is that all Nations come thither with their Commodities as Persians Arabians Indians Banians Armenians Turks Tartars English and Dutch These last come thither by Sea but all the others by Land with the Caravans which they call Caffilas and which go at a certain day from Aleppo Bagdat Ispahan Sciras Lahor Herat and Bassara coming all together in Troops and having a Convoy of certain Ianizaries for the Security of their travel against the incursions of the Arabians The Hollanders and the English bring thither ready money and some certain Commodities which they either take up in Europe or go to the Indies for and sell them there to very good profit The Dutch are the better settled there of the two and do furnish in a manner all Persia with Pepper Nutmegs Cloves and other Spicery though they also expend very much ready money in their trading as we said before and especially Spanish Ryals and Rixdollars which the Persians prefer before all other money because they melt them and make them into their own Coins with great advantage The English do either sell or truck their English Cloaths Tin Steel Indico Silk Stuffes and Cottons out of the Indies forthough there are excellent good ones made in Persia yet are those of the Indies more esteemed because they are finer and closer woven They buy of the Persians Satins purfled with Gold or Silver Silk-Stuffes and the Cottons of the Country Persian Tapistry which those of the Country call Kâ—lichey and the Portuguez Alcatifer raw Silk Cotton Rhubarb Saffron and Rose-water This Water is made at Schiras and in the Province of Kerman either by infusion and then they call it Gul-ab whence no doubt the word Iulip comes or by extraction in a Still and then they call it Areka-gul that is to say the sweâ— of Roses They esteem the former incomparably beyond the other and it is one of the best Commodities that a man can carry to the Indies where they sprinkle it about their Chambers and use it in the preparations of perfumes There is made also in those parts great quantities of Linnen-cloath but the Weavers instead of doing their work in Looms at their houses as they do elsewhere fasten the woof of the cloath to some Tree without the City and having made a pit in the ground they put their feet into it so that when they come home at night it is no great trouble for them to bring their work and things belonging thereto along with them in as much as they consist only of certain Canes fastned to the woof They have a certain Copper Coin which they call Besorg whereof six make a Peys and ten Peys make a Chay which is worth about five pence English Two Chays make a Mamondy two whereof make an Abas and three Abas's make a French Crown A hundred Mamoudis make a Tumain which is worth five Pistols As to their weights a Man weighs six pounds a Mancha twelve and a Mansurats thirty There is also a great commerce of Pearls which are fisht for near the Isle of Bahram six Leagues from Gamron They put about the Fisher-mans head a Cap or Case of boyled Leather so close as that it hath no hole but by a pipe which comes up above the water In that posture he is let down to the bottom where he gets together all the Shells he can meet withall and having fill'd a bag therewith which hangs about his neck upon a sign made to his Camerades who wait on him in a Boat he is drawn up The Governour of the City hath the quality of Sulthan and hath under him not a Calenter but a Visir or Secretary and a Couteval who is as it were the Captain of his Guard The King of Persia hath there also a Sabandar or Receiver who does not only receive the duties at the coming in and going out of Commodities but sets such an Imposition upon them as he thinks fit and strictly searches the Ships to see what Merchandises are brought in The Hollanders pay no duties according to a priviledge they obtainâ—d of Scach-Abas and whereof they endeavour all they can to preserve the enjoyment by the Presents they ever and anon make to the Officers of the Court of Persia But the English are so far from paying any thing that on the contrary they enjoy many other priviledges and exemptions and should by right receive one half of the Customs upon what account we shall declare anon but they have hardly the tenth part allowed them nay are obliged to take that little which they have in Commodities And this the Persians do with so much confidence and so openly that they stick not to affirm when they are surpriz'd in their frauds that it is not ill done of them to endeavour the advantage of their own Prince though ever so much to the prejudice of Strangers especially if they be Christians Among others the English have this further priviledge to send away yearly out of Persia twelve Horses without paying any thing whereas the Dutch are obliged to pay for the Licence of Transportation fifty Crowns at least for every Horse as the English are also if they send away above twelve The Persians who have a great advantage over the Indians in this respect that they are better hors'd then the others are very unwilling that Horses should be sent over to the Indians who are their enemies among whom they are so highly esteem'd that an ordinary Horse there will bring four hundred Crowns The Inhabitants of Gamron are for the most part Persians Arabians or Indians but all in a manner speak the Portuguez Language which they learnt by the Commerce they have had with that Nation who were a long time possest of the City of Ormus But now that is the only Nation which is not permitted to come to Gamron though all others are suffered to trade there Christians and Iews are welcome thither as also Mahumetans and Pagans but ever since the reduction of Ormus the Portuguez and the King of Spain's Subjects are not admitted thither yet these last are suffered to come to a little Island within three Leagues of it and there to traffick where the King of Persia hath a Sulthan who commands the Castle receives the Duties at coming in and going out and hinders the Portuguez from approaching with their great Vessels so that these Nations being as it were in open Hostility the Portuguez come sometimes with their Frigots and take Prizes even in sight of Gamron and often Land parties in the neighbouring Islands The City of Ormus is seated in an Island which is distant from the Continent two Leagues and is thought to be about six about It is as barren as the Country about Gamron for it is a continued Rock which produces nothing but Salt insomuch that it doth not yield even fresh Water And yet its Haven is so good and its scituation so advantageous that the City
THE Voyages and Travells OF THE AMBASSADORS Sent by FREDERICK DUKE of HOLSTEIN to the Great Duke of Muscovy and the King of Persia. Begun in the year M.DC.XXXIII and finish'd in M.DC.XXXIX Containing a Compleat HISTORY OF Muscovy Tartary Persia. And other adjacent COUNTRIES With several Publick Transactions reaching near the Present Times In VII Books Whereto are added The TRAVELS of JOHN ALBERT de MANDELSLO a Gentleman belonging to the Embassay from PERSIA into the East-Indies CONTAINING A particular Description of INDOSTHAN the MOGUL'S Empire the ORIENTAL ILANDS JAPAN CHINA c. and the Revolutions which happened in those Countries within these few years In III. Books The whole Work illustrated with divers accurate Mapps and Figures Written originally by ADAM OLEARIVS Secretary to the Embassy Faithfully rendred into English by JOHN DAVIES of Kidwelly The Second Edition Corrected LONDON Printed for Iohn Starkey and Thomas Basset at the Mitre near Temple-Barr and at the George near St. Dunstans Church in Fleet-street 1669. The Compleat History of MUSCOUY TARTARY PERSIA the East INDIES Translated by I. D To the Right Worshipful The GOVERNOUR and FELLOWSHIP of ENGLISH MERCHANTS for discovery of New Trades in MUSCOVY RUSSIA c. Right Worshipful HAd these been the Travels of some private Person I should have contented my self with a personal Dedication thereof But being the accompt of a Solemn Embassy sent to two of the greatest Princes of Europe and Asia upon so Publick and Noble a Design as that of the Silk-Trade carried on with vast charge and many difficulties for several years the address of my Endeavours herein is most properly due to that Body of Merchants to whom the advancement of our Trade into those Parts is particularly recommended It is not unknown to you what opposition this Negotiation met withall from the several Parties therein concern'd and consequently you can best judge what advantages may be made thereof in order to the Interest of this Nation The Travels of particular Persons have their benefit and delight but those of Ambassadors have this further recommendation that they contain such Discoveries as having been made to Them out of a deference to their Publick and Sacred Character were not to be expected by any others Travelling only upon a Private Accompt They were first published by Adam Olearius a Person by his near Relation to the Embassy whereof he was Secretary his Knowledge of the Mathematicks but particularly his