Selected quad for the lemma: ground_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
ground_n	leaf_n	like_a	stalk_n	1,574	5	11.3921	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

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

of Litter or Sedans carried by two men upon their Shoulders with a bar They bring up their Elephants with much care and are at great charge about them They delight much in Hawking and Hunting Their Greyhounds are somewhat less then ours but they tame Tigers and Leopards whereof they make use in hunting and these surprise their prey at a sudden leap but they never pursue it They are particularly industrious at the catching of River-fowl by means of the Skin of a tame Duck which being fill'd with Hay they swim even with the Water and drawing the Decoy-duck after them they insensibly get among the others and take them by the feet without ever frighting them They are very expert at the Bow which they make of a wild Oxes horn and the Arrows of a very light kind of Cane nay they are so excellent at it that sometimes they will take a Bird flying They delight much in Chess and have also a kind of Game at Cards They are lovers of Musick though there be no great Harmony in their own But above all things they are beso●●ed with judiciary Astrology in so much that they never undertake any business of consequence but they first consult the Minatzim They have some of Aristotle's Works translated into the Arabian tongue which they call Aplis as also some Treatises of Avicennas for whom they have a very high respect because he was born at Smarcanda under the jurisdiction of Tamerlam Their Writings are not ill and their Productions are not void of Eloquence They keep a Register of all the remarkable Actions that are done among them and have such an exact account thereof as might serve to write a History of the Countrey Of their Language there are many Dialects but it is easie enough to be learnt and they write as we do from the left hand to the right Most of any quality about the Mogul's Court speak the Persian tongue nay some but very few speak also the Arabian The most common Diseases of those parts are the bloudy Flux and burning Feavers and the Remedy they ordinarily make use of against them is Abstinence They have good store of Physitians but no Surgeons Barbers of which Profession there is a great number are they who let bloud and apply Leeches In the Kingdom of Guzuratta Winter begins towards the end of Iune and lasts till September but there are not such continual Rains there as at Goa for it rains only in certain Intervals and particularly at new and full Moon The North-wind blows constantly for six moneths together and the South-wind for as many The hottest moneths in the year are April May and the beginning of Iune during which the sultriness of the weather is such that it were insupportable were it not that some Winds rise ever and anon which moderate the excessive heats but with that convenience they bring along with them an inconvenience which is their raising such an extraordinary Dust that it deprives a Man of the sight of the Sun There is a vast Trade driven in many Commodities all over the Kingdom of Guzuratta but particularly in Cotton and Linnen Cloaths which are in fairness and fineness equal to those of Holland as also in several Silk-stuffes as Contoms which are of several colours Satins Taffatas Petolas Commerbands Ornis of Gold and Silk which Women commonly make use of to cover their Faces withall Brocadoes Tapistry or Alcatifs Chitrenges or streaked Carpets to lay over Chests and Cabinets quilted Coverlets of Silk or Cotton which they call Geodris or Nalis Tents Perintos or Neuhar which they make use of instead of Couches Cadels or Bed-steads Cabinets of Lacque Chess-boards of Tortoise-shell Seals Beads Chains Buttons and Rings of Ivory Amber Rock-Crystal and Agat The best Indico in the world comes from about Amadabath from a Village call'd Chrichees whence it derives the name The Herb of which they make it is like that of yellow Parsnip but shorter and more bitter sprouting forth into branches like a Reed and growing in kind years six or seven foot high the Flower is like that of a Thistle and the Seed like that of Fenu-greek It is sown in Iune and cut in November and December It is sown but once in three years and the first year the leaves are cut off within a foot of the ground The stalks are taken away and the leaves are set a drying in the Sun and that done they are set a soaking for four or five dayes in a Stones●trough containing about six or seven foot water which is ever and anon stirred till such time as the Water hath suckt out the colour and vertue of the Herb. That done they let out the Water into another Trough where they suffer it to settle for one night The next day all the Water is taken away and what is left in the bottom of the Trough is strain'd through a course Cloath and is set a drying in the Sun And this is the best Indico but the Countrey people adulterate it by mixing therewith a certain Earth of the same colour And whereas the goodness of this Drug is discovered by its lightness they have the cunning to put a little Oyl into it to make it swim upon the water The second year the stalk which was left the year before