that frontier About noon we discover'd a Bark which at first took its course so as if it would have pass'd on the right hand of us then made as if she would come up streight to us and not knowing well what resolution to take they ever and anon made more or less sayl whereby perceiving that those who were in it were afraid of us the Ambassador Brugman gave order that the Ship should make streight towards the Bark put the Soldiers in their stations and commanded a certain number of great Guns to be fir'd at randome the more to frighten them The poor people immediately struck sayl and came near us They were Persians Fruit-Merchants and the Bark was then loaden with Apples Pears Quinces Nuts and other Fruits The Master of it who was Brother to our Pilot seeing him among a sort of people such as he had never seen before and believing he was their Prisoner began with horrid Cries and Lamentations to bewail his Brother's misfortune as also his own which he expected to fall into though he cry'd several times to him Korchma duschman lardekul Fear not they are friends among whom I am with my own consent But the other would hear of no perswasion to the contrary imagining that they forc'd him to speak to that purpose and could not recover himself out of the fear he was in till his Brother had acquainted him with the occasion which had brought him to our Ship Then was it that he took the courage to come himself into our Ship with a present of all sorts of Autumn-fruits whereof he also sold good store so cheap that a quarter of a hundred of very great Apples came not to a penny He was treated with Aquavitae after which he return'd to his Bark very well satisfied Much about this time we came near an Isle which the Muscovites call Tzetland and the Persians Tzenzeni eight Leagues from Terki on the left hand There we cast Anchor at three fathom and a half water and staid there four and twenty hours according to the custom of the Pesians We had lying before us a Treatise written by George Dictander who had Travell'd into Pesia in the year 1602. with an Ambassador sent thither by the Emperour Rodolph 11. who speaking of this Isle sayes that being the only man left alive at his return and staid in that place by the cold he had been forc'd to kill the Horses which the Sophy had bestow'd on him after he had consum'd all the other Provisions Having at our coming thither four or five hours of day-light remaining the Ambassadors thought it not amiss to go into the Island to see whether what they observ'd there were consonant to what the other had written thereof But all we could meet with worth our Observation was only three great poles fasten'd together and set up at one of the points of the Island beset all about with Roots and Boughs to serve for a direction to the Mariners and two great Ditches wherein some time before fire had been made This in all probability was done by the Cosaques who make their frequent retreats into that Island It lies at forty three degrees five minutes elevation and reaches in length from North-east to South-east about three German Leagues The soil is for the most part sandy and barren and towards the extremities either cover'd with shells or fenny and it is the only Island that is to be seen as we goe to Kilan West-ward of the ordinary course From this Island there may be seen in the Continent towards the South-west such high Mountains that we took them at first for Clouds Our people called them the Mountains of Circassia but the Muscovites nay the Inhabitants of Circassia themselves call it the Mountain Salatto and it is properly that Mountain which the Antients call Caucasus in the Province of Colchis which is the same that at this day is called Mengrelia and is so famous in Antiquity for the fabulous expedition of Iason for the Golden 〈◊〉 Its height which indeed is extraordinary in as much as it seems to extend it self to the Stars hath furnish'd the Poets with that fancy that it was from this Mountain Prometheus stole fire from the Sun to communicate it to men Quintus Curtius affirms that it crosses all Asia Certain indeed it is that the Mountains of Aratat and Taurus are so near and do so as it were cloze with it that it seems to be but one continu'd Mountain extending it self all through Asia from Mengrelia as far as the Indies From the Caspian Sea towards the Euxine Sea and Asia the lesser it is near fifty Leagues in breadth But let us see what Quintus Curtius says of it in the seventh Book of his History where he gives us this accompt of it They reach saith he from thence towards Mount Caucasus which divides Asia into two parts and leaves the Cilician Sea on the one-side and on the other the Caspian Sea the River Araxes and the Deserts of Scythia Mount Taurus which is to be ranked in the second place for its height is joyned to Caucasus and beginning in Cappadocia crosses Cilicia and reathes as far as Aâ—â—nia It is as it were a continu'd concatenation of Mountains out of which arise almost aâ—l the Rivers of Asia some whereof fall into the Red-sea and others into the Hyrcanian or that of Pontus The Army pass'd the Caucasus in seventeen days and came in sight of the Rock which is ten Stadia in compasse and about four in height where Prometheus was chained if we may credit the Poets Mount Aratat upon which Noah's Ark rested after the deluge and which the Armenians call Messina the Persians Agri and the Arabians Subeilahn is without comparison much higher than the Caucasus and is indeed but a great black Rock without any Verdure and cover'd with Snow on the top as well in Summer as Winter by means whereof it is discover'd fifteen Leagues into the Caspian Sea The Armenians and the Persians themselves are of opinion that there are still upon the said Mountain some remainders of the Ark but that time hath so hardned them that they seem absolutely petrify'd At Schamachy in Media we were shewn a Cross of a black and hard Wood which the Inhabitants affirmed to have been made of the Wood of the Ark and upon that account it was look'd upon as a most precious Relick and as such was wrapp'd in Crimson Taffata The Mountain is now inaccessible by reason of the precipices whereby it is encompass'd of all sides Imaniculi Sulthan whom the Sophy sent Ambassador to the Duke of Holstein our Master and whose Territories lye in those parts in the Country of Karabah told us many very remarkable particulars of it These high Mountains are a great direction to those who have no Compass to sail by in the Caspian Sea in as much as changing their form according to the several prospects they afford the Pilots
and there is this distinction between married Men and Batchelors that the latter part their Hair upon the Forehead and wear higher Caps then the others The Women are very sumptuously clad having about them a great many Pearls and precious Stones They also paint and dress their Heads with as much curiosity and advantage as in any other place of the World They have a particular affection of having little feet whence it comes that the Mothers make it their business so to straiten their Daughters Feet from their Infancy that they are hardly able to go Some are of opinion that this Custom was introduced by those who were desirous to accustom Women to a sedentary life whereto they are as it were condemned even from their birth They are never seen in the House and it is very seldom they go abroad which when they do it is to visit some of their nearest Relations and then they are so attended and shut up in Palanquins that they cannot be seen The Men are ingenious enough and discover by their Works that they are not inferiour to the Europeans It is no easie matter for a Man to avoid the circumventions of their Merchants who make use of all imaginable Advantages in their Dealings At every Door there hangs a Table containing a Catalogue of all the Commodities that are in the Shop and in regard all the Merchants of the same Body have their habitations in the same quarter a man finds as soon as he comes into it what is to be sold in all the Street They use Brass-money in no Province but that of Chekiang in all other parts of the Kingdom only Gold and Silver is current which yet is received only by weight without any regard of the mark Whence it comes that no China Merchant but hath his Weights about him and such pieces of Money as are full weight by which that which he receives is to be weighed I am of opinion that the provision which is made in several parts of Europe for the subsistance of the Poor was derived from China Beggary which is infamous in those who are reduced thereto and a shame to such as suffer it in as much as it is a reproach of their want of Charity whose care it should be to remedy that inconvenience is there very severely forbidden and there is in all Cities a particular Judge appointed for the Poor who in order to their relief takes the following course The very day he comes into that Employment he publishes an Order whereby he commands all those who have any Children either born weak or imperfect or become such through sickness or any other accident to come and make their cases known that he may examine whether they are capable of learning any Trade or not and in case they are not whether the Parents are able to maintain them If they are Orphans and have no other Friends able to keep them they are disposed into Hospitals where they are brought up at the Kings charge The same course is taken with maimed or decrepit Souldiers They are all lock'd up and not permitted to go any more abroad The Houses where they put up the Poor have Gardens and Courts belonging to them where they are permitted to keep Poultry and Swine as well for their divertisement as advantage and the King appoints a certain Overseer who joyntly with the ordinary Judge makes a Visitation of the Hospitals twice a year They do not put the blind into the number of those Poor who are accounted unable to work but they are employed in pulling the Bellâ—â—â— at Smiths Forges and other things which do not much require the help of the fight Maids that are blind are forced to a Trade which may be as gainful but not so honest as some others I conceive I may also presume to affirm that it is to China we are obliged for the Mystery of Printing For it is certain we have it but since the year 1450. and that the Chineses have some Books printed above seven hundred years since They have a way of Writing particular to themselves not only upon this account that they make use of Figures rather then Characters in as much as they signifie entire words and do not represent the Letters but also upon this that in their Writing they observe an order wholly different from that of all other Nations For these write either from the left hand to the right as all the Europeans do or from the right to the left as the Hebrews Arabians and most of the other Nations of Asia do but the Chineses write from the top downwards and in their Writing observe such equal distances that there cannot be any thing more exact And to shew that these Figures stand not for any word that hath any particular signification in their Language but that they express the same things it is to be noted that the Chineses who when they speak cannot understand one the other by reason of the diversity of the Idioms and Dialects that is among the Inhabitants of several Provinces make use of these Characters not only to render themselves intelligible one to another all over the Kingdom but also in their Commerce with the Iaponneses and the Inhabitants of Corea and Conchinchine between whose Languages there is no more rapport then the English hath to the Greek or Arabian They make their Paper of the Bark of Bambus or Canes but so thin that it will bear writing but on one side though they do not use Pens but Pencils as the Iaponneses do which only slide along the Paper so that they write as fast and cut their Characters so neatly that the best Pen-men in Europe are not to be preferred before them The King is at a vast charge as well in the maintenance of the Schools where they are taught to read and write as also the other Elements and Sciences as in that of the Universities where are taught Philosophy natural and moral Astrology and the other Sciences There passes not a year but there is a Visitation made at which the Professors and Scholars are examined and they who express an inclination to study are recompenced such as apply not themselves thereto as they ought are punished The Visitor having ended the general Examen makes another particular one for those who aspire to the quality of Loytia a Dignity there like that of our Doctors True it is that they give this Title to all nobly descended but in matter of Learning it is a Degree conferr'd by giving the Graduate a permission to wear a Girdle by which he is distinguished from others For the King bestows this quality as the Princes of our parts confer Honours on those who have deserved them by their services or are so much in favour either with them or such as are about them as to get them by Letters Patents This promotion of Doctors is done with as great Ceremonies as in any European
with the same Ceremonies as we had been while the two other Suedish Ambassadors Mr. Philip Scheiding and Col. Henry Fleming were to treat in private of the difference which were between the Crown of Sueden and the Great Duke The Three former desired in their audience to be receiv'd joyntly with us to treat with those whom it should please his Majesty to appoint for that purpose which was granted Hereupon all the Ambassadors as well the Suedish as ours went the 5th to the Castle They were at first conducted into a spacious appartment on the left hand where they found the same Goses or Merchants and in the same habits as we had seen at our first Audience Thence they went into a Hall where the four Commissioners appointed to treat with us were sate at a Table expecting us They were two Bojares and two Chancellors or Secretaries of State very richly clad having Coats of stript Satin embroidered with very great Perls and other precious stones and great Golden Chains which made a Cross upon their breasts The Bojares had Caps after the fashion of calotts beset with Perls having in the midst a clustre of Diamonds and precious Stones The other two had their Caps of black-fox fur according to the ordinary fashion They receiv'd the Ambassadors very civilly and intreated them to sit down by them but with all their civility they took up the best places themselves at one corner of the Hall where the benches joyn'd The Ambassadors took up theirs neer them against the Wall and there was brought a seat without any back for the Chancellors or Secretaries of State opposite to the others Iohn Helmes the Great Duke's chief Interpreter stood among our Pristafs and all the Gentlemen with all the rest of our retinue stay'd in the Antichamber except only the two Secretaries of the Suedish Ambassy and ours as many Interpreters and a Muscovite Clark who was taken in to take notes of what was treated of All having taken their places one of the Bojares ask'd the Ambassadors whether they were supply'd with necessary provisions or wanted any thing The Ambassadors made answer that they had occasion rather to commend those who had the management thereof and that they gave his Majesty their most humble thanks for his care of them After this complement all rise up and being uncover'd the more considerable of the two Bojares said The Grand Seigneur Czaar and Great Duke reciting all his Titles and being all sat down again he went on gives you to understand you Lords Ambassadors from the Crown of Sueden and Duke of Holstein that he hath caus'd your Letters to be translated into the Muscovian Language and that he hath also hearkned to the Propositions you made to him at the publick audience he gave you Upon that they all rose again and the other Bojare uncovering himself said The Grand Seigneur Czaar and Great Duke c. not omitting any of the former titles and so sitting down continued wishes the Queen of Sueden and the Duke of Holstein all prosperity and victory over their Enemies and tells you that he hath read their Letters and that he well understands their intention The third Commissioner proceeded with the same Ceremonies saying The Grand Seigneur c. hath seen the Letters you have brought him is satisfy'd that all credence is to be given you in what you shall say and propose which shall accordingly be done To which the fourth added That his Majesty the Czaar had appointed them Commissioners to receive from them what they had to propose and desire and thereupon