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
where they stay three months ibid APRIL Their Cavalcade and reception their lodgings in the City of Moscou 39 Their allowance of provisions their first publick Audience the Great Duke's treatment of them their first private Audience ibid Their second private Audience the Muscovian Palm-sunday Procession the Muscovian celebration of Easter Easter-eggs and other Ceremonies 40 The Amb Brugman's private Audience ibid MAY. Several Audiences and Conferences of the Ambassadors ibid. IVNE The 1. was celebrated the birth day of the Prince of Moscovy the Great Dutchess's Cavalcade 41 The Ambassadors last Audience the Audience of the Secretary of the Embassy ib. They augment their Train the entrance of Ambassadors from Poland the fierceness of a Polish Ambassador the Great Duk'es pass ibid The Amb. leave Moscou its description situation buildings quarters the Great Duke's Palace its markets Monasteries the great Bell its Churches and Chapels p. 42 Muscovy described the Provinces of Wolodimer and Smolensko 45 Rhesan Permie Jugarie Wiathka Bielsk Rschovie Tuere Plescou Siberie Jaroslaf Rosthou Susdal Dwina 46 Archangel Ustingha Vologda Bielejezoro Petzora Obdory the source of the Wolga 47 The River Boristhenes that of Dwina the air of Muscovy extremely cold in Winter and hot in Summer ibid. It s fertility fruits especially Melons more fertile than Livonia the seed-time and harvest 48 Boranez what flowers asparagus venison and fowl no Dear furrs 49 No Carps in Muscovy mines and iron forges ibid. The Samojedes a different people from the Samogithes their habitations manner of life stature cloathing 50 The error of certain Geographers 51 A description of Groenland ibid The stature of the Groenlanders ibid. Their language 53 Their cloathing and ordinary exercises 54 They are Salvages have no gold or silver are Pagans ibid. Whence it comes that the Inhabitants of Septentrional-Countries are swarthy 55 The stature of the Muscovites 56 They are great admirers of long beards and great bellies ibid. The women paint their dress 56 The Muscovites constant to their own fashion ibid Their manner of life they have an aversion for the Sciences whereof they know nothing especially the Mathematicks and Anatomy 57 They are naturally ingenious liars distrustful and calumniators 58 A pleasant story of a woman who fasly accus'd her husband 59 They are indiscreet uncivil quarelsom land insolent in their expressions 60 Not addicted to any study shameless 61 Drunkards ibid. The women much given to drink 62 Tobacco forbidden among them they are all Slaves to the Great Duke as well strangers as such as live in Muscovy ibid The Knez and Bojares keep many slaves who commit great disorders both in City and Country 63 They are good Soldiers 64 The siege of Smolensko in the year 1635. ib. Their hous-keeping ordinary food Cavayer 65 Hydromel a kind of mead how made 66 The expences of persons of quality the highest act of Muscovian civility ibid. The Muscovites sleep after dinner their stoves and bathing-places 67 Are long-liv'd subject to fornication and brutality ibid. The ceremonies of their Marriages ibid. The nuptial bed the ceremonies in the Church 68 How the women live their divertisement why the Muscovites bang their wives 69 Divorce 70 The Government of Muscovy the true signification of the word Czaar or Zaar his Arms the veneration the Muscovites have for their Prince know not what liberty is 71 The Great Duke's absolute power changes the Governours of Provinces every three years 72 The money of Muscovy Muscovian Ambassadors a remarkable Present 73 An abridgement of the History of Muscovy from the beginning of the last Century 74 The tyranny of Juan Basilouits commonly called Iohannes Basilius ibid. The usurpation of Boris Gudenou ibid. Foedor Borissouits his son ejected 75 A counterfeit Demetrius the history of him and his end ibid. Iohn Basilouits Zuski made Great Duke a second counterfeit Demetrius a third Impostor 76 The Muscovites choose Uladislaus Prince of Poland Great Duke of Muscovy are discontented with the Polanders an insurrection at Moscou ibid. Michael Federouits chosen Great Duke the story of a counterfeit Zuski his impostures and death 77 The ceremonies of the Czaar's Coronation 81 The story of the Great Duke's Favorits 82 An insurrection at Moscou which costs the lives of some of the Favorites creatures 84 The Officers and Ministres of State of Moscovy 87 Their expence they esteem Nobility 88 The Great Duke's revenue expence ibid. His Table Physicians Interpreters Privy Councel 90 Their administration of Iustice. 91 Their ordinary punishments 92 The Religion of the Muscovites 93 The Characters of the Muscovian language 95 Their Baptism ibid Their Chaldeens 96 Their Proselites 97 The admirable constancy of an English Gentlewoman 98 Their Festivals ibid Their Divine service 99 Their corruptions of the stories of the Bible particularly that of Mary Magdalen ibid Their Images 100 Their Churches bells 102 Their Hierarchy 103 Their Patriarch and Archbishops ibid. Their Prelats marry not their Monks the habits of Ecclesiasticks 104 Their Priests are oblig'd to marry their Monasteries ibid. Their Fasts Confession and Communion 105 Their Interrments 106 They tolerate all Religions but Roman Catholicks 107 THE TRAVELS of the AMBASSADORS from MUSCOVY into Tartary and Persia. M.DC.XXXVI IVNE The 30. the Ambassadors leave Moscou in order to their departure for Persia embark upon the River Mosca so to go by that of the Wolga to Astrachan 109 IVLY The 2. they come to Columna 24. l. ibid Within three quarters of a league of Columna the Mosca falls into the Occa ibid The 4. they come to the City of Pereslas 22. l. 110 Leave Pereslas the 4. and pass in sight of Rhesan ibid. The 7. they come to the little City of Cassinogorod in Tartary where they sent to complement a Tartar-Prince subject to the Duke of Muscovy 25. l. 3. daies ibid. The 8. they come to Moruma the greatest City of the Tartars of Mordwa 22. leagues 2. daies 111 The 10. they leave Moruma and come the next day to the great City of Nise or Nisenovogorod at the meeting of the Occa and the Wolga ibid. They continue 3. weeks before the City till the ship was finish'd for their sailing along the Wolga and the Caspian Sea ibid A description of the City of Nise the Weywode's magnificâ—nce ibid From Moscou to Nise there are 100. leagues by land and 150. by water ibid The River WOLGA its breadth is one of the greatest Rivers in the World there being from its source to its mouth above fifteen hundred French leagues it is very full of Sand-banks 112 AVGVST The 4. the Ambassadors settle their Guard to prevent what danger they might fear from the Cosaques ibid. The 5. they come before the City of Basiligorod which described 113 The Tartars called the Ceremisses their habitations their Religion their belief concerning the immortality of the Soul their superstitions sacrifices Polygamy lawful among them the cloathing of the men and Women ibid. The 6. they come to Kusmademianski 8.
that every one should present to the new-married couple None but brought what he had made a shift to save thinking the poor Archbishop would have had it But the Tyrant took all the money and having caus'd a white Mare to be brought said to the Archbishop There is thy wife get up on her and go to Moscou where I will have thee entertain'd among the Violins that thou may'st teach the Bear to dance The Archbishop was forc'd to obey and as soon as he was mounted they ty'd his legs under the Mare 's belly hung about his neck some Pipes Fidle and a Timbrel and would needs make him play on the Pipes He scap'd with this punishment but all the other Abbots and Monks were either cut to pieces or with Pikes and Halbards forc'd into the River Nay he had a particular longing for the mony of one Theodore Sircon a rich Merchant He sent for him to the Camp neer Novogorod and having fasten'd a rope about his waste order'd him to be cast into the River drawing him from one side of it to the other till he was ready to give up the ghost Then he caus'd him to be taken up and ask'd him what he had seen under water The Merchant answer'd That he had seen a great number of Devils thronging about the Tyrant's soul to carry it along with them to Hell The Tyrant reply'd Thou art in the right on 't but it is just I should reward thee for thy prophecy whereupon calling for seething oil he caused his feet to be put into it and continu'd there till he had promis'd to pay him ten thousand Crowns Which done he caus'd him to be cut to pieces with his brother Alexis The Baron of Herberstein who travel'd into Muscovy in the time of the Emperor Maximilian the first and about his Affairs says that heretofore before the City of Novogorod was converted to the Christian Faith there was an Idol called Perun that is the God of Fire perun in the Muscovian language signifying fire This God was represented with a Thunder-bolt in his hand and hard by him was kept a constant fire of Oak which was not to go out but at the peril of their lives who kept it The same Author addes that the Inhabitants of Novogorod having received Baptism and being made Christians cast the Idol into water that it went against the stream of the River and that being near the Bridge it call'd to the Inhabitants and casting a stick among them bid them keep it for his sake That in his time on a certain day in the year the voice of Perun was heard there and that thereupon the Inhabitants fell a-fighting with sticks so earnestly that the Weywode had much ado to separate them But now there is no talk of any such thing there being no monument of Perun left other than that there is a Monastery called Perumski Monastir which they say is built in the place where the Temple of the Idol stood before Without the City and on the other side of the River is a Castle encompass'd with a stone-wall where live the Weywode and the Metropolitan or Arch-bishop who hath the over-sight of Ecclesiastical affairs all over the Province This Castle joyns to the City by a great Bridge from which Duke Iohn Basilouits caus'd a great number of Inhabitants to be cast into the River as was said before Over against the Castle on the same side with the City is a Convent dedicated to St. Anthony The Muscovites say he came from Rome into those parts upon a Mill-stone upon which he came down the Tiber cross'd the Sea and so up the River Wolgda to Novogorod They add that by the way he met certain Fisher-men with whom he bargain'd for the first draught they should make that they brought up a Chest full of Priests Vestiments to say Mass in Books and Money belonging to this Saint and that afterwards he built a Chapel there in which they say he lies interr'd and that his Body is there to be seen as entire as when he departed this World Many Miracles are wrought there as they say but they permit not strangers to go in thinking it enough to shew them the Mill-stone upon which the Saint perform'd this pretended voyage and which indeed may be seen lying against the Wall The Devotions performed there have been such as have built a very fair Monastery in that place We staid at Novogorod five days during which the Weywode sent us a Present of 24 sorts of meat dress'd after their way and 16 sorts of drink The Chancellor Bogdan Foederouits Oboburou who had been our Pristaf in the former Voyage sent us also divers delicacies The Ambassadors presented the Weywode with a new Coach March 16. VVe had brought us 129 fresh Horses for our Sledges and we got that day four leagues to Brunits where we took up fresh Horses again wherewith the next day we travel'd in the forenoon 8 leagues to Miedna and in the afternoon four and a half to Kressa The 18 we got before dinner six leagues to Iaselbitza in the afternoon four to Simnagora The 19. nine leagues to Columna and the 20. five to Wisna wolloka where we saw a young man of 12 years of age that was married At Tuere we saw a married woman that was but 11. and this is ordinary in Muscovy as also in Finland The same night we came to Windra Pusk having travel'd that afternoon seven leagues In this last place there were but three houses and the stoves so nasty and stinking that we had a very ill night of it though indeed in other places the stoves are not kept much better than stables in our Country The 21 we got 7 leagues to Torsock The 22. six to Troitska Miedna and the 23. six more to Tuere mentioned before Here the snow beginning to melt in several places we quitted our Sledges and took the Wolgda which was still frozen and travel'd that day six leagues to Gorodna The 24. we went by land again for the Ice began to give way and got to Sawidoua and thence to Saulkspas seven leagues from our last lodging having by the way pass'd several Brooks with great difficulty by reason the Ice was loose The 25. we pass'd by a great Village called Klin behind which is the Brook Sestrea which falls into the River Dubna and with it into Wolgda We were forc'd to stay the flakes of Ice with stakes which we made a shift to fasten in the Brook to hinder them from carrying us away The next day we pass'd it again by reason it winds it self up and down in those parts and lodg'd that night at Beschick seven leagues from Klin The 27. we pass'd two other little Brooks and got 6 leagues forwards to Zerkizouo The 28. we got but three leagues to Nicola-Darebna which the Author in