Acquaintance with the Languages of the Countries through which they Travell'd perfectly accomplish'd for a Work of this Nature What he writ of these Travels in his own Language the German was so kindly receiv'd that it soon after Travell'd into several others which gave some encouragement to the â—endring of them into English the more seasonably at this time in as much as this Kingdom especially this City begins to disperse its Industrious Inhabitants and spreads the Wings of its Trade into the most remote Cantons of the World Which that it may do till its Wealth at home and Honour abroad be so highly improv'd as that this Corner of the Vniverse may give Laws to the Noblest parts thereof shall be the constant and earnest wish of Right Worshipful Your most humbly devoted Servant JOHN DAVIES TO THE READER HISTORY hath this advantage of Philosophy that it instructs more efficaciously this of Romance that it is more divertive inasmuch as Examples make a deeper impression than Precepts and Truth Instils into rational minds a satisfaction which they find not in Fables But Travels have this over and above that they do both incomparably better than History For as on one side a man reflecting on the Policy and Morality of divers Nations deduces thence useful Lessons of Prudence and delightfully surveys the strange Circulations of humane Nature so on the other he finds the greater divertisement in the Relations out of this regard that he participates of the Pleasure which charms the Travellers but not of the hardships hazards and inconveniences wherewith they are attended The Travels into Muscovy and Persia publish'd by Adam Olearius have been so well receiv'd by such as were able to judge of the worth of that Piece that I dare presume others will take it kindly to find in this Edition what he had promis'd the World in his first The aboad he had made at Moscou and Ispahan and the knowledge he had acquir'd of the Language of the Country had as he affirmed then brought him acquainted with the mysteries of their Religion but printing his Book in some hast he omitted many things which he should otherwise have inserted He hath since done it at leisure so fully that it seems to be quite another Relation in as much as considering this Revision what is now publish'd is both a more curious and more compleat Piece They will find that he hath added thereto the Maps of LIVONIA MVSCOVY the CASPIAN-SEA PERSIA and the INDIES and what may be justly accounted the greatest curiosity the Course of the Great River WOLGA whereof there had been little seen in these parts before and without which it were impossible to track the Travellors through all those remote Countries Besides which there is in this Edition of ours a Map of CHINA and several other pieces of Sculpture for the further satisfaction and entertainment of the Reader There is no necessity of repeating here what the Preface of the first Edition entertain'd the Reader withall concerning the occasion of the Embassy sent by the Duke of Holstein into Muscovy and Persia the endowments and worth of that great Prince the noble design he had fram'd to himself for carrying on the Silk-Trade by Land the difficulties or rather impossibilities which happened in the prosecution thereof the insolent rash and extravagant carriage of the Ambassador Brugman his treacherous designs and unfortunate end But I cannot forbear giving some account of the Illustrious Iohn Albert de Mandelslo the Heroe of the Travels into the East-Indies which title I give him in regard there are in his Travels some miraculous adventures MANDELSLO a Gentleman well born had his Education at the Duke of Holstein's Court to whom he had been a Page Hearing of an Embassy intended for Muscovy and Persia he would needs be one in it and as if he were that Vertuous Man who looks upon the whole World as his Country he would not depant 〈◊〉 he had obtain'd his Prince's leave to see the other parts of Asia During his aboad at Ispahan he got acquainted with some English Merchants who speaking to him of the Indies rais'd in him a desire to go thither The King of Persia to engage his stay at his Court proffers him a Pension of ten thousand Crowns he slights the favour of so great a Prince gets on horse-back with no great Sums about him and sets forward on his Journey with a retinue of three German Servants and one Persian who was to be his Guide and Interpreter but forsook him when he
The 1. they come to the Neuschans to the Lake Ladoga to Noteborough ibid. Spiring a Swedish Ambassador the Swedish Ambassadors depart a Suedish resolution the Muscovites sleep after dinner the reception of the Swedish Ambassadors p. 6 A Muscovian Collation the situation of Notebourg its description ibid. Here they continue six weeks IVLY The Ambassadors come to Laba their reception ibid. Another Muscovian Collation The Ambassadors are defrayd all the time of their aboad in Muscovy according to the custom and they take their allowance in money p. 7 The Musick and dancing of Muscovy ib. They embark upon the Wolgda a distinct River from the Wolga The devotion of the Muscovites ibid. 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 p. 7. 8 The come to Corodiza to Soliza to Grunza to Wisoke to Krifzeuiza to Novogorod to Brunitz p. 8 AUGVST The 1. a Muscovian Procession ibid They come that day to Crasmistansky the 2 to Gam-Chresta to Iazelbitza to Simnagora to Wolsolk to Columna and the 7. to Badeua p. 9 The 8. come to Torsock travelling in those eight dayes 71. leagues ibid. The 9. come to Tuere upon a River of the same name which falls into the Wolga The 13. to Nicholas-Nachinski the 14. to MOSCOU ibid. There they stay above four months Their reception and entrance into Moscou p. 10 The 19. they have their first Audience Their Cavalcade p. 11 The Presents made to the Great Duke ib. The Ceremonies of the Audience 13. The Great Duke treats the Ambassadors ibid. They are permitted to go abroad contrary to the ordinary custom of the Muscovites p. 14 SEPTEMBER The 1. was celebrated the Muscovian New-years-day ibid. Their Epoche is the Creation of the World ibid. The Ambassadors of Holstein negotiate jointly with those of Sweden about the Silk-trade in Persia. ibid. The entrance of the Tartarian Embassy 15 The entrance of a Turkish Ambassador 16 The Turkish Ambassador's Presents ibid. Those of certain Greeck Ecclesiasticks 17 OCTOBER A Muscovian Festival celebrated Oct. ibid The Cavalcade of the Great Duke and Dutchess ibid. NOVEMBER The 19. the Ambassadors have their last private Audience the Great Duke grants them passage through the Country Another Muscovian Procession 18 A Cavalcade of Crim-Tartars 72. in number all Ambassadors Our last publick Audience ibid. The Great Duke's Present to the Ambassadors 19 THEIR RETURN towards HOLSTEIN The Ambassadors leave Moscou ibid. Come December the 26. to T were the 20 to Tarsock and the 31. to Novogorod 120. leagues in seven daies 20 M.DC.XXXV IANVARY 1. Leave Novogorod come the next day to Mokriza the 2. to Tuerin the 3. to Orlin the 4. to Zariza and the 5. to Narva 38. leag and a half in 9. daies ibid. 7. Leave Narva and come to Reuel the 10. ib. Here they staid neer 3. weeks FEBRVARY Leave Reuel Ian. 30. and come Feb. 2. to Parnau taking their way by land along the Baltick-Sea and so through Livonia Curland Prussia Pomerania and Meklenbourg The City of Parnau described ibid. The Ambassadors come to Riga Febr. 6. and leave it the 12. and come to Mittau the 14. 21 Description of the Dutchy of Courland and the Prince now reigning there ibid. The Ambassadors come to Bador in Poland 22 leagues in three daies ibid. Come the 19. to Memel in the Dutchy of Prussia 16. l. in 3. daies Memel described ib. Leave Memel Febr. 20. and come the 21. to Koningsberg the Metropolis of Prussia 16. l 2. daies 22 Koningsberg described where they see among other things the Elector of Branderburg's Library ibid. Leave Koningsberg the 24. and exchange the Sledges for Waggons come to Elbing and thence to Dantzick 20. leag 3. daies ibid. There they continue 17. daies Dantzick described its situation Magistrate Privileges Commerce c. ibid MARCH The 16. they leave Dantzick and come the 25. to Stetin which described 23 Come the 29. to Rostock in the Dutchy of Mecklenbourg ibid. A description of the City of Rostock and its Vniversity ibid. Leave Rostock the 30. and come the same day to Wismar which described ibid Mar. the last come to the Castle of Schonberg ibid APRIL The 1. Leave Schonberg and come to Lubeck which described ibid Leave Lubeck the 3. come the next day to Arnsbock the 5. to Pretz the 6. to Kiel and the same day to Gottorp 24 THE SECOND VOYAGE into Muscovy and Persia. M.DC.XXXV OCTOBER The Ambassadors having made their report and augmented their Train leave Hamborough Oct. 22. and come the 24. to Lubeck 10. leagues 25 Embark at Travemunde the 27. come the 29. neer the Castle of Bornholm touch against a Rock the night following land in the Iland of Oeland come to Calmer 26 A description of the Iland of Gotland 27 A description of the Iland of Hogland against the Rocks whereof the Ship is split but the men goods and horses are saved the provisions are spoil'd and lost and the Embassy reduc'd to great extremities in a desert Iland 28 NOVEMBER The 17. the Amb. leave Hogland in two Fisher-boats with much danger and land in Livonia the 18. 