read the names of the Commissioners who were Knez Boris Michaelouits Likow Obolenscoi Weywode of Tuere Knez Vasili Iuanouits Stresnow Weywode of Tarschock The two Secretaries of State whom they call Dumnoi Diaken were Iuan Tarascouits Granmatin Lord Keeper of the Seals or Chancellor c. Iuan Offonassiowsin Gauaarenow Vicechancellor This done they all rise and one of the Suedish Ambassadors Eric Gillenstierna having given his Majesty thanks on the behalf of his Mistriss for their admission to a private audience read to the Commissioners their proposition contained in one sheet of paper written in the the German tongue We would have done the like with ours but being larger than the other to forbear importuning the Commissioners we thought it enough to put it in with that of the Suedish Ambassadors The Commissioners having receiv'd them went up to the Great Duke's Chamber to communicate them to him leaving us alone save that the Pristafs and Gentlemen of our retinue were permitted to come into the room to entertain us Having expected a good half-hour the Vice-chancellor came down to tell us that we should have no other answer at that time than that his Majesty would cause the propositions to be translated and would let us know his resolution with the soonest Sept. 10. The Suedish Ambassadors had their last private audience as to what concern'd the affairs of that Crown The 12. We saw a Cavalcade of three Tartarian Ambassadors sent by the Prince of Cassan a Vassal of the Great Duke's They had no other retinue or company than that of sixteen servants who follow'd them with their Bows and Arrows in their hands Their Cassocks were of a very coarse red cloath but at their return from audience they were in Damask coats some red some yellow which the Great Duke had bestow'd on them by way of present There hardly passes a year but these Gentlemen as well as the other Tartars their Neighbours send such an Ambassy to Moscou not so much for any business they have as to get some Furs Martins skins and silk Vestments The 15. Our Pristafs came to tell us that the Great Dutchess was the day before deliver'd of a Daughter who was already Christned and nam'd Sophia according to the custom of the Muscovites who baptize their Children immediately after their birth and without any Ceremonies or entertainments as they do in other Countreys The Patriarch was her Godfather as he had been to all the rest of the Great Duke's Children who would nevertheless have us to participate of that joy upon which accompt our ordinary allowance was doubled The 17. Came in a Turkish Ambassador who was receiv'd with great Ceremonies and though they sent 16000 Horse to meet him yet in all that Army there were seen but six Colours The first which was that of the Duke's Guard was of white Satin and had in the midst within a circle of Laurel an Imperial Eagle with a triple Crown with this Motto Virtute Supero One of Crimson Damask branch'd having in the midst a Ianus with two faces One of a plain red Damask and the other three blew and white whereof one had a Gryffon another a Snail the third a naked Arm coming out of the Clouds and holding a sword 'T is thought these were the devises of the German officers during the War at Smolensco Every Colours was attended by Timbrels and Hautbois
relieve his friends was struck over the head with an iron-bar which bruis'd the skull so as that he dyed the next day The Magistrate did all lay in his power to find out the Murtherer but to no purpose so that all the reparation was that the Senate together with the Ambassadors and their retinue accompany'd him to the grave Reuel is situated at 50. degr 25. min. latitude and 48. deg 30. min. longitude upon the Baltick Sea in the Province of Esthonie Waldemar or Wolmar II. King of Denmark laid the foundations of it about the year 1230. Wolmar III. sold it in the year 1347. together with the Cities of Narvan and Wesenberg to Gosuin d'Eck Master of the Order of Livonia for 19000. Marks of Silver About 100. years since Livonia groaning under a troublesome War against Muscovy this City put it self under the protection of Eric King of Sueden It was so strong in those times that it indur'd a notable Siege in the year 1570. against Magnus Duke of Holstein who commanded the Great Duke's Army and another in the year 1577. against the same Muscovites who were forc'd to raise it with loss The situation of its Castle is so much the more advantageous for that the Rock on which it is built is steepy on all sides unless it be towards the City which being fortify'd according to the modern fortification is almost as considerable a place as Riga whence it came that for some years it had the oversight of the College at Novogorod joyntly with the City of Lubeck It hath been these 300. years numbred among the Hanseatick Towns but its Commerce began not to be great till about the year 1477. and at that time it might well keep up its Traffick especially that of Muscovy by reason of her excellent Port and Haven which indeed are such as if God and Nature had intended it for the convenience of Commerce Had it not been ingross'd into few hands it had still continu'd in the same posture but having broken with the other Hanseatick Towns in the year 1550. and the Great Duke having taken Narva soon after the Muscovites establish'd there the Trading they before had at Reuel It still enjoyes the privilege of being a Mart and the Inhabitants have with the preference of the Merchandises discharg'd in their Port the power to hinder the Traffick of Livonia into Muscovy without their permission These privileges have been confirmed to it by all the Treaties that have been made between the Kings of Suoden and Dukes of Muscovy as in the year 1595. at Teusina in 1607. at Wibourg and in 1617. at Stoluoâ—s 'T is true it hath lost some of these advantages since the last War of Muscovy which were taken away left in imitation of several other of the Hanseatick Towns it should attempt a defection from its Prince yet does it still enjoy many other privileges which have been confirmed to it from time to time by the Masters of the Order while they were Lords of the Country and afterwards by the Kings their Successors It observes the same Customes with Lubeck and hath a Consistory and a Superintendent for Ecclesiastical affairs professing the Protestant Religion according to the Auspourg Confession as also a very fair School whence there come very good Scholars who consummate their studies at Derpt or some other Universities in those quarters The Government of the City is Democratical the Magistrate being oblig'd to summon the principal of several Professions and the most antient Inhabitants to consultations that concern affairs of Importance There are still to be seen within half a League of the City towards the Sea-side the ruins of a fair Monastery founded by a Merchant of that City at the beginning of the 15th age out of a particular devotion he had for St. Bridget under Conrad de Iungingen Grand Master of Prussia and Conrad de Vitinghof Master Provincial of Livonia It consisted of both Religious Men and Women and the Book I saw of the foundation of this Monastery pleasantly acquaints the Reader that the Friers and Nuns there had found out a way to express their meanings one to another by signs of which there is in it a little Dictionary Livonia hath on the East Muscovy on the North a Gulf of the Baltick Sea dividing it from Sueden and Finland on the West the same Baltick Sea and on the South Samogitia Lithuania and Prussia It is above 120. German leagues in length and about 40. in breadth and is divided into Esthonie Lettie and Courland The first of these Provinces is subdivided into five Circuits called Harrie Wirland Allentaken Ierwe and Wiecks it s chief City Reuel as Lettie hath Rigaâ— and Courland Goldingen By the Treaty concluded between the King of Poland and the Great Duke of Muscovy Jan. 15. 1582. the Duke restor'd to the Crown of Poland all the places of Livonia those excepted which the King of Sueden was possess'd of in Esthony Now it is in a manner all under the power of the Suede Livonia is in all parts very fertile and particularly in Wheat For though it hath suffered much by the Muscovites yet it is now more and more reduc'd to tillage by setting the Forests afire and sowing in the ashes of the burnt Wood and Turf which for three or four years produce excellent good Wheat and with great increase without any Dung Which is the more to be admir'd in that 't is known there remains to generative quality in the ashes So that it is to be conceiv'd that the Sulphur and Saltpeter which remain with the Cinders upon the earth leave behind them a heat and fatness able to produce as well as dung Which conceit is not disâ—onant from what Strabo says at the end of his fifth book where he speaks of the fertility of the Lands near the Mountain Vesuvius and Mont-gibel in Sicily There is also abundance of Cattel and Fowl so cheap that many times we bought a young Hare for four pence a Heath-Cock for fix and accordingly others so that it is much cheaper living there than in Germany The Inhabitants were a long time Heathens it being in the 12 age that the rayes of the Sun of righteousness began to break in upon them occasion'd by the frequentation of certain Merchants of Bremen and the Commerce they were desirous to establish in those parts About the year 1158. one of their Ships having been forc'd by a Tempest into the Gulf of Riga which was not yet known the Merchants agreed so well with the Inhabitants of the Country that they resolv'd to continue their Traffick there having withall this satisfaction that the people being very simple they thought it would be no hard matter to reduce them to Christianity Menard a Monk of Segeberg was the first that preach'd the Gospel to them and was made first Bishop of Livonia by Pope Alexander III. in the year 1170. Menard was succeeded in the Bishoprick of Livonia by
moneths together the liberty they might have to go abroad would be of no advantage to them During this long night they have no other light than what their Lamps afford them which is but a sad and melancholy one as being maintain'd by the Oyl of a certain fish of which they make provision in the Summer Which Season begins with them as soon as the Sun comes to the Aequinoctial line and entring into the Septentrional Signs of the Zodiack melts the Snow and brings them a day as long as the night had been tedious Upon this accompt it is that Olaus Magnus Alexander Guagnin and others have grounded fables of people that sleep six moneths of the year or as Swallows and Frogs die in the beginning of Winter and rise up again in the Spring They do not cultivate the Earth nor keep any Cattel which is no doubt because the Earth would not require their pains and affords no Grass So that having no Corn they have no bread to make and having no Wool they are forc'd to Cloath themselves with what nature and their Countrey can afford them Their food is fish dry'd in the Wind and Sun Honey and Venison They are of low stature their faces large and flat wearing their hair very long they have little eyes and short legs and are not much unlike the Groenlanders of whom we shall have somewhat to say anon The Cloathing of the Samojedes is of Renes skins whereof there are abundance in that Countrey as indeed there is all over the North. This Creature which is thought to be the Tarandius of the Antients is called by the modern Latines Rangifer from the word Reen by which name the Laplanders call it a beast not known in these parts 'T is as big as a Stag but somewhat stronger the hair grey or white as they are in Samojede having the breast high with a long and rough hair the hoof cloven and the horn so hard that making an impression in the Ice this animal goes as securely as if it were upon the ground and so swiftly that it will run above 30. German leagues in a day The horns are higher than those of the Elk and larger than a Stag's having two brow-anklers on the forehead wherewith he breaks the Ice to get water in Winter 'T is a sociable beast feeding in herds It is tam'd without any trouble and is very serviceable especially in travelling being set before little Sledges made like a Boat which they draw with incredible force and swiftness The Samojedes wear very large Caps made of fur or pieces of Cloath of several colours which they buy of the Muscovites and are so big that they fall down to their necks Their shirts are made of the skins of young Renes which are very soft and have a short hair They wear drawers under their shirts and upon their shirts Garments falling down to the mid-leg border'd below with a very long fur These Garments are made like those which are called Cosaques open only at the neck Their Mittens are fasten'd to the end of their sleeves and the fur of all their Cloaths is turn'd on the out-side When the cold is extraordinary they put their Cosaques over their heads and let the sleeves hang down their faces being not to be seen but at the cleft which is at the neck Whence some have taken occasion to write that in these Northern Countreys there are people without heads having their faces in their breasts As also that there are some have feet so big that one of them shades the whole body and that having cover'd themselves with their feet neither Sun nor Rain can come at them But the errour came thus that the Samojedes as also the Laplanders and Finlanders wear a kind of shooes or patins in the Winter time to go upon the Snow which are an Ell and a half long towards the Toe The Finlanders and Laplanders make them as long towards the Heel as the Toes and call them Saksit but the Samojedes do not lengthen them at all towards the heel and call them Nartes All make them of barks of Trees or some very thin Wood and use them with a strange agility Colonel Port Governour of Narva who had many Finlanders among the Soldiers of his Garrison would needs give us the pleasure of seeing them when we pass'd that way having order'd them to run down a Hill near the City which they did with such swiftness that a horse at full speed would hardly have overtaken them The Nerves and Veins of the Rene serve for Thread among the Samojedes to sow their Cloaths their Boots they make of the same stuff and after the same manner They scrape the in-side of the bark of Beech and what comes off is as fine as the shavings of Parchment or Ivory and very soft and serves them instead of Handkerchers They take a handful of it and wipe their hands faces or noses therewith The Relations of the second Voyage which the Hollanders made towards the North in the year 1595. give the same account of the Samojedes as we do and say that some of their men going ashore Aug. 31. near Weigats after they had gone about a league discover'd 20. or 25. Samojedes so accoutred as we have describ'd them They at first took them for Savages and were confirm'd in that opinion by the posture into which the Samojedes put themselves making ready their Bows and Arrows to shoot at the Hollanders but the Muscovian Interpreter which the Hollanders had with them having told them they were friends and that they needed not to be afraid of them they laid down their Arms came up to them and discover'd many particulars of their Country They were much taken with the civility of the Hollanders and one of them took a Biâ—ket that was presented to him but he betray'd much distrust in the eating of it especially when they heard a Musket shot towards the Sea-side though far enough from them they were so frightned that it was no easie matter to satisfie them that they were far enough from any danger I had the curiosity to ask one of those Samojedes what he thought of Muscovy and whether it were a better Country than theirs and the Muscovian manner of Life the more pleasant He answer'd that Muscovy was indeed a pleasant Country and the provisions of it not to be disliked but that their Country also had those conveniences and pleasures that were not to be had elsewhere such as were so inviting that he was confident if the Great Duke had once a tast of them he would leave Moscou and come among them to enjoy the security quiet and delightfulness of their manner of life They were till within these few years Pagans and Idolaters insomuch as when the Hollanders made the Voyage I spoke of there they found the Sea-side 〈◊〉 of Idols for which the Samojedes had so much affection that they would not suffer one of them to
