supported by a Wall which is also embellished by several Figures in Demi-relief that are half covered under Ground and in this place there remain many round Bases beyond that Terrass that buts upon a large open places which reaches length from West to East as far as the Hill and fronts towards the South there is no more now remaining one comes down from thence by a pair of Stairs which turning to the Left you find at the side of the Terrass and are made in the Rock it self that in this place supports the Earth Returning back
Channel Haffar which was to our Larboard and there begins the Isle of Gban Isle of Gban which reaches from that place to the Sea. Tuesday the tenth of November the Tide of Ebb beginning an hour before day we weighed Anchor and continued our course betwixt the Isle Chader and the Isle Gban and there we found the water brackish At this place the Palm-Trees end and the Land on both sides is only level and barren Plains and so low that at high water they are almost all overflown about two hours after day the water cast us so much upon the Land on the South side that our Poop raked the shoar and that is in a manner unavoidable in this place where all Ships are forced a shoar nevertheless though we were so near we had two Fathom water a Stern and three a Head and the current of the water drove us forward at a great rate in the mean time our men did what they could to get out again into the Channel and at length with the help of our Boat that Towed us they accomplished it We found three Mahometan Ships which set out the same day that we did from Bassora and all three had had the same luck having been by the force of the stream cast a shoar as well as we The Course we stood from Bassora till we came to the Sea was in the beginning whilst we had the Wind at South-East South South West and after we had it at North-West we Steered always East South-East or South South-East About nine a Clock in the morning we had a pretty brisk Gale from North-West which made us spread our Mizan and Mizan-Top-Sail the Main and Main-Top-Sail and the Fore-Sail and Fore-Top-Sail and then we steered away South South-West making the more way as the Wind grew fresher the water is very broad at this place About half an hour after three a Clock in the Afternoon we came to an Anchor near the Mouth of the River because our Men would not venture out to Sea in the night-time for fear of being stranded for in the mouth of this River there is but two Fathom water when the Tide is out and the other Ships did as we did the Wind in the mean time ceased about midnight Next day we weighed Anchor about half an hour after six in the Morning and having spread the Fore-Top-Sail we Steered away South South-East but seeing it was little better than a calm we made but very little way nevertheless we began to lose sight of Land on all hands and had betwixt five and six Fathom water About nine a Clock we came to an Anchor to stay for the Tide because then we had but little water about eleven a Clock it being flood we weighed and a North-West Wind rising at the same time we clapt on all our Sails Steering our Course sometimes South-East sometimes South and sometimes South-West according to the water we found which was sometimes but three and sometimes four Fathom Half an hour after one of the Clock we had four Fathom and a half water and at two a Clock five but at the same time the Wind chopping about to South we were forced to furl our Sails and come to an Anchor It is very dangerous putting out of that River after the first days of November The season of Sailing for commonly the South Winds begin to blow at that time and last all November whereby many Ships that put out too late are cast away Thursday the twelfth of November the Sun rose with a stiff Wind from South and at the same time the Sky was on all hands over-cast with such a thick Fog that we could hardly see the other Ships which yet weighed Anchor and were Towed by their Boats we did the same though it was against the Captains mind who feared a storm and would have kept still at Anchor We got our Boat then to Tow us the Ships Head standing East South-East in five Fathom water About half an hour after eight we unfurled the Fore-Top-Sail and stood away East North-East and a little after North North-East About nine a Clock we spread the Mizan-Sail whilst our Boat still Towed us About half an hour after nine the Wind shifting about to East we presently furled our Sails and turning our Ships Head South-East came to an Anchor a quarter of an hour after in three Fathom water That day they began to allow every one but two measures of water by day one to boil the Kettle and the other to drink each measure is about three Pints About a quarter after ten a Clock we weighed Anchor and were Towed by our Boat spreading our Mizan Main-Top-Sail and Fore-Top-Sail though we had no settled Wind but sometimes one way and sometimes another and we turned the Ships Head North-East A little after the Wind getting in to South-East we bore away East and presently it shifted to South so that three quarters after ten we came to an Anchor Friday the thirteenth of November the Pilot of Carek and the Merchants prevailed so far with the Captain that he gave way to the weighing of Anchor at three quarters of an hour after seven though he was of a contrary Opinion and the truth is there was no reason to weigh because it blew a strong Wind from South-East and we had but little water on all hands We had indeed four Fathom at that time but seeing it was a Tide of Ebb we had reason to fear running a ground and to put out to Sea which was the thing the Merchants desired was to run into the storm In fine notwithstanding all these Reasons our men Towed us and we spread the Fore-Top-Sail but we held no certain Course the other Ships did as we did and perceiving us to cast Anchor three quarters of an hour after they did the like This is the inconvenience where many Ships are together that if one weigh or come to an Anchor the rest must do the same for if they should fail to do it and any misfortune happened the blame would be laid at the Masters door in that he did not do as the rest did who are all supposed to understand their Trade Saturday morning the fourteenth of November we made a Mahometan Ship coming from Bassora where we had left her for all the strong South-East Wind which had constantly blown since the day before we weighed Anchor at nine of the Clock in the morning and made Sail with our Mizan Main-Top and Fore-Top-Sails Steering our Course East North-East Half an hour after nine the Wind getting about to South-West we let fly the Mizan Top-Sail and Fore-Sail and stood away East South-East At ten a Clock we tackt about and bore away West North-West and so kept beating to and again every half hour until three quarters of an hour after eleven that the Wind chopping in to South we came to an Anchor in three Fathom water we made short Tacks because of the little water we