29 DECEMBER The 2. they come to Ruel the Metropolis of Esthonie where they continue three months ibid A description of Livonia its Frontiers Lords Fertility Inhabitants Order of Knights the manner of life of the Livonians the Ceremonies of their mariages the Religion Barbarism and Superstition of the Peasantry of those parts their Nobility the Government of Livonia p. 30. c. M.DC.XXXVI MARCH The 2. the Ambassadors leave Reuel and come the fifth to Narva 17. l. 4. daies 34 A description of Narva its Commerce Political Government the Castle of Juanogorod A remarkable story of a mad Wolf and a Bear 35 The 7. they leave Narva come the same day to Lilienhagen the 8. to Sarits the 9. Orlin and the same day thence to Tzuerin 3. daies 24. leagues thence to Dosan thence to Mokriza 8. l. ibid. A Pristaf meets them at Orlin and receives them in the Great Duke's name 36 The 11. they came to Novogorod where they stay five daies ibid. A description of the said City its situation on the River Wolgda its bigness the cruelties exercis'd there by the Great Dukes of Muscovy the fabulous voyage of St. Anthony 37 The 16. they leave Novogorod pass through Brunits Miedna Kressa Iaselbitza Simnagora Columna Wisnawolloka and Windra-Pussk and came the 21. to Torsock 59. leagues 6. dayes 38 The 22. they leave Torsock passe through Troitzka Micdna and came the next day to T were 12. l. two daies There they embark upon the Wolgda the 23. but the next day prosecute their journey by land pass through Garodna Sawidowa Saulka-spas Klin Beschick and Zerkizowo and come the 28. to Nichola Darebna 29. l. 6. daies ibid. The 29. they leave Nichola Darebna and the same day make their entrance into Moscou
of the Northern Provinces of this great State but so full of Woods and Rivers that it is in a manner inaccessible unless it be when the Fenns and Rivers are frozen The Province of Petzora reaches along the frozen Sea towards the East and North. The River of Petzora whence it hath the name falls into the Sea near the Streight of Weigats below the City of Pustioziero by six several channels The mountains which the Muscovites call Zimnopoias that is the Girdle of the Earth the same as it is believed as the Antients called the Riphaean and Hiperborean mountains lye on both sides of it and afford the best Sables and excellent Hawks The City is but little and the cold so great in this Province that the Rivers are frozen from August to May. Upon this Province border the Samoicdes a people we shall have occasion to speak of hereafter The Province of Obdorie derives its name from the River Oby which rising out of the great Lake of Kataisko and running from the East towards the North falls into the frozen Sea and is so broad at the mouth that with a very good wind a Ship will have much ado to cross from one side to the other in two days As for the Tartarian Provinces that are subject to the Great Duke we shall give an accompt of them in the prosecution of our Travels along the River Wolga of which River we shall only say by the way that in the Province of Rschouie two leagues from its chief City and in the great forest of Wolkowskiles is the Lake of Wronow out of which rises a River that two leagues off that place falls into the Lake of Wolga from which it derives its name and is thence forward called Wolga The Tartars call it Edel and 't is the same as Ptolomy calls Rha. 'T is doubtless the greatest River in all Europe since that from the City of Nise-Novogorod near which we went into it out of the River Ocea to the Caspian Sea we have counted above 500 German leagues not accounting above a hundred leagues more there is from its source to the place where the Occa falls into it The Boristhenes which those of the Country call Dnieper rises out of the same Province ten leagues from the Lake of Fronowo near a Village called Dniepersko It divides Lithuania from Muscovy and after it hath taken its course towards the South where it passes near Wiesma and thence towards the East bathing the Cities of Progobus Smolensko Orscha Dubrowna and Mohilouw it turns again towards the South and passing by Kiouie by the Circasses and thence toward Otzakow a City of the Tartarians of Precop it falls into the Euxine Sea There are in Muscovy two Rivers called Dwina one rises out of a Lake of the same name ten leagues from the Lake of Fronowo and the source of Dnieper and falls into the Baltick Sea below Riga The other rising at the conjunction of the Rivers of Iagel and Sachana gives its name to the Province before mentioned and falls into the White Sea near Archangel The Rivers of Mosca and Occa are pleasant and very considerable but they lose their names with all the other Rivers in the Countrey when they fall into those we have before spoken of Muscovy then being of such extent as we have said it is not to be imagin'd that in Provinces so distant and situated in so different climates Air and Earth are alike qualify'd every where About Moscou and the adjacent Provinces the Air is good and healrhy so that there is no talk of the Plague or any other Epidemical disease Which was the reason that in the year 1654. at the beginning of the War of Smolensko when the Infection made such havock in that great City people were the more surpriz'd thereat in regard the like had not been known in the memory of man It was so great that those were seen dying in the streets who thought themselves well enough when they came out of their houses and all Muscovy was so astonish'd at it that all the Avenues of Moscou were block'd up The cold is so piercing that no fur can prevent the Nose Ears Feet and Hands from freezing and falling At our first Voyage thither in 1634. the cold was so sharp that in the great Market-place before the Castle we saw the earth open above twenty fathoms in length and a foot broad We could not go 50 steps without hazard of losing some of our members I saw there by experience what others have left in writing that spittle froze before it came to the ground and water as it dropp'd I observ'd withal that the earth is open there in a manner as soon as in Germany and that the Spring fruits come much about the same time for the more the earth is cover'd with Snow the more it keeps in the heat requisite to promote vegetation The Ice and Snow together make the ways so even that it is much easier travelling there than any where else For Winter-travelling the Muscovites make use of Sledges made very low of the bark of Trees cover'd with some coarse kind of Cloath We lay all along in them and covering our selves with sheep-skins and the Sledges being cover'd with Sack-cloath or some coarse Cloath we not only felt not the cold but even sweated in the depth of Winter The Muscovian Horses are very low yet fit enough for this kind of travelling for being swift and indefatigable they will go 8. 10. nay many times 12 leagues without staying by the way I have my self travell'd twice from Tuere to Torsock without any halt by the way Hence is it that travelling is so cheap that a Country fellow shall bring you fifty leagues for three or four Crowns at most If the cold be sharp in the Winter the heat is no less troublesom in Summer not proceeding so much from the scorching rayes of the Sun which is there in a manner always above the Horizon and makes the day 18. hours long as occasion'd by the Flies Wasps Gnats and other insects which the Sun produces in the Moors and Fens which take up a great part of the Country in such abundance that night and day they are extremely troublesome But the Fens and Forests which Muscovy is well stor'd with hinder not but the Land they cultivate is very Fertile For unless it be about Mosco where the soyl is barren and gravelly let them take ever so little pains with their grounds in other places they will bring forth more Wheat and Pasture than the Countrey can consume The Hollanders acknowledge that Muscovy is to them what Sicily was sometime to Rome You never hear talk of dearth though in the Provinces that have not the convenience of Rivers to transport their Corn the Inhabitants manure only so much ground as will afford them a bare subsistence for the present year not minding the future as