longer endure the Treaty of the Rye because it would in likelyhood starve the Country With this intention they sent three Deputies to Moscou to wit a Merchant a Cosaque and a Strelits with Order to know whether this Treaty was made and put in execution with the Great Duke's consent In the mean time without expecting the return of their Deputies they ransack'd Amilianou's house and tortur'd his Wife to make her confess where her husband who had made his escape had laid up his money The Weywode came in hope to prevent the disorder but he was forc'd out of the City and the neighbouring Nobility invited to come in and joyn with them against Monopolies and Patentees These three venerable Deputies were no sooner come to Novogorod but the Weywode caus'd them to be put into Irons and in that posture sent them to Moscou whether came at the same time the Weywode of Plescou and the Merchant Amilianou Intelligence was brought that those of Plescou had robb'd and abus'd a Suedish Merchant whereupon the Great Duke sent back the Weywode and with him a Bojar to endeavour the further prevention of these disorders Those of Plescou who at first would not receive them at length opened their Gates but it was to put the Weywode in prison and to affront the Bojare who had the imprudence at so unseasonable a time to treat them with so much severity that the people fell upon him with Cudgels and pursu'd him to a Monastery where he was so beaten that he was given over for a dead man However the Great Duke pursu'd the execution of the Treaty made with Sueden and paid money instead of the Rye sending along with the Suedish Commissary a good Convoy of Strelits who were to bring him to the Frontiers of Sueden He gave order at the same time to Iuan Nikitouits Gavensky to assemble the Nobility of the neighbouring Provinces and the foot-Regiments of Colonel Kormichel and Col. Hamilton which made up above 4000 men and to besiege the City of Plescou The Inhabitants as first pretended to stand out but their courage and strength soon fail'd them so that they were forc'd to make an accommodation at the cost of the Authors of the Sedition who were put to death or sent into Siberia These disorders have occasion'd a great change in the Affairs and Government of Muscovy For though Miloslauski and Morosou have much credit and the Patriarch himself a very great Authority about the Prince yet have the other Knez and Bojares a great hand in publick Affairs and execute their charges every one according to his Birth and Employment There are commonly some 30 Bojares about the Court though in Zuski's time there were numbred 70. In the year 1654. when the War of Smolensko was resolv'd on there were present at the deliberations of that important affair twenty nine Bojares who names were these Boris Iuanouits Morosou the Czaar ' s Fanourite Boris Nikit a Iuanouits Romanou the Czaar ' s Great Uncle Iuan Basilouits Morosou Knez Iuan Andreouits Galizin Knez Nikita Iuanouits Odouski Knez Iacob Kudenieteuits Tzerkaski Knez Alexei Nikitouits Trubetskoi Gleeb Iuanouits Morosou Wasili Petrowits Tzemeretou Knez Boris Alexandrouits Reppenin Michael Michelouits Soltikou Basili Iuanouits Stresnou Knez Vasili Simonouits Posorouski Knez Fâ—dor Simonouits Kurakin Knez Iurgi Petrouits Buynessou Rostouski Iuan Iuanouits Solikou Knez Iurgi Alexeouits Dolgoruski Gregory Basilouits Puskin Knez Foedor Federouits Volchanski Laurenti Demetriouits Soltikou Ilia Danilouits Miloslauski the Great Duke's Father-in-Law Basili Basilouits Butterlin Knez Michael Petrouits Pronski Knez Iuan Nikitouits Gavenski Knez Foedor Iurgiouits Chworosting Basili Borissouits Tzemeretou Nikita Alexouits Susin The Ocolnits or Lords out of whose number the Bojares are chosen areâ— The Ocolnitza Knez Andre Federouits Litwinou Masalskoi Knez Iuan Federouits Chilkou Mikifor Sergeouits Zabackin Knez Demetri Petrouits Lewou Knez Basili Petrouits Lewou Knez Simon Petrouits Lewou Knez Iuan Iuanouits Romadanouski Knez Steppan Gabrielouits Puskin Knez Simon Romanouits Bosarskie Bogdan Mattheouits Chytrou Peter Petrouits Gowowin Iuan Andreouits Miloslauski Knez Iuan Iuanouits Labano Rostouski Knez Demetri Alexeouits Dalgaruski Simon Lukianouits Stresnou Michael Alexeouits Artischo Precossi Federouits Sochouin Knez Boris Iuanouits Troikurou Alexei Demetriouits Collitziou Wasili Alexandriouits Zioglockou Iuan Basilouits Alferiou The persons of greatest quality next the Bojares and the Ocolnits are those whom they call Dumeny Duorainy and Simbojarski that is to say sons of Bojars and they are six in number to wit Iuan Offonassouits Gabrienou Fedor Cusmits Iellissariou Bogdan Fedrowits Narbickou Sdan Basilouits Conderou Basili Federouits Ianou Ossonassei Ossipouits Prontzissou The Chancellour and Secretaries of State are Almas Iuanouits Chancellour Simon Iuanouits Saborouski Lariouton Demetriouits Prontzissou These are the names of the Lords who at this day have the principal charges and govern the whole Kingdom of Muscovy as well in the Councel of State as for private affairs as we shall see anon The chiefest Dignity of the Kingdom was heretofore that of Sunderstreuoi Coinische that is Lord high Steward of Muscovy but this charge was suppress'd when Zuski who had it was called to the Crown The next which is now the chiefest is that of Duoretskoy or Great Master who hath the over-sight and direction of all the great Duke's houshold After him comes the Orusnitschei who hath the over-sight of the Arms and Horses which are for the Great Duke's peculiar service as also of the Harnesses and other Ornaments which are used at Entrances and publick Ceremonies These three Officers precede all the other Bojares Ocolnits Dumeni-Diaki and the Secretaries of State who in their turns precede the Postilnizei or him who makes the Great Duke's bed the Comnutnoy Klutziom that is the Chamberlain the Craftzey or Carver the Stolniki or Gentlemen Sewers the Strapsi or Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber and the Duoraini or ordinary Gentlemen The Silzi or Pages the Diaki or Secretaries and the Boddiotzei or the Commissaries or Clerks who are the last in Dignity and Function All the Knez and Bojares who have Estates are oblig'd to set out their Lands and to give their personal attendance at Moscou where they are oblig'd to be every day at Court and to smite their foreheads in the Great Duke's presence who looks on this attendance of theirs as an argument of their fidelity and an assurance of his Estate being in quiet which might soon be disturb'd by the authority these Great men might assume in the Provinces were they permitted to make their aboad there Their Houses or Palaces are great and magnificent and they make great ostentation as well in their expences at their houses as in cloaths and retinue when they go abroad When they ride they have at the bow of their Saddle a little Timbrel a foot Diameter which they ever and anon touch with the handle of their Whip to make their way through the throngs which are frequent in the Markets and Streets
The Knez who have no employment at Court and have not the means to make any great appearance there retire into the Countrey where their manner of life is not much different from that of Peasants They make very great accompt of the antient Nobility not only of that of their own Countrey but also of others which they very particularly inquire into but above all are very curious in informing themselves of the extraction of those that are sent Ambassadors in Muscovy They never match but with those of an equal rank with themselves The Bojares are not only seen at publick Ceremonies and Audiences but effectively participate of the management of publick affairs and the decision of Law-sutes wherein they assume the quality of Presidents The Councels for State-affairs are ordinarily held in the night time and the Counsellors meet at one in the morning and are together till nine or ten We shall speak of the particular employment of the Bojares when we have first given a short accompt of the Great Dukes revenue who having an Estate of a very vast extent consisting of a great number of Provinces must needs be very rich and very powerfull as well in respect of his Demesn as the advantages accrewing from the Traffick made by his Factors and the Taxes Duties and Impositions paid by his Subjects In times of peace the Impositions are not great but in the time of War the Contributions are so excessive that when the Great Duke Michael Federouits was to besiege the Citie of Smolensko in the year 1632. he oblig'd the subject to pay him the Pettina or fifth part of their Estates but the present Great Duke at the beginning of the present War contented himself with the tenth The Knez Bojares and Gentlemen pay no Taxes but are oblig'd as are also the Monasteries to raise and maintain a certain number of men horse and foot proportionably to their Revenue The Customs bring in so considerable a sum that some years the Custom-house of the Citie of Archangel it self payes in above 600000. Crowns The Crucisnouduor that is to say the Taverns where the Great Duke allows the selling of Wine Beer Hydromel and Aqua-viâ—ae pay a vast sum since he receives from three Taverns of the Citie of Novogorod above 12009. Crowns and that since this duty came to belong to the Sovereign they are above a thousand houses where the Great Duke alone hath all the advantage made by the sale of Wine and Aquavirae Sables also and other Furs bring in much because he reserves the Traffick thereof wholly to himself as also that of Cavayar and several other Commodities The Revenue of the money which he lets out to his Factors is not so certain as well in regard the Merchants profit is not alwayes the same as for that the Factors sometimes break At our being there he had put 4000 Crowns in the hands of a Merchant named Savelli who instead of improving it to his advantage squander'd it away in less than three years that he lived in Persia. The Great Duke ordered the Poslanick Alexei Sawinouits Romanitsikou who went into Persia along with us to take him and bring him back into Muscovy Coming to Scamachy we had notice of his being in the City but the Poslanick's Interpreter dying he dissembled his having any order to take him and desir'd him to be his Interpreter in that Negotiation with a design under that pretence to bring him to the Frontiers and so to carry him away The other who stood upon his Guard serv'd him indeed during the Poslanick's aboad at Ispahan but when he saw him ready for his departure into Muscovy he got into the Allacapi or Sanctuary was Circumcised put himself under the protection of Mahomet and continued in Persia. The Great Duke farms out all his Demesn but the revenue arising thence goes for the most part towards the subsistence of the Strelits whereof he is obliged constantly to maintain a very great number as well in the City of Moscou where there are above 16000. of them as upon the Frontiers insomuch that the ordinary Militia makes above 100000. men In a word if his receipts are great his expences are proportionable thereto There hardly passes a year but he is forc'd to purchase a Peace with the Tartars with great sums of Money and Presents He does not carry on his Wars at so easie a rate as they do elsewhere For taking into his service a great number of Germans and other Foreiners as well Officers as Souldiers he is forc'd to pay them extraordinarily and some times before hand The Embassies he receives stand him in no less than those he sends for he defrays all publick persons and makes them very considerable Presents The expence of his Table and the rest of his Court must needs be very great there being above a thousand Persons who have meat provided for them At Dinner and Supper there is no sounding of Trumpets as there is elsewhere but one of the Officers goes to the Kitchin and Sellar-doors and cries Godusar Kuschinung that is The Grand Seigneur would be served and immediately the meat is carried up The Great Duke sits at the midst of the Table alone if he invites the Patriarch or any other great Lord to Dine with him there is another Table set at the end of his and they are serv'd with some of the meat which had been presented to the Great Duke I say presented for as much as all making up but one Course of about fifty Dishes of meat the Gentlemen set them not down upon the Table but hold them in their hands till the Carver hath shewed them to the Prince and he made choice of what he is desirous to eat If none Dine with him he sends the Dishes he hath not medled with to some Lords in the City or to his Physicians The present Great Duke hath but one who is the same that went along with us into Persia. He is no superstitious Galenist but with very good success makes use of Chymical remedies he is grown so famous that not only the Prince but the Bojares and other great Lords about the Court employ him His salary is 124 Crowns a Month besides a Pension of six hundred Crowns per an and he hath more Wheat Barly Honey and several other Provisions than he can spend in his Family The Great Duke is never purg'd nor bled but the Physician hath a present of a hundred Crowns and a piece of Satin or Velvet or a Zimmer of Sables which is worth no less The Bojares do not give their Physicians money but a certain number of Flitches or Gammons of Bacon Sables Strong-water and other Provisions They are obliged to go every day to Court and to smite their foreheads in the Great Dukes presence or at least before those who are entrusted with the care of his Cabinet of Druggs and other Apothecary's stuff There are many Interpreters for other Languages especially for the
Crucifix to kiss and afterwards the Saint's Image which for that purpose is taken down from the Wall If the Oath be good the party who took it is not to be admitted to the Communion for three years and though he be not treated as an infamous person yet those of any quality will not easily suffer him in their Company but a perjur'd person is severely punished first cruelly whipt then banish'd Whence it comes that the Muscovites endeavour all they can to avoid it though upon any trivial occasion especially in their dealings they stick not to swear at every word and have incessantly in their mouths their Po Chrestum by Christ making the sign of the Cross at the same time but there is little credit to be given those kinds of Oaths as proceeding from deceit and passion They permit strangers to take their Oaths according to the rules of their several Religions No invention but they make use of to force people to confess the truth by Torture One of the most cruel in my opinion is the Strapado which is often given in this manner The Malefactor having his hands ty'd behind him is wound up into the air and so hangs having fasten'd to his feet a great beam upon which the Executioner ever and anon gets up to augment the pain and further the dislocation of the Members while the smoak and fire which are made under his feet burns and stifles him Sometimes they cause the Malefactor's head to be shaven and as he is so hanging they pour cold water drop by drop upon the crown which is such a torment as no other comes near not even that of whipping which they many times give those in that condition though they at the same time clap a red-hot Iron upon the stripes In ordinary quarrels he who gives the first blow gets the worst Murther committed without any necessity of defence is punish'd with death The guilty person is kept six weeks in a very close Prison and fed only with bread and water after which he receives the Communion and hath his head cut off Thieves are Tortur'd that they may discover their Complices and confess their other Crimes If it be the first offence they are whipt from the Castle-Gate to the great Market place where the offender hath an Ear cut off and is put into prison for two years If he offends the second time he is punish'd in the same manner and is kept in prison till he hath company to be banish'd into Siberia Theft is never punish'd with death in Muscovy but the concealers and receivers fare no better which is the best course could be taken to bridle the lewd inclinations of that people The ordinary punishments are slitting the nostrils Whipping and the Baltoki The last is not alwayes infamous and publick yet is there not any Master of a Family but gives it his Children and Servants He who is to receive this Chastisement puts off his Kaftan and having only his shirt on layes himself down upon the ground on his belly and then two men set themselves cross upon him one upon his Neck the other upon his Feet having each of them a little Wand or Switch in his hand wherewith they beat him upon the Back much after the manner that Fell-mongers beat their Furs to get out the Worms They ordinarily have their Nostrils slit who have taken Tobacco in snuff contrary to the Great Duke's prohibition Whipping as it is given in Muscovy is one of the most barbarous punishments that ever were heard of Sept. 24. 