Men but Two lost Savagi now Acts as King and secures himself in the mountains where the Mogol is not able to attack him Caambaia is 3 Miles from the River Indus and about 3 Miles in Compass one of the neatest and best Built Citys in all the East and called the Indian Grand Cairo for its Greatness Traffick and Fertility of soil and so populous as to contain an hundred and thirty thousand Families Here they cut the Agats that come from other Countreys into several sorts of shapes and in the Suburbs they make Indico Here the East-India Company had a Factory the tydes are so swift that a Horse at full speed cannot keep pace with the Waves but the Sea and the Trade is fallen away from it Swalley is more South and about a Mile from the Sea but gives name to a large Capacious Bay where the Ships ride that Trade to Surat from which it is about ten Mile distant Maslipatan MAslipatan or Metchlapatam is a great City the Houses whereof are only Wood Built at a distance from each other It stands by the Sea and the Honourable East-India Company have a Factory here This being the most famous Road for Ships in the Bay of Bengal from whence they Sail to Pegu Siam Ormus Sumatra and other Places of Traffick This City is in Golkonda but the Great Mogol is so much dreaded there that his Commissioner is Master thereof buying selling bringing in and sending abroad his Merchants Ships none daring to contradict him in any thing nor to demand any Customs of him Paâ—…ania is a City South from Siam and was governed many years by a Queen In 1612. Some English Men came hither with a Letter from Q. Elizabeth and a Present from the Merchants of 600 Rials of Eight The Letter was carried in great state being lay'd in a Bason of Gold lay'd on an Elephant adorned with little Flaggs Lances and Minstrils They then obtained a Grant to Trade there upon the same conditions as the Hollanders and there was an English Factory which is now removed Siam is a Kingdom The chiefest part lying between the Gulf of Siam and Bengale the Countrey is plentiful in Rice and Fruits The Forrests stored with Deer Elephants Tyâ—…ers Rhinocero's and Apes Here grew store of large Bamboo Canes under the knots of them are Ants or Emmets Nests as big as a Mans head where they preserve themselves during the Rains which continue 4 or 5 Months The King of Siam was accounted a very Rich Prince and stiled himself King of Heaven and Earth though he be tributary to the Kings of China There were Idols in his Temples Seaven foot high all of massy Gold When the King appeared all the Doors and Windows of the Houses must be shut All the People prostrating themselves on the ground not daring to look up And because no Person was to be in an higher Place then the King they within doors were bound to keep their lowest Rooms He would suffer no Barbar to come near him one of his Wives cutting his hair for him One part of his magnificence consists in his Train of 200 Elephants among which one was White which he valued so highly as to stile himself King of the white Elephant He passionately admires them accounting them his Favourites and the Ornaments of his Kingdom If an Elephant dyed he was burned with the same Funeral Pomp as a Nobleman The English had a Factory formerly in this Kingdom as well as at Armagon As for Ballasore Hugli Chuttanetti Daca Rajamell the present Honourable East India Company have Factorys in all those Places of which little more can be say'd then what has been spoken of others At the famous Port of Bombay Island the English have Built a strong â—…ort and here they Coin both Silver Copper and Tin which passes among themselves and the Villages along the Coast. The Empire and Government of the Great Mogol HAving given some account of the Forts and Factrys of the Honourable East India Company I shall subjoine a breif Relation of the Empire and Government of that Mighty Monarch The name of India is now given to the Empire of the Great Mogol and to the two Peninsula's one on this side and the other beyond Ganges with the Islands scattered in the Indian Sea which are all comprehended under the general Name of the East-Indies yea some Authors take in all the Oriental Part of Asia It is recorded that the Old Inhabitants consisted in 122 several Nations originally descended from the Sons of Noah before their Journey to the Valley of Shinaar and their attempt in Building the Tower of Babel That it was first invaded by the famous Queen Seinramis with an Army of above four Millions whom Staurobates an Indian King opposed with equal forces who overcame and slew her That the next Invasion was by Bacchus the Son of Iupiter and Hercules who by policy and force subdued them and taught them the use of Wine Oyl and the Art of Architecture After this India was invaded by Alexander the Great He vanquishing first Clophae Queen of Magaza and then King Porus both whom he took Prisoners But restoring them again their Liberty and Kingdom returned back to Babylon where he dyed of poyson After this they