shoots forth other leaves but they are not so good as those of the first Yet is this preferr'd before Gyngey that is wild ●udico It is also the second year that they suffer some part of it to grow up to seed That of the third year is not good and consequently not sought after by forraign Merchants but is imploy'd by the Inhabitants of the Countrey in the dying of their Cloaths The best Indico is almost of a violet colour and hath somewhat of its smell when it 's burned The Ind●sthans call it Anil and after it hath been in the ground three years they suffer the Land to lye fallow for one year ere they sow it again Most of the Saltpeter which is sold in Guzuratta comes from Asmer sixty Leagues from Agra and they get it out of Land that hath lain long fallow The blackest and fattest ground yields most of it though other Lands afford some and it is made thus They make certain Trenches which they fill with their Saltpetrous Earth and let into them small Rivulets as much water as will serve for its soaking which may 〈◊〉 the more effectually done they make use of their feet treading it till it become a Broath When the Water hath drawn out all the Saltpeter which was in the Earth they take the clearest part of it and dispose it into another Trench where it grows thick and then they boil it like Salt continually scumming it and then they put it into earthen pots wherein the remainder of the Dregs goes to the bottom and when the Water begins to thicken they take it out of these pots to set it

confident their ordinary increase will never fail them Thence it comes that so much excellent ground lies fallow producing only Hay whereof they mow no more than will serve their Cattel There is so great difference between this soyl and that of the Province of Allentaken in Livonia though there lies only the River Narva between them that as soon as a man is over he perceives it Muscovy and the Northern Provinces of Livonia have this common with Inguermannia and Carelia that they sow not their Corn till within three weeks of Midsummer for the cold having as a man might say pierc'd to the Centre of the earth it must have leasure to unfreeze but the Wheat is no sooner in the ground but it puts forth and the heat of the Sun which as we said is alwayes above the Horizon advances and ripens it So that Sowing and Harvest is all over in two moneths Wherein the Muscovites have this advantage over the Livonians that they put in their Wheat dry and ready to be thrash'd whereas the Livonians are forc'd to use fire to dry it by the help of a great Oven built in the midst of a Barn where they put their sheaves upon beams lay'd a-cross till such time as the heat hath so dry'd them that beating them with a stick the Grain falls out so as that there is no need of thrashing or treading it as they do in the East There is yet this further inconvenience that the Wheat thus dry'd is not good for seed and many times the Barns take fire which spreads into the houses about them and consumes all In those Provinces which are not so much towards the North especially neer the City of Mosco their are excellent fruits as Apples Cherries Plums and Goos-berries I have seen Apples in beauty and colour much like those which are called Appians and so transparent that holding them between your sight and the Sun you may easily tell the Kernels 'T is true this fruit having not time to bake in the Sun it being rather a moderate slow heat than an excessive scorching that consumes the superfluous moisture will not keep as it would do in Germany and other more Southerly Countreys but the Commentator upon the Maps of Atlas is nevertheless mistaken when he sayes after the Baron of Herberstein and Guagnin that the cold is so great in Muscovy that the Countrey cannot produce Apples or other Fruits that are worth sending up to the Table They have also all manner of Pulse Pot-herbs Asparagus Onions Garlick Roots Cowcumber Citruls or Gourds and Melons and of these last abundance excellent good and so big that at my being in Muscovy in the year 1643. a friend presented me with a Melon that weigh'd forty pound The Muscovites are very expert in the ordering of their Melons They steep the seed for the space of 48. hours in Cow's milk or an infusion of fair water and Sheep's dung their beds they make of Horse dung as it is carried out of the Stable six foot deep and then cover them with the best mold in which they make flat Trenches about a foot and a half broad They thrust the seed so deep into the bed as that it may not only be secur'd from the cold and receive the benefit of the Sun-shine but also have the advantage of the heat which the dung sends up from below covering it in the night and some times all day long with bells of the Country-glass or talk They do not transplant them but are careful to take away what is superfluous and do what other things are commonly practis'd in other places about that plant We were credibly inform'd that near Samara between Wolga and the Doa there is a kind of Melons or rather Gourds that are form'd like a Lamb whereof this fruit represents all the members being fasten'd to the ground by the stalk which is as it were its navel As it grows it changes place as far as the stalk will give way and as it turns makes the grass to wither The Muscovites call this browzing or feeding adding that when it is ripe the stalk withers and the fruit is cloath'd with a hairy skin which may be dress'd and used instead of Furr They call this fruit Boranez that is to say the Lamb. They shew'd us some of those skins taken off the covering of a bed and swore they came from that fruit but we could hardly believe it They were covered with a soft frizling Wooll not unlike that of a Lamb newly wean'd or taken out of the Sheep's belly Iulius Scaliger makes mention of it Exerc. 