his way like a Torrent yet express'd a certain respect for those things which were though out of superstition accompted sacred Near this Mosquey there is also to be seen another great Gate of free-stone between two Pillars twenty fathom high which seems to be antique and had been built at the Ceremonies of some Triumph but it begins now to decay The City hath about six thousand Inhabitants who wondred very much to hear us relate that some of those who have published their Travels into Persia would make the World believe that the cold weather forc'd them in the Winter time to forsake the City and change their Habitations For it is so far from being true that there are many places in Persia where the cold obliges the Inhabitants to change their Habitations that on the contrary it is an effect ordinarily caus'd there by the Heat True indeed it is that there are some places in that Kingdome where the cold is very incommodious by reason of the scarcity of firing as for instance near Eruan at a place called Deralekes as being seated between two Mountains and especially at the Village of Arpa But it is not so great as to oblige the Inhabitants to change their Habitations for they only quit their upper Rooms and retire into Cellars built very deep under ground not only to serve them for a place of retirement in the Winter time against the cold but also in Summer against the heat Iune 25. we left Sulthanie after we had staid there three dayes which were spent up and down the Country in getting us fresh Horses and Camels The sick persons who by reason of their weakness were not able to ride on Horse-back were dispos'd into such Chests as the Women make use of when they travel The Persians call them Ketzawhea and they are put on Camels backs like Carriers packs The Physician and my self were set upon the same Camel whereby we were put to two great inconveniences one proceeding from the violent Motion caus'd by the going of that great Beast which at every step gave us a furious jolt and the other from the insupportable stink of the Camels whereof there being but one Boy to guide eight or ten they were ty'd one to another and went all in a file insomuch that the infectious smell of all that went before came full into our Noses We departed two hours before Sun-rising and travell'd that day six Leagues through a very fertil Country all arable and pasture Lands leaving on the left hand the little Mountains called Tzikitzâ—ki where the King of Persia's best Race-Horses and Mares for breed are kept About noon we took up our Lodging at the Village of Choramdah which lies on the side of a little River having so many Trees and Gardens about it that it is not without reason that name is given it which signifies a place of Pleasure The 26. we departed thence in the night and travell'd five Leagues or better over Mountains and Valleys The 27. we departed at mid-night and having travell'd five Leagues we were got by Sun-rising near the City of Casuin or Cashan but that the Daruga who had the Command of it might have the leisure to set his affairs in order for our entrance our Mehemander carried us to a Village were we staid above two hours till such time as the Daruga came to receive us This entrance was not accompany'd with the same Ceremonies as we had seen in other places in regard the Governour having not the dignity of Chan could not express the same Magnificence Yet was it handsom enough in as much as the Daruga came attended by five or six hundred men horse and foot There came also to meet us an Indian Prince accompany'd by some Gentlemen on horse-back of his own Countrey and follow'd by a great number of Lacqueys and Pages He came in a kind of Chariot having one other person with him in it The Chariot was drawn by two white Oxen which had very short necks and a bunch between the two shoulders but they were as swift and manageable as our horses The Chariot was cover'd above and lay'd over two Wheels which instead of an Axletree turn'd upon a piece of Iron made so crook'd at the middle that it bore the weight of the whole Chariot The Charioteer sate before and guided the Oxen fasten'd to a Beam which was made fast to the Horns with a Cord drawn through their Nostrils Being come within 500. paces of the City we met with fifteen young Ladies excellently well mounted very richly clad in Cloath of Gold and Silver c. having Neck-laces of great Pearls about their necks Pendants in their ears and abundance of other Jewels Their faces were to be seen contrary to the custom of honest Women in Persia. Accordingly we soon found as well by their confident carriage as the accompt given us of them that they were some of the Eminent Curtezans about the City who came to entertain us with the Divertisement of their Musick They march'd before us and sung to the sound of certain Hawboyes and Bag-pipes that went before them making a very extravagant kind of Harmony And that we might be sure to see the City we were carried quite through it and Lodg'd on the other side thereof As we pass'd through the Meydan we saw several persons playing on Timbrels and Hawboyes who joyning with the other Musicians accompany'd us to our Quarters The people came also thither in great numbers some of them having it put into their heads that there were in the Ketzawehas some great Beauties whom we carried as â—â—â—ents to the King but when they saw sick persons with great beards coming out of them they hung down their heads and made all the haste they could away I found this City conformably to the Calculation of the Persians and Arabians at 85. degrees Longitude and at 36. degrees 15. minutes Latitude It is one of the principal Cities of the Province of Erak which is the ancient Parthia wherein is comprehended as well Sulthania as all the other Cities froth this place as far as Ispahan It was antiently called Arsacia and it is seated in a great sandy Plain having within half a dayes journey of it Westward the great Mountain of Elwend which reaches towards the South-west as far as Bagdat or Babylon The City is a farsang or good German league in compass but hath neither Walls nor any Garrison kept in it by reason it lies at so great a distance from the Frontiers Yet hath it with these disadvantages above a hundred thousand Inhabitants whereof if there were occasion for them a good part might be put into Arms. Their Language is the Persian but somewhat different from the common Dialect whence it comes that it is not so intelligible to the other Persians being much after the rate that the German Language is to the Hollanders The houses are all of Brick bak'd in the Sun according
they wear a Hat Great honours are done to them after their death and after their Corps hath been attended certain dayes they are burnt with Sandale-wood they cast the Ashes into the River and inteâ—r the â—ones near the place they liv'd in Pegu yields no Corn at all but in recompence they have more Rice then they can spend in so much that they can afford some to their Neighbours They have a custom to make a Drug of certain little Fishes which they pound in a Mortar and being so brought to a Paste they lay it in the Sun to putrifie till it be quite corrupted and grows moist and then they use it in their Sauces instead of Oyl or Butter making a dainty of that which it were not possible for us to endure the smell of Sodomy was heretofore so common in those parts that to extirpate this Vice which had near destroy'd the whole Species one of the Queens of Pegu ordain'd by Edict that every Man should carry in his Yard a little Bell which would make it swell in such sort that he should not be able to do Nature any violence And to the end the Women should not be frustrated of their due their Virginity was to be taken away while they were yet very young by means of a Composition of contrary operation to that used by common Women to heighten the pleasures of their Gallants These little Bells are put in betwixt the skin and the flesh and to effect the operation they cast them into a sleep with a certain Drink to make them insensible of the pain they are put to by the Incision whereof notwithstanding they are cur'd in few dayes For their greater aversion from Sodomy they paint the Boyes at seven or eight years of age with a certain blew which extending with the skin as it grows changes into another colour and makes them look most horribly The Women on the contrary do all they can to appear lovely and attract the Men covering their privy parts only with a thin piece of Linnen which sits not so close but the least wind shews all they have All of them in general make their Teeth black and Men when they ride on horseback fill their Mouths with something that puâ—fs out their Checks They who marry buy their Wives of their Parents and when they are cloy'd send them home again but the money belongs to the Wife who on her side is obliged to restitution if shâ— part with her Husband without cause The King is Heir to all that dye without Children and they who have Children can leave them but two thirds of their Estate the rest belongs to the King The best Commodities to be brought to Pegu and which may be sold to greatest profit are Stuffes and Linnen-clothes from Saint Thomas Musulipatam and Bengala Pepper Cinnamon Nutmegs Optum and Sandale-wood c. by reason they have no other Spices then Ginger At Pegu they take in no other Merchandizes then Silver and Rice which they transport to Malacca In bargaining they make no words at all they do no more but give their Hand cover'd with a Handkerchief and in grasping or moving their Fingers they make their meaning known For borrowing of money they stick not to pawn their Wives and Children but if the Creditour enjoyes them carnally during that time he is then paid and the Debtour acquitted Siam one of the most considerable Kingdoms of the Indies lying at eighteen degrees on this side the Line hath on the North the Kingdoms of Pegu and Auva on the West the Gulf of Bengala from the Haven of Martanan to the Town of Tavaga towards the East Patana whence the Coast runs first Northwards to thirteen degrees and a half comprehending in this space the Gulf of Siam And lastly Southward to twelve degrees lying more at a distance from the Sea it joyns Eastward on the Desarts of Cambodia and the Kingdoms of Iangoma Tangou and Lansiaugh to eighteen degrees towards the forementioned Kingdoms of Pegu and Auva making as it were a semi-circle containing near upon four hundred and fifty Leagues The Country in some parts is rough and mountainous in other parts covered with Woods and to the Seawards 't is low and marshy and generally flat good and fertile yielding in abundance all necessaries for livelihood and having on the Gulfes divers Isles Rivers Bayes Harbours and Roads commodious for the transportation of such things as they themselves can spare The River called Menam that is Mother of the waters is one of the greatest India hath The breadth of it is not great but its length such that hitherto no man hath discovered the head of it It sends its Current from North to South passing through the Kingdoms of Pegu and Auva and at last running through Siam by three Streams it falls into the Gulf of Siam One quality it hath common with the Nile and Ganges that it yearly overflows the adjacent Country for the space of five moneths together destroying in that time all Worms and Insects and leaving when it retires a slime or moist soil proper for the increase of Rice That Channel of this River which is most commodious for Barks or Vessels is that which lies most Eastwards at thirteen degrees and a half elevation but what makes it almost useless is that there lies a Shelf a League in length or better at the mouth of the River which at low-water holds not above five or six foot water At high-water it holds fifteen or sixteen foot and in September October and November seventeen or eighteen foot Vessels of greater burthen ordinarily stay in the Road two Leagues from the Shelf where having at no time less then five or six fathom water they ride secure They who venture to come over the Shelf with the Tide may go up along the River to the City of Banckock six Leagues from the Sea and thence may pass by boat in five or six dayes as high as the City of India twenty four Leagues within the Land except in the moneths before mentioned during which season the River is innavigable The Provinces of this vast Kingdom are all very populous though not equally for such as have the Commodity of Rivers and Havens far exceed those that lye more remote It would be very difficult to reckon all the Towns of this great Dominion wherefore we will here give only an account of the principal and most considerable either for greatness or as the most considerable of the several Provinces The chief of the Kingdom is India by some called Odya then Camboya Campaa Sincapura Picelouck Surkelouck Capheng Soucethay Kephinpet Conseywan Pytsyay Pitsedi Lidure Tenou Mormelon Martenoy Lygor Bordelong Tanasserim where the Portuguez drive a good Trade Banckock Pipry Mergy c. Besides which there are many more which rather deserve a place in a Map then in the Relation of a particular Mans Travels The City of India the ordinary Residence