lived in peace under several Kings In 1587. their Countrey being discovered by the Portugals and after by the Dutch and English they have had much Traffick with them This vast Empire comprehends the greatest part of the Continent of Asia wherein are contained 37 Kingdoms As for Remains of Antiquity there are few or none the Mogols having ruined all the Ancient Buildings which according to the Ancients were 30 large Citys and 3â—…00 Walled Towns and Castles so strong as to be thought impregnable which may not be improbable if Noah first planted there after his descent from Mount Ararat not far distant from hence Since such mighty Armys were raised in those Countreys not many Years after and the Land so well Built and planted so that when Alexander had overthrown King Porus near the River Hydaspis he say'd He found greater Citys and more sumptuous Buildings in India then in all the World besides Some of the Citys that end in Pore as Meliapore Visiapore and others seem to retain the Memory of K. Porus as others in Scander the Name of Alexander The Dominions of the Great Mogol are larger then the Persians and equal to the Grand Seigniors His strength lyes in the Number of his Subjects the Vastnes of his wealth and the extent of his Empire his Revenue exceeding the Persian and the Turks both put together But the K. of Persia exceeds him in Horse Arms and warlike People His Revenue is reckoned to be about Seaven Millions and an half English money The Throne alone wherein he gives Audience is valued at near Four Millions being almost covered with Jewels Pearls and all kind of precious stones of a vast Value The present Mogol derives his Original from
himself being so ambitious of praise that he would hear more than he could possibly deserve yet had he not fallen into the smart hands of the Wits of those times he might have passed better On a time a Merchant who came from England met Tom. Crryat travelling toward East-India and told him that when he was in England King Iames I. inquired after him and when he had certified him of his meeting him the King replyed Is that Fool yet living our Pilgrim was much concerned because the King spake no more nor better of him saying that Kings would speak of poor men what they pleased Another time the English Ambassador gave him a Letter with a Bill to receive ten pound to the Counsul of Aleppo wherein were these words Sir when you shall hand these Letters I desire you to receive the Bearer of them Mr. Thom. Coryat with Courtesy for you shall find him a very honest poor Wretch and further I must intreat you to furnish him with ten pounds which shall be repay'd c. Our Pilgrim liked the gift well but the Language much displeased him saying That my Lord Ambassador had even spoiled his Courtesy in the carriage thereof so that if he had been a very Fool indeed he could have said very little less of him than he did to call him honest poor Wretch and to say no more of him was tâ—… say as much as nothing and his favour does rather trouble than please me when I was at Venice said he a Person of Honour wrote thus on my behalf to Sr. Hen. Wotton then Ambassador there My Lord good Wine needs no Bush neither a worthy man Letters Commendatory because whithersoever he goes he is his own Epistle this said he was some Language on my behalf At length his Letter was phrased to his mind but he never lived to receive his money A little before his death he seem'd apprehensive thereof for swounding away once upon his recovery he declared the occasion was for fear he should die in the way toward Surat whither he intended to go and be buried in obscurity and none of his Friends know what became of him he travelling now as he usually did alone Upon which the Ambassador willed him to stay longer which he thankfully refused and presently turned his face for Surat which was then about three hundred English Miles distant and lived to come safe thither where being over-kindlâ—… treated by some English who gave him Sack which they had brought from England he calling for it as soon as he heard of it and Crying Sack Sack is there such a thing as Sack pray give me some Sack and drinking of it though not immoderately being very temperate it increased his Flux that he had then upon him which caused him in a few days after his tedious and troublesome Travels for he went most on foot to come at this place to his Iourneys end for here he overtook death Dec. 1617. and was buried at Swalley under a little Monument likt those in our Church-yards The Factories of the Honourable East-India Company in the Island of Sumatra SUmarra is accounted one of the largest Eastern Islands in length about 700 and in breadth above 200 where the English have two very considerable Factories named Achen and York Fort. York Fort. IT lyes to Leagues from the Continent of Asia Six Kings command therein the King of Acheen is best known to us They have so well defended their Island that the Europeans could never erect any Fort or Castle in it There is a