send us a Pilot we might confide in But the merry Companion was no sooner got to his own ship but he set sayl and left us in the lurch I think what troubled him was that we had not made him some present according to the custom of the Countrey but he regarded so little the slur he had put upon the Ambassadors that he had the impudence to come and Visit them in their ship in the company of several other Tartarian Lords after our arrival at Terki and made no other answer to the reproaches he receiv'd upon that occasion than ja wi nouat a great business indeed to be talk'd of Finding our selves thus abus'd we sent to the Master of the Persian ship to entreat his assistance He though Masâ—â—â— of the ship and owner of all the goods in it came aboard us to proffer us his service as a Pilot with more kindness and civility than we could have expected from a Christian and having recommended his own ship to his servants stay'd with us He was a very understanding man and was not only acquainted with the Navigation of those parts but also with the Compass much beyond what the Persians ordinarily are vers'd in who do not willingly venture very far into the Sea but for the most part keep in sight of Land So that finding the wind serv'd he caus'd the Anchor to be weigh'd about eleven at night taking his course towards the South with an East wind We observ'd it was the same day that we left Travemunde the year before and accordingly we had the same success in this second Voyage We had all that night but ten foot water but towards day we had eighteen The Countrey on our right hand which is called Suchator had four Hills which made a great Promontory reaching a great way into the Sea and from that Cape to Astrachan are counted 100 werstes and to Terki 200. but on both sides they are very short ones The 29. The weather fair we kept on our course in the morning Southward and with a South-East wind and in the afternoon South-west-ward having about twenty foot water and finding the bottom gravelly and full of little shells We could discover no Land that day and the night following we cast Anchor Here the Needle declin'd twenty degrees from North to West Octob. 30. We set sayl at the break of day and soon after Sun-rising we discover'd the Countrey of Circassia which lies all along the Sea-Coast from the South-West to North-East compassing it about much after the form of a Crescent and making a spacious Bay It was our design to get beyond the point of the Gulf but the wind coming to South-East had almost forc'd us into it which oblig'd us to cast Anchor about noon at the entrance of the Gulf at three fathom and a half water finding at the bottom a kind of fat earth about six Leagues from Terki We discover'd in the Bay about 20. or twenty five Boats and upon the first sight thereof it run into our imagination that they were the Cosaques but we were soon undeceiv'd and found them to be Tartarian Fisher-men belonging to Terki and were then coming to bring us fish to sell. For those we bought of them we gave them fifteen pence a piece but they were very great ones and we found in their bellies a great number of Crabs and Lobsters among which there were some alive The remainder of the day we spent in giving Almighty God solemn thanks for all his mercifull deliverances of us particularly that which happen'd on the very same day the year before when we were in so great danger amidst the Rocks and Shelves of Ocland Our Persian Pilot went that day to his own ship which was at some distance behind us to give his men Order what they should do leaving us somewhat of an opinion that he would shew us such another trirk as the Muscovite had done before but he afterwards made it appear that those of his Nation are not only made up of Complements for he return'd very betimes the next morning having sent his Boat before us to serve us for a Guide The last day of October we had in the morning a thick Mist with a great Calm The Sun having dispell'd the one about noon and the wind being come to the North we endeavour'd to get out of the Gulf and with much ado by laveering got the point near which we stayd at Anchor till after midnight and came very betimes in the morning on the first of November before the City of Terki We cast Anchor about a quarter of a League from the City because we could not come any nearer by reason of the shallowness of the water The night before the Cosaques had a design to set upon us but happily miss'd us in the dark and met with the little Fleet which brought the Tartar-Prince but the noise of the Strelits or Muscovian Muskettiers having discover'd to them that they were mistaken and imagining they should find a vigorous resistance they drew back but made it appear they were the Germans that they look'd for Intelligence coming in the morning to the City of this attempt of the Cosaques rais'd a verry hot Alarm there in regard it was known that Mussal their Prince was coming and that he might be in some danger The Inhabitants were confirm'd in that opinion when they heard the going off of our great Guns a noise they are not accustomed to in those parts insomuch that they began to get together and look on us as Enemies but they were put out of all fear by the arrival of their Prince who having given us a Volley as he pass'd by and invited us to honour him with a Visit at his Mother's satisfy'd the Inhabitants that there was no danger either to him or them The City of Terki lies somewhat above half a League from the Sea upon the little River Timenski which issues out of the great River Bustro and facilitates the correspondence there is between the Sea and the City to which there is is no other way to come by reason of the Fens which encompass it on all sides for a quarter of a League about It is seated in a spacious plain which is of such extent that the extremities thereof cannot be discover'd by the eye whence may be corrected the errour of the Map drawn by Nicholas Iansson Piscator alias Vischer though in all other things the best and most exact of any I could ever meet with who places the City of Terki upon a Mountain but by a mistake confounding the City of Tarku in the Province of Dagesthan with that of Terki in Circassia The Elevation of the Pole is here at 43. degrees 23 minutes It is distant from Astrachan sixty Leagues by Sea and seventy by Land and is the last place under the Jurisdiction of the Great Duke of Muscovy It is in length 2000. foot and in breadth 800. all
by that means easily discover whereabouts they are The 11. we continu'd our Voyage presently after Sun-rising taking our course along the Isle Southward At the extremity of the Isle there is a kind of Streight near a Cape or Promontory which comes out of the Continent into the Sea much about the same place where on the Isle side a great Sand-bank advances it self toward the Land and so makes but a narrow passage Which oblig'd us to cast Anchor that we might have the more convenience of Sounding so to avoid the flats or shallows which make Navigation very dangerous thereabouts We found at first but two fathom water but soon after we were at six or seven fathom insomuch that the Wind becoming more favourable we took our course South-South-west directly towards Derbent along the shore and in sight of it After mid-night the Wind being not so much for us as before we were forc'd to laveer it all the remainder of the Night but we advanc'd little or nothing insomuch that a Tempest rising thereupon we at last resolv'd to cast Anchor which we did at twelve fathom water We lay at Anchor all the 12th till 9. at night and then the Wind coming to the North we set sail with a favourable Wind taking our course to the South-South-east About 11. the same night we found between 20 and thirty fathom water and an hour after no bottom so that the wind being turn'd again to an absolute Tempest we conceiv'd that it would be dangerous for us to bear much sail upon a Sea we were not acquainted with and that in the Night time Whereupon having furl'd them up we let the Ship go directly before the wind by which means we got two Leagues in less than an hour We had besides our double Shallop two other Boats one whereof which we had bought of the Muscovites was only for their convenience who sounded the depth of the Water and the other serv'd for the unloading of our Ship which drew both of them after her There were two Sea-men appointed for the guiding of the Shallop which having in it only certain small Pieces Bullets Chains Cables Pitch and other things necessary for Navigation was made so shallow that being ever and anon fill'd with water the Sea-men finding themselves no longer able to guide it came aboard the Ship and fasten'd the Shallop to the stern The other Boats were soon over-whelm'd with water and lost The Shallop held out a while but at length follow'd the others and this prov'd the beginning of our wrack upon the Caspian Sea Our Ship which was built only of Firr and had been much endammag'd by the Sand-banks of the Wolga bow'd under the high and violent waves of that Sea as if it had been a Snake and open'd in so many places that we were forc'd to be alwayes at the Pump and continually employ'd in emptying the water that came in of all sides Our Persian Pilot had not the least share of the common fear and distraction we were all in and no doubt wish'd himself in his own Ship or nearer Land in regard that had we been cast away there we had all inevitably perish'd Nov. 13. at the break of day we perceiv'd that we had still kept in sight of Land and we particularly discovered the Mountain of Derbent which as we conceived could not