though some Cocos-trees and Date-trees only excepted all the other Trees are wild In the Vallies there are some Fruit-trees but such as bear no Fruit are not the less esteemed for that for these are they which yield the fairest Ebony in all the East Some oâ— it is as black as any Jet and as smooth as Marble but the yellow and red is of greater value then the other as being more rare There is as well in the Rivers of it as the Sea about it such abundance of Fish that at one casting of the Net as many may be taken as will fill two or three Tun falted The Hollanders in their Relations affirm that they took a Thornback which found all in the Ship two good Meals and that they saw there Tortoyses so big that four Sea-men sitting on the back of one of them it went as well as if it had had no burthen at all Whereto they add that they were so large that ten Men might sit upon ones Shell The Island is not inhabited whence it comes that the Birds are so tame that a man may take them with his hand and they are commonly killed with Cudgels especially the Turtles whereof there is such abundance that the Dutch in less then two hours took above a hundred and fifty and might have taken more if they could have carried them There is also great store of Herons and a kind of Birds of the bigness of a Swan which have neither Wings nor Tail but so hard a flesh that no heat can either boyl or roast it There is no four-footed Creature in all the Island but for other refreshments and particularly for the taking in of fresh water there is not a fitter place any way near it When the Dutch came thither in September 1601. they found there a French Souldier who had left his Country some three years before with three English Ships which were the first in those parts that attempted failing into the Indies upon the account of Pyracy Of these three Ships one was cast away near the Cape of Good hope and sickness having consumed most of the men they that remained set fire on the second in regard for want of men they were not able to govern it The third was wrack'd upon the Coasts of the Indies where all the men were lost seven only excepted to wit four English men two Negroes and a French Souldier who attempted to return with some booty which they disposed into a Cannow wherein they set to Sea and made a shift to get to Maurice Island The two Negroes had a design there to rid themselves of their Camerades but being discovered they cast themselves into the Sea and were drowned The four English men would prosecute their Voyage but the French Souldier chose rather to continue in the Isle then double the Cape and expose himself to the mercy of the Sea in so small a Vessel Accordingly of the English men there was no more news heard The French man had been twenty moneths in the Island when the Dutch came thither He was stark naked in regard that having been in a burning Feaver which heightned into a degree of madness he had torn his clothes so that having not had any thing about him ever since his sickness nor fed on any thing but the raw Tortoyses he took they were not a little surpriz'd at the sight of him and conceived it would be no easie matter to restore him to his Senses though he behaved himself well enough otherwise and was in very good health We got so near Maurice Island that we clearly saw it but in regard the wind continued fair the President called together the chief Officers and represented to them that if they put into the Island they should lose at least ten dayes time whereas if the wind continued fair as it then was we might in that time reach the Cape of Good hope and so avoid the inconveniences of wintering in the Island of Madagascar whereupon it was resolved we should prosecute our Voyage which we did and the same day got out of sight of Maurice Island March 29. After Sermon the President acquainted all the men with the reasons which had obliged him to change his resolution of taking in Water at Mourice Island and made it appear that if they had gone to refresh themselves in the Island they must have lost the convenience of the Wind and the fairest Season of the year and so the means of finishing their Voyage exhorting all to take courage and execute his Orders and to be content with their allowance which should be equal to what those had who sate at his own Table March 30. We passed the Tropick of Capricorn continuing our course towards West-South-West April 1. We were at 26. degrees three minutes The Wind began to abate and towards the night it rain'd and blew not at all yet ere we were so becalm'd we had made a shift to get forty Leagues in twenty four hours The next day we saw several Whales and night the Wind rose and in a short time grew into an absolute Tempest Our course was still to the West-south-west in order to our gaining the South which was to bring us to the Cape of Good hope The 3. We altered our course a little taking it more towards the West We were then at 28. degrees 30. minutes and in 24. hours we got 50. Leagues April 5. We had but little Wind and in regard the Compass still varied and declined we took our course towards the West instead of taking it to the South as we should otherwise have done In these two days we made 73. Leagues The next day we were at 30. degrees Latitude The 7. We began to perceive that we should not long enioy the good Wind had attended us some dayes before Accordingly the next day we had a great calm at 32. degrees Latitude The 9. The Wind rising again put us into some confidence that within a few dayes we should reach the Cape of Good hope from which we could not be above three hundred Leagues distant From that day to the 14. we still advanced somewhat That being Easter day the President made a great Entertainment whereof all in the Ship participated The 15. The North-west-wind grew to a great Tempest and our Sea-men assirm'd that they smelt Land being confirm'd in their perswasion by those Birds which the Portuguez call Pintados and which alwayes keep within the distance of fourty Leagues of the Land The Tempest ceased with the morning of the 16th and our Sea-men persisted in affirming we were near the Coast in regard many Birds were seen about the Ship The 17. Towards night there blew a fresh Gale of wind but the next day and the night following we had no wind at all yet was the Sea as rough as it proved to be afterwards in the Tempest which surpriz'd us the 19. at night with the South-west wind at
of their refreshments at this place In the Isle of Teneriffe there is a Mountain called El Piâ—o de Terraira It is certainly the highest Mountain in the World since that a man cannot get it up in less then three dayes and that must be too either in Iuly or August in as much as all the year besides it is covered with Snow though there never fall any in those Islands It is so high that it may be seen at the distance of sixty Leagues and from the top of it a man may discover and easily count all the other Canary Islands though some of them be above fifty leagues distant from this The Island of Fierro is also one of the most considerable of all the Canaries and I conceive that name to be given it upon this account that its soil not affording so much as a drop of fresh water seems to be of Iron And indeed there is in this Island neither River nor Rivulet nor Well nor Spring save that towards the Sea-side there are some Wells but they lie at such a distance from the City that the Inhabitants can make no use thereof But the great Preserver and Sustainer of all remedies this inconvenience by a way so extraordinary that a man will be forced to sit down and acknowledge that he gives in this an undeniable Demonstration of his Goodness and infinite Providence For in the middest of the Island there is a Tree which is the only one in its kind in as much as it hath no resemblance to those mentioned by us in this Relation nor to any other known to us in Europe The leaves of it are long and narrow and continue in a constant verdure Winter and Summer and its branches are covered with a Cloud which is never dispelled but resolved into a moisture which causes to fall from its leaves a very clear Water and that in such abundance that the Cisterns which are placed at the foot of the Tree to receive it are never empty but contain enough to supply both men and beasts Some affirm that above a hundred leagues West of the Canâ—ries there is sometimes seen an Island called St. Borondon which they say is very delightful and fertile and inhabited by Christians yet can it not be said what Language they speak nor how the Island came to be peopled The Spaniards of the Canaries have often endeavoured to find out the said Island but whether it be that it is alwayes covered with a thick mist which hinders it from being discovered or that the current of the water thereabouts was so strong that it is a hard matter to land thereat certain it is that as yet it subsists only in the opinion wherewith most Sea-men are prepossessed that certainly there is an Island in those parts The 30th of November the wind South-south-west we got 31. leagues to the North-east and were at noon got to 40. degrees 32. minutes Latitude December 3. With the same wind we got 34. Leagues taking our course North-east The 4. The wind North-east carried us twenty seven Leagues to East-north-east The 5. The wind came to South-west and continuing the same course we got 34. leagues This day it was just eleven moneths that we had been tossed up and down the Sea for we left Surat the 5. of Ianuary though our Voyage had been prosperous enough ever since our departure from the Island of Madagâ—â—ear The 6. The same wind was heightned into a tempest but having it Easterly we got 50. leagues that day When a man is once come to the Azores he may assure himself all the year after of a West-wind which will bring him into England and never almost turns to South or North though it may sometimes vary some points of the Compass from one side to the other The 7. The wind came to the North-west and we got 39. Leagues to East-north-east The 8. The wind turn'd to South-west and was so high that we got 47. leagues keeping on the same course The 9. The wind South-south-west we got 31. leagues to North-north-east We were this day at 49. degrees 13. minutes It was very cold and we found bottom at 68. fathom the Sand very white In the evening we founded again and found some change in the Sand which was yellower then that in the morning at fifty three fathom water The wind changed at night and coming to North-east was just in our teeth The 10. About noon the wind came to South-west and we found we had got 22. Leagues The 11. At break of day we saw two English Vessels and soon after we discovered on our left hand that point of England which is called The Lands end and in the County of Cornwal The wind was against us which oblig'd us to endeavour doubling the point by Laveering We made shift to get that day 16. Leagues The 12. The wind still contrary we continued Laveering We saw another English Vessel but could not come near it The 13. The wind South-west and South-south-west we continued our course to East-south-east and to East with a point towards the South We got that day 64. Leagues and were at 49. degrees Latitude Then we chang'd our course taking it to East-north-east to get into the channel which divides England from France The 14. we saw two Scotch Ships and a Dunkirker We came somewhat near them but the Sea made such a noise that we could not possibly hear one the other The 15. We continued our course to East-north-east and met three Dutch Ships bound for Brâ—sil That day we passed in sight of the Isle of Wight which lies at 50. degrees 36. minutes Latitude and at 19. degrees and 4. minutes Longitude The 16. About 10. in the morning we passed in sight of Dover-Castle and at noon came to the Downs We cast Anchor near three men of war which lay at Anchor in the same Road and thus we compleated our Voyage in the 12. month after our departure from Surat There were in the same Road above a hundred other ships lying at Anchor in expectation of some change of weather which was then so boystrous that for two days we could not get out of our Ship The Lord Admiral who commanded the Men of War ventured to send his Shallop to our Ship to congratulate the Presidents safe return The 19. The wind being somewhat laid the Admiral invited the President to dinner I went along with him and participated of the civility wherewith he received him I must confess I was somewhat surprised to see upon the Sea such a prodigious quantity of silver Plate and a Table as well furnished as that I may boldly say the King was not better served at London then the Admiral was in his Vessel We were so well treated there that night began to draw on ere we got away Our Ship was not above a Musket shot from the Admiral 's but we were no sooner got into our boat
l. 2. daies 114 The 8. to Sabackzar 8. l. 1. day 115 The 9. to Kocks-chaga 5. leagues 1. day ibid The 13. to Suiatzki and the same day opposite to Casan where they find a Caravan conducting a Tartar-Prince and a Factor of the King of Persia's ibid The description of Casan its situation buildings Castle how the Province of the same name conquer'd by the Muscovites which occasions a pleasant diversion the exemplary fidelity of a Weywode the Great Duke forc'd out of Muscovy takes the City of Casan by storm ibid. Melons of extraordinary bigness 116 The 15. they leave Casan come the 17. to the mouth of the River Kama which falls into the Wolga on the left hand 12. leagues from Casan 117 The Iland of Sokol ibid The 18. they come to the River Serdick and afterwards to that of Vtka and see as they pass by the City of Tetus 25. leag from Casan 118 The 19. they pass before the Iland Staritzo which is three leagues in length ibid The fishing of the Muscovites and Tartars ibid Botenska Iland the Cape of Polibno the River Beitma and several Cities ruin'd by Tamerlane ibid The mountain Arbeuchin ibid The River Adrobe the Salt-mountain the River Vssa the mountain Divisagora ibid Iabla-neu-quas or the Cider-valley ibid The mountain Sariol-Kurgan and that of Savobie 119 S. Nicholas's red Snakes ibid The 28. betimes in the morning they come to the City of Samara 60. l. from Casan upon the River of the same name within two wersles of the Wolga ibid The same day they come to the mountain of the Cosaques and opposite to the fall of the River Ascola 120 The River Pantzina the Iland of Zagcrinsko ibid The 30. to the River Zagra the Iland of Sosnon and the mountain Tichi ibid The 31. to the Iland Osino and that of Schismamago to that of Koltof the mountain of Smiowa and the 40. Ilands ibid The fabulous metamorphosis of a Dragon kill'd by a Heroe ibid. SEPTEMBER The 1. they come to the City of Soratof which lies upon a branch of the Wolga 70. leagues from Samara 121 The 2. pass by the Ilands Kriâ—sna and Sapunofka and come to the mountain Achmats-Kigori 10. l. from Soratof ibid 4. leagues lower to the Iland Solotoi and the mountain Solottogori or the Golden mountain that of Craye the mountain of Pillars the River Ruslana the mountain Vrakofskarul 30. l. from Soratof the mountain Kamuschinka and River of the same name ibid. At this place the Don or Tanais is within 7. leag of the Wolga Visits from the chief Persons of the Caravan 122 The River Bolloclea 18. l. from Kamuschinka The first branch