Mountain that casts forth Fire like Mount Etna The Pepper here is better than that of Malabar because the Land is more moist They find Gold in Grains and in little peices after great Flouds of Water The Inland Countrey is inhabited by Barbarians who kill and eat the Bodies of their Enemies being seasoned with Pepper and Salt The City of Acheen is the best in the Island lying half a League from the Sea upon a Plain by the side of a very shallow River upon the bank thereof there is a Fortress built Our English first setled their Trade here in the reign of Q Elizabeth whose name was then famous for her expoits against the Spaniards The Q. Letters to this King were received with much Pomp the King entertained the Messenger with a Banquet presented him with a Robe and a peice of Callicoe wrought with Gold and gave his Passport for the Generals security for whom he sent six Elephants wiâ—… Drums Trumpets Streamers and many Attendants The chief Elephant was about 14 Foot high having a small Cactle like a Coach covered with Velvet on his back in the midst was a great Bason of Gold with a rich Covering of Silk wherein the Letter was put The General was mounted on another Elephant and being arrived the Dishes wherein he was treated were of Gold their Wine is of Rice wherein the King drank to the General out of his Gallery 4 Foot higher than where he fate it 〈◊〉 as strong as Aqua Vitae After the â—…ast some Young Women danced and played on the Musick the King sent a Letter and a Present to the Q. and upon parting asked if they had the Psalms of David and caused them to sing one which he and his Nobles seconded with a Psalm as he sayd for their Prosperity Another considerable English Factory was at Bantam on the Isle of Java Major tho chief City in the Island at the foot of a Mountain whence issue three Rivers two running by the Walls and the other through the City yet not deep enough to admit any Ships The Houses are very mean consisting of three chief Streets The Natives are Heathens and believe when they dye their Souls enter into some Bird Beast or Fish and so eat neither Flesh nor Fish Toward the South are many of the Turkish Religion some called â—…aquiâ—…s are desperate Vilains who having been at Mecca to visit Mahomets Tomb run through the Streets and kill all they meet with their poysoned Daggers thinking they do God and Mahomet good service and shall be saved thereby If any of these Mad men are killd their Followers bury them as Saints erecting them a Tomb which they visit and bestow Alms upon the Keeper thereof I remember saith my Author that in 1642. a Vessel of the Great Mogols returned from Mecca to Surrat with a great number of these Faquirâ—… or Derviches and one of them was no sooner landed and had said his Prayers but he took his Dagger and ran among several Dutch Marriners unlading goods upon the Shore and â—…fore they were aware this desperate Wretch had wounded 1â—… of them whereof 13 died at length the Sentinel shot him through the Body so that he fell down dead the other Faquirs and Mahometans upon the place took up the Body and buried it and in 15 days erected him a fair Monument Every year the English and Hollanders pluckt it down but when they are gone the Faquirs
to hunt Civit Cats and being by his sports got far into them they discovered some of the Rebels busie in burying the dead body of Gamana the Usurper who perceiving Flambore and his Followers fled imagining he had come to search them out and left the Corps with three Slaves in Chains whom they intended to have dispatch at his Grave Being by this means assured of Gamana's death when they least expected it they brought the three Slaves to Flansire who having understood how all things stood in the Countrey he sent them to their Fellow-Rebels to admonish them to come and ask his pardon and that he would forget their misdeeds which wrought the desired Effect for the Rebels submitted and received their Pardon King Flansire then marched to Cape Miserado and reduceing Monou with great slaughter and spoil of the Countrey retired home with his Forces Monou made a New Insurrection to revenge the Losses of Falma but was again totally subdued by Flansires People VI. Cape Coast Castle THis Castle is a strong Regular Fortification consisting in Four Bulwarks Seaventy Guns and Two Hundred and Fifty men In the Principality of Anten near Tekorari the Hollanders built a Fort which in 1664. was attaqued by Sir Robert Holms in behalf of the Royal African Company with two of the Kings Men of War six Frigats and some other Ships and by them with no great difficulty won but regained the next year by Admiral De Ruyter being at that time only mann'd by four or five in health and as many sick English-men having in it seven Iron Guns and six or eight Pounders Upon the retaking the Guns being drawn off to the Ship De Ruyter caused it as not being tenable without many People and great Charges to be blown up into the Air and totally dismantled In the mean time the Negro's of the