be above ten Leagues distant from us The Tempest abating a little of its Violence we hois'd the mizen Sail and afterwards the main Sail with a resolution to run the Ship strait a-ground But having the Night before taken our course too high and the wind continuing still from the North-west we were forc'd to comply with it and to our no small regret pass beyond the City of Derbent along the Persian Coast which in that place reaches from North to South but so as that we could not find any Road or Haven where we might save our selves for as much as there being only Rocks at the bottom for the space of six Leagues from the Land into the Sea it is impossible to make the Anchor take any hold At last about four in the afternoon we cast Anchor at four fathom water before the Village of Niasebeth which our Authors call Nisavay the bottom muddy but we thought not our selves more safe at Anchor than when we were toss'd up and down in the main Sea The waves were so violent by reason of the extraordinary roughness of the Sea that it was not long ere they broke the hindges of the Rudder which oblig'd us to take it quite off and to fasten it with a Cable behind the Ship lest beating against the Castle it should have broke it all to pieces the Water coming still into the Ship so fast that we were forc'd to spend the remainder of that day and all the night following in emptying it The Tempest abated a little of its violence the next morning being the the 14. of November and invited us to think of some course for the disembarking of our selves but we had neither Boat nor Shallop to help us to Land and though we had caus'd several Volleyes of great and small shot to be discharg'd to oblige the Inhabitants of the Countrey to come in to our relief yet could we not perceive any body but we had hardly made a shift to clap a certain number of deal Boards together like a flat-bottom'd Boat ere we saw coming towards us two Boats which the Kaucha or Judge of the Village had sent to our relief in that extremity They brought us a present of two baggs of Apples with a very obliging Complement protesting that they were no less glad at our arrival than we might be at theirs Which done they exhorted the Ambassadors to get out of the Ship as soon as they could possibly taking along with them what they accompted of greatest Value and not to be over-confident of the clam which no doubt would not last many hours The Ambassadors took their advice and having put into the Boats what they thought most considerable they ordered some part of their retinue to go in also and certain Soldiers with their Officers leaving in the ship the Sieur Vchterits their Steward and the Secretary of the Embassy with an intent to send for them as soon as they were landed themselves The Kaucha was on Horse-back at the Sea-side and perceiving that the Boats could not come near enough by reason of the shallowness of the water he alighted and sent the Ambassadors his Horse for their more convenient Landing And thus it was that the Ambassadors first set foot in Persia. But as soon as they were got a-shore the Tempest grew more violent than it had been before insomuch that it was impossible for them to send back the Boats which put us that were left aboard to the utmost hazard of Shipwrack and Life The Ship being now in a manner quite unloaden was toss'd up and down like a Ball by the Waves
We intended to take up our quarters that night at Tzauat but understanding that Areb Chan of Scamachie was lodg'd there with his whole Court and that he would stay there all the next day we also resolv'd to continue the 16. at the place where we were We had some reason to be distrustfull of Areb-Chan by reason of what had happen'd between us at our first passage but he made it appear that the Persians have this also common with all Generous minds that they can forget injuries For he did us no unkindness nay on the contrary as long as we were in his Government he let slip no occasion of obliging us laying the cause of our misunderstanding one the other on the Interpreter Rustan who had forsaken us and as he said had made him several bad reports of us not doubting but he had said as much to us of him and protesting that if he had him his head should go off for it He order'd us to be receiv'd by a Person of Quality of his retinue upon the first news were brought him of our being come to the River Aras and made us a Present of three baggs of Wine which came to us very seasonably in as much as that day and the day before we had been but poorly treated Aetzebeg who had been our Mehemandar at our former passage came also to visit the Ambassadors and presented them with an excellent Greyhound-bitch The 17. we cross'd over the famous River Araxes near Tzauat where they had made a Bridge of Boats which they call Tzissi The antient Historians and Geographers speak so differently of this River that I conceive it will not be amiss I said somewhat here of it by the way True it is most of them put it in the Province wherein it really lies but they are mistaken in the description of its Course in as much as they do not well understand Q. Curtius who speaks of it in two several passages but in a different sense For in the 5. Book he puts it in Persida and sayes its course is Southward and in the 7. Book he makes it pass through Media and to fall into the Caspian Sea Nor does Strabo express himself more clearly Raderus in his Commentaries upon Q. Curtius thinks to make these passages very clear by saying that the River Medus into which the Araxes fall hath its course at first from North to South and that it falls into the Caspian Sea But he is mistaken for it is impossible that River should make its way through the dreadfull mountain Taurus which is many leagues in breadth and which runs through all Persia nay indeed all Asia and pass from Persepolis towards the Caspian Sea But the truth is there are two Rivers of the same name of Araxes in Persia one in Media the other in Persida As to that which passes by the walls of Persepolis now known by the name of Schiras Q. Curtius calls it Araxes as he gives to the Iaxartes which passes to the Frontiers of the Scythians the name of Tanais and that of Cancasus to the Eastern part of the mountain Taurus for which it would much gravel him to shew any reason The Persians call that which is in Persida Bend-Emir by reason of a great Miracle which they believe Aly did there and it falls into the Ocean near the Persian Gulf. That which we cross'd over in the Heaths of Mokan still keeps its name which is deriv'd if we may credit Eustathius from the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to pluck in as much as when it overflows it plucks up and carries along with it whatever lies in its way It rises out of the mountains of Armenia behind the great Ararat and receiving into its Chanel the waters of many other Rivers the chiefest whereof are Karasu Senki Kerni and Arpa it goes near Karasu a great way into the Land and falls soon after near Ordabath with such a noise as is heard above two leagues thence in the Plain of Mokan which lies very low in comparison of Armenia and Schiruan It s course there is very slow and after it is joined viz. 12. leagues above Tazuat with the River Cur or Cyrus which is as big as it self and comes Northwar'd out of Georgia or Gurtzistan it falls into the Caspian Sea Whence it appears that Ptolomy and those who follow him are mistaken when they affirm that the Araxes and the Cyrus fall into the Caspain Sea by two different chanels as also when they say that the City of Cyropolis was that which is now called Scamachie This is inferr'd by Maginus from the degrees of Latitude which Ptolomy gives him But if it were so we must put these two Rivers not above but below the City towards the South in as much as we found their Conflux or meeting together which the Persians call Kanschan at thirty nine degrees fifty four minutes and Scamachie at forty degrees fifly minutes that is thirteen leagues thence and under another Meridian And indeed we found such a distance between them when we travell'd those parts Nor is there any other River eminent enough or big enough within nineteen dayes journey of Scamachie on either side of it to deserve that name The 17. we took up our Quarters at Tzauat where we were receiv'd and magnificently treated by the Mehemandar whom the Chan had sent to us This Villâ—ge derives its name from the Arabiau word Tzauat which signifies a passage in regard that at the crossing of this River people are oblig'd to shew their pass-port which is done to prevent the entrance of the Turks into the Kingdom The 19. we travell'd eight leagues for the most part over barren Lands and a desert Country cover'd with Reeds and lodg'd that night at the foot of the mountain of Scamachie in three Matzuchs or round Hutts which had been purposely set up there for us That day dy'd our Painter whose name was Tâ—ierry Nieman after he had been shaken several months together by a quartane ague whereto a flux joyning carried him away in four dayes He died by the way in a Wagon and in ill weather We had him buried the 22. before the City of Scamachie in the Church-yard belonging to the Armenians with the ordinary Ceremonies of our own Country The 20. we were upon our way betimes in the morning that we might in good time pass over the mountain of Scamachie which extends it self in those parts like a Crescent towards the East from the Sea along the River Cyr and it is called there Lengebus tachi by reason of a Village named Lengebus which is upon the op of the mountain The rain which was then so cold that we thought Winter coming on again had so broken the high-wayes that this was one of the saddest dayes journey we had ever since our first setting forth The Ambassadors and such others as were well mounted got to the City ere day-light was shut