of the Wolga 123 The 6. they come to Zariza 70. l. from Soratof on the right side of the River ibid Thence to Astrachan there are only barren lands and heaths The Iland Zerpinske behind which there falls a River into the Wolga whereby there might be a communication with the Don. ibid The 7. they come to the Iland and mountain Nassonofsko 124 Tziberika a Fish of a rare figure ibid The 8. to the Cape Popowizka jurka 14. l. from Zariza and the mountain Kamnagar 8 l lower the Iland and River Wesowoi and that of Wolodinarski-Vtzga Achtobenisna Vtsga a second branch of the Wolga the Iland Ossino an extraordinary kind of Liquorice ibid. The 9. to the little City Tzornogar 40. l. from Zariza its original ibid Carps weiging 30. pound Sandates c. 168 The 10. leave Tzornogar come to the mountain Polowon and the Iland Kissar 125 The 3. and 4. branches of the Wolga the Islands of Coppono and Katarniski ibid The Iland Peruski the 5. branch of the Wolga the excellent fruits of Nagaia Cormorants the 6. and 7. branches of the Wolga ibid The 15. the Ambassadors having pass'd by the Ilands Itziburki and Basan and the River Biltzick come to Astrachan ibid The 7. branch of the Wolga maketh the Iland Dolgoi in which Astrachan lies From Moscou to Astrachan there are above six hundred German leagues A description of Astrachan where they stay neer a month 126 A description of Nagaia the Iland of Dolgoi the Salt-pits 127 Astrachan 12. l. from the Caspian Sea the fruits of Nagaia ibid Its Inhabitants Nagaia when conquer'd by the Muscovites the greatness of the City its Structures Ammunition Garrisons Governours the Tartars not permitted to come into it their manner of life and cloathing wars with the Kalmukes and Tartars of Buchar 128 Their Princes Religion food 129 The Ambassadors visited by the Persians who came along with the Caravan ibid The Cuptzi's Present a visit of the Tartar-Prince and his reception ibid The Cuptzi's visit the Weywode's Present to the Ambassadors the Ambass visit to the Tartar-Prince 130 The Cuptzi's Feast 131 The Tartars much addicted to Hawking the treatment of another Persian Merchant Brugman's imprudence the visit of another Tartar-Prince 132 The Weywode's Present ibid OCTOBER The 1. the Secretary sent to the Weywode Provision made for the continuation of the Voyage ibid The 10. the Amb. leave Astrachan and embark upon the Wolga Simples of extraordinary bigness neer Astrachan 133 The 12. come to Tomanoigor or the Snaky mountain ibid Many Ilands at the mouth of the River the Sepulchre of a Tartar-Saint the Sacrifices of the Tarters dog-fishes several sorts of Birds ibid The 15. come to the mouth of the Wolga and to the entrance of the Caspian Sea where it is very troublesom sailing 134 A Muscovian Slurrâ— the civility of a Persian Pilot an ominous day 135 NOVEMBER The 1. they come before the City of Terki in Circassia having sailed but 60. l. in 16. daies the situation of Terki upon the River Timenski its fortifications Garrison ibid The Cuptzi's Present to the Ambassadors a mutiny in the ship an Eunuch belonging to the King of Persia visits the Ambassadors their Present to the Weywode 136 Their message to the Tartar-Prince his house his reception of those sent to him a collation the curiosity of the Tartar-Ladies 137 The Princess's Present to the Ambass The Tartars enclin'd to theft ibid The Weywode's Present ibid Nov. 10. the Ambassadors leave Terki An Iland in the Caspian Sea 138 A description of the Iland Tzetlan by the Persians called Tzenzeni ibid Come in the sight of the mountain Salatto which is the Caucasus of the Autients in Mengrelia or Colchis mount Ararat 139 Are forc'd by a tempest upon the Coasts of Persia. ibid The Ambass dis-embark with part of their retinue 140 The Ship run a ground 141 A description of the Caspian Sea its names It is a particular Sea having no communication with any other 142 Above a hundred Rivers fall into it yet is it not known what becomes of them ibid The length and breadth of it contrary to the common opinion of Geographers its water is salt Curtius's error the Caspian Sea not known to the Antients 143 It neither ebbs nor flows hath few Havens its fish and fishing
be on the Coasts of Denmark which our Captain took for the Isle of Bornholm and we perceived that we had directed our course streight towards the Country of Schonen so that if we had not at the break of day discover'd Land and found we were at 4. fathom water which soon oblig'd us to alter our course there had been an end of both us and our Ship About 9. of the clock we discover'd the Island of Bornholm and the wind being fair made all the fail we could But about ten at night when we thought our selves most secure and made accompt to rest our selves after the precedent night's toil even while Brugman one of the Ambassadors was charging the Master's Mate to be carefull and the other answer'd there was no danger since we had Sea-room enough the Ship being then under all the sail she could make struck against a Rock which was cover'd by the water The shock made such a horrible noise that it made all start up The amazement we were in surpris'd us so that there was not any one but might easily be perswaded that the end of both his Voyage and Life were neer at hand At first we knew not where we were and in regard the Moon was but newly chang'd the night was so dark that we could not see two paces from us We put our â—antern at the Castle and caus'd some Muskets to be discharg'd to see if there were any help to be had neer us But no body made answer and the Ship beginning to lye on one side our affliction began to turn into despair so that most cast themselves on their knees begging of God with horrid cries that he would send them that relief which they could not expect from men The Master himself wept most bitterly and would meddle no further with the conduct of the Ship The Physician and my self were sitting one close by the other with a design to embrace one another and to die together as old and faithful friends in case we should be wrack'd Others took leave one of another or made vows to God which they afterwards so Religiously kept that coming to Reuel they made up a portion for a Poor but Virtuous Maid who was married there The Ambassador Crusius's Son mov'd most compassion He was but 12. years of age and he had cast himself upon the ground importuning Heaven with incessant cries and lamentations and saying Son of David have mercy on me whereto the Minister added Lord if thou wilt not hear us be pleas'd to hear this Child and consider the innocence of his age At last God was so gracious as to preserve us though the Ship struck several times with great violence against the Rock About one in the morning we saw fire whence we inferr'd that we were not far from Land The Ambassadors commanded the Boat to be cast out with design to get into it with each of them a Servant and to go streight towards the fire to see if there were any means to save the rest but no sooner had they thrown in two Cabinets in which were the Credential Letters and some Jewels ere it was full of water which had almost occasion'd the loss of two of our people who had leapt first into it thinking to save themselves in so much that they had much ado to get into the Ship ere the Boat sunk We were forc'd to continue there the rest of that night expecting to see a period of that danger At break of day we discover'd the Isle of Oleand and saw the ruins of a Danish Ship which had been cast away thereabouts a month before The wind being somewhat abated two Fishermen of the Isle came aboard us and Landed the Ambassadors having a very considerable reward for their pains and after them some of their retinue About noon we found the two Cabinets and when the Sea was a little calm'd many people of the Isle came in to our relief to get off our Ship from among those Rocks but with this misfortune that as they would have let down the Anchor which they had carried in the Boat about a hundred paces from the Ship the Boat over-turn'd so that those in it were toss'd into the Sea Our Masters Mate went immediately with one of the Isle boats to their relief and in regard as they were over-turn'd some caught hold of the Boat others of an Oar or somewhat else as also that the Wine they had drunk a little before had somewhat heightned their Courage we had the time to send twice to them and to save all but our Carpenter who was lost for want of having fasten'd on somewhat that might have kept him above water While they were getting off our Ship the waters increas'd so as that the wind coming to the North-West made our passage thence into the Sea the easier Whither we were no sooner gotten but the wind turn'd again to South-West and brought us safely through the streight of Calmer which is so much the more dangerous in that season of the year in as much as the Sea thereabouts is full of Rocks and that even in the Summer time it is ill sailing there by reason of the banks of Sand. The Ship stay'd for the Ambassadors at Calmer whither they got by Land upon the first of November and came aboard neer an old ruin'd fort called Ferstat Being come to Calmer we sent back a Page and a Lacquey to Gottorp to get other Credentials the Sea-water having spoil'd those we had at first It was there also taken into consideration whether it were not our best course to take our way by Land through Sueden or prosecute our Voyage by Sea The latter was resolv'd on and that we might do it with the less danger we laid out for a skilfull Master for the Baltick Sea but there being none to be had we took only two Pilots who conducted us half a League through the Sand banks till we were got into the main Sea The 3. we continu'd our course and pass'd by a Rock called the Suedish Lady which we left on the lar-board From Calmer thither are accounted eight Leagues About noon we spy'd the Castle of Bornholm in the Isle of Oeland At night we doubled the point of the Isle with such a Tempest from the North-East that the fore-part of the Ship was more under water than above it and ever and anon our sails were wash'd by the Waves Another misfortune was that our Pump was out of order in so much that till it could be made to do its Office all the Kettles and other Vessels were little enough to empty out the water This trouble lasted till the next day at noon with so much danger to us that if the wind had not chang'd it would have been impossible for us to escape shipwrack But the wind being somewhat better for us than it had been we kept on our course and came towards night in sight of Gotland The Isle of
gave an evident example when upon the irruption of Colonel Bot the Peasants would side with the Enemy and head together to secure their Masters and deliver them up to the Polanders They believe there is another life after this but their imaginations of it are very extravagant A Livonian woman being present at her husband's burial put a Needle and Thread into the Grave giving this reason for it that her husband being to meet in the other World with persons of good Rank she was asham'd he should be seen with his Cloaths rent Nay they so little mind what is to happen in the next World that in the Oath they take to decide any difference at Law instead of interessing the salvation of their Souls therein they are oblig'd to consider their present and temporal advantages and so they are sworn as followeth I N. N. am here present before thee since thou O Iudge desirest to know and askest me whether this Land on which I now am is God's and mine with a just title I swear to God and his Saints and accordingly God judge me at the last day that this Land belongs to me of right that it is God's and mine and that my father hath been possess'd of it and hath enjoy'd it a long time And if the Oath I take prove to be false I consent that the Curse of God fall upon my Body and Soul upon my Children upon whatsoever appertains to me even to the ninth generation And to shew that their Language hath nothing common with any of those wherewith the most learned have any acquaintance we shall here set down the same Oath word for word as they take it Nucht seisen mina N. N. Seihn Kui sinna sundia minust tahat eht minna se Kockto perrast tunnis tama Pean eht sesinnane mah Kumba pehl minna seisan jumla ninc minnu verteenitut mahon Kumba pehl minna minno eo aial ellanut ninck prukinu tollen seperast sihs mannut an minna jumla ninck temma poha de eest Ninc kui nued jummal peph sundina selh wihmb sel pehwal ses in nane mab jumla ninck minnu verteenitur permah on Kumba minna ninck minno issa igkas prukinut ollemei kus ma ulle Kock so wannutan sihs tulke sedda minno tho ninck hinge pehl minno ninck Keick minno lapsede pehl nink Keick minna onne pehl emmis se uduya polwe tagka 'T is the same in Esthonie but about Riga when the Peasants swear at Law they put a Turf upon their heads and take a white stick in their hands expressing thereby that they are content that they their Children and Cattel may become dry as that Turf and that stick if they swear falsly These customs favour of their antient Idolatry The Ministers do all they can to weed it out of them by little and little to which end we saw at Narva the Catechism Epistles and Gospels with their explications which Henry Stahl Superintendent of Ecclesiastical affairs in those parts a person much esteem'd for his Learning and pains in instructing those Barbarians had caused to be translated and Printed in their Language to give them some apprehensions of Christian Religion But Idolatry and Superstiton are too deeply rooted in them and their stupidity and stubborness too great to give way to any hope that they will ever be susceptible of instruction They do their devotions commonly upon hills or neer a tree they make choice of to that purpose and in which they make several incisions bind them up with some red stuff and there say their prayers wherein they desire only temporal blessings Two leagues from Kunda between Reuel and Narva there is an old ruin'd