these little Kingdoms terminate Malabar to the South as Cananor begins it to the North. There is a good Harbour at Cananor which is a large Town Cananor the little King who is called King of Cananor lives not there he holds his Court towards a streight farther from the Sea his Countrey affords all things necessary for life the Portuguese have been always his Friends and many of them live in his Countrey Indian Pirats Bergare Cougnales Montongue The punishment of Malabar Robbers The Malabars of Bergare Cougnales and Montongue near Cananor are the chief Pirats of the Indian Sea and there are many Robbers also in the Countrey though the Magistrates do all they can to root them out The truth is They 'll put a Man to death for a single Leaf of Betlie stolen they tye his hands and having stretched him out upon his belly run him through with a Javelin of Areco then they turn him upon his back and the Javelin being quite through his Body they fasten it in the ground and bind the Criminal so fast to it that he cannot stir but dies in that posture The Leaf of the Palm-Tree on which Men write All the Malabars write as we do from the left to the right upon the leaves of Palmeras-Bravas and for making their Characters they use a Stiletto a Foot long at least the Letters which they write to their Friends on these leaves are made up round like a roll of Ribbons they make their Books of several of these leaves which they file upon a String and enclose them betwixt two Boards of the same bigness they have many Ancient Books and all almost in Verse which they are great lovers of I believe the Reader will be glad to see their Characters and I have hereto subjoyned the Alphabet The Bramens much esteemed in Malabar The Bramens are held in greater honour here than elsewhere what War soever there may be amongst the Princes of Malabar Enemies do them no hurt and nevertheless there are many Hypocrites among them who are very Rogues There are certain Festival days in Malabar on which the Young People fight like mad-men and many times kill one another and they are perswaded that such as die in those Combats are certainly saved Banguel Olala Mangalor The Kings of Banguel and Olala are to the North of that Countrey and Mangalor which lies with in ten degrees and some minutes of the Line belongs to the King of Banguel This is a little ill built Town twelve Leagues from Barcelor Barcelor as Barcelor is twelve Leagues from Onor and the Countrey where these Towns lie is called Canara all the rest of the coast as far as Goa signifies but very little Onor except the Town of Onor which is about eighteen Leagues from Goa it hath a large and safe Harbour made of two Rivers that fall into the Sea by one and the same mouth below the Fort which stands upon a pretty high Rock The Town is far worse than the Fort the most considerable People live there with the Governour and many Portuguese have their Residence in it it lies in the Latitude of fourteen degrees The rest of Decan Northwards within a little of Surrat belongs to the King of Viziapour or to the Portuguese the English as I have said hold Bombaym there and Raja Sivagy some other places The Kings of that coast have hardly so much yearly Revenue a piece as a Governour of a Province in France and yet they hold out still notwithstanding the Changes that have happened in the other Countreys of Decan CHAP. II. Of the Revolutions of Decan Tcher-Can HE who may be called last King of Decan or at least the last but one was a Raja of the Mountains of Bengale called Tcher-Can who rendered himself so powerful that having taken to himself the haughty Title of Chahalem Chahalem which signifies King of the World he made all the Kings of the Indies to tremble that Captain having raised a great Revolt in the Kingdom of Bengala put the King of it to death and not only usurped the Kingdom and all Patan but also all the Neighbouring Dominions he even forced the first Mogul King Humayon to flie from Dehly Humayon Selim. which he had seized from an Indian King called Selim and all that which at present is called the Kingdoms of Viziapour Bisnagar or Cornates and Golconda fell under his THE Malabar Alphabet FIGURES NAMES The VOWELS POWERS Aana a breve Auena a longum Iinà i breve Iena i longum Ououna ou Gallicum breve Ouuena ou Gallicum longum Eena e breve Eena e longum Ayena ay Gallicum Oona o breve Ouena o longum Auuena aou Gallicum    Akena Non est vocalis sed solummodo est signum quietis sicut quando pronuntiamus per litera est quiescens quia pronuntiatur cum vocali praecedente non habet vocalem sequentem signum hujus quietis est punctum superpositum literae Insert this between Pag. 90 and 91. of the Third Part. The CONSONANTS FIGURES NAMES POWERS Naana nostrum n. Paana nostrum p. Maana nostrum m. Jaana J consonans Raana nostrum r simplex ut in verbo gallico pere mere Laana nostrum l. Vaana V consonans Raana pronuntiatio blaesorum qui non possunt pronuntiare r. Laana l in medio palati tangendo cum extremitate linguae medium palati Raana nostrum r duplex ut in verbo gallico terre ῥ Graecorum aspiratum Naana parva differentia pronuntiationis hujus literae à pronuntiatione nostra n non potest benè adverti illa differentia nisi ab ipsis naturalibus Caana x graecorum quando est simplex pronuntiatur ut g cum a ga vel go gue gui gou Naana ista litera est propria Indorum nec in ullâ aliâ linguâ nobis cognitâ reperitur talis pronuntiatio Chaana sicut ch Gallorum in verbo gallico cherté Gnaana sicut gn Gallorum in verbo gallico compagnie Daana quasi dad Arabum pronuntiatur in medio palati tangendo cum extremitate linguae medium palati Naana etiam pronuntiatur in medio palati tangendo cum extremitate linguae medium palati Taana nostrum t quando est simplex multoties pronuntiatur ut nostrum d. THE Malabar Cyphers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20   21 100 30  31 1000 40  41  50  51  60  61  power with the Title of the Kingdom of Decan but what is most surprizing of all at the very time when he was most dreaded all over the Indies he grew weary of Royalty and gave his Dominions to a Cousin German of his own called as I think Daquem whom he made King Daquem and then retired to a private life in Bengala But seeing he had been