Mine plundered the Village of Tekorari and laid it waste with Fire and Sword out of malice to the Blacks of that place exercising great Cruelty upon the Prisoners cutting off their Heads wherewith they went dancing and leaping up and down and at last carried them home in token of Victory they were well Armed according to the Countrey fashion some having Caps like Helmets adorned with feathers and Horns of Beasts and Swords hanging on their Bellies whereon instead of Handles they put the Bones of Lions Tygers and other Beasts their Faces are generally painted with Red and Yellow which make a terrible sight In the Kingdom of Fetâ—… the Hollanders have a Fort called Cape Corso strengthened with great Guns and mann'd with a strong Garrison of Slaves but in 1664. this with the Forts of Tekorari aforementioned Adia and Anemabo were taken by Sir Robert Holmes for the Royal African Company but when De Ruyter in 1665. with the Dutch Fleet had forced the English Fort Cormantyn he spared neither diligence nor cost to regain Cape Corso then in the English possession and the rather because Iohn Valkenberge the Dutch Commander there judged it dangerous that any place in that Countrey should be left in the hands of the English alledging that if during the Wars in Europe they were expelled thence by consequence they might easily be kept out whereas by the holding of this place they had an opportunity to settle their Jurisdiction in the Countrey again and in defiance of their Power might defend it against them But finding the Natives sided with the English threatning Fire and Sword having also possessed themselves of a place where a hundred men might beat off a thousand it was judged not feasible without great danger and the design was laid aside VII Fort Royal. THis Fort was demolish'd by the War and is now repairing It will be very Strong all built of Stone with Sixteen Guns and Forty White Men besides Blacks and Mulatto's In the Kingdom of Fantyn the chief Town upon the Seacoâ—…ts â—…led Cormantyn is the principal place of Trade scituate upon a high Mountain it is the most delightful prospect upon the whole Coast. In 1665. Feb. 8. Cormantyn was attaqued by the Dutch the manner thus The Holland Fleet coming to Anchor Feb. 6. westward of Cormantyn the next day they got four or five hundred Canoes with Negro's from the Castle Del Myne with which well mann'd they departed from the Fleet intending to land at Anemabo but were upon their approach saluted by the Negro's of Cormantyn who lay behind the clifts and bushes with Muskets and Cannon playing from the Fort with such fury that they were forced to retreat This Enterprize was twice reattempted upon hopes of having the Negro's side with them but without success however they came at last to a more strict alliance with the Negro's who for security of their Faith delivered several Hostages into their hands and the design was to be executed with the first opportunity Having pitcht on a time at Night a Negro called Antonio came in a Canoe sent by the Inhabitants of Fantyn declaring that the People about Anemabo and Adja could not be ready at the appointed hour but in the Morning they would not fail of their promised assistance adding that early in the Morning at the new cast up Fort of Adja the Prince of Oranges flag should be set up upon which sign the Dutch might land with their whole Force This concluded the chief Commanders of the fleet resolved the following Morning tomake the onset yet before hand sent a Letter to the English Commander in chief requiring the surrender of the Fort without opposition Accordingly at eight a Clock in the Morning the Princes flag being raised upon the new erected Fort of Adja they lanched through with much hazard near the same fort and marched in order along the Shote with three thousand Negro's every one with a Linnen Cloth about his Neck to distinguish them from other Blacks and came about Noon to Anemabo drawing forth about a Musket shot westward of Cormantyn to a Hill planted with three Pieces of Ordnance where they found stout opposition but at length overpowered they fled and then the Hollanders entred the Town and set it on fire the flame and Smoke whereof suddenly surprized the Garrison in the Castle insomuch that as soon as they saw the Souldiers with scaling Ladders hand Granadoes and other Utensils of War under their Walls they took down the red Flag from the Tower and immediately as it were without a stroke delivered it up Into this Castle were Souldiers out of the Castle of Myne instantly put to secure it To the subduing this Fort the Hollanders were not a little animated by the promise of assistance from the Natives of Fantyn which they purchased of them as we hinted before for fifty two Bars of Gold to the value of two thousand five hundred Pound English Money VIII Annamabo THis is a strong Fort built with Brick and Stone The Walls are Twenty four foot high It hath fourteen Guns and Thirty white men besides Natives to guard it This