Chapel whither the Peasants go once a year on Pilgrimage upon the day of our Lady's Visitation Some put off their cloaths and in that posture having kneel'd by a great stone that is in the midst of the Chapel they afterwards leap about it and offer it Fruits and Flesh recommending the preservation of themselves and their Cattel to it for that year This piece of devotions is concluded with eating and drinking and all kind of licentiousness which seldom end without quarrels murthers and the like disorders They have such an inclination to Sorcery and think it so necessary for the preservation of their Cattel that Fathers and Mothers teach it their Children so that there is scarce any Peasant but is a Sorcerer They all observe certain superstitious Ceremonies by which they think to elude the effects of it upon which accompt it is that they never kill any Beast but they cast somewhat of it away nor never make a Brewing but they spill some part of it that the Sorcery may fall upon that They have also a custome of rebaptizing their Children when during the first six weeks after their birth they chance to be sick or troubled with fits whereof they think the cause to be that the name given them at their baptism is not proper for them Wherefore they give them another but in regard this is not only a sin but a crime which the Magistate severely punishes in that Country they conceal it As they are stubborn in their superstitions so are they no less in the exact observation of their Customs To which purpose we had a very pleasant but true story related to us at Colonel Barr's concerning an old Country fellow Being condemn'd for faults enormous enough to lye along upon the ground to receive his punishment and Madam de la Barre pittying his almost decrepit age having so far interceded for him as that his corporal punishment should be chang'd into a pecuniary mulct of about 15. or 16. pence he thank'd her for her kindness and said that for his part being an old men he would not introduce any novelty nor suffer the Customes of the Country to be alter'd but was ready to receive the chastisement which his Predecessors had not thought much to undergo put off his cloaths layd himself upon the ground and receiv'd the blows according to his condemnation This is accounted no punishment but an ordinary chastisement in Livoniae For the people being of an incorrigible nature must be treated with that severity which would elsewhere be insupportable They are not permitted to make any purchase and to prevent their so doing they have only so much ground to manage as will afford them a subsistence Yet will they venture to cut down wood in some places of the Forests and having order'd the ground sow wheat in it which they hide in pits under ground to be secretly sold. When they are taken in this or any other fault they make them strip themselves naked down to the hips and to lye down upon the ground or are ty'd to a post while one of their Camerades beats them with a Switch or Hollywand till the blood comes of all sides especially when the Master says Selcke nack maha pexema Beat him till the
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
earth along the shore in such great quantities that the course of the River seem'd to be thereby diverted and that it would be ill coming ashore there they translated the City to the place where it is now It is seated upon a high shore on the right side of the River and is fortify'd with eight wooden Towers and a Rampier with thick planks having no other Inhabitants than three or four hundred Souldiers who are kept there to secure the Countrey against the incursions of the Cosaques and Kalmuckas Tartars There is at each corner of the City which is square a particular place for the Sentinels to stand erected upon four great poles whence they have a full prospect into a spacious plain as far as they can see without the least interposition of any wood or other eminency What oblig'd the Great Duke to order the building of this City was the mischiefs done thereabouts by the Cosaques but particularly the defeat of a Caravan of 1500. Muscovites who were there surpriz'd some ten years before It had a very strong Convoy but the River being extremely swift in that place and the Convoy being gone before the Cosaques who had suffered the Soldiers to pass by came out of their Ambushes set upon the Caravan kill'd seven or eight hundred men and took away all before the Convoy could come up the violence of the current not suffering it to get up the River time enough to relieve them Between that place and the Astrachan there are no Trees to be seen on the River-side The 10. We left Tzornogar but the wind turning against us we could hardly get ten werstes that day About noon some fisher-men brought us a noble Carp which weigh'd at least thirty pounds with eight other fish of those they call Sandates the fairest we had seen in all our Voyage We would have paid for them but they refus'd our money and told us that they fish'd there for certain Merchants of Moscou who having farm'd the fishing of that place from the Great Duke would be sure to have them severely punish'd if ever it should come to their knowledge that they had sold any fish We soon found their design was to be paid in Aquavitae accordingly a quart was ordered to be given them wherewith they seemed to be very well satisfy'd Sept. 11. The wind and weather fair we got 120. werstes but without any accident worth noting save that about noon we pass'd by the Mountain of Polowon so called because half-way between Astrachan and Zariza 250. werstes distant from each of them We pass'd over the night near the Isle of Kyssar where the Ambassador Brugman who was upon the Guard hearing that the Sentinel had discovered a great Boat which the current of the River brought somewhat near our Vessel and that upon calling to them no body answer'd commanded fifteen Muskets to be shot off and at the same time a great Gun to be fired All took the Alarm but hardly was every man got to his station ere they might perceive coming to the ship-side a small boat guided by only one man who gave us this accompt of himself that his boat was loaden with Salt and that his seven Camerades being acquainted with some of the Caravan had been so treated by them with Aquavitae that being all dead asleep he had been forc'd to let the boat go with the stream Our Pilot knew the man as being an Inhabitant of Nise whereupon we gave him some Gobelets of Aquavitae and sent him back to his boat The next day he came to acknowledge our kindness to him by a present of certain Sturgeons The night following the wind continuing fair we thought fit to improve the opportunity and so set sayl by three in the morning Sept. 12. We soon came upon the left hand to a third branch of the Wolga called Buch wostowa which falls into the two precedent Thence we came to the Isle of Coppono from which the name Coponogar is deriv'd to the County which is opposite thereto on the right side of the River From this place there are 150. werstes to Astrachan Twenty werstes lower the Wolga makes a fourth branch on the left hand called Danilofska Vtsga which mingles not with any of the other three but disembogues it self by a particular Chanel into the Caspian Sea Fifteen werstes thence lies in the midst of the River the Isle of Katarinski which is little but very pleasant by reason of the Wood and other plants that grow on it Not far from it we saw upon a Sand-bank the Carkass of a Boat which had been cast away there and was half rotten Being seen at some distance a man might take it for a Fort built there by the Cosaques nay there were those who imagined they had seen some of them which occasion'd a command to be given that some shot should be made into the Wood but it was done with so much Precipitation that one of the Muskets breaking in the hands of our Cook the splinters took off the Thumb of his left hand and hurt him in the forehead and breast We stay'd the next night near the Isle of Piruski 80. werstes from Astrachan after we had sail'd a hundred that day Sept. 13. while we were after morning prayer reading some Chapters out of the Bible and among others the XIII of Numbers where Moses speaks of the fertility of the Land of Canaan and the excellency of its Fruits especially of the Grapes brought thence by the Spies there came two Boats from Astrachan which brought us some Fruits to sell. We were so surpriz'd thereat that for my part I am in doubt whether that of the Holy Land could be better so delicious were the Melons and Peaches and the Kernels of the Grapes were as big as Nuts This day betimes in the morning we came in sight of another Branch of the Wolga called Mituska which at some distance from the River is divided into two other Branches whereof the one is united to the Danilofski Vtsga which we spoke of before and the other falls again into the main river at some werstes thence We were told that was the most dangerous place of all the river by reason those Robbers had their rendevouz and retreating places thereabouts For indeed we saw between two Isles a great number of Cosaques at whom the Ambassador Brugman caus'd a great Gun to be fired Five werstes lower and 70 from Astrachan we came to the last sand-bank which is called Kabangameel Five werstes thence to the Promontory of Kabangengar and five lower to the Isle of Itziburki where we stay'd that night 50 werstes from Astrachan We saw in those parts as also afterwards near Astrachan and upon the Caspian Sea a kind of wild Geese or rather Cormorants which the Muscovites call Babbes which in a manner cover'd the river side but of them more at large when we come to the description of the City and of
built of Wood even the Towers and Rampiers yet very well furnish'd with great Guns among which there were then two battering Pieces plac'd upon Carriages before the Governours house The Great Duke hath lately caus'd it to be fortify'd after the modern way of Fortification with Rampiers and Bastions of earth by a Dutch Engineer named Cornelius Nicholas who went Masters-mate along with us into Persia. The ordinary Garrison consists of two thousand men 1500. whereof are under the Command of a Weywode or Colonel and divided into three Pricasses or Regiments each of 500. men The Prince is assign'd the other 500. for his Guard and they are maintain'd upon the Great Duke's charge but oblig'd to joyn with the others in case of necessity The Tartars of Circassia have their habitations on this side the River We shall speak of their Religion and manner of life hereafter as having had more leasure at our return to make a more particular observation thereof The next day after our arrival the Cuptzi and the other Persian Merchants sent a Present to the Ambassadors which consisted of excellent Fruits in great abundance as also to ask them whether they were resolv'd to prosecute their Voyage by Sea or would travel by Land with this by way of Invitation that if they would go by Land there was an opportunity to do it with all imaginable convenience in as much as within three dayes there was expected at Terki a Muscovian Ambassador who was upon his return from Persia and would bring with him to the Frontiers two hundred Camels and a great number of Mules which might carry our baggage To this it was added that by this convenience we might pass safely through the Countrey of the Tartars of Dagesthan and avoid falling into the hands of their Schemkal or Captain who was one of the greatest Robbers in the World and that we might be the further assur'd there was no danger they proffer'd us their company in our Travels This proposal was so well receiv'd by the Ambassadors that they immediately sent to the Weywode to desire his permission to take their advantage of this opportunity and dispatch'd Rustan our Persian Interpreter to the Frontiers of Dagesthan six Leagues from Terki to take order for the prosecution of our Voyage by Land but being come thither he found the Camels and all the other beasts fit for carriage were return'd into Persia. The Weywode had at first absolutely deny'd us the Liberty of passage but as soon as he heard there was no convenience of taking that way he sent an Officer to tell us that though he had receiv'd no express order from the Great Duke to permit any such thing yet he would not stick to grant us passage and assist us in order thereto what lay in his power The night following the Mariners belonging to our ship fell into a mutiny against Michael Cordes our Captain and the noise was so great that many of them were put into Irons The next day an enquiry was made into the disorder that had been committed in the night and Anthony Manson a Sayl-maker being found the most guilty of any he was condemn'd to remain a Prisoner at Terki till our return out of Persia. The Weywode sent for him by two of his Officers at the entreaty of the Ambassadors One of those Officers had a Coat of Mail under his Casaque and a tin Gantelet the other who by his quality was a Knez had a Garment of Crimson Velvet Nov. 4. Our Musick play'd in the morning betimes it being the birth day of the Ambassador Brugman which ended the great Guns were discharg'd The same morning the Tartar Prince's Mother sent one to complement the Ambassadors and to give them thanks for their respects and civilities towards her son in his Voyage entreating them to honour her with a Visit at her house and to come and receive her Benediction In the afternoon we were Visited aboard by a Persian Lord who had a retinue of many servants He was an Eunuch and the King of Persia had sent him express to bring along with him the Tartar Prince's sister to whom he was to be married He made extraordinary proffers of friendship to the Ambassadors and was so well pleas'd with our drink that he grew perfectly drunk in so much that he knew not which way to get out of the ship They that came along with him were so edify'd by his example that one of them was so loaden that we were forc'd to let him down by a