had in it two or three fair Structures one whereof being over the Gate had many noble Appartments In the midst of the Garden there is a very high place within which was the Sepulchre of the Mahumetan who had founded it and was there buried with all his Family The Tomb was covered with Marble and had several Arabian Inscriptions There is not any place in all those parts that hath so noble a prospect as this not only towards the Sea-side but also towards the Land where a man hath the sight of the noblest Champion Country in the World This is so pleasant a place that the Mogul being one day at Cambaya would needs take up his Lodging in the Garden and caused the Stones of the Sepulchre to be taken away that his Tent might be pitch'd there While I was taking a particular view of that Structure came up to us two English Merchants who obligingly reproach'd me with the slurre I put upon their Nation in preferring the House of a Mahumetan before their Lodge as if I had been but poorly entertain'd at Suratta and other places where I had lodg'd among them They proffered me their company to walk and promised to carry me the next morning to a place where an Indian Widow was to be burnt with her own consent I went at night to my Lodging whither the Brocker brought several Alcatifs or pieces of Tapistry quilted Coverlets Silk-stuffes Cottons Vessels Handles for Knives Seals Bracelets Rings and Buttons of Agat Cornelian and Jasper c. of all sorts of colours which pleased me very well but not being in a condition to spare any money I only bought some few trifles to keep in favour with my Merchant The next day the English Merchants came to my Lodging whence we went together to the River side without the City where this voluntary execution was to be done The Womans Husband was a Rasboute and had been kill'd near Labor 200. Leagues from Cambaya As soon as she had heard of his death she would needs do his Obsequies by causing her self to be burnt alive but whereas the Mogul and his Officers are Mahumetans who endeavour by degrees to abolish this heathenish and barbarous Custom the Governour had a long time oppos'd her desires under pretence that the news of her Husbands death being uncertain he could not consent to the doing of an inhumane action whereof there would afterwards haply be cause to repent The Governours design was to see whether time would abate any thing of her passion and the earnestness she was in to follow her Husband into the other World but seeing she was daily more and more instant to do it he permitted her to comply with the Laws of her own Religion She was not above twenty years of age yet we saw her come up to the place of her execution with so much confidence and a chearfulness so extraordinary to those who go to present and inevitable death that I was much inclin'd to believe that she had dull'd her senses with a dose of Opium which is as commonly used in the Indies as in Pâ—â—sia In the front of the Procession marched the Country Musick consisting of Haw-boys and and Timbrels Then follow'd a great many Maids and Women singing and dancing before the Widow who was drest in her richest Cloathing and had her Fingers her Armes and Legs loaden with Rings Bracelets and Carkanets After her came a confused company of Men Women and Children and so concluded the Procession She made a stop at the Funeral Pile which had been purposely erected for the Ceremony The Woman had wash'd her self in the River that she might meet her Husband in a state of Purity in regard the body of the deceased being not upon the place she could not accompany it in its passage into the other World The Pile was of the wood of Apricock-trees among which they had put in some Sanders and Cinnamon Having look'd upon it with a certain contempt she took leave of her Kindred and Friends and distributed among them the Rings and Bracelets she had about her I was something near her on horseback with the two English Merchants and I think she perceiv'd in my countenance that I pitied her whence it came that she cast me one of her Bracelets which I had the good hap to catch and still keep in remembrance of so extraordinary an Action As soon as she was got upon the Pile they set fire to it which she perceiving pour'd on her head a Vessel of persum'd Oly which the fire immediately taking hold of she was smother'd in an instant so as that she was not perceiv'd to make the least wry face at it Some that were present cast upon her several Cruses of Oyl which soon reduc'd the body to ashes while the rest of the Assembly fill'd the Air with their cries and shouts such as must needs have hindred those of the Widow to be heard if she had the time to make any in the fire which had made a sudden dispatch of her as if it had been Lighting The Ashes were cast into the River I was told that this barbarous Custom had been introduc'd among the Pagans of those parts upon this account that Polygamy occasioning much heart-burning among the Women arising either from the little satisfaction they could have from a man who is oblig'd to divide his affections or the jealousie which is unavoidable among Rivals of that Sex it happened that the Women procur'd their Husbands death and 't was found that in one year there had been four Men buried for one Woman so that to oblige them to be careful of their Husbands lives it was ordered that such as were desirous to be accounted honest Women should be ingag'd to accompany their Husbands at their death and to be burnt together with their bodies Certain it is that the Persians and other neighbouring Nations have ever had so particular a veneration for the fire that it is not to be admir'd they should chuse rather to reduce their deceased to ashes then bury them I say this Obligation of dying with their Husbands was imposed only on those Women who stood upon the reputation of honesty yet so as they were engag'd thereto only by a principle of honour there being not any punishment to be inflicted on such as refused to follow them in that dreadful journey other then that they were not admitted into the company of Persons of quality as being looked on as infamous Women They who are not so scrupulous and stand not so much upon the punctilio of Honour and prefer their lives before their reputation do ordinarily strike in among the publick Dancers The Ceremony being over I went to see one of the chiefest Merchants of the City named Myrsabeg to whom I had Letters of recommendation from the Director of the Engglish Commerce at Amadabat He was not at home but I found him on the River side looking on some Workmen he had about
They call their Brass or Copper money Tacques and it is prohibited upon pain of death that any should transport either Gold Silver or coined Brass out of the Country Speaking before casually of the fertility of this Country we said it wanted not any thing requisite for the life of Man It produces Wheat Rice Pease Beans Barly Millet Turkish Wheat Flax Mustard-seed c. Oyl Butter Cheese though somewhat dry and over-salted to please the palats of Forreigners and all these it is better stor'd with then any Province of Europe Their Wheat is much bigger and whiter then ours and they make bread of it not to be baked in an Oven as we do but upon Iron plates The poorer sort and particularly the Benjans make a kind of Flawns of it in Frying-pans over their fire of Cow-dung which they make use of instead of Wood. Their Pease and Benas are somewhat less then ours but much more delicate especially their red Chices wherewith in some places they feed their Horses Oxen and Buffles instead of Oats which is a kind of Grain not used in the Indies They do not make any Hay at all nor ever cut any Grass but what is eaten while it is green Their Sowing time is in May and their Harvest in November and December There is not any person in the Mogul's Countrey possess'd of any real Estate in Land But when Seed-time is coming on the Peasants apply themselves to the Governour or him who is next under the King in the several Provinces and acquaint him how much ground they intend to cultivate that year upon condition to allow the King a third part nay sometimes half the profits in so much that it often happens that the Peasants hardly get in the charges they