its motion which these eyes of mine can testify to be true and all those absurdities are removed every one having only his own single and proper motion But where am I I promised an history and am unawares turn'd disputer One Accident more befell me worth mention that during my stay I saw a kind of a reddish Cloud coming toward me and continually approaching nearer which at last I perceived was nothing but a huge swarm of Locusts He that reads the discourses of learned men concerning them as Iohn Leo of Africa and others who relate that they are seen in the Air several days before they fall on the Earth and adds thereto this experience of mine will easily conclude that they can come from no other place than the Globe of the Moon But now give me leave to go on quietly in my Journey for eleven or twelve days during all which time I was carried directly toward the Globe or Body of the Moon with such a violent Whirling as is inexpressible for I cannot imagine a Bullet out of a Cannon could make way through the vaporous and muddy Air neer the Earth with half that celerity which is the more strange since my Gansa's moved their Wings but now and then and sometimes for a quarter of an hour not at all only holding them stretcht out as we see Kites and Eagles sometimes do for a short space during which pauses I suppose they took their Naps and times of Sleeping for other times I could perceive they never had any For my self I was so fastened to mine Engine that I durst slumber enough to serve my turn which I took with as great ease as if I had lain on the best Down-Bed in Spain After eleven days passage in this violent flight I perceived we began to approach to another Earth if I may so call it being the Globe or very Body of that Star which we call the Moon The first difference I found between this and our Earth was that it appeared in its natural colours as soon as ever I was free from the attraction of the Earth Whereas with us a thing a League or two from us puts on that deadly colour of Blew I then perceived also that this World was the greatest part covered with a huge mighty Sea those parts only being dry Land which are to us somewhat darker than the rest of her Body I mean what the Countrey people call The Man in the Moon and that part which shines so bright is another Ocean besprinkled with Islands which for their smalness we cannot discern so far off So that the Splendor which appears to us in the Night is nothing but the reflection of the Sun beams returned to us out of the Water as from a Lookinglass How much this disagrees with what our Philosophers teach in the Schools is evident But alas how many of their Errors hath time and experience refuted in this our Age and among other vain conjectures who hath not hitherto believed the upper Region of the Air to be very hot as being next forsooth to the natural place of the Element of Fire Meer Vanities Fancies and Dreams For after I was once free from the attractive Beams of that Tyranous Load stone the Earth I found the Air altogether serene without Winds Rain Mists or Clouds neither hot nor cold but constantly pleasant calm and comfortable till my arrival in that New World of the Moon As for that Region of fire our Philosophers talk of I heard no news of it mine eyes have sufficiently inform'd me there is no such thing The Earth had now by turning about shewed me all her parts twelve times when I finished my course For when by my reckoning it seem'd to be as indeed it was Tuesday September 11. at which time the Moon being two days old was in the twentieth degree of Libra my Gansa's seem'd by one consent to stay their course and rested for certain hours after which they took their flight and in less than an hour set me on the top of an high Hill in that Other World where many wonderful things were presented to my sight For I observed first that though the Globe of the Earth appear'd much greater there than the Moon doth to us even three times bigger yet all things there were ten twenty yea thirty times larger than ours Their Trees were thrice as high and above five times broader and thicker So were their Herbs Birds and Beasts though I cannot well compare them to ours because I found not any kind of Beast or Bird there which any way resembled ours except Swallows Nightingals Cuckoes Woodcocks Batts and some kiad of Wild Fowl And likewise such Birds as my Gansa's all which as I now perceived spend their time in their absence from us in that World neither do they differ in any thing from ours but are the very same kind No sooner was I upon the ground but I found my self extream hungry stepping then to the next Tree I fastned my Engine and Gansa's thereto and in great hast fell to examining my Pockets for the Victuals I had reserved there but to my great surprize and vexation instead of Partridges and Capons which I thought I had hoarded there I found nothing but a medley of dry leaves Goats Hair Sheep or Goats Dung Moss and the like my Canary-wine was turned and stunk like Hors-piss