1634. I saw eight men and one woman Whipt for selling of Aqua-vitae and Tobacco The Executioner's man took them up one after another upon his back being stript down to the waste and having their feet ty'd together with a Cord which passing between his Legs that held them up was held by another servant of the Executioner's so fast that they were not able to stir The Executioner stood three paces off with a Bull 's Pizzel having fasten'd to the end of it three straps or thongs of an Elk's skin not tann'd and consequently as sharp as a Rasour with which he lay'd on their backs with all his strength so as that the blood gush'd out at every lash The men had each of them 25. or 26. till the Clerk who had in a Note what number of lashes they were to receive cry'd Polno that is to say enough The Woman had but 16. yet did she fall into a swound Being thus disciplin'd so as that their backs were in a manner slic'd and slash'd all over yet were they all tyed by the Arms two and two together those who had sold Tobacco having a little horn full of it and those who had sold Aquavitae a little bottle about their Necks and whipt through the Citie and after they had walk'd them above half a league about they were brought back to the place of their first execution and dismiss'd This is so cruel a punishment that some die of it as we said before of the son of General Herman Schein Some after they are thus punish'd wrap themselves up in the skin of a sheep newly kill'd Heretofore these punishments were not infamous and those who had pass'd through the Executioner's hands were admitted into the best Companies as was also the Executioner himself whose Profession was accounted so honorable that sometimes even Merchants quitted theirs to serve the Magistrate at Executions and would buy the employment and after certain years sell it again to others The advantages of it ly in this that the Executioner is not only paid by the Judge but gets money also out of the Criminal to be more gently treated though indeed the greatest profit he makes comes from the Aquavitae which he sells underhand to the Prisoners But now this employment is not much courted since the Muscovites have begun to learn somewhat of civility from their Neighbours Nor is the Executioner permitted to sell his Office but it must continue in his family which failing the Butchers are oblig'd to recommend to the place one of their body All we said of the cruelty of their punishments is yet below what they inflict on such as cannot pay their debts He who pays not at his time mentioned in the Bond is put into a Sergeants house having a certain further time to make satisfaction If he fail he is carried to prison whence he is every day brought out to the place before the Chancery where the common Executioner beats him upon the shin-bone with a Wand about the bigness of a man's little finger for a whole hour together That done he is return'd to prison unless he can put in security to be forth-coming the next day at the same hour to be treated in the same manner till he hath made satisfaction And this is executed with much rigour upon all sors of persons what condition or quality soever they be of Subjects or Foreiners Men or Women Priests or lay persons 'T is
holy-water from Iordan He was most magnificently receiv'd and conducted by the whole Clergy to his audience which the Great Duke gave him together with a Present of above 100000 Ducats but he was so unfortunate in his return as to fall into the hands of some Turks who took away all had been given him There come almost every year to the Czaar's Court some of the Greek Priests or Monks to sell their Reliques which they put off at very good rates The Muscovites do all profess the same Religion which being as it were particular to them may be said to extend as far as the Great Duke's Dominions do unless it be that it is also exercised at Narva under the Jurisdiction of the King of Sueden and that the Tartars have also their Mahumetan and Pagan Religion along the Wolga and beyond Astrachan upon the Caspian Sea There are not any not even among their Monks and Priests that can give any reason of their belief because they have not the Word of God preached unto them upon which accompt it is that the Patriarch suffers them not to dispute of Religion or inquire into that of foreiners Some few years since a Monk of Nisenovogorod had some conference with a Protestant Minister but the Patriarch coming to hear of it sent for him and cast him into prison where he must have endur'd a great deal of misery had he not had the wit to say that the Minister had discover'd some inclinations to the Muscovian Religion and would in all likelyhood be converted Their Characters they have from the Greeks as well as their Religion but as they have altered the later so also have they changed and augmented the former as may be seen by the Table we shall here give of them Ра 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aas A Б б 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Buki b Ð’ в 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wedi w Г г 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 glagol g Д д 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dobro d Е е jest e Ж ж 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Schiwet sch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sielo S З з 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Zemla Zâ—◠И и 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ische i Й й 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ii ij К к 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 kakoi k Л л 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lüdi l Ðœ м 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Muslori m Рн Naas n О о 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 On o П п 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pokoi ◠Рр 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Erâ—â—i r С Ñ ã€ˆâ—Šã€‰ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Slowo S Т Ñ‚ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Twerdo t У у 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iik ú Ф Ñ„ phert ph Ð¥ Ñ… Chir ch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ot ot Ц ц 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—i â—◠Ч ч 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—â—erf 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ш ш 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Scha sch Щ щ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tscha tsch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ier j 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ieri  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iet ie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ie ieh Ю 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ito I◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iús iüs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ace ce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ksi ks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 psi ps 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 phiâ—◠ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ischil â—◠〈◊〉 Characteres linguae Rutenicae Numeri 1 2 3 4 5 6 7  а б в д е 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 з  8 9 10 11 12 20 30  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  40 50 60 70 80 90 100 200 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These Characters they make use of as well in their printed Books as Writings their Language being peculiar to themselves but coming so near the Sclavonian and the Polish that he who hath one will find it no great difficulty to learn the other It hath nothing common with the Greek though indeed in their Liturgy there are some words borrow'd from the Greeks but they are not used any where else We said before that the Muscovites in their Schools learn only to read and write in their own Language and care not for the Learning of any other but within these few years they have with the Patriarch's consent opened a School where Greek and Latine is taught under the direction of a natural Grecian named Arsenius It is not yet known what may be expected from it but certain it is that there are among the Muscovites those that want neither ingenuity nor an inclination to Study and would learn any thing did they but meet with any body to teach them Almas Iuanouits the present Chancellor or Chief Secretary of State was so happy in his youth as to have travell'd into Turkey and Persia and learn'd the Languages of those two Countries so well that he needs no Interpreter when he hath ought to do with the Grand Seigneur or King of Persia's Miinisters The Danish Interpreter we spoke of before hath translated into their Language certain Latin and French Books which have taken so well that it is hoped the Courtiers will in time apply themselves to the study of those Languages which can acquaint them with such excellent things All their exercise of Religion consists principally in Baptism Reading of the Word of God in the Church going to Mass praying to Saints making reverences and inclinations before their Images Processions Pilgrimages Fasting certain dayes in the year Confession and Communion They think Baptism so much the more necessary in that they think it the only door through which a man must enter into Christ and so into Paradise They acknowledge themselves conceived and born in sin and that God hath instituted Baptism for their Regeneration and to cleanse them by water from their original impurity Whence it is that they baptize their Children as soon as they are born If the child be weak he is immediately baptized yet not in the same room where the Woman lyes in but if well he is carried to Church by the Godfather and Godmother The Priest receives him at the Church door signs him with the sign of the Cross in the forehead and gives him the Benediction saying The Lord preserve thy coming in and thy going out The Godfathers deliver the Priest nine Wax-candles which he lights and fastens cross the Font which stands in the midst of the Church He incenses the Godfathers and consecrates the water with many ceremonies Then he makes a Procession together with the Godfathers who have wax-candles in their hands about the Font. The Clark goes before carrying the Image
out of that persecution Petition'd the Czaar to protect them against the outrages and affronts they dayly received On the other side the Priests complained that strangers built on their foundations and lessened the revenue of the livings so that the Great Duke to please both sides assigned them without the City near the Gate called Pokrofki a place big enough to contain all the Houses of Foreiners who immediately demolish'd those they had in the City and in a short time made up that part of the Suburbs which is called Nova Inasemska Slaboda where the Lutherans have two Churches and those of the Reformation two more one for the Dutch and the other for the English and where they have this further satisfaction that they converse but little with the Muscovites and are out of all danger of those frequent fires which commonly begin in the houses of those barbarous Christians The Lutherans and those of the Reformed Religion live very quietly together and the Muscovites Trade indifferently with either but they have so great an aversion for the Roman Catholicks that they would never grant them a Toleration of their Religion in Muscovy In the year 1627. the late King of France proposed by Louis des Hayes a Treaty for the regulation of Commerce with the French and at the same time for a Church where they might have Mass said but it was deny'd And in the first War of Smolensko they would not entertain Catholick Souldiers Nay in the Treaty they made with us for our passage into Persia it is an express Article that we should not take any Roman Catholicks into our retinue So that it is much to be admired that they should call to the Crown Vladislaus Prince of Poland and Sueden though that Election came to nothing for reasons into which it is beside the subject of our Relation to enquire as it is also into those which may be given of the Animosity of the Muscovites against the Roman Catholicks whereof the grounds are to be searched for in Ecclesiastical History which hath nothing common with the Relation of our Travels the prosecution whereof is the business of the following book THE TRAVELS OF THE AMBASSADORS FROM THE DUKE of HOLSTEIN INTO MUSCOVY TARTARY and PERSIA The Fourth Book LEaving Moscou wâ— weâ—â— by Land as far as the Monastery of Simana where we embark'd after we had taken leave of our Friends who had accompany'd us thither under the conduct of a Pristaf named Rodiwon Matfeowits who had order to provide for the Ambassadors as far as Astrachan We had hardly quitted the shore ere the Governor of the Prince Boris Iuanouits Morosou came in sight with his Trumpets and intreated us to come ashore and favour him so far as to sup with him that night But the Ambassadors earnest to be on their Voyage excused themselves and sent him by way of Present a silver Bowl He receiv'd it in a little Boat which came along by the side of ours and express'd how kindly he took it by the flourishes of his Trumpets But at last not able to contain any longer he came into our Boat where he staid all night drinking with the Gentlemen at his parting from whom the next morning he could hardly forbear tears Our Muscovian Mariners whom the Aquavitae they had taken had made more lively and lusty than ordinary took such pains in the mean time being always eight a-rowing that the next morning at Sun-rising we were got as far as a pleasant Country house called Duoreninou seated on the left side of the River 80 Werstes which make 16 German leagues from Simana At night we got 40 werstes or 8 German leagues from Duoreninou to a Village called Mortschuck so that in 24 hours we made so many German leagues The next day Iuly 2. about noon near the Village and Monastery of Porsenis we met with several great Boats loaden with Honey Salt and Salt-fish coming most of them from Astrachan bound for Moscou At night we were come before the City of Columna It lies on the right side of the River Mosca 180 werstes or 36 German leagues from Moscou though by Land there is but 18. which may be travell'd in a short time especially in the Winter upon the snow The City is of a considerable bigness and looks very delightful on the out-side by reason of its Towers and stone-walls which are not ordinary in Muscovy Nay it is indeed of that accompt that the Great Duke hath his Weywode there which is not seen but in the chief Cities of Provinces We sent him our Pass-port by the Pristaf and immediately the wooden Bridge was full of people and whereas the covering of our Boat was too high to pass under the Bridge they in a trice took off one of the Arches to make us way We said in the fore-going Book that there is but one Bishop in all Muscovy and that his Residence is in this City of Columna Three werstes above the City near the Convent of Kolutin Serge Monastir founded by one Sergius a Saint among them whom we have spoken of elsewhere and who is buried at the Monastery of Troitza the Mosca falls into the River Occa which is incomparably much more delightful and broader than the other It comes from-wards the South and hath on both sides it a noble Country well peopled and very fruitful Both shores are well furnish'd with Oaks which is a kind of rarity in those parts Being got ashore we had a Sermon under a great Tree which sufficiently shaded the whole Assembly Presently after Dinner we embark'd and left about half a league on the left hand a great Island in the midst of the River Afterwards we pass'd by several Villages namely those of Scelsa and Moroso which are bigger than any of the rest and both upon the River side on the right hand The 4. about noon we got to the City of Peresla seated upon the River side upon the right hand 22. leagues and a half from Columna at 54. degrees 42. minutes elevation This hath also its particular Weywode The 5. we left on our right hand the Town of Rhesan It was heretofore a gallant City and had given its name to the whole Province but the Crim-Tartars destroy'd it with the whole Dutchy in the year 1568. The Great Duke considering the fertility of the Country which reaches from the River Occa as far as the Trench made against the irruption of the Tartars got together such of the Inhabitants as the invasion of the Barbarians had dispers'd and having caused Materials to be brought to a place eight leagues from it he ordered the building of a City there which to this day is called Peresla Resanski because there went thither many of the Inhabitants of Peresla which stands at an equal distance from Moscou North-wards with this South-wards The Town of Rhesan still keeps the honour of having the Residence of the Archibishop but we are to