had been at in the manuring of it On the contrary the Mogul leaves all the Meadow-ground to be Common and makes little or no advantage thereof whence it comes that most Grounds lye fallow and bring forth only Grass They sow in their Gardens all sorts of Pot-herbs as Lettice Succory Sorrel Parsley c Radishes Navew Cabbages Cowcumbers Citruls Garlick Onions Parsnips of several kinds but above all Melons which in delicacy exceed those of all other parts The Rose only excepted there is almost no Flower but is sought after more for its colour then scent for though those they call Mogera and ceampi have a good smell yet are the Women more in love with them for their colour then scent The former are white the latter yellow and both are to be had all the year long as also the Grass wherewith all the Fields are covered unless it be when the excessive heat of the Summer dries it up Besides the Trees known to us and which bring forth Lemmons Citrons of several kinds and Pomegranats there are also those called Ananas Banasses Iaccas Cocos and Fig-trees of which they most cultivate the Cocos-trees out of which they get the Terry There is also near Surat a kind of Grapes but much less then those of Persia and much dearer then any other Fruit of the Countrey We shall have occasion to speak of it elsewhere and shall therefore only add here that their Forrests which are full of these sorts of Trees are stor'd besides the Creatures we have spoken of heretofore with a kind of wild Dogs which they call Iakals but it is death for any to hurt them or any of the other Beasts that are yellow or black because that sport is reserv'd for the King and the Governour of the Province Their Horses are not comparable to those of Persia and Arabia yet are they at great charge in keeping them allowing a Groom for every Horse and feeding them after a particular manner When they give them of that kind of Pease called Ciches whereof we spoke before called by them Donna they cause them to be beaten and boil'd Besides which they give them twice a day morning and evening two pounds of Barly-meal which they make up into a Paste with half a pound of Butter and a pound of Sugar The Oxen of this Countrey are of the same making with ours save that they have a great bunch or rising between the Shoulders The Mahumetans are the only people that eat of them as they do also of Mutton but they are only the poorer sort that do so Persons of quality feed on Kid which they either roast whole making a Pudding of Rice Almonds and Raisins of the Sun in the belly or they stew them with Butter and Pepper which they call Brenghie and is very good meat They eat also of those Persian Sheep that have such fat tails but this is a very scarce dish and consequently reserv'd for great Mens Tables and extraordinary Entertainments They have also Fowl as Capons Peacocks Geese wild-Ducks Teal Partridges Pigeons Herons Sparrows as also all sorts of Birds of prey as Faulcons Tassels Hawks Eagles c. They want no River-fish as Carps Breams Eels c. and Salt-fish is extraordinary good and very cheap proceeding hence that the Pagans eat not of it at all and the Mahumetans love Flesh better then Fish They have also all sorts of Shell-fish as Oysters and Crabs and particularly a certain Fish which in the Maritime Towns of Picardy is called Cheurette and is a kind of great Prawn so big that a dozen of them makes a good dish It is very remarkable that whereas upon all the Coasts of Europe this Fish is best at the Full-moon in those parts it is so at the New and at the Full Shell-fish are in a manner empty The Fish called Tubarons which devour Men are often seen in those parts and that is one reason why all persons ordinarily bathe and wash themselves in Tankes Their Ships are but poorly built in so much that they have no other way to dispose of their Artillery but upon the deck and consequently in the open Air. The greatest Voyages they make are those of Iava and Sumatra Eastward and to Aden and Meca upon the Red-sea They sometimes carry above a thousand persons together who for the most part go upon Pilgrimage to Meca that at their return they may be put into the number of their Hoggoi or Saints They set sail at the beginning of the March-Moon and return in September for the tempests which reign from Iune till that time upon those Coasts makes them spend six moneths in a Voyage which might be performed in two The Commodities they transport to the Coasts of Aden are Cotten Linnen-cloath Indico Camphire Tobacco Allum Sulphur Benjamin Pepper and other Spices Mirobalans and several other sorts of Preserves and they bring back very little in Commodities to wit Coral Amber Misseit wherewith they dye red Kahwa or Coffee-berries and Opium which is accounted the best of all the East but their best returns consist in Gold and Silver coined The other Vessels which are less
those who keep the passages who make a mark in their Armes which they are oblig'd to shew as they come back for the Portuguez would not have the Decanines and Canarines come into the City without a Pass-port All the fresh-water they have within the City comes from a Fountain which represents a Lucrece out of whose Wound there comes Water enough to supply the whole City but the Ships take in fresh-water near the Castle above which there comes out of the Rock a Rivulet which there falls into the River The City hath now neither Gates nor Walls but the River which makes the Island secures it against the attempts which an open place might be exposed to The publick Buildings are very fair and the Palaces of great Persons very magnificent especially in their Houshold-stuffe The Inhabitants are either Castizes that is Portuguez born of Father and Mother Portuguez or Most zes that is born of a Portuguez Father and Indian Mother The Mestizes are distinguished from the others by their colour which inclines towards the Olive but those of the third Generation are as black as the Inhabitants of the Country which happens also in the fourth Generation of the Castizes though there were no mixture among them The Portuguez are either Titulados as those who are employed in the principal charges Fidalgos da casa del Rey that is Gentlemen in ordinary of the Kings House Mocos Fidalgos young Gentlemen that is the Sons of Titulados or Cavalleros or newly admitted to Gentility by the King Cavalleros Fidalgos Escuderes Fidalgos or simply Gentlemen There are also such as have the quality of Mocos da camra or Grooms of the Kings Chamber who pass also for Gentlemen All the rest are Hombres Honrados and Soldados The former are Merchants or Tradesmen and appear publickly with the same gravity and almost with the same retinue as Gentlemen in as much as some only excepted who cut Leather for Shooes and Stuffes for Clothes all the rest have their business done by Slaves No Person of Quality goes abroad afoot for some are carried by their Slaves in a Palanquin and others ride on Horseback or go in painted and gilty Gondoles but not any without a Slave to carry an Umblello or Fan. The Portuguez have the reputation of being very highly conceited of themselves but those of Goa are such in so high a degree as well in their gate as all their other actions that they treat as unacquainted with the World such as are newly come from Portugal and are not accustom'd to their manner of going and life They are excessively civil one to another nay they are in this so ceremonious and exact that he who should omit to render a person that gives him a visit the honour he conceives due to himself whether it be in making him sit down otherwise then he would or not bringing him to the street-door must expect the effects of a deep resentment whereof the least are cudgelling or caning which they liberally bestow on persons of mean condition who being below them have omitted giving them the respect they look for from those that are not their Equals though indeed they owe them not any Winter begins there towards the end of Iune with a South-west Wind which comes from the Sea and reigns for the space of four moneths all along that Coast from Diu as far as the Cape of Comory and during all that time the Sea is not only innavigable but there are few Havens where Ships can ride in safety and unexpos'd to Storms mixt with terrible Thunder and Lightning which disturb the Air there in that season Which is yet so much the more to be wondred at inasmuch as at the same time the Coast of Coromandel which is in the same Peninsula and at the same degree of elevation and in some places is but twenty Leagues distant from that of Malabar enjoyes a pleasant Spring and the most divertive season of the year Accordingly those who go from Cochim to Saint Thome by land as they pass over the Mountain of Balagatta which divides the whole Peninsula as the Apennine does Italy discover from the top of the Mountain on the one side a clear and temperate Air and on the other a Country cover'd with a perpetual mist and drown'd with the Rains that continually fall The same observation may be also made in those Ships which