Oh the villany and cheats of these cursed Spirits whose assistance if I had depended on in what a condition had I been while I stood musing at this strange Metamorphosis on a sudden I heard my Gansa's fluttering behind me and looking back I spied them falling greedily upon a Shrub within the reach of their lines whose leaves they fed earnestly upon whereas before I had never seen them eat any green thing whatever so stepping to the Shrub I put a leaf to my Mouth the tast was so excellent that I cannot express it and if I had not with discretion moderated my Appetite I should have surfeited thereon yet it happened to be a good bait both for me and my Birds when we had most need of refreshment Scarce had we ended our Banquet when I saw my self surrounded with a strange kind of People both in feature manners and apparel their Stature was very different but they were generally twice as high as ours their shape and countenance pleasant and their habit hardly to be describ'd for I never saw either Cloth Silk nor other Stuff like that whereof their Cloths were made neither can I possibly relate their colour they being in a manner all clothed alike it was neither Black White Yellow Red nor Blue nor any colour composed of these If you ask what was it then I must tell you it was a colour never seen in our Earthly World and so neither to be described nor conceived by us for as it is hard to make a man born bâ—…ind understand the difference between Green and Blue so neither can I decipher this
the Harbour where the Governour lives And about 300 paÌ„ces distant on the West of the Fort is a small Dutch Town of about 60 Houses low but well Built with Stone Walls from a Quarry close by The Countrey for near an 100 Mileâ—… up is pâ—…etty well setled with Farms and yeilds good Crops of Wheat Barley Pease c. to the industrioâ—… Dutch Families and also to a considerable â—…mber of 〈◊〉 Protestants some of whom Bless God that their King hath banished them their Native Countrey since they are now setled in a Lâ—…nd of â—…eace plenty and security There are great quantities of Grapes of which the French make excellent white wine of a pale yellow colour but sweet pleasant and strong There are also Cows Goats Hogs Horses and Sheep very large and fat Ducks Geese Hens and Turkeys are very numerous So are Ostriches who lay their Eggs in the Sâ—…nd one of which will very well suffice 2 men They have plenty of several sorts of Fish one not so big as a Herring of which they pickle great Quantities yearly and send them to Europe On the backside of the Town towards the mountains the Dutch East-India Company have a large House and a Garden 3 mile long incompassed with a high Stone Wall full of divers sorts of Herbs Flowers Roots and Fruits with spacious Gravel Walks and Arbours watered with a Brook which descends from the Mountains and being cut into many Channells is conveyed into all parts of the Garden This water is afterward in Pipes carried into the Sea so far that a Longboat may come under the Pipe which is raised to some height and by turning a Cock will fill all the Casks with fresh water with the greatest conveniency and is the best Watering Place in the World The Hedges that make the Walks of this Garden are very thick and 9 or 10 foot high They are kept heat and even by continual pruning They keep each sort of Fruit by themselves as Apples Pears Pomogranats and abundance of Quinces all which thrive well The Roots and Garden Herbs have also their distinct places hedged in apart which makes the whole extream pleasant and beautiful Great numbers of Negro Slaves are continually weeding and working therein All Strangers are allowed liberty to walk there but not to tast of the fruit without leave The Dutch that live in the Town get well by the Ships that touch there When the Men come ashoar to refresh themselves they must give 3s or a Dollar a day for their entertainment tho' Bread and Flesh is as cheap here as in England Besides they buy good penniworths of several Commodities from Seamen which they sell again to the Countrey Farmers at a dear rate none of which live within 20 Miles of the Harbour The high Tax that the Company lays upon drink makes it very dear There are but 3 Houses in the Town that sell strong liquor One where they sell only Wine and you must buy no where else but by stealth the Vintner paying a considerable price to the Company So that you may sometimes buy as much privately for 8d as you give 18d for there but if the Person that sold it be known he is ruined There is another House for Beer and Mum and a Third sells only Brandy and Tobacco The Natives or Hottentots do likewise fell Beef and Mutton privately at an under rate which else must be bought only of the Companies Butchers all others being prohibited buying of the Hottentots And so we leave the Cape of Good Hope The Factories of the Honourable East-India-Company in Persia. With an Account of the Religion Government and other notable Remarks in that Kingdom Also the Life