Astrachan and the Caspian Sea there is only wast grounds and heaths and so barren a soyl that being not able to bring forth any kind of Corn all that Country even the City of Astrachan it self is forc'd to send for Wheat to Casan whence there comes such abundance that it is cheaper at Astrachan than it is at Moscou Below Zariza lies the Isle of Zerpinske It is twelve werstes in length and the Souldiers of the Garrison of Zariza send their Cattel thither 〈◊〉 The Cosaques of those parts having observ'd that the Wives and Daughters of those Soldiers crossed over to the Island without any Guard went thither one day after them surpriz'd ravish'd and sent them back to their husbands without doing them any other mischief Behind this Isle there falls into the Wolga a little River which rises out of the Don but it hath hardly water enough for little Boats which I conceive may be the reason why Geographers represent it not in their Maps there being only Isaac Massa who hath put it into his and calls it Kamous The heats were there abou ts so great in the moneth of September as that of the Dog-dayes is not more insupportable in Germany yet the Muscovites affirm'd they were but ordinary Sept. 7. The weather chang'd and a Tempest following we could not advance much Having sayl'd ten werstes we saw on the right hand a Gibet erected upon a high reddish Hill It was the first we had seen in those parts and we were told it was set up by the Weywode of the next City for the execution of the Cosaques he should take within his Government and that he gave them no other quarter but that their Camerades suffered not the bodies to hang there above five or six dayes The same day an humour took the Ambassador Brugman to cause all the Servants belonging to the Embassy to come before him to whom he said that he had reason to believe that there were many among them who express'd little kindness and respect towards him and if occasion serv'd would do him all the ill Offices lay in their power and consequently that his desire was that the Musicians the Guards and the Lacqueyes should take their Oaths to be faithful to him Answer was made him that his distrust was ill-grounded that they saw not any reason why they should be oblig'd to a thing so extraordinary and that they were so far from having any ill design against him that on the contrary they were all ready to lay down their lives to do him any service but that they intreated him for his part to spare them as much as might be and to treat them more mildly than he had done which he promised to do but it was one of those promises that are either kept or broken The same day we met with a great Boat the Master whereof sent some Mariners aboard us to desire us to pity their sad condition and to relieve them with a little bread in the extremity they were in having not eaten ought for the space of four dayes They told us it was three weeks since they came from Astrachan and that they had been robb'd in their way by thirty Cosaques who had taken away all their Provisions VVe gave them a sack full of pieces of bread for which they gave us thanks with their ordinary Ceremonies bowing their heads down to the ground Forty Werstes from Zariza lies the Isle of Nassonofska and opposite thereto on the right hand a great flat Mountain of the same name Between the Isle and the Mountain there is a kind of a Grott where the Cosaques had some years before kill'd a great number of Muscovites who had lay'n there in ambush to surprise the others In the evening a certain Fisher-man brought us a kind of fish wâ—ich we had never seen before The Muscovites called it Tziberika and it was above five foot long with a long and broad snout like the Bill of a wild Drake and the body full of black and white spots like the Dogs of Poland but much more regular unless it were about the belly where it was all white It had an excellent good taste and was at least as pleasant as that of Salmon he sold us also another kind of fish much resembling a Sturgeon but much less and incomparably more delicate whereof there are abundance in the Wolga The 8. The Caravan which we had left at Zariza came up to us near a Cape called Popowitska Iurga upon this accompt that the son of a Muscovian Pope or Priest who had sometime headed the Cosaques and Bandits was wont to make his retreat and appoint his rendezvous at that place They count from Zariza to that place 70. werstes and thence to the Mountain of Kamnagar which lay on our right hand 40. werstes The River thereabouts is full of Isles and Sand-banks by which the Caravan was no less incommodated than we were though their Vessels were much less than ours Twenty werstes lower there is a very high Island four werstes in length called Wesowi near a River of the same name which falls into the Wolga on the right hand Thirty werstes lower the wind forc'd us into a corner where the River of Wolodinerski Vtsga falls into the Wolga But in regard we were loath to let slip the opportunity of making a great dayes journey which the fairness of that wind put us in hope we might do we with much difficulty made a shift to get out and afterwards pass'd by the Country of Stupin thirty werstes from the City of Tzornogar which was the first we were to come at the next day Ten werstes lower the Wolga puts out a second branch on the left hand called Achtobenisna Vtsga which joyns its waters to those of Achtobska whereof we spoke before Thence we sayl'd five werstes further where the whole fleet cast Anchor near the Isle of Ossina which is seven werstes from Tzornogar So that that day we got 135. werstes or 27. German Leagues that is at the least as far as it is from Paris to Saumur From this Countrey quite down to Astrachan on both sides of the River there grows abundance of Liquorice having a stalk as big as ones arm and about some four foot high The seed of it is much like a vitch and lies in cods upon the top of the stalk The Champain part of Media is cover'd therewith especially towards the River Araxes but the juyce of it is much sweeter and the root much bigger than that which grows in Europe Sept. 9. There rose a wind which soon grew into a Tempest and brought us about noon before the little City of Tzornogar where we stay'd It was but some nine years before that the Great Duke had given order for the building of this City which lies 200. werstes from Zariza some half a League lower than it is now but the great floods having wash'd away the
with his Arrow He also with a Fire-lock shot an Apple which he had caus'd to be cast into the Air. In our return to the City after an Entertainment which had lasted six hours all the Officers took occasion in a spacious plain to give us a Tryal of the swiftness of their Horses I must needs confess it is extraordinary and that there is no English Horse comes near them but it is certain withall that this is all they teach them They also gave us the Divertisement of their Engagements or Horse-back and their manner of Skirmishing with their enemies and shew'd us an incredible and miraculous Activity not only in casting their Switches which in that Exercise they made use of instead of Javelins Riding with full speed upon those whom they pursu'd but also in catching them in their hands when they were cast at them and immediately Darting them at the pursuers Of all those engag'd in that Exercise the Chan's Master of the Horse behav'd himself the best and had bestow'd on him by way of recompence one of the best Horses out of his Master 's Stable The third of March the Persians celebrated another Feast which they call Tzar Schembesur that is the fourth sad Sabbath and it is the next Wednesday before the Vernal Equinox by which they begin their year of which they are perswaded that this Wednesday is the most unfortunate day And this they say they know not only by Tradition but also by Experience which hath discover'd to them that there never happen'd any thing but misfortune to them that day Thence it comes that they do not any business that day they keep their Shops shut Swear not nor make any Debauches but above all things take they an especial care not to pay away any Money that day out of a fear they should be oblig'd not to do any thing else all the year after There are some who spend the whole day in telling what Money they have in their Houses others go without speaking a word by the way to the River for some water wherewith they sprinkle their Houses and Houshold-stuff thinking by that means to divert the misfortune which might befall them If they meet with any one of their acquaintance as they return home-wards they cast some water into his face with their hands or haply pour the whole Pitcher full upon him but this is a kindness they do only to their best friends out of a perswasion that those who are so served and have their Cloaths all wet cannot fail being happy all the year after Young people that are not Married find also their Divertisement at this solemnity which is to walk up and down the Streets or along the River side playing upon certain Timbrels of bak'd Earth which they carry under their arms Others carry great Staves in their hands and go up to their knees in the River to dash those who come to fetch water either by casting it at them with their hands or taking hold of them to wet them or to rub their faces with the borders of their wet Garments or haply they break the pitchers with their Staves These last are look'd upon as ill-presaging Birds so that those who can keep out of their clutches think they have avoided many misfortunes that should have happened to them that year Upon which accompt it is that there are some who to avoid meeting with them go and fetch in their water before day but all these fopperies are done only in the morning for as soon as it is afternoon they go a walking and bestow the time in any of their other ordinary Exercises The Author of the Preface before the High-Dutch Translation of the Kalusthan says that this Festival is Dedicated to Saint Iohn Baptist and that it is in Commemoration of his Baptism that the Persians do all those Ceremonies True it is indeed that the Persians have a certain Veneration for that Saint and that they go to this day upon Pilgrimage to his Sepulchre at Damas and it may be that was the intention of him who instituted this Feast but now there is no track to be seen of any such thing March the tenth that is the 20. according to our stile for the Author means in all places the old they celebrated the first day of their year which they call Nauras with great solemnity For though they commonly count their years from the Hegira or the day of Mahomet's flight from Meca to Medina which is their Epoche and co-incident with the 16 of Iuly according to our Almanacks yet so it is that their year consisting only of twelve Lunar moneths and consequently being eleven days shorter than ours they take a certain day for the beginning of their year which is that on which the Sun enters Aries at the Vernal Equinox in what quarter of the Moon soever it happens but of this we shall give a further accompt elsewhere The Ambassadors sent some of us to the Castle to complement the Chan upon the beginning of the new year and to wish him a good one We found him at Table having near him the Minatzim or Astrologer who rose up ever and anon and taking his Astrolabe went to observe the Sun and at the very moment that the Sun came to the Equator he publish'd the new year the beginning whereof was celebrated by the firing of some great Guns both from the Castle and the City-Walls and at the same time there might be heard a Musick of all sorts of instruments Opposite to the Chan sat one of their Orators whom they call Kasiechuan who made an Oration intermixt with more Faces and Gestures than any Player can shew on the Stage speaking only of the Victories obtained by the Kings of Persia over the Turks the Vsbeques and other enemies of that Nation The remainder of the day was merrily spent in Eating and Drinking whereof we who were sent upon the Complement participated sufficiently for the Chan would needs oblige us to sit down at Table with him The Festival lasted till the next day and then the Chan made a great Entertainment for the Ambassadors whereto he invited also the Monk I spoke of before March 20. the Chan and the Calenter came to see the Ambassadors They were both gotten sufficiently Drunk and the occasion of their Visit was this that the Chan being to take a Journey as he would make us believe and not likely to return before our departure thence he came to tell us that he thought it unhandsome to go without taking leave of the Ambassadors He brought along with him his Hakim or Physician who had also some smattering in Astrology as most of that Profession have His Hakim told him after he had observ'd the Sky a while that the Stars signify'd it was an unfortunate hour to go into the Lodgings of the Ambassadors and upon that Prediction they sat down in the Court and fell a-drinking The Chan having taken notice of one
of the Ambassador Crusius's Pages a beautiful and well-timbred Lad he desir'd him to come near him which when he had addressing his speech to the Physician he ask'd him whether he did not think him a fine Boy and wish'd he had been his his own Son The Physician having taken another view of the Heavens though the Air were not very clear and that it was not near night made answer that if after he had earnestly view'd the Boy and by that means Imprinted an Idea of him in his imagination he went and lay with a Woman he would certainly get as handsome a Boy as that was This the Chan and his Company believ'd as an Oracle insomuch that having for some time well considered the Page he got on Horse-back and departed There was at Schamachie a Persian slave named Faruch who being a Muscovite by Birth had been stollen and sold into Persia where he had been circumcis'd while he was yet very young He delighted much to be among us because there were in our retinue some persons who could talk with him in his own Language insomuch that being by his often coming to our quarters grown familiar with some he came one day to tell us that we should have a care of our Persian Interpreter whose name was George Rustan for to his knowledge he had written to some of his Friends at Ispahan to this effect That though he had liv'd a long time among Christians yet were they not to inferr thence that he had abjur'd the Mahumetane Religion but that he should ere long be with them to give them further assurances of the contrary Rustan was a Persian born and had not many years before travell'd into England where he had been Baptiz'd Some years after he went into Muscovy where we found him in the English Residents retinue who was his God-father and coming to hear that we were to go into Persia he made so many friends and was so importunate with the Resident that at last we gave him leave to go along with us as an Interpreter Yet was he not receiv'd into our retinue till he had oblig'd himself by a Writing under his hand to come back with us and by many solemn protestations assured us that his going along with us was out of no other design than to look after and receive what was due to him of his Patrimony that he might have somewhat to Trade withal as a Merchant at his return Accordingly we were no sooner come to Ardebil but we found the truth of what we had been told by Faruch for Rustan as soon as he was got to a place where he might expiate his pretended sin and declare himself with safety he went to the Sepulchre of their great Saint Schich-Sefi where he did his Devotions as a right Mahumetane which that he had done he got a formal Certificate We secur'd him at Ispachan but he made his escape and got into the Sanctuary which they call Alla-Capi That done he cast himself at the feet of the King and the Seter or Chief of their Sect express'd his repentance in tears begg'd Pardon put himself under the Kings protection and remain'd in Persia. March the 22. Father Ambrosio took leave of us