go from Ormus to the Cape of Rosalgate Where as they pass the Cape they suddenly pass out of fair Weather into dreadful Storms and Tempests Whence it comes that in those parts there are but two Seasons as there are also principally but two Winds that reign there in the Summer time to wit those of the East which the Portuguez call Therentos which come from the Land-side and blow from mid-night till mid-day but they are not felt above ten Leagues within the Sea and those of the West which they call Virasons which come from the Sea immediately after dinner and blow all the rest of the day This change of Seasons from one extremity to another is the cause of many Diseases among the Portuguez but the most common there are those which they call Mordexin which kills immediately burning Feavers and bloudy Fluxes against which they have in a manner no remedy but bleeding The Plague is a Disease not known in the Indies but â—o make amends they have the Pox which destroyes every year a great number of Portuguez For though the Country produces present and topical Remedies against the Disease yet so violent are their inclinations to Women who on the other side are as mad for Men that they will not take the time to be cur'd of a Disease which is not got off by Remedies if they be not accompany'd with a very regular diet The Women of those parts â—ave an excessive affection for white Men and being kept very much in restraint they are put to all imaginable inventions to let them know how passionately they love them and â—o get them into their Lodgings where they many times prosecute their delights even in â—he Husbands presence by means of a Drug which so stupifies his Senses as that he seems â—ither to have lost them or to sleep with his eyes open The Indians call this Herb Doutro Doutry or Datura and the Turks and Persians Daâ—ula Garcias ab horto and Christopher d' Acosta affirm that it is a kind of Stramonea that the Herb grows abundantly all over the Indies in the shade and that it is somewhat like Bears-foot They extract the juyce of it while it is green or they beat the Seed to powder and mix it in Conserves or put it into his drink whom they would reduce to that condition for twenty four hours during which time he is depriv'd the use of all his Senses so that he does not see what is done before him though his eyes be open unless some body moisten the soles of his
the Moguls there are not amongst the Indians any that go more neatly apparrell'd then they As concerning Coromandel the Eastern part of the Indies on this side Ganges is so called a Coast divided from the Malabares by the Mountain Balagatta extending from South to North from the Cape of Comorin or rather the point of Negapatam to the River Nagund and the Town of Masulepatam containing all along the Coast about a hundred Leagues 'T is the more commodious for that it serves for a retreat to all Vessels which are constrain'd to quit the Coast of Gusuratta during the Winter season and it hath many good Havens and the best Roads of any in all the Indies The Portuguez there possess the Town of Saint Thomas at thirteen degrees thirty two minutes on this side the Line and they say that at the time when Vasco de Gama discovered the Indies and seiz'd on Cochim and Cranganor the Inhabitants on this Coast who called themselves Christians crav'd protection of the King of Portugal and that arriving at Saint Thomas they found Christians who made profession of the Greek Religion For this purpose they tell a Story grounded on a Tradition which nevertheless is not to be proved out of the Ecclesiastical History Thus then they say that Saint Thomas one of our Saviours twelve Apostles having long preach'd the Gospel in the Kingdom of Norsingia notwithstanding the opposition of the Bramans resolv'd to petition the King that he might build a Chappel for the doing of his Devotions and that the Bramans engag'd the King to deny him the favour But it happened that a huge piece of Timber was so lodg'd in the mouth of the Haven belonging to the Town of Meliapour then the Metropolis of the Kingdom that not only great Vessels but the smaller Barks being not able to get in the Trade of the Town was in a short time quite lost There was a trial made with a company of Elephants to remove the Tree but in vain then the Magicians of those parts were imploy'd to try if their Art could do what strength could not effect but to as little purpose wherefore the King proclaim'd a considerable reward to him that could clear the Haven which invited the Saint to offer his service and this for no other reward then the mere Timber it self His proffer to draw it out himself made him at first appear ridiculous and specially when they saw him tye his Girdle to it to draw out a weight that many Elephants had not the strength to stir but he pulling the Beam followed as easily as if it had been a little Boat which when he had laid upon the Land the King was amaz'd with admiration and in honour of the Miracle permitted him to build the Chappel as he had requested The Bramans seeing their Doctrine disparag'd by this Miracle and that if Christian Religion began to spread in those parts there was little hope to support the Pagan they resolve to free themselves of the Apostle and cause certain Panyms to murther him while he was at his Devotions in his Chappel Some there are who will have the Church dedicated to this Saint in that place to be built by a King of Narsinga and that the door was made of that miraculous beam but the Portuguez say they built it of which indeed there is most probability Lentscholen saith that in these parts there are certain people with one leg bigger then the other and that they are held to be the Progeny of those that martyred the Apostle Maffeus in the eighth Book of his Indian History relates how Iohn the second King of Portugal made search for the bones of this Saint upon the Coasts of Coromandel which he transported to Goa where he built a fair Church in honour of him but if credit may be given to Ruffinus and Socrates in their Ecclesiastical History the Apostle Saint Thomas suffered his Martyrdom at Edessa in Mesopotamia whither heretofore they made Pilgrimages to his Sepulchre yet Marco Paulo Veneto sayes otherwise though with some contradiction to himself Gasper Balbi a Venetian Jeweller who hath made a very handsome relation of his Travels in the Indies sayes That being at the Town of Saint Thomas in the year 1582. there was a Church then building in the honour of Saint Iohn Baptist and that the building almost finished they found they wanted Timber to perfect it when at the same time the Sea cast a Tree ashore of such a bulk that looking on it as a thing extraordinary they would needs measure it and finding it to be a just proportion for the Edifice the people cryed out a Miracle wherein they were confirm'd when sawing it it yielded just so many Beams as serv'd to finish the Church Headds further that the Tree came from some far distant place because in cutting it sent forth such a stinking smell that it infected the whole Country The Town of Saint Thomas is not very great but the greatest part of the Houses are of Stone and well built The Church there hath no Steeple yet may be seen at a good distance There live here about six hundred Portuguez or Mestizes besides some Armenian Merchants The Indians Pagans and Mahumetans live in the Town of Meliapour which is seated on a small River two Leagues from Saint Thomas Northward but it is faln from the pristine glory it had when it was the Capital Town of the Kingdom of Narsinga The King of Portugal hath no Governour at Saint Thomas nor so much as a Magistrate nor any political Order by reason whereof divers disorders are daily committed without punishment The South and South-west Winds reign here from April to September during which time the Road is very good but all the rest of the year small Barks are constrain'd to get into the River Palacatte and greater Vessels into the Haven of Negupatam You have five fathom water even within Cannon-shot of the Town but the Sea is so rough at all times there is no Landing without danger Upon this Coast the Hollanders have divers Plantations where they drive a great Trade but principally at Potlapouli otherwise call'd Nisapatam where they have had their Ware-houses ever since the year 1606. and at Paleacatte where they have built the Fort of Geldria This Country was heretofore divided into three Kingdoms that is Coromandel Narsinga and Bisnagar but at present 't is all subject to one Prince who resides sometimes at Bisnagar sometimes at Narsinga Above the Town of Masulipatam lyes the Country or Kingdom rather of Orixa reaching from the River of Masulipatam to the River of Guenga but the Hollanders would have it comprehended under the name of the Coast of Coromandel The chief Towns of the Kingdom are Masulipatam and Golcanda the one considerable for Commerce the other for being the Kings Ordinary Residence The Country yields plenty of Salt and Diamonds are likewise there found but all above five