rope into the Shallop The 5. The Ambassador sent M. Mandelslo the Pastor and Secretary of the Embassy accompany'd by our Tartarian and Persian Interpreters to the Weywode to Present him a large Vermilion-guilt-cup and the two Chancellors or Secretaries each of them with a Ruby They were also ordered to go and wait upon the Tartar-Prince's Mother and to complement her upon the safe return of her Son We were very kindly receiv'd in all places and treated with Collations of Fruit Beer Hydromel Aquavitae and Wine The Weywode entertain'd us with the same magnificence as that of Nisenovogorod and falling into discourse of the nature and manner of life of the Persians he told us that they would no doubt be extremely liberal of their good words and fair promises but that it requires a strong faith to believe one half of them in as much as their performance would not be consonant thereto Prince Mussal receiv'd us in Person with very intimate demonstrations of affection at the entrance of the Court and conducted us into a high and spacious Hall whereof the Walls were of earth and so built that a man might see on all sides at an equal distance a certain number of Neeches vaulted in which there were either rich beds with coverlets of silk or cotton or there were layd up in them several pieces of Persian Tapestry and coverlets wrought or embroider'd with gold and silk of divers several colours with great chests covered with the same All along the wall just under the seeling there hung two rows of dishes of wood and earth of diverse colours and the pillars which underpropp'd the structure were hung all about with excellent Cymitars Quivers and Arrows The Princess sat in a chair having about her a black loose Gown lin'd with Sables and made after the fashion of a morning-coat The Princess's name was Bika and she was of a very noble stature and had a good countenance and might be about 45 years of age She wore at her neck behind an Ox-bladder blown to the utmost which was wound about towards her hair with a rich Scarf embroider'd with Gold and Silk and had about her neck another Scarf the two ends whereof hung down over her shoulders Behind the Chair stood a Lady who had also a Bladder at her neck and we were told afterwards that it was the Badge of Widdowhood On her right hand stood her three
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
the Ambassadors sent Francis Meurier one of our Retinue with our Persian Interpreter to the Chan or Governour general of the Province of Schiruan whose ordinary residence is at Scamachie to acquaint him with our arrival and to entreat him to supply us with all things necessary for the continuation of our journey The Governour who had heard of it by some other means had immediately sent a Mehemander to us so they call in Persia those who among the Muscovites are called Pristafs whose charge it is to conduct the Ambassadors through the Country and to see them furnish'd with Provisions and Carriage but our people had mist him by the way This Mehemander came to our Quarters the 29. of November He was most sumptuously Cloathed and excellently well mounted on a very gallant horse the Harness whereof was cover'd with Gold and beset with Turquezes He acquitted himself very handsomly both in his address and complement with promises of all the civilities and services it was in his power to do us as long as we should be under his conduct which was as far as Schamachie Having answer'd his Complement we invited him and those who came along with him to taste of our fruits and of all sorts of Aquavitae wherewith we were well stor'd We also caused our great Guns to be discharg'd and we entertain'd them with our Musick wherewith they seem'd to be much taken As soon as the Mehemander was return'd to his Lodging he sent us a Present of five sheep three Pitchers of Wine and some Pomegranates Nov. the last came back Francis Meurier with the Interpreter bringing this accompt that the Chan being not at Scamachie at their coming thither they had been oblig'd to follow him into the Country where they had found him encamp'd under Tents with a Retinue of about four hundred persons That he had receiv'd them kindly and had assur'd them that he had already sent a Mehemandar whose care it should be to see the Ambassadors supply'd with all things necessary for the continuation of their journey that he had told them further that he heard the Ambassadors had a Retinue of about three hundred men but they should be all welcome though they were twice the number That it was a great while since we first heard of this Embassy and that he was very desirous to see us To which accompt the Interpreter added only this that the Governour had particularly desir'd to be inform'd by him of the quality and humours of the Ambassadors as also of that of the persons whereof our Retinue consisted and our manner of life The first ill Office the Sulthan of Derbent did us was in denying us a sufficient number of horses and other cattel for the carriage of our selves and our Baggage Which prov'd so considerable aâ—â— rub in our way that our Mehemander was forc'd to return to Scamachie where he spent above a moneth in getting together such a number of cattel as might carry us and all we had during all which time we were forc'd to continue still in the Village of Niasabath During that time was dis-embarqu'd much about the same place the Cuptzi or Persian Merchant of whom we have spoken before after he had run the same hazard upon the Caspian Sea as we had so narrowly escaped Nov. 24. came in thither a small Boat with five persons in it who were all left of fifty who had been cast away with the ship which was bound for Kilan the thirteenth before so that those poor people had been ten dayes together strugling with the wind and waves ere they could get Land The joy we might well conceive at our being in Persia after so troublesome a Voyage wherein we had run through so many dangers was much abated by the inconveniences which the untowardness and humoursomness of one of the Chiefest in the Company run us into but I shall spare the Reader the dissatisfaction of finding any thing in this relation but what is divertive The better to overcome the affliction it put us all into we who were of Mâ—snie entred intred into a little society among our selves and taking our advantage of the fair weather we had the first of December we went all together in a Company about a quarter of a League from the Village where we found out a little place whereof the Rivulet maketh almost a Peninsula so pleasant and inviting that the fairest Meadows in Europe afford not any thing so delightful in the best Season of the year The water came almost round about that little parcel of ground and the Pomegranate-Trees which had joyn'd their verdure with that of the Vines invited us to rest our selves under their shade and to divert our selves with the memory of our dear Countrey to which divertisement our Physician Dr. Graman contributed very much by the good cheer he made us of Gamons of Bacon Neats Tongues and two or three sorts of Sack and Aquavitae whereof he had still good store left This was our divertisement for several dayes Decemb. 9. The Ambassadors were visited by the same Tartar Prince of Tarku who had given us a Visit at Terki He was accompany'd by his brother and attended by a Retinue of about twenty persons After his Visit he went to the next Village to look for Lodging there being none to be had in ours and sent us the next day as a Present an Ox some Sheep and two great Paniers of Apples That which the Ambassadors sent in return thereto consisted in certain Ells of Cloath and Satin a Vessel of Aquavitae and a Roll of Tobacco And whereas he had express'd that they would do him a great kindness to give him a little Gun-powder to be reveng'd for the incursions which Sulthan Mahomet had made into his Territories the Ambassadors sent him a Barrel that weigh'd 80. pounds The return of our Mehemandar who came back the same day made us the more joyfull in that he assur'd us that within 15. dayes there should be brought us out of Scamachie and Derbent such a number of Wagons Camels and Horses as that nothing should retard our journey any longer According to this promise the 12. there came in some Horses and Camels but we heard of no more afterwards The Mehemandar excused himself upon the Snow that had fallen the night before and said that the Persians were wont to travel in the cold and that the Camels whose hoofs are not so falt as those of other Creatures would not have been able to go by reason of the slipperiness of the way Whereto he added that it had hapned that whole Caravans had perish'd through cold in the Mountains for want of Wood and Lodging which are very scarce upon that Road though there be but twenty Leagues or Farsangs from Niasabath to Scamachie True it is indeed that for some nights we had Snow but the Sun melted it as soon as he appear'd over the Horizon But how ere it happen'd we were
Holstein who had them so well instructed that in the year 1642. they were both baptized having before given a publick accompt of their Faith Our Interpreter for the Turkish Language was also a Tartar-born and had been stoln in his Infancy and carried to Moscou where he had been baptiz'd His relations knew him again and would have redeem'd him but he would not consent thereto protesting he would dy in the profession of the Christian Religion since it was Gods pleasure to bring him to the knowledge thereof But ever after he went not far from the Ambassadors Quarters leâ—t he might have fallen into the hands of his relations who would have dispos'd otherwise of him At this place the Persian Ambassador bought him a Wife She was a Tartar and Sister to a Myrsa who was a prisoner and who sold his Sister for a hundred and twenty Crowns in money and a horse which the Ambassador valued at ten Crowns This Ambassador was at least seventy years of age but very vigorous and us'd much Hemp-seed bak'd in the Embers whereof the Persians eat abundance out of an opinion that it revives Nature yet hinders Conception Sept. 7. we left Astrachan and embark'd upon the Wolga the Ambassadors dividing their retinue and taking each of them a Boat We cast anchor within half a league of the City expecting the Persian Ambassador who came to us the next day with three Boats We gave him a volley at this arrival and set sail together The 10. we pass'd before the Iland of Busan where the Tartars of Crim and Precop are wont to swim over the River which in that place is somewhat narrow The Muscovites to prevent them had set a Guard there of fifty Musketteers who sent to us for some Bread and got a bag of Suchary The 15. we cast anchor before Tzornogar which the Muscovites call also Michailo Novogorod from the Great Duke Michael Federouits who built it within three hundred werstes or sixty German leagues from Astrachan The Weywode sent the Ambassadors a Latin Letter which Alexei Savinouits had left for them and sent one to invite them to come to refresh themselves in the City but they would not lose so much time The 24. we got before Sariza two hundred werstes from Tzornogar The 29. the wind fair we got forty werstes The Muscovites attributed the cause of it to the Great Duke's name whose Feast was celebrated that day being St. Michael's October 2. one of the Persian Ambassadors Boats was a-ground They were so long getting it a-fâ—oat again that the Ambassadors went ashore where they dined together Their people made also acquaintances among themselves and those of Persia took so much Aquavitae that we were forc'd to carry and drag them to the Boats like so many Beasts The Persians must also needs fall out with the Musketteers who guarded them Cudgels and Cymitars were employ'd and the Ambassador himself who was got as drunk as any of his people was going to draw upon them when our Ambassadors came in and reconcil'd all The night following one of the Persian Ambassadors Pages who was sick of a bloody Flux fell into the water yet none perceiv'd it till the next morning The 6. we came before Soratof 350. werstes from Sariza We there heard that a party of Cosaques would have set upon the Caravan but fearing they might come by the worst on 't they only cross'd their march with a great noise and by means of their breeding-Mares got away some Archemagues or Persian horses intended for breed The 14. the wind South-west there rose such a tempest that it scatter'd all our Boats That of the Ambassador Crusius and two of the Persian Ambassador's which carried horses were forc'd upon the shore and immediately sprung such aleak that we had hardly time enough to get out our Baggage the Persians their horses whereof there was one drown'd This Tempest having continued two daies we got our Boats ashore caulk'd them and departed thence the 17. but the Persian Ambassador who had two Boats unserviceable was forc'd to send away his horses by land The 24. we came before the City of Samara seventy leagues from Soratof November the sixt we pass'd by the mouth of the great River Kama and entred with the night into the River Casan in very good time for us in regard the next morning the River Wolga was frozen over The Weywode of the City Iohn Wasilouits Moroson who at the time of our former being at Moscou was Counsellor of State to the Great Duke receiv'd us but very indifferently as well in regard the Ambassadors had not made their acquaintance with him by Presents as by reason of his siding with the Muscovian Merchants who opposed our negotiation and would have prevented the establishment of our Commerce The Ambassadors sent their Steward to him with the Great Duke's pass intreating him they might be assigned Lodgings in the City but he sent him back with this answer that he might return to the Boat and there the Ambassadors should hear further from him The next day he sent to the Ambassador Brugman's Boat a Sinbojar who addressing himself to the Ambassador ask'd him which of the two was the Ambassador which the Merchant Brugman thinking himself affronted by that discourse took him by the arm and said to him Go tell thy Master that if he cannot read let him get one that can and withall may shew him what quality the Great Duke gives us But notwithstanding all this we were forc'd to continue several daies on the River though the weather were very cold The Weywode indeed sent us word that we might lodge in the City for our money but he issu'd out orders that none should entertain us and commanded the Sentinel who had permitted the Steward to pass and a Boy who had been his guide through the marsh from the River-side to the City to be cudgell'd Nov. 11. the Persian Ambassador made his entrance into the City and was lodg'd in that part of it which is bult of wood He prevail'd so far with the Weywode that he permitted us to land which we did the 13. taking up our Quarters in the Suburbs Nov. 20. the Ambassadors bestow'd the two Boats on the Weywode and made him some other Presents which put him into another humour and made him very much our friend December the 16. the Muscovites celebrated the Festival of their Patron St. Nicholas for the space of eight daies together during which a man could see nothing but perpetual drunkenness and extraordinary bebauchdness in both men and women The Care or Parson of the Parish came one day to my Quarters accompany'd by his Clerk as well to incense the Images as to comfort the Mistress of the house whose husband was put in prison for debt He told us that about forty years before there had been found in the Monastery of Spas which is in the said