being to return to his Monastery at Tiflis March 24. the Chan sent away the New-years gifts which the Governours are wont to send the King at the beginning of the year and which were at this time so much the greater by how much the disgrace and death of his Brother impos'd upon him a necessity of Courting the Kings favour The Present consisted in a certain number of excellent Horses richly Harness'd several Camels loaden with Russia Leather several rich Stuffs and thirty bags full of Swan's down but what augmented the value of this rich Present was a great number of handsome Boys and Girls whom he sent along with it The Chan went himself out of the City with an intention as was given out to conduct the Present two or three leagues but he returned not leaving by that means upon the Calenter the trouble of providing all things for the prosecution of our Journey Immediately after the Chan's departure there was sent to our quarters the sum of sixty Tumains which amount to about a thousand Crowns by way of re-embursement for the charges we had been at during our stay at Schamachie But in regard it amounted not to one half of what we might expect according to the allowance which was assign'd us at our arrival the Ambassador Brugman sending us to the Calenter about other business charged us to ask him by the way whether it were upon any order from the King or out of the Governours kindness towards us that the said sum had been sent us and to let him know that though it was not the intention of the Ambassadors to receive any money yet since the Calenter had sent it under his own Seal they would carry it so seal'd to Ispahan That they could not forbear complaining of the injury had been done them in keeping them there so long contrary to the orders they had received from Court to take the speediest course they could for their departure The Calenter made answer that it lay not upon him to maintain the Ambassadors and to furnish them with money That it was not to him their Master had sent them but to the King and that it was accordingly by his Majesty's appointment that he had sent the foresaid sum That he could not hinder them from making their complaints but that they should advantage themselves nothing thereby That for the clearing of himself he would produce their acquittance at the Court and that the Chan and himself had supply'd them out of their own till the Kings Order was brought them That he was much troubled at the inconveniences which the Ambassadors had been put to during the long stay they had made in that City but that it was not their fault since it had been impossible in so short a time to get Horses and Wagons enough for so many people and so much Baggage intreating us ere we went away to honour him so far as to Dine with him once more which we did â— March the 27. there were brought us sixty Wagons for the Baggage and for the conveyance of some of the Retinue who were sick or not able to ride and a hundred and twenty Sadle-Nags We sent away our Steward with all the Baggage that night But ere we take our leave quite of a place where we had sojourn'd so long it will not be amiss to give here a short accompt of the City of Scamachie Father Bizarrus in his History of Persia and Ioseph Barbaro in his Travels call it sometimes Summachia sometimes Sumachia or Samachia and the Spaniards write it Xamachi Some Geographers place it in their Maps below Derbent others place it above and there are also some who put it in twice for fear of failing It s true name
the Judge recompences with a new Garment the person who does an Execution of this Nature which I conceive is instead of the Salary which he is oblig'd to pay the common Executioner Divorce is lawfull among them and the dissolution of the Marriage is made before the Judge upon hearing of what both parties have to allege for themselves for it is Lawful not only for the Men but also for the Women to give Bills of Divorce shewing good causes not only for Adultery but also in several other Cases Impotence or Frigidity rather declares the Marriage null than dissolves it and Adultery is punish'd among them as we mentioned before We were told a story of a VVoman who desirous to part from her Husband charg'd him with impotence The Husband desir'd the Judge to command the Woman to scratch his Back whereto she reply'd I have scratch'd thee so often that I am weary of it and thou wouldst never scratch me where it most itch'd Another complain'd of her Husband that he would have done his work in the wrong place whereupon the Judge ordered her to be separated from him and the Husband to be Gelt They Marry again after Divorce as well Men as VVomen with this difference nevertheless that the VVomen are oblig'd to continue in VViddow-hood three moneths and ten days not only that it may be known whether they are with Child but also that they may have time to work their accommodation with their Husbands if they have any such desire The Turks following the Doctrine of Hanife have in this particular a very brutish custom in regard that in Turquey there may be a reconciliation made after the Divorce but when a man hath put away his VVife three several times or at her puting away says only the word Vtzkatala that is to say I renounce thee thrice he cannot take her again unless he permit the Molla to name some person who is to lye with her before hand in her Husbands presence so as that he may be assur'd he hath done his work with her I should not set down a thing so extravagant had I not inform'd my self of the truth thereof from Persons of quality either Turks born or such as have liv'd several years at Constantinople who have all assur'd me that of sixty two Sects whereof the Turkish Religion consists many have this Custom nay what is more that they give Money to those who do them that good office There are some indeed who think it sufficient to put a-Bed with their VVives a young Lad that is not able to perform the work of Matrimony which they do only for form sake thereby to reconfirm the Marriage To this purpose there is a Story that during the time there was no other Religion allow'd in Sulthania but the Turkish though there was a great number of persons who profess'd the Persian Religion the Sulthan being one day incens'd against his Wife said to her the word Vtzkatala so that being oblig'd by the Law to give her a Bill of Divorce he immediately repented of it and not willing that another should make use of her in order to his having of her again he ask'd his Ecclesiasticks whether there were not any Iman who could dispence with the severity of that Law Whereto the Mufti and the other Turkish Priests having return'd their answer that that Law was indispensable he would needs hear what a certain Molla named Hassan Raschi could say in the business This man was a Persian Born and had the reputation of a Jeaster and one that made sport with things most serious insomuch that there had been no great notice taken of his affirming that he knew an Iman who would certainly dispense with the Sulthan had it not been for the passionate desire this latter had to take his Wife again wherein he was so earnest that he hearkned to any advice was given him to that purpose Hassan came to see him but instead of leaving his shooes behind him in the Antichamber according to the custom of the Persians he brought them in under his arm The Sulthan perceiving him coming in that posture ask'd him the reason of it and whether he were afraid his shoos might be stollen Hassan made answer that he was not afraid of any such thing but only that he was unwilling any other should put on his shoos expressing thereby that the Sulthan should not permit another to lye with his Wife Whereto he added that in the time of Mahomet some body had done the Hanife the afront to take away his shoos The Turkish Priests who were present at this discourse laugh'd at him and said that if he had no better reasons to allege to satisfie the Sulthan that he might take his Wife again he might go his wayes in as much as Hanife had not liv'd in the time of Mahomet but long after Hassan Kaschi making his advantage of this answer reply'd If it be so said he that Hanife liv'd not in the time of Mahomet nor you neither and that in the whole Alcoran there is not a word to be found of this infamous Law how can you tell whether Mahomet had any such intention And how can you impose this burthen upon the people He thereupon cited the exposition of Hanife's Master upon the Alcoran and made it appear that a Husband hath the power not only to give his Wife ill words and to threaten her but also to beat her yet it shall not be in her power to forsake him for his so doing This reason which suited with the Sultan's design pleas'd him so well that he not only took his Wife again but he also profess'd the Persian Religion and either put to Death or Banish'd all the Turkish Priests They relate another pleasant Story to the same purpose to wit that Solyman Emperour of the Turks being one day angry with his Wife did in the heat of his passion pronounce the Vizala against her He soon repented him of it in regard his Wife being one of the handsomest Women in the VVorld it went to his very soul to part with her and it being not in his power to take her again till such time as she had pass'd through another man's hands he bethought him the only way were to have â—er Bedded by a Dervis of the Sect of those whom they call Dervis Rastkeli who were in so great repute for their sanctity and austerity of Life that he had not the least fear he wouldmeddâ—e with her It is to be observ'd by the way that he who thus lies with the VVife is before solemnly Married to her and when he hath done his work is Divorc'd from her otherwise it were adultery Soliman then having concluded the Mariage between his VVife and the Dervis ordered them to go to Bed together but they gave one the other such mutual satisfaction and ere they came out of the Bed were so well agreed that the next day they declar'd that they had an
were Ladies of the Seraglio others their servants and such as attended on them It was also much about the same time that a rumour was spread abroad that his Mother dy'd of the Plague but it is more likely the accompany'd the forty Ladies who had been buried alive as we said before He express'd when occasion requir'd courage enough and it is certain the beginning of his reign was remarkable for the great Victories he gain'd over his Enemies He defeated Karib-Schach in the Province of Kilan He forc'd the Turks to raise the siege of Bagdat and took by asâ—ault the Fortress of Eruan though to speak impartially the glory of these good successes be due to the Valour and Conduct of his Generals and to fortune rather than his prudence for he discover'd not much in any of his actions which were for the most part temerarious and without any dependence one of another To prove this we need onely instance the reduction of Eruan The King finding that after a siege of four moneths his affairs were little advanc'd fell into that impatience and despair that he would go in person upon the assault of the place saying he would rather dye in the in the attempt than with infamy rise from a place which the Turks had heretofore taken in three dayes He had already put on the Cloaths of one of his Foot-men that he might not be distinguish'd from others and had given order for the storming of the Place when the Lords who durst not contradict him intreated the Princess his Mother to represent to him how impossible it was to take a place before there was a breach made and that the danger whereto he would expose himself would have no other effect than his own death and ignominy with the destruction of the whole Army All the answer she could get to these representations was a good box o'th'ear the King being still bent upon his former resolution of assaulting the Place and to that purpose he had taken a Pole-Ax in his hand to lead them on But the principal Lords cast themselves at his feet and intreated him to grant them but one day more wherein they promis'd to do all that lay in the power of men against the Place They obtain'd their desire order'd the Whole Army to fall on even to the boys and carried the Place by storm but they lost in the action above fifty thousand men The good success which till that time had attended his designs soon chang'd after the executions of so many great persons as he had put to death and of this there was a remarkable instance in the loss of Bagdat which the Persians were not able to maintâ—ain against the Turks who recover'd it out of their hands twenty six years after they had taken it from them The onely good action he did during his whole reign is that he sent back to their several Habitations those poor people whom Schach-Abas had taken out of Eruan Nachtzuan Chaletz and Georgia to the number of seven thousand and had brought to Ferabath where they were employ'd in great buildings and liv'd in a miserable slavery yet were there not above three hundred that made their advantage of this good deed of his all the rest having perish'd through misery and been starv'd He took great pleasure in drinking and had a great kindness for such as bore him Company in that exercise but his ordinary divertisements were Women and Hunting not much minding matters of Government or the administration of Justice to his Subjects He had three lawfull Wives one whereof was the Daughter of a Colonel whose employment it had sometime been to drive the Mules which brought water to the King's Kitchin and came to be known to Schach-Abas by a service he did him one day while he was Hunting in helping him to some fair water the weather being extremely hot when no other could meet with any This service was requited by the Present the King made him of the Village of Bilou neer Nachtzuan where this Mule-driver had been born This was the first step or his advancement and what made him noted at Court where he found means to get an Office which is no hard matter in Persia for such as have money and having some time after taken an employment in the Wars he prov'd so fortunate therein that he got the command of a Regiment of a thousand men Schach-Abas thought his Daughter so handsom that he made a Present of her to his Daughter-law Sefi-Myrsa's Widdow and appointed her to be brought up in order to a Marriage between her and his Son Sain-Myrsa since named Schach-Sefi who at his coming to the Crown accordingly Married her The second Wife was a Christian the Daughter of Tameras-Chan a Prince of Georgia and this Marriage confirm'd the Peace which Schach-Abas made with that Prince The third was a Tartar of Circassia the Daughter of Bika and Sister to Prince Mussal of whom we have often spoken heretofore The Mother brought her as far as the River Bustrou at the time of our Travels and writ to Schach-Sefi that she sent him her Daughter not as a Concubine or Slave but as his lawfull Wife That is was her hope he would look on her as such and that she should find from him a kindness and affection equal to that she her self had express'd towards the Princess his Mother who though she had been her Slave and had often undress'd her even to her Stockins had been treated and look'd on by her as if she had been her own Daughter That on the contrary rather than her Daughter should be ill treated she wish'd her drown'd with all the misfortune that might happen to her in the River Bustrou Besides these lawfull Wives he had above three hundred Concubines for all the handsomest Maids all over Persia were brought to him The greatest Lords themselves Present him with the Maids they either have brought up in their own houses or are found among their relations Of this we had an instance in our time in the Calenter of Scamachie who having had some ill Offices done him at the Court recover'd the King's favour by presenting him with his own Neece one of the greatest beauties of the Countrey and a sum of money sent to the Chancellor The Armenians to prevent the searches which are often made amongst them for Maids of twelve years of age dispose of them in Marriage if they are handsom before they come to that age By reason of this great number of Concubines it happens that the King lies with some of them but once and then bestows them on those Lords of the Court who are most in his favour Schach-Sefi dy'd in the year MDCXLII in the twelfth year of his reign or to speak more truely his Tyranny 'T is conceiv'd his life was shortned by poyson as the onely remedy they could make use of against his cruelties which they must needs be afraid of who