and Doctrines of Mahomet the Grand Impostor HAving clear'd our way let us now Sail m rrily toward the Indies doubting first the Cape of Good Hope and then passing by Madagascar called also St. Lawrence one of the greatest Island in the World stored with all manner of Provisions but inhabited by a barbarous and Heathenish People yet stout warlike and very numerous Over against which on the Continent of Africa are Z fala and Mazambique where the Portugals have got footing and may be strongly supposed to be the places whither Solomon sent his Navy of Ships built at Eziongebar which stood on the Banks of the Red Sea in Arabia the Happy the Countrey of that famous Queen of the South who hearing of his Wisdom and Renown took her Journey thence to visit the Court of King Solomon From that place Solomon sent his Ships for Gold and Silver and Ivory coasting all along the African shore the Art of Navigation being then unknown And the Marriâ—…ers steering without Chart or Compass were necessitated to keep the Neighbouring Lands always in sight as doubtless they did these places being stored with those rich Commodities above other parts of Africa The Portugals Dutch and English discovered these Countries of India in the last Age and have since setled themselves by Forts and Castles there The Portugals first brakâ—… the Ice who in 1494. sailing from Lisbon under Vasco de Gama doubled the Cape of Good Hope and succeeded so well as to Conquer and Fortify several places in many Countreys of Asia and the Islands thereof In 1595. the Dutch set out a Fleet from Amsterdam to India wherein they used such extraordinary dexterity with their Cannon Law and Steel Arguments that they made themselves Masters of 28 Forts and Castles and of forty four or forty five Factories in a short time In 1600. the English began their Discoveries under Sir Iames Lancaster with four Ships whose endeavours were so blest and by the good Government of the Honourable East-India-Company prospered so well that they setled their Residence and Factories in twenty four several plaees of note as at Ormus and Iasques in the entrance of the Persian Gulf under the Persian Monarch At Cambaja Surat Agria and other places in the Great Mogols Countrey At Maslapatan Armagon Petipoly Pattana Siam and other places on the Coast of Cormandel and the Continent of Asia At Achin Ticko Iambo Prianian on the Isle of Sumatra At Bantam Iacatra and Iaparra on the Island of Iava At Socodana and Beniermasa on the Island of Borneo At Macassar in the Isle of Celebs At Poleroon on the Isle of Banda At Firando in Iapan And lastly at Amhonio Hitto and other of the Molucco's which they quietly enjoyed till our covetous Neighbours deprived us of some of them and others were deserted on several accounts The honourable the East-India Company was incorporated in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth and hath been confirmed with divers Immunities added to their Charter by all the succeeding Kings so that now they have as ample Priviledges as any Company whatsoever and are found beneficial to the Nation by the great Trade they drive in Importing so many rich Commodities from India Persia and Arabia They export from hence Peices of Eight Dollars Broad cloaths Perpetuana's Gunpowder
Elephants Teeth Lead Amber Looking-Glasses Sizars Knives Beads Bracelets Feathers Coral Quicksilver Vermillion Allom Brimstone and many others For which they Import all sorts of Spices Cotton-yarn Callicoes Pintadoes Tamerinds Sanders Spikenard Bezoar Alloes Mirrhe Rubarb Opium Frankincense Cassia Borax Calamus Mirabolans Green Ginger Sugars Sugar Candy Camphire Sandal Wood Benjamin Musk Civet Ambergreece Rice Indico Silks both Raw and Wrought Salt Petre Precious Stones of several sorts Pearl Mother of Pearl Gold Silver Christal Cornelian Rings Agats Lacqure Furrs and Skins of Wild Beasts Porcelane Copper China Roots Tea Sanguis Draconis China Wares of divers sorts with several other Commodities and Drugs Of Ispahan or Spawhawn and Gambroon in the Kingdom of Persia. DEsigning to give some Account of Persia wherein these Factories are setled I shall begin with Ispahan This is the Capital City of all Persia and the Residence of the King being in the Center of his Empire scituate in a great Plain which extends 3 ways 15 or 20 Leagues healthy and pleasant beautified with stately Pallaces delicious Gardens magnificent Piazza's and wealthy Bazars or Market-places only the Streets are narrow and dark to prevent the burning Rays of the Sun and annoyed with Loads of Ordure and Filth In the Summer dusty and in the Winter dirty In this City the East-India Company have a Factory as also at Bussora Gambroon or Gomrow is a City of great Commerce guarded with 2 Castles wherein are planted 80 Brass Cannon The Air is so hot and unwholsome that no Stranger can live there above 3 or 4 Months in the Year but retire to the Mountains 2 or 3 days Journey off All Nations that Traffick upon the Indian Seas and the Land Caravans carry