181. and sayes this fruit grows till the grass fails it and that it dies not but for want of nourishment He adds that no Beast will feed on it but the Wolf and that it is us'd as a bait to take him which the Muscovites also confirmed It is not long that they have had Flowers and sweet Herbs the Great Duke Michael Federouits being the first that bestow'd any expence in Gardening which he did with very good success Nor is it long that they have had any other than wild Roses Peter Marcellis Commissary from the King of Denmark and Duke of Holstein brought the first Provence-Roses thither The Holand and German Merchants have but lately planted Asparagus there which take very well and are as big as a mans thumb Nor have the Muscovites been long acquainted with Lettice and other Salad-herbs and laugh'd at the Strangers who fed on them but now they begin to like them There are no Hazel-trees nor Vines in Muscovy but the Dutch bring such quantities of several sorts of Wine thither by the way of Archangel that there is no want of any There is also within these few years some brought in from Astrachan upon the River of Wolga Muscovy abounds in Hemp and Flax and there is so much Honey and VVax even in the VVoods that besides what is spent in Hydromel and in Wax-Candles in this Commodity consists the greatest part of the commerce which the Muscovites have with Strangers to whom they put off yearly above twenty thousand Quintals or hundred weight of Wax All Muscovy being but a continued Forest those places only excepted where they have fir'd the Woods in order to agriculture it must needs be very well furnish'd with all sorts of Venizon and Fowl Whence it comes that Heath-cocks Feasants of several kinds and Patridges are very cheap as also wild Geese and Ducks Herons and Swans are not much esteem'd much less Thrushes Fildevars Quails Larks and other small Birds which the Country people will not take the pains to look after There are no Storks in Muscovy nor yet in Livonia but abundance of Birds of prey as Faulcons Tassels c. In the more Northerly Provinces there are white ones which are much esteem'd because of their ratity There is all sorts of Venison Deer excepted Of Elks and wild Boars abundance

Horse Having Travell'd about two Leagues we found a Scotch-man of our retinue whose name was Alexander Chambers dead in the Waggon though at the Loading of the Baggage he seem'd to be so well as that it was conceiv'd he might have gone through the Journey which occasion'd us to make a Halt to dispose of the Body into the ground We buried him at the bottom of a little Hill cover'd all over with Hyacinths on the left hand near the High-way Having got half a League further we came to the Sepulchre of another Saint named Pyr Mardechan in the Country of Fakerlu where we were forc'd to take up our Quarters in the open Air and without Tents making a shift in that manner to pass over one of the sharpest Nights we had in all our Journey by reason of the Storm which came attended by Lightning Thunder Wind Rain Snow and Frost the Ambassador Brugman being desirous to outvy the Thonder with our Artillery which he caus'd to be several times discharg'd The next day the same Ambassador having observ'd that several pieces of Canon were left behind because there were not Camels enough to bring them away and that the Horses were too weak to draw them would needs fall out with the Mehemander and was so transported with Passion that he came to Railing and Spetting when he nam'd the Chan and the Calenter and said that the Chan had not been so good as his Word and had ly'd in all he said but that he should resent it and that he would either have his Life or the other should have his Some were of opinion that he would stay there till the pieces we had left at Scamachie were brought up but upon the Remonstrances of some others that the place was too incommodious that we had nothing over our Heads that we should want both Wood and Provisions and that the sick Persons would not be able to endure the Cold it was resolv'd we should go on which we did and came after two Leagues travel to a Caravansera called Tach●si and having gone two Leagues further we were got to the top of the Mountain of Schamachie Upon the top of the said Mountain there is a fair Plain and an even and fertile ground though in Winter and at the beginning of the Spring Rain Snow and hard Weather are no strangers there and bring the same inconveniences along with them as they do in some parts of Europe But as soon as we were come to the brow or descent of the Mountain we saw a clear Sky a chearful Sun and discover'd a Country wholly cover'd with Verdure in a spacious Plain which reaching above ten Leagues without any excrescency so much as to the