which differs from the Soveraign only in time as that the King of Spain hath many Lords to gratifie with an Employment which enriches them sufficiently in that time For besides that his whole Court lies at the Kings charge he hath the disposal of all his Revenue and every year makes a Visit for sixty or eighty Leagues about which is worth to him very much But the Presents which the neighbouring Princes and the Governours and under Officers make him are not to be valued He hath his Council of State and his Courts of Law and Equity He is absolute Judge in all civil Causes the most important only excepted wherein there may appeal be made to the King Criminal Sentences are executed there notwithstanding the Appeal but it is not in the Viceroy's power to indict a Gentleman but he is oblig'd to send him with the Informations brought in against him to Portugal unless the King order some other course to be taken with him The Viceroy at his arrival into the Indies lands in the Island of Bardes or some other Haven on that side whence he immediately sends his Agents to Goa to take possession of his charge and what ever depends on it His Predecessour makes way for him upon the first news he receives of his Arrival unfurnishes the Palace and leaves him only the Guards and the bare walls Thus much we thought fit to say of the City of Goa Ianuary 22. about noon the President sent away the two Ships which came along with us from Surat and were to carry thither the money which had been received at Goa and after he had dismiss'd certain Iesuits and several other persons of quality of Goa who were come to visit him aboard we hoys'd sail yet expecting to come aboard our Ship the General of the Dutch Fleet whose name was Van Kenlen who had intreated him to convey some Letters to his Superiours But he came not In the Evening we saw all the Dutch Fleet under sail whence we imagin'd that the General intended to give us a visit but with the night we lost sight of them and having a reasonable good wind kept on our course Ian. 23. At break of day we had a sight of the Dutch Fleet again and then we conceiv'd they were going to relieve the King of Ceylon who had intreated the General to assist him against the Portuguez who had declar'd war against him About noon we were at thirteen degrees latitude and out of sight of land But in regard we intended to go towards the Coast of Malabar upon intelligence brought us that an English Ship coming from Bantam richly loaden with Spices had been set upon and spoil'd by the Malabar Pyrates the next day we chang'd our course and took it more Eastward so to get towards the land The Malabars had taken their advantage of the condition that Ship was in which was so over-burthen'd that she could make use of but six Guns they found indeed no great difficulty to enter her but they were no sooner in ere the English sent above six hundred of them with the upper Deck into the Sea They dispatch'd as many with the second but afterwards being themselves forc'd to go to the Stern to avoid the fire they yielded to the Malabars who with the Ship took the Captain the Masters Mate the Clark and fourteen others whom we intended to redeem About noon we pass'd in sight of Monteleone a high mountain from which the Malabars discover at a distance the Vessels they conceive they may set upon with advantage and at night we came to the Haven of Cananor where we found three English Vessels the Dragon the Catharine and the Seymour commanded by Captain Weddell one of the most experienced Sea-Captains of his time one that had been at the taking of Ormus and was then entertain'd into the service of a new Company erected not long before in England for the trade of the Indies Having fired some Guns to salute the Castle we sent to Captain Weddell to know what condition the English prisoners were in and hearing they were most of them set at liberty we would stay no longer on that Coast. The Portuguez have a Garrison in the Castle of Cananor but the City is inhabited by Malabars They call by that name all those people who live upon that Coast from the City of Goa as far as the Cape of Comory or Comorin The Country is very fertile and brings forth abundance of Spices but particularly the best Pepper in the Indies which is most esteem'd because the grain of it is bigger then it is any where else even then that which grows in Sumatra and Iava The Inhabitants go stark naked covering only those parts which Nature would not have seen even in Beasts They make holes in the tips of their Ears and are black but have not such great Lips as the Moors of Africk They tye up their Hair together upon the Crown of the Head and let their Beards grow to the full length without any ordering or trimming in so much that they are not unlike those figures under which we would represent the Devil Nor is their disposition unsuitable to this pleasant external shape for they understand nothing of civility nor are capable of any Commerce or Conversation They are for the most part Pyrates and Souldiers who may be said to have rashness rather then courage and are expert enough in the handling of their Armes which are Sword and Buckler Bows and Arrows They make also a kind of Muskets themselves and use them with advantage They obey neither the King of Cuncam nor the Viceroy of Goa but they have their particular King or Prince who also performs the functions of High-Priest and is of the Sect of the Bramans These were the most considerable enemies the Portuguez met with at the beginning of their establishment in the Indies but ever since they made a Treaty with them they have liv'd in very good correspondence Their Prince whom they call Zamorin is also King of Calicuth upon the same Coast. In the year 1604. the Dutch made a Treaty with him for the freedom of Trade but the Portuguez coming to be more powerful in those parts and the Dutch finding it easier to settle themselves in other places where they continue their Trade with greater advantage they have neglected the friendship of these Barbarians I observ'd at Cananor that there were some men among them who never par'd their Nails and that there were others who wore Bracelets and Rings about their Armes These are the Gentry of the Country whom they call Nayres that they may be distinguish'd from Persons of meaner condition whom they call Polyas The Nayres are very proud and conceited of themselves and permit not the Polyas so much as to touch them They alwayes go with their Sword and Buckler wherewith they make a noise in the Streets as they go and perpetually cry out Po Po that people
35. degrees Latitude We took in all our Sails and let down the Yards preparing our selves by that means against the Tempests which are very frequent and in a manner unavoidable about the Cape of Good hope and we hover'd up and down in that posture all the next day April 20. We perceiv'd that the Water was somewhat more whitish then it is in the main Sea and saw abundance of those Birds which the Portuguez call Mangas de valeudo and are a kind of Sea Mews being white all over the bodies and having black wings They have also this in particular that in their flight they beat their wings one against the other whereas the common Sea-Mews seldom do it but glide through the Air in an uninterrupted and even flight It is observed that where these Birds are seen there is ground within a hundred or hundred and fifty fathom at most Accordingly upon trial we found it at eighty fathom We saw also the same day a sort of Black-birds that had only â—â—â—ttle white upon the breast The Englishâ—ffirm â—ffirm they are Birds presaging misfortune as being the infallible fore-runners of a great Tempest The same day we had one with the West-north-west wind which on the 24. turn'd to a North-west During that time we were forc'd to go before the Wind the Water coming into the Ship with such violence that it took off our Carpenter but he was so fortunate as to lay hold on a Rope was cast him by which he was got aboard again We found ground at eighty fathom and in regard the Earth which stuck to the Plummet was â—lack we inferred thence that we were not far from the Cap d' Agulhas which is sixty Leagues from that of Good hope The 15. The Tempest increased so that we began to despair of escaping in regard the current of the Sea forced us towards the Coasts where we had inevitably been wrack'd if it had continued We were at thirty six degrees twenty minutes beyond the Line and this day we had like to have been destroyed by fire occasioned by a Lamp in the Presidents Chamber but it was soon put out The Storm continued all the next day Our Sea-men seeing about the Ship many of those Fish called Pesce Puercos would thence perswade us that it would not be long ere the weather changed and that the Wind would blow from the same quarter that those Fishes came Accordingly about two in the afternoon the Wind came to the North-west and the Tempest ceased so that we could spread our Sails The 27. We had no Wind at all but in the afternoon it came to the North-west which obliged us to take our Course to the North-north-west failing two Leagues an hour We saw that day a great number of Trombas from which we inferred we were not far from the Cape of Good hope These Yrombas are a kind of great Canes about the bigness of a mans arm and three or four foot long which flote upon the water with their roots as if the Sea had forced them away from the neighbouring Coast yet can it not be said whence they come nor that they are seen any where but about that Cape April 28. We discovered the Coast which before us reach'd from North to West Some thought at first it was Gabo-Falso or the Cape of Good hope but finding ground at forty Fathom and at thirty four degrees forty minutes they were soon convinced that it was the Cap d' Agulhas whence it came that we went all that day laveering with a North-west wind The 29. The Wind came to the South-east so that we continued our course to the North-west keeping still in sight of the Land That day we took as many Fith as found the whole company two or three good meals The night following the Wind changed and came to the North-west obliging us to laveer but being in a manner directly contrary we advanced but little Taking the Altitude of the Sun that day we found our selves at 34. degrees 27. minutes and consequently that we wanted 24. Leagues of being at the Altitude of Capâ—d ' Agulhas April 30. We continued laveering along the Coast the Wind being still contrary May 1. The wind coming to the North-east by East we kept along the Coast and perceived a very high shore which was at last known to be Cabo Falso which is within seven Leagues of that of Good hope It is called Cabo Falso because it is seen at a great distance extending it self into the Sea much after the same manner as the other though it be not so high The 2. A North-east wind brought us in sight of the Cape of Good hope but turning immediately to the North-west we could not possibly enter the Bay which obliged us to make off the Coast and get into the main Sea taking our course towards the South The next day with a North-west wind we had a great tempest which yet hindred us not from getting somewhat nearer the Coast. That day we cast one of our Sea men over-board with the ordinary Ceremonies used at funerals upon such occasions This was the third man died out of our Ship since our departure from Goa May 4. We doubled one of the points of the Cape of Good hope which is about ten Leagues distant from the Road or Bay and much about the same time we discovered the Mountain which the Dutch in the year 1601. named the Tafelherg it being flat and square at the top like a Table It was our intention to get into the Bay which is at the foot of the Mountain and at 34. Degrees four Minutes within fifteen Leagues of the Cape but the wind being contrary obliged us to keep along the Coast endeavouring to make the best advantage we could of it The 5. At Sun-rising we were out of sight of Land whereupon we changed our course taking it North-east and turning the prow of the Ship towards the Coast which we discovered about noon About two in the afternoon we passed in sight of the Island called St. Elizabeth which is inhabited and at night we got into the Bay and cast anchor at seven fathom water This Promontory of the Continent of Africk which extends it self into the Sea towards the South at 36. Degrees beyond the Line was named Cabo de bâ—n ' Speranza by Iohn II. King of Portugal under whom it was discovered by Bartholomew Dias about the year 1493. That Prince would needs call it so out of the hopes he conceived to discover afterwards the wealth of the East-Indies and other Nations have continued that name upon this account that having once doubled the Cape there is some assurance of compleating the Voyage whereof the Cape makes one half as lying in a manner at the equal distance of two thousand five hundred Leagues between Europe and the most Easterly Coast of the Indies Most Ships take in refreshments at this place and the Dutch are wont