Commodities thither and bring from thence Velvets Raw Silk and other Persian Goods This City of Gombroon where the English have a Factory is risen upon the Ruins of Ormus as you will hear which besng once the Staple of the Eastern World and where we once had a famous Factory I shall give some account of it Ormus is an Island in the Persian Gulf about 20 Miles in compass Stony and full of Rocks and in a manner barren of all Necessaries except Salt wherewith the very Rocks are covered and of Salt Stone many Houses built So destitute of all things fitting for the Life of Man that they had their Victuals yea the Water they drank from the adjoining Countreys the Summer so hot that the People rest in Caves covered with Wood and stand or sit in Water up to the Chin and have Loopholes in their Houses to let in the Wind yet in regard of the Scituation it was one of the richest Empories in the World the Wealth of Persia and India being brought thither and conveyed hence by Water to the River Euphrates and so by Boats or on Camels Backs to Aleppo Alexandria Tripoly and thence dispersed into all the Countries of the Mediterranean Sea The only City was of the same name with the Island founded 700 years ago by Mahomet Danku descended from the Kings of Saba in Arabia Felix who with many Families of the Sabeans passed over the Streights into Carmenia and the Isles adjoining and liking the Scituation of this Island built this City in it which he called Ormus or Armuzium the name of the Promontory wherein it lies It was seated at one end of the Isle about 2 Miles in compass well built with a fair Market place some Churches and a well fortified Castle furnished for a Siege by reason of its wealth and resort of Merchants grown to such esteem that it gave occasion to this distich Si terrarum Orbis quaequa patet Annulus esset Illius Ormusium Gemma decusque foret Were all the World a Ring this Isle alone Might of that Ring be thought to be the Stone It was first under its own King whose Dominion extended also to some part of the Continent on either side and over all the rest of the Islands within the Gulf His revenue was of no great yearly due till the coming of the Portugals thither by whom it was discovered under the Conduct of Albukerque in 1509. Who having fortified some part of it for their own defence made it the Staple of Trade for Indian Merchandize which so inricht the same that the Revenues of those Kings though Vassals and Tributaries to the Portugals amounted to an Hundred and Forty Thousand Seriffs yearly In this flourishing state it stood till 1622. when Abbas the Sultan of Persia having received some affronts from the Portuguess or desirous to remove the Trade from Ormus to some Port of his own gave Order to Emangoli Chan the Duke of Shiras to besiege it with Fifteen Thousand Men Who despairing of prevailing by his Land Forces only furnished himself with Ships and Cannon of some English Merchants to whom he promised many things which he never performed For being once Master of the City he utterly destroyed it removing the Canon to Lar the Wealth thereof to his own Treasury at Shiras and the Materials of the Houses to Gombroon the Portuguess and Christian Natives passing over to Muskat in Arabia Felix Since which though the English Captains that ventured in it were disappointed of the Rewards they expected yet so much Honour hath been given by the King of Persia to the English Nation that the Agent who resides at Gombroon takes Custom of all Strangers who Traffick thither The Religion of the Persians With the Life and Doctrines of Mahomet the Grand Impostor THE Persians are generally Mahometans of the Sophian Sect and the difference and hatred is so great between them and the Turks though both own Mahomet for their Law-giver that they are absolutely irreconcileable Now because this horrible Impostor has infatuated so great a part of the World with his blasphemous Dotages I will here give a breif Account of his Life and also of his Doctrine as it is comprehended in his Holy Book as they call it or the Alcoran Mahomet the Son of Abdalla an Idolatrous Pagan was born after his Fathers death at Iaâ—…hrip an obscure Village of Arabia Foelix but now become a City called Medina Talnahi or the Town of the Prophet to which a multitude of Mahometans go in Pilgrimage every Year His Mother named Hemina was a perverse Jewess both by Birth and Religion who dying when he was but 2 Years old left him to the caâ—…e of his Uncle Abdal Muâ—…alib He unable to give him any other Education than the Irreligion and Ignorance of his Countrey afforded him sold him at 10 Years of Age to the Ishmaelites after the barbarous Customs of the Arabians who exposing him to Sale in the open Market he was bought by one Abdal 〈◊〉 wealthy Merchant By him he was imployed as a Slave in all Servile Offices till observing his great Wit and fitness for better Services he at last used him as his Factor sending him with his Camels and Loads of Merchandize into Syria Persia