a multitude of Frigots and Gallies well furnished with Artillery but their Souldiers and Sea-men are inexpert There is an infinite number of Barks for service against the Enemy upon the River as advantagious to them as at Sea by reason his Neighbours are rather worse provided then he but all his Forces joyned together were not sufficient to oppose a Spanish English or Holland Fleet yet this Princes Predecessors have often had great Victories over their Enemies while Martial Princes have had the Conduct of their Armies The Kings of Pegu and Siam have at all times pretended to a sole Monarchy over all the Kingdoms in these parts and without dispute Pegu had something the better but the continual War they have held as well for this as other differences hath so wasted the Frontiers of both these Kingdoms that the Armies are not able to subsist there any longer and so necessity forced them to conclude a Peace which since they break not but by incursions of some flying Army of twenty or thirty thousand during the Summer Season The last War the King of Siam made upon the Kings of Iangoma and Langsgaugh were purely out of ambition for the Soveraignty they pretended to over those Kingdoms 'T is not long likewise since the King of Cambrodia a Tributary to the King of Siam revolted whereupon Siam enters his Territories with a potent Army but was opposed so vigorously that he was forced to retire The Kingdom after this enjoyed a long peace till the deceased King having caused his Brother to be murthered to establish his Son upon the Throne one of the Princes of the Bloud took occasion to usurp the Crown as I shall immediately tell you This Usurper made shew as if he would espouse the interests of the State against the Kings of Pegu and Auva and especially against the King of Cambodia though he would not enter into open Hostility with them because he might have enough to do to stand arm'd against the designs the right Heirs might have upon his person He continued likewise the same friendship for the Hollanders his Predecessour had testified to them since he took their part against Fernando de Silva Governour of the Manilles This Portuguez taking the confidence to set upon a Holland Frigot upon the River of Menam in the year 1624. the King seiz'd upon his Vessel and forced Fernando to restore the Frigot Since which time the Siameses have been continually vext by the Portuguez in their Traffick with China though the Hollanders assist them effectually against their Enemies and declare highly for them as they lately likewise assisted the King of Siam with six Ships to chastise the Rebels of Patany For certain the King of Siam keeps more Elephants then any other Prince of India and herein consists his chiefest Forces For though the Indians affect this Beast of what part so ever he is yet have they a particular esteem for those of Siam for their make their strength and as they call it for their apprehension They take them here as they do in Pegu bringing into the Forrest fifteen or twenty tame Females which being as it were Decoyes suffer themselves to be led up and down till some of the wild Elephants herd with them and so are by little and little betrai'd into a large Court well wall'd about to which you enter by a double walk of Trees which as well as the Court is shut up with strong Rails As soon as the Elephants are in then are the Females let out one by one at another Gate leaving the wild by themselves Within this Court are two four-square Partitions divided with Pallizadoes like Cages the one in the middle the other at the side of the wall The posts whereof they are made are set at such distance that men may with ease pass in and out to vex and provoke the Beasts but they must make a swift retreat within their Appartment when this formidable Foe pursues them This is the most acceptable divertisement can be presented to the King who with the Nobility of his Court is ever present at this hunting After the Elephants are by this kind of hunting sufficiently tired they drive them into another close Pen no bigger then their bodies made of strong beams where they tye them by the legs to three or four tame Elephants whereupon hunger and acquaintance with the others in three or four dayes bring them to live as they do Sometimes they hunt them in the Forrest and open Champion with tame Elephants till at last they fasten them by the legs together and so by force drive them away but this not without conflict and danger Sometimes in the Kingdom of Siam they meet with white Elephants All over India they have a veneration for this Creature but the Siameses and the people of those parts say they are the Kings of the Elephants in so much as the King of Siam when he meets with one causes him to be served in Vessels of Gold to walk under a Canopy and allows him a Princely train In the year 1568. the King of Pegu understanding that the King of Siam had two white Elephants sent a solemn Embassy to request he might buy one of them and that he would set a price upon him which the King of Siam refusing the King of Pegu resolves to fetch him with a powerful Army He found such slender resistance in Siam that the King seeing his Kingdom and chief City in the hands of his Enemies took poyson whereof he dyed though that Conquest cost the King of Pegu the lives of five hundred thousand men Raja Hapi King of Siam who lived about the year 1616. acknowledged at that time the Soveraignty of the King of Pegu but this was only till he could find opportunity to free himself from this subjection as he did few years after For entering the Kingdom of Pegu with a powerful Army he laid â—iege to the City of Aracam resolved not to move thence till he had taken it In effect he rais'd not the Siege but not being able to force the City and unwilling to break his Oath he built a House near it where he dyed This Prince was so famous for his cruelty that 't is reported of him that being sick and hearing two of his Concubines laugh in an anti-chamber he commanded they should be immediately cut to pieces He had a Favourite called Ochi Chronwi whose ambition swell'd to that height that he brought four or five hundred Iaponeses into the Kingdom cloath'd like Merchants to be imployed to murther the King and settle him upon the Throne This design took no effect during the Kings life but he being dead Ochi Chronowi seiz'd on the Crown and caused himself to be proclaimed King The Son of Raja Hapi had friends sufficient to cast out this Usurper but he was not fortunate enough to keep the Crown in his possession for he was likewise slain and left it to
them There is besides another sort of Ants about the length of a Mans finger and red but these are only in the Fields where they live on the barks of Trees and Herbs As concerning the Trees and Fruits in the Isle of Iava amongst others there is the Areca whereof we spoke a word by the way in the precedent Book The Portuguez call the Tree that bears it Arre quero the Arabians Faufell and Malayans Pynang It is a kind of Cocoe but not so great nor the leaves so big and broad The Fruit is like a Date Nature incloses it in a husk which opens not till it flower and when it ripens the shell falls off the fruit remaining at the branch It hath scarce any taste but it moistens the mouth dyes the lips red and the teeth black The Indians lap it up in a Bettle-leaf mix a little Chalk or Lime with it and chew it rather out of custom then for any pleasure though they hold that it strengthens the Stomach and Gums and is a topical Medicine against the Scurvy and in effect there is scarce an Indian that is subject to this Disease or troubled with the Tooth-ach This Drug will make some people to be drunk that all things seem to turn round but that dizziness is presently over The Mangas grow on Trees not much unlike our Nut-trees but they have not so many leaves They are of the bigness of a Peach but longer and something bending like a Crescent of a light green drawing a little towards the red It hath a great shell that encloses an Almond of greater length then breadth and eaten raw very distasteful but roasted on the Coals not unpleasant 'T is useful in Physick against the Worms and the Diarrhaea It ripens in October November and December and being perfectly ripe 't is full as good as a Peach They get them while they are green and put them up in Salt Vinegar and Garlick and then they call them Mangas d' Achar and they serve in stead of Olives There are likewise wild ones which they call Mangas brauas of a pale green too but brighter then the other and full of juyce which is immediate death without a present Antidote The Ananas is one of the loveliest pleasantest and wholsomest fruits of the Indies It grows on a bush and hath leaves like Semper-vivum The fruit at first is green but being ripe turns Orange or Aurora coloured drawing a little to a red shap'd like a Pine-apple for which reason the Portuguez who met with this fruit first in Brasil called it Pinas but 't is tender and easie to cut They are yellow within of a delicate scent they are eaten in Wine but the excess is dangerous for Feavers The juyce is so sharp that if one wipe not the Knife they are cut with next morning it will be found eaten The Tree is so apt to grow that a sprig will take root in the earth though it have not past two or three leaves be half withered and have been cut fifteen dayes before The Canarins call this fruit Ananasa the Brasilians Nava and in Hispaniola and the other Western Islands they call it Iajama 't is as big as the larger sort of Lemmons or the middle Mâ—lons excellent both in scent and taste At distance they look like Hartichoaks only they are not so picked as the leaves of that Plant. The stalk is like that of a Thistle and every stalk bears but one and that at the top of it for though many times it puts forth at the side other stems yet the fruit that comes of them is very small and seldom comes to maturity They have of them in March and then they are very pleasant for the juyce hath the taste of sweet or new Wine and is exceeding easie of digestion but it heats and often brings a Feaver In Iava there is another fruit called Samaca 't is as big as a Citron the colour green something drawing to a red full of juyce that is tart and toothsom and within hath divers black kernels the leaves are like those of Lemmon-trees but not so long They put them up in Salt or Sugar and use them as Tamarindes against burning Feavers Inflammations of the Breast and pains in the Stomack and Fluxes Tamarinds grow on great Trees full of branches whereof the leaves are not bigger then nor unlike to the leaves of Pimpernel only something longer The flower at first is like the Peaches but at last turns white and puts â—orth its fruit at the end of certain strings as soon as the Sun is set the leaves close up the fruit to preserve it from the Dew and open as soon as that Planet appears again The fruit at first is green but ripening it becomes of a dark grey drawing towards a red inclosed in husks brown or tawny of taste a little bitter like our Prunelloes Every husk contains three or four little Beans in a certain skin which is that the Portuguez call Tamarinho The fruit is viscous and sticks to the fingers but of so good a taste that the Indians use it almost in all Sawces as we do Verjuyce but 't would turn a mans stomack to see them cook Meat with this Drug for squeezing it between their hands the juyce that runs through their fingers looks more like a Medicine then a Sawce These Trees bear twice in the year and grow every where without being planted or otherwise looked after Physitians use this Drug against burning Feavers heat of the Liver and Diseases in the Spleen and infused a night in cold Water it purges gently The Tamarinds brought to our parts are either salted or preserved in Sugar The Inhabitants of the Isle of Madagascar where there grows plenty of it call it Quille and the Iavians Sunda assu The Portuguez gave it the name of Tamarinthes for the resemblance the fruit holds with the Date in Arabia called Tamar as if they would say Dates of India The Malabars call it Puli and the rest of the Indians Ampuli The Tree is as big as a Walnut-tree full of leaves bearing its fruit at the branches like the Sheath of a Knife but not so straight rather bent like a Bow The Indians when they would transport their Tamarinds take them out of the husks and make them up in Balls as big as a Mans fist unhandsome to look on and worse to handle We told you before that 't is common to plant Pepper near to a sort of Canes by the Iavians called Mambu in which the Tabaxir is found 'T is true in the Isle of Iava there was never any of them found but again 't is certain that on the Coast of Malabar Coromandel Bisnagar and near to Malacca this sort of Cane produces a Drug called Sacar Mambus that is Sugar of Mambu The Arabians the Persians and the Moores call it Tabaxir which in their Language signifies a white frozen liquor These Canes are as big as
three days they make choyce of one of these three on whom they bestow besides several other Titles the quality of the Prince's Nurse In order to her establishment in that Function she is brought into the Prince's Chamber whom she finds in the arms of one of the chiefest Ladies of the Countrey by whom he had been kept from the time of his birth and after the Nurse hath spurted a little of her milk into the Childes mouth he is delivered up to her All these Ceremonies as also those performed at the ordinary Feasts are very great and they are at this day performed with the Dayro who still enjoys a very considerable Revenue sufficient to defray all the charge and continues the same grandeur his Predecessours have been possess'd of though the force of the Empire hath been devolv'd into other hands as we shall now relate The charge of General of the Army was heretofore the greatest of any in the Kingdom as is that of Constable in France and it was invested ordinarily though contrary to the rules of good policy in the second Son of the Dayro About a hundred and twenty years since it happened there was a Dayro who having a son he exceedingly doted on would needs out of an imprudent compliance he had for the Mother consent that he should participate of the Royal Dignity and it was ordered that it should pass alternately from one to the other every three years But the son willing to make his advantage of the occasion found means so to insinuate himself into the affections of the great Lords and the Soldiery during the three years of his Reign that he resolv'd to continue it contrary to the exhortations of his Father who too late repented him of his devesting himself of an authority which indeed is not communicable This was the first disturbance that ever had been seen in Iapan inasmuch as both Father and Son being equally invested with the quality of Dayro the people conceived they might without any crime take up Arms for either However most of the Lords detesting the ingratitude of the Son joyn'd with the General whom the Father had appointed to reduce his Son to obedience who was defeated and killed in that Civil warr The General finding himself well established in his charge followed the example of the Prince and abusing the lawful power whereof he was seized made his advantage of it to settle himself in the Throne after the Dayro's death yet leaving the lawful heir with the quality of Dayro all the outward appearance of his former greatness This demeanour of the Generall 's occasioned a second Civil warre which was thought the more just out of this respect that in this the people took up Arms against an Usurper who had not the quality of Dayro nor consequently the Character for which the Iaponnesses have so great a veneration Accordingly this war had the same success with the former for the Usurper was defeated and executed But this second General took the same course as his Predecessour had done so that by this second Usurpation the Countrey was reduced to an absolute Anarchy wherein all were Masters there being no Prince nor Lord nay hardly a Village but was engaged in war against some other These disorders gave occasion to a Soldier of Fortune named Taycko to appear at first in the head only of fifty men with whom he did such exploits that he soon improved that handful to a very considerable Army His first adventures were the taking in of several Castles and small Cities but within a while after his thoughts flew much higher and he proved so fortunate in his designs that within less then three years he became absolute Master of the whole State He left the Dayro the external part of his former greatness and thought it