height of two foot represented to us as it were in a Map the Course and Conjunction of those two Rivers Araxes and Cyrus which the Writings of Antient Historians and Geographers have so highly celebrated This descent was above half a league but easie and not very steepy so that those who went fore-most looking behind them saw the last of our company descending as it were out of the Clouds We took up our Lodging that night in certain Ottacks or Huts which the Tartarian Shepherds had set up there near their Flocks Mar. 30. we got four leagues along the Plain as far as the Village of Kasilu We met in our way with a company of Sheep-herds and Cow-herds who march'd with their Houses and all their Houshold-stuff their Wives and Children all as it were shuffled together in Wagons or pack'd up upon Horses Cows Asses and other Creatures not ordinarily us'd in carriage after a very odd manner and such as represented a very Fantastick kind of Transmigration Ever after that day we had nothing but fair weather a Sky clear and without any cloudiness save that when we travell'd over the Mountains we might in the Morning see the Heavens a little over-cast but as soon as the Sun appear'd all was dispell'd March the last we travell'd two leagues along the River side to a Village named Tzauat upon the right side of the Kur or the River which the Antients called Cyrus all the Houses whereof were built of Reeds and Canes and cover'd with Earth About a quarter of a league above this Village is the Conflux or meeting of this River with that of Araxes which is now called Aras at thirty nine degrees fifty four minutes Elevation the Cyrus coming from West-north-west and the Aras from South-west These Rivers after they are met together are about four hundred paces in breadth Their water is black and deep and the brink on both sides pretty high All along the River side and all the Meadow grounds of the Province of Mokan were cover'd with Liquorice the stalk whereof is many times as big as a man's arm and the juyce beyond all comparison sweeter and more pleasant than that of Europe The River Kur serves for a common Frontier to the two Provinces of Schiruan and Mokan and there is a Bridge of Boats over it near Tzawat We pass'd over it the second of April and found on the other side of the River another Mehemandar whom the Chan or Governour of Ardebil had sent to meet us and to conduct us in the pursuance of our Journey as far as the chief City of his Government He had brought along with him for the carriage of us and the Baggage forty Camels and three hundred Horses in regard the way we were then to come into being very bad by reason of the continued Mountains and Valleys we could not have made any use of our Waggons He supply'd us with Provisions in abundance allowing us every day ten Sheep thirty Batmans of Wine and Rice Butter Eggs Almonds Raisins Apples and all sorts of Fruits as much as we pleas'd On Sunday after Sermon we departed taking our way along the River Aras for above a League We lodg'd that night within half a League of the River at the entrance of a great Heath in Hutts which the Mehemandar had purposely ordered to be provided for our convenience April the third we pass'd over the Heath which reaches about four Farsangs or Persian Leagues and we were lodg'd again that night in Hutts as we had been the night before We had seen all that day in great Herds a kind of Deer which the Turks call Tzeiran and the Persians Ahu which have some resemblance to our Harts save that they are rather Red than Fawn and their Horns have no Brow-anclers but are smooth and lye backward like those of wild Goats They are very swift and there are not any of that kind as we were told but what are in the Province of Mokan and about Schamachie Karrabach and Merrage April 4. we were forc'd to leave the way of the Heath though much the nearer and to take another which brought us by a great compass of above six Leagues to a Torrent called Balharu out of this

crackers but what diverted us most of all was that out of those Lanthorns there came a piece of Linnen which being folded together and ty'd up in knots had in each of those knots several squibs crackers and serpents which having much ado to get out made an admirable shew by the windings which the fire made through all the folds of that piece of cloath Others carried in their aprons a certain composition into which some that pass'd by let fire fall as it were negligently whereupon he who carried it shaking his apron there came out a great number of Stars which burnt a long time upon the ground In these Fire-works the Persians make use of white Naphte which is a kind of Petreolum but in regard this Drugg is seldome found in Europe there may be used to the same effect the spirit of Turpentine rectify'd We saw also at a great distance in the air certain flames which vanish'd as soon in a manner as they appear'd I conceive these flames proceeded from a certain Drugg which the Muscovites call ' Plaun which is a yellow powder made of a certain herb commonly found upon the ground in the Forests that are planted with Pines and Birch and is properly called in Latin Acanthus in French Branche ursine in English Bears-foot or Bears-britch Every stalk of this herb hath on it two Buttons which are