bird The Inhabitants of Madagascar are divided into several Tribes which consist of Cantons of a 100. 200. and 300. persons and live like Tartars under a Chief whom they call Tsehich that is King or Lord. There were two of these Princes lived in a wood neer our Tent where they had built them huts under Date-trees VVhen their cattle multiplies so as that the grass falls short they engage in a kind of a war among themselves and endeavour to get what they can from their neighbours King Massar whom we named before told us that he had joyn'd with two other Kings named Machicore Schich Tango and Andiam Palola with whom he made account to get together a body of 500. men and to set upon some of their neighbours who had better pastures then theirs These Princes have an absolute power over their Subjects and severely punish the crimes committed within their jurisdictions especially such as tend to the disturbance of the Publick peace but this dignity is not so continued in the same Family but that upon the Prince's death the strongest is advanced to this pretended Crown It were a hard matter to say what Religion they are off save that as I have been informed they belive there is one God who hath made Heaven and Earth and will one day punish bad Actions and reward the good I saw one among them who was certainly their Priest getting up a tree and speaking to the People for above half an hour but not one of us understanding their Language I know not what discourse he made to them nor yet what difference there is between their Priests and the others save that I observ'd they carried at the end of a Cane a piece of a Cowes-tail and that one of them suffered the nailes of the two fore-fingers of his right hand to grow to the length of Eagles claws Every Canton hath its Priest who would also be accounted Sorcerers and have it thought they can binde the Devil and force him to do what they please The Portuguez of the Island of Mozambique which is but half a league from the Continent of Africk drive a considerable trade here in Aloes Dragons-blood Ebony and other Drugs For the Captain who under the King of Portugal hath the command of this little Island which is but half a league in compass and who in the three years of his Government gets a hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling is not a little obliged to the Neighbour-hood of Madagascar though the greatest part of his wealth comes from Soffola where he hath his Factor and where the Portuguez have built a Fort. Hieronymus Osorius in his History of the Life and Actions of Emanuel King of Portugal affirms that when the Portuguez discovered the Island of Madagascar in the year 1506. there came aboard their Ship as many Negroes as a boat could well carry They were kindly receiv'd and had several little Presents made them but they ill requited that civility for assoon as they were got into their own boat they shot so many Arrows at the Portuguez that they were forc'd to answer them with Cannon and Musket-shot The same year another Portuguez Captain named Rodrigo Pereira being cast by a tempest upon the Eastern Coast of this Island he sent word to the Inhabitants by an African Moor who understood somewhat of their Language that the design of his coming thither was to enter into an alliance with them and to settle an advantagious Commerce for both The Islanders seem'd to approve of this Proposal and told the Moor they would carry him to their King that he might conclude with him the Treaty desired by the Portuguez but being got off a little from the others they fell upon him and had kill'd him had they not discharg'd some Muskets at them whereby some fell and the rest were forc'd to let go the Moor. The Portuguez Captain having got him again landed at another place where he surprized the Inhabitants and took their King Prisoner but treated him so well that he proffer'd to bring them to a place where they should find a good Haven for their Ship He brought the Portuguez Captain to a Bay at the entrance whereof there was a very populous Island whereat the Inhabitants were frightned and fled into the great Island forsaking Wives and Children nay even their King so that it proved no hard matter for the Portuguez to possess themselves of the Island whence they sent to the Inhabitants Inviting them to return and to permit their planting among them since they desired only their friendships They returned and presented the Captain with 50. Oxen and 20. Goats but to be rid of their Guests they represented to them that there were greater advantages to be made in the Port of Matatana inasmuch as there they would find Silver and several Drugs to truck for The Captain would have gone thither but the current of the Sea having forc'd one of his Ships upon the Coast he retired with the other to the Island of Mozambique The same Tempest which had cast that Captain upon the Eastern Coast of the Island forc'd another Ship of the same Fleet into the Port of Matatana whither there presently came one of the boats of the Country into which he sent the Master of his Vessel who by the many Voyageâ— he had made upon the Coasts of Africk and learnt the Language of the Countrey The Negroes having him in their boat made all the haste they could ashore which obliged the Portuguez to put out their shallop with fourscore men in it to overtake them but the Negroes were too quick for them and carried away the man The Shallop coming near Land the Portuguezâ— saw their Master who told them he had been brought to their King and civilly received by him and that he was desirous to speak with the Captain and enter into friendship with him The Captain made no difficulty to go ashore where the King received him kindly and treated him magnificently according to the custom of the Country but thinking to return in the Evening there rose so great a tempest that it was impossible for him to get aboard The tempest continued four dayes so that those who were in the Ship believed that their Captain had been kill'd by the Barbarians weighed Anchor and returned to Mozambique The Captain finding the Ship gone and that there was little likelihood of ever getting out of the Island grew so discontented that he died of it Eight other Persons of his retinue died also and they who remained embarked in the Shallop choosing rather to expose themselves to the uncertain event of a dangerous Navigation then stay in a place where they must perish within a few days and they were so happy as to meet with a Vessel commanded by the Captain Iohn Fonseca who received them aboard and carried them into Africk The first landing of the Dutch in this Island was in August 1595.
is a considerable part As to its Commerce there is no City in the world where the Inhabitants of Amsterdam have not their Factors and correspondents All the maritime towns of England France Spain and Italy are full of them as are also those of the Baltick-Sea and Muscovy it self It is in a manner impossible to number the Ships it sends away every year to Archangel 〈…〉 to the Coasts of Pomerania and into Norway where they put off their Spicâ—s and Silk and Woolen sfuffs for Wheat Timber Pitch 〈…〉 and other things they stand in need of either for the building of their ships and houses or the carrying on of their Trade in the other parts of the world These Fleets go away commonly twice or thrice a year but there go some every day West-ward and 〈◊〉 hour for the other Cities of Holland and the Neighbouring Provinces yet 〈…〉 hinder but that 〈◊〉 Ports and Clannells are so covered with boats and ships that it may be questioned whether the water be not there as much inhabited as the land and whether there be more people in the houses or the ships There is such abunof Wheat Wine Hemp Flax Wood and Spices as if all other Provinces of the world were emptied of their wealth to make Amsterdam a publick Treasury of all they produce so that it may be said it is in this City properly that a man may see those Miracles which the famous Scaliger attributes to all Holland Though a man should consider only the House belonging to the East-India Company he would 〈…〉 all its Inhabitants I ha◠〈◊〉 some Ship◠〈◊〉 at 〈…〉 the Store-houses and Magazeens reaching at a great distance from the East-India House full of Spices Silk Stuffs 〈…〉 what ever China and the Indies afford that is most 〈…〉 had sent thitheâ— all its Ciâ—amon 〈…〉 all their Cloves â—he Islands of 〈…〉 all their Spices China all its rich stuffs Iapan its excellent works of several kinds and the rest of the Indies its Pepper and Silk Nay it may be said this Company is a kind of particular Common-wealth in that little world since its Magistrates Officers Arntes â—lâ—ets Generals Governourâ— of Provinces and Cities and its subjects seem to have no other dependance on this City then a particular State hath on the Universe It is since the year 1595 that the Dutch have made Voyages into the Indies upon the instigation of a Merchant named Cornelius Hâ—â—â—man who living at Lisbon informed himself from the Portuguez of all the particulars of those Voyages and prevailed so far with some Merchants of Amsterdam that in the year 1595. they sent out four Ships which thay sent along the Coasts of Africk and the Cape of good Hope into the Indies inasmuch as the design which some others had to find out a passage North-ward had not proved effectual About two years and four months after these Ships returned to Amsterdam and though the profits of this first Voyage answered not the expectations of the persons concerned yet were they such as engaged several other Merchants in the same design so that in the year 1598. they sent thither a second Fleet consisting of â—ight great Ships They would not stay the return of this Fleeet but in the year 159â— set forth another and much about the same time some other Merchants made up a new Company and set out a particular Fleet insomuch as to prevent the destruction of Trade likely to be occasioned by many different interests the States of the United Provinces in the year 1602. brought the persons concern'd to an agreement among themselves and reduced them into one common Company under their Authority and the direction of the Prince of Orange as Admiral of those Provinces By this Agreement thus authorised by a Grant of the States for one and twenty years there was a regulation made according to which the oversight of all that trade was put into the hands of the chiefest persons concern'd therein divided into six Chambers or Courts which were settled at Amsterdam Middleborough for Zealand at Delf and Rotterdam for the Meuse and at Horn and Enckhuisen for West-Friesland The first consisted of twenty Directors that of Middleborough of twelve and the four others of seven a piece so that in all charges that of Amsterdam bore the one half that of Zealand a quarter part those of Meuse and West-friesland each a half-quarter It was also ordered that to General Assemblies that of Amsterdam should send eight Deputies that of Zealand four and those of the Meuse and West friesland each of them two with a supernumerary for a casting voice which was to be appointed by the Chambers of Zealand the Meuse and West-friesland alternately The Stock of this Company amounted to six Millions six hundred French Livers which was laid out in the setting forth of several Fleets and the first Voyages proved so fortunate that it was found in the year 1613. that the money of the persons concern'd had gain'd two hundred and sixty upon the hundred But the profits were much greater the year following as may be seen by the Dâ—vidents which have been made from time to time In the house belonging to the same Company I saw also all the Drugs all the Fruits and all the living Creatures which I had seen before in the Indies It were impossible to imagine any thing more delightful or more regularly disposed then the Streets Water-channels and Houses of this City All the Rivulets are bordered with Line-trees and the Quays pav'd at the extremities with Brick anâ— in the middest with Flint The Houses especially those of the new City are so manâ— Palaces so neat without that painting could add nothing thereto and so well furnish'd within that there are some whereof only the Pictures were enough to enrich a man But what most speaks the cost imploy'd about them is least seen For all the Houses being built on piles it must be confessed the foundations are no less precious then the rest of the Structure and that there is not so noble a Forrest in the World as that which the City of Amsterdam hath under its houses Among the publick Structures the Churches are remarkable and among others those called the Old and the New and the three others built some years since by the Magistrate In the former is the Epitaph of Iacob de Heemskerk who having made two Voyages to Nova Zembla and the Indies was kill'd at the Streights of Gibralter where he set upon the Spanish Fleet within reach of the great Guns of the Fort. What a noble and neat place is the Hospital and Convent of St. George where there are now received great numbers of Aged persons of both Sexes who are maintained there What more charitable then the care and tenderness wherewith distracted persons are treated And what severity do they not exercise in the ordering of incorrigible persons the men in a House over the door whereof there is in