enough to be in effect what the other was only in appearance The Dayro on the other side perceiving it was impossible for him to prevent that establishment comply'd therewith and chang'd the quality of General of the Army to that of Emperour Taycko who could not expect much quietness in his newly acquired fortune if he removed not those Lords of whom he conceived any jealousie resolved to keep them at a distance from the Court and to that end he sent the chiefest of them with an Army of sixty thousand men into the Countrey of Corea with order not to return thence till they had conquered that Province They there met with such resistance that they were near seven years reducing that Nation to obedience Taycko in the mean time feeding them with fair hopes and animating them to prosecute a design of so great concernment to the State They were forc'd to obey but being impatient to return to their own habitations they committed such exorbitances as made the Inhabitants of Corea desperate insomuch that not able any longer to endure the burning of their houses the murthers and other violences done them they sent an Embassadour to the Court who to deliver his Country out of the miseries it had suffered for so many years made a shift to poyson Taycko who some days after dyed The Army in Corea was immediately disbanded and the Lords who had the command of it return'd to their several homes Taycko being on his death-bed and considering with himself that he could not hope to derive the succession to his Son who was but six years of age if he made not some powerful Person Protector during his Minority sent to Ongosschio one of the greatest Lords of the Country desiring him to undertake the tuition of that young Prince Ongosschio accepted it and to give Taycko the greatest assurance he could expect that he would be faithful to him promised him by an act signed with his blood that he would deliver up the Crown to Fidery so was the young Prince called assoon as he were come to the fifteenth year of his age and that he should be Crown'd Emperour by the Dayro The disorders of the late Civil Warrs were yet fresh in every mans memory so that there was a general joy conceiv'd to see the Regency in the hands of a person excellently qualified for the execution thereof Ongosschio was indeed a person of very great endowments but he had withal too much spirit and ambition to be reduced to a private life after he had been possessed of the Soveraign Power for so many years He had obliged Fidery to marry his Daughter yet could not so near an alliance smother so that predominant passion in him Whence it came that he immediately gave out that Fidery was grown so distrustful of him that he was forc'd to stand upon his guard and to raise an Army to oppose that which Fidery was going to get together against him He gave out also that Fidery would needs be treated as Emperour and discharge the Functions thereof before the Dayro had acknowledged him to be such or Crown'd him in that quality Accordingly
prudence and secrecy about publick Affairs which concern the greatness and safety of the State and that they impartially dispose punishments and rewards The Prince when he makes choice of any for his Council regards principally their Age and he bestows the place of Judicature on such among them as have most experience and are best acquainted with Affairs These fit every day to hear Causes and decide Differences They know nothing of our Military discipline but their way of making war hath something particular in it which is this All that are able to bear Arms are disposed into several Regiments and lodged in Quarters appointed for that purpose under their Colonels whom they call Iugarases so that as soon as there is any occasion the Orders are dispatched from Quarter to Quarter and by that means a powerful Army is raised in a few dayes without any need of making new Levies in as much as the places are kept for the Sons of the Souldiers who succeed their Fathers and put the Prince to no charge but what he allows them by way of salary since they bring their provisions and baggage along with them The names of buying and selling are not yet known among them for having neither Gold nor Silver coined they truck and exchange all as well among themselves as with Forreigners Their greatest Commerce consists in trucking of Hides and Slaves Of these they have only such as they take in war which being many times civil among themselves they make the best advantage they can of them They have among them some distinction of Nobility and Peasantry and call the former Sahibibos who are a kind of Knights for whom they have a great respect but not so much as they bear the Grandees whom they call Thubalas out of which rank they chuse their King provided he be full thirty years of age When the Portuguez discovered the Country of the Ialofes there reign'd a very powerful Prince named Brabiran who dying left three Sons by two several Wives By the former he had Cibitam and Camba and by the second who was the Widow of another Prince Father of Beomi Biran who was chosen King after the Fathers death His two elder Brethren envying the greatness of that Prince declared themselves so openly against him that Biran who had great assurances of the affection and fidelity of Beomi his Brother by the same Mother took him so much into favour that he seem'd to have reserved to himself only the name of King But that extraordinary favour prov'd fatal to both for Biran was kill'd by his Brethren and Beomi who thought to make his advantage of that Fratricide to get himself chosen took up Arms against the two Brethren He got together a considerable Army but being afterwards forsaken by his Friends he was forc'd to apply himself to Portugal for relief King Iohn II. having got him instructed in the Christian Religion had him baptized with all his Family and sent him back with a considerable Fleet under the conduct of Pedro Vaz de Cogna whom he ordered to build a Fort at the mouth of the River Zanaga it being his design to get further into Africk as far as the Country of Prester Iohn whereof he had but a confused knowledge But that great design proved abortive and miscarried at the beginning through the cowardice of Pedro Vaz who minding his convenience more then his honour demolished the Fort he had newly built and not able to endure the just reproaches which Beomi made him upon that occasion he kill'd him with his own hands the King of Portugal not expressing the least resentment of so base an action The Islands which the Portuguez call As Ilhas Verdes and the Dutch the Salt-Islands lye over against Cabo Verde and were not discovered by the Portuguez till the year 1472. Some are of opinion they are the Gorgonides of Ptolomy but I dare not affirm that that great Person who hath left us so confused an account of that Coast of Africk knew any thing of these Islands whereof the nearest is 70. and the most remote 160. Leagues distant from the Continent They reach from the 15. to the 19. degree and are in number ten to wit St. Iago St. Antonio Santa Lucia Sant Vincenle St. Nicholas Ilha blanca Ilha de sal Ilha de Mayo Ilha de Eogo and Ilha de Boa Vista It is probable the Portuguez gave them the general name of Ilhas Verdes or the Green-Islands either from the Cape we spoke of before or from the verdure which floats upon the water in those parts and which the Portuguez call Sargasso from its resemblance to Water-cresses The Sea is so covered there with from the twentieth to the twenty fourth degree that they seem to be floating Islands intended to block up the passage of Ships Nay this Herb is so thick thereabouts that without a pretty strong Gale of wind it would be no easie matter to pass that way Yet can it not be faiâ—â— whence the said verdure comes to that place where the Sea hath no bottom there being not any but in those parts at above a hundred and fifty Leagues from the Coasts of Africk They were desert and not inhabited when the Portuguez discovered them but now they are cultivated and bring forth plenty of Rice Millet Abruin or Turkish wheat Oranges Citrons Bananas Annanas Ignaues Potatoes Melons Citruls Cowcumbers Figs and Raisins twice a year The Islands of Mayo de Sal and de Boa Vista are so stored with Cattle that they load whole Ships thence for Brasil The same Islands yield also such abundance of Salt that the Dutch have taken occasion thence to name them the Salt-Islands The same Portuguez brought thither Barbary and common Hens Peacocks and Pidgeons which are so increased there that with the Partridges Quails and other smaller Birds whereof there is plenty people may fare very well at an easie rate There are also among others a kind of Birds which the Portuguez call Flamencos that are white all over the body and have wings of a lively red near the colour of fire and are as big as Swans They have above all abundance of Conies and the Sea supplies them with so much Fish that at all times a man may find there many Portugal Vessels fishing for the provision of Bresil Whence it may be inferred they lie very conveniently for the refreshing of such Ships as are bound for the Indies in as much as going thither they may easily put in at the Island of Mayo and coming thence at that of St. Anthony so as the Portuguez who live there cannot hinder them The Island of St. Iago is the chiefest of them as being the residence of the Governour and Archbishop whose spiritual jurisdiction extends not only over these Islands but also over all the Portuguez are possessed of upon the Coasts of Africk as far as the Câ—pe of Good hope November 4. With a North-east
French-man who liv'd 20. moneths in Maurice Island p. 198 The Ship puts not into the Island Pintados a Bird discovering nearness to Land p. 199 Mangas de Veludo a kind of Bird the Cape of Agulhas Fish foreshewing change of weather p. 200 Trombas what ibid. Cabo falso the Cape of Good Hope discovered Pinguins a kind of Fowl p. 201 The Inhabitants about the Cape of Good Hope their cloathing food know neither God nor Devil Lions their only enemies ibid. Hurricans p. 202 Madagascar discover'd they put in there what Commodities go off there p. 204 The Lord of those parts makes an alliance with the English Madagascar described p. 205 Dragons-bloud Aloes the Island abounds in Cattle its Inhabitants p. 206 The Men are couragious their Armes Chief Religion Mozambique ibid. When discover'd by the Portuguez p. 207 The first landing of the Dutch at Madagascar p. 208 AVGVST He leaves Madagascar the 21. and arrives in England the 16. of December following Declination of the Load-stone the Isle of St. Elizabeth Sea-wolves p. 209 Badgers St. Helens Island planted by the Portuguez p. 210 Ascension Island p. 211 St. Thomas Island Land Crevices the Inhabitants Rolles Island p. 212 Carisco Island Capo Verde its Inhabitants their Armes the Women do all the work ibid. The men drunkards believe the immortality of the Soul D. Enrique discovers Guiny the scituation of Mina p. 213 The Religion of the Inhabitants their superstition are religious in their Oaths their clothing Armes the settlement of the Dutch in Guiny p. 214 Diego-Can discovers the Kingdom of Congo its Provinces Air the Piver Zaiâ—e Sea-horses p. 215 Gold Mines Serpents Cocos their houses ibid. They are all Architects and Physitians their cloathing the wealth of the Country their Money the absolute power of the King of Congo the Governour of Batta Minister of State his Priviledges their Armes and manner of fighting p. 216 How Christian Religion was introduced there the Kingdom of Beny Cabo Verde described Ptolomy knew nothing of these people the Rivers Gambra and Zanaga p 217 The Inhabitants about the Cape are Pagans their way of raising forces their Nobility the state of the Country when first discover'd the story of Beomi who is baptized p. 218 The green Islands peopled by the Portuguez Flamencos a kind of Bird St. Jago Island the Voyage continued p. 219 The Azores their number they have good fruit p. 220 Potatoes Their Wheat will not keep Tercera Oxen very large the Island subject to Earthquakes an Island started of a sudden A Spring that petrifies wood a kind of wood hard as iron Cedar p. 221 Michael's Island St. Mary's Island Gratiosa Island St. Georges Island Fayal Island Pico Island the Island of Flore p. 222 The convenience of these Islands the Air very sharp in the Azores The Canaries when discovered Lewis Earl of Clermont conquers them a French Gentleman conquers them by Commission from the King of Castile p. 223 They belong to the Crown of Castile great Canary Teneriffe Fierro Island a miraculous Tree p. 224 The Voyage continued the West wind reigns from the Azores to England they come into the Channel ibid. The Isle of Wight the Downs the President and the Author like to be cast away in the Haven another Tempest p. 225 The Author comes to London p. 280 M.DC.XL IANVARY The first be is treated by the Lord Mayor a strange attempt of a Dutch Marriner an example of dreadful solitude p. 226 A strange resolution of two Christian Slaves p. 227 The King of England touches some of the Evil. p. 283 The Author having continued at London near three moneths leaves it the 20. of March in order to his return for Holstein p. 228 A description of Haerlem where the Mystery of Printing was first invented p. 229 The Inscription put upon the house of the first Inventor thereof ibid. He comes to Amsterdam a description of it its commerce p. 230 The first Voyages of the Dutch to the East-Indies ibid. An account of several other places in Amsterdam p. 231 MAY. The first the Author comes to Gottorp where he put on end to his Travels p. 232 FINIS 16â—3 The occasion of these Travels An Embassy sent the King of Persia and Great Duke of Muscovy The Embassadors OCTOB Their retinue NOVEM They embark Orders for civil behaviour Bornholm Sea sickness It s cause A Calm Cap de Demesnes Dunemunde The Ambassadors come to Riga The Magistrat's present Riga described It s foundation Made an Archbishoprick Subject to Poland Taken by the Suedes Its fortifications It s commerce DECEM The Ambassadors leave Riga Ermes Castle Halmet Castle Ringen Come to Derpt An Episcopal City Re-united to the Crown-f Poland Taken by the Suedes An University founded there by the King of Sueden JANUARY 1634. The Ambassadours come to Narva FEBRUARY To Reuel MAY. Return to Narva and meet the Suedish Ambassadors The Muscovites and Persians defray Ambassadors charges Anniversary Ceremonies observ'd by the Muscovites for the dead The Ambassadors leave Narva Gam Fort. Kapurga The civility of the Muscovian Ladies Johannestal JUNE Neuschans Ladoga a Lake The Ambassadors come to Notebourg Spiring a fifth Ambassador from Sueden a Hollander born and sometime an Arrasweaver The Suedish Ambassadors depart A Suedish resolution The Muscovites sleep after Dinner The reception of the Suedish Ambassadors A Muscovian Collation The situation of Notebourg JULY The Ambassadors came to Laba Their reception Another Muscovian Collation The Ambassadors prosecute their Voyage Come to Ladoga The Musick of Muscovy Wolgda The devotion of the Muscovites Wolgda described A dangerous fall of water Troublesome Flies and other insects The Presents of a Muscovian Monk The Muscovites do not condemn those of a contrary belief Corodiza Soliza Grunza Wisoko Krifseuiza The Ambassadors came to Novogorod Brunits AUGUS A Muscovian Procession Crasmistansky Gam Chresta Jaselbitza Simnogora Wolsolk Columna Budeua Torsock Tuere The River Wolga Nichola Nachinski The reception of the Ambassadors The Pristafs take the vpper hand of the Amdors Their Lodgings The Great Dukes refreshing present to the Ambassadors They are under a Guard The Ambassadors Cavalcade The Presents The Ceremonies of the audience The Grand Duke treats the Ambassadors SEPTEM The Muscovian new-New-years day A Tartarian Cavalcade The entrance of a â—urkish Ambassador The Turkish Ambassadors first audience OCTOB A Muscovian Festival The Great Duke goes a Pilgrimage NOVEM The Great Duke grants the Ambassadors a passage through his Country A Cavalcade of Crim-Tartars The Ambassadors have their last Audience The Czaar's present Klâ—n Tuere Tarsock Novogorod 1635. JANUARY Mokriza Tauerin Orlin Sariza Lilienhagen Narva Reuel Narva Reuel FEBRUARY The Description of Parnau 1635. The Ambassadors come to Riga Mittau Courland made a Dutchy Doblen Bador Hashof Walzau Memel Swenzel Bulcapen Koningsberg Elbing Dantsig It Stetin Rostock Wismar Schonberg APRIL Lubeck Arnsbock Pretz Kiel Gottorp 1635. Preparatives for the second Voyage The Ambassadors retinue They embark The Ship strikes against a