ripe in August and then the Muscovites are very carefull to gather them dry them in an Oven beat them and keep the powder which comes from them in Ox-bladders to be sold by the pound It is us'd also in Medicine as being a drier and is administred with good success in Wounds and the Itch. But the Muscovites use it for the most part in their Divertisements putting it into a Tin-box made like a Pyramid into which they thrust that end of a Torch which is not lighted and by that means make the powder come out which being very small immediately fastens on the flame and is lighted and disappears almost at the same time so that continually thrusting in the Torch a man makes ever and anon a new flame which is very lively and makes the nobler shew in that it is not accompany'd with any smoke This powder will not take fire if it be not stirr'd after the foresaid manner for if it be cast upon burning coals or if a lighted candle be thrust into it it would not take fire These Fire-works entertain'd us so long that it was after mid-night ere we came to our Quarters where we found not any thing colder than the Hearth for out of a presumption that the Governour would have treated us at Supper there had been nothing provided at home The next day very betimes in the Morning before the Sun was to be seen over the Horizon the Persians made a Procession which was to represent the interment of Hossein In this Procession there were carried a great many Eschders and Banners and there were led several excellent Horses and Camels cover'd with blew Cloath in which were to be seen many Arrows quilted as if they had been purposely shot into it representing those which the Enemies had shot at Hossein Upon these Horses rid so many Boyes who had before them empty Cossins upon which they had cast a little Straw or Hay and they represented the great affliction of the Children of Hossein Upon some of those Horses they had set fair Turbants Cimitars Bows and Quivers full of Arrows As soon as the Sun was up there might be seen in the base-Court a very great number of men who let themselves Blood in the arms in so great quantity that a man would have thought there had been many Oxen kill'd there The young Lads slash'd and cut themselves above the Elbow and clapping the Wounds with their hands they made the Blood spurt out all over the Arm and about the Body and in that condition they ran up and down the City This was done in remembrance of the effusion of the innocent Blood of Hossein out of a perswasion that by this action they expiated some part of their sins which perswasion is the stronger in as much as they are prepossess'd with an opinion that those who dye during this Festival are infallibly saved They speak also with the same assurance of their Salvation who dye during the Festival of Aly and in their Lent As concerning the City of Ardebil which the Turks call Ardevil and may be found in Maps under the name of Ardonil it lies in the Province of Adirbeitzan by the antients called Media Major the chief Cities whereof are Ardebil Tabris or Tauris Merrague Natschan Miane Urumi Choi Salmas c. Ardebil is one of the most antient and most celebrious Cities of all the Kingdome not only by reason of the residence which several Kings of Persia made there but also particularly upon this accompt that Schich Sefi Author of their Sect liv'd and dy'd there Some are of opinion that it may be conjectur'd from the History of Quintus Curtius that it is the City which he calls Arbela In this Citie are to be seen the Tombs and Monuments of the Kings of Persia and it is a place of so great Traffick that it may be justly numbred among the most considerable of all the East The Turkish Language is much more common among the Inhabitants than the Persian I found the elevation of the Pole there to be at thirty eight degrees five minutes and the longitude to be 82. degrees 30. minutes It is seated in the midst of a great Plain which is above three Leagues about and compass'd of all sides by a high Mountain like an Amphitheatre the highest part whereof called Sabelhan which lies West-ward from the City is alwayes cover'd with Snow Towards the South-South-West lies that Mountain of the Province of Kiban which is called Bakru It is from these Mountains it proceeds that the Air there is sometimes extremely hot somtimes extremely cold insomuch that even in August they begin to be sensible of the inconveniences of Autumn as also to be troubled with those Epidemical Diseases which reign there every year and commonly carry away a great number of persons Nor was our Quarters free from them For besides the great number of servants who fell sick the Ambassador Brugman and our Physician lay in of a Feaver but especially the latter who was reduc'd to that lowness that there was no hope of Life In the greatest heat of the day and exactly at noon there rose a kind of a Whirle-wind which fill'd the whole City with dust but it lasted not above an hour The rest of the day and night is calm which gave occasion to the Persian Proverb Saba Ardebil Nimrus Kardebil that is In the morning Ardebil at noon full of dust Yet is it not the cold quality of the Climate but its Situation that hinders the earth there to produce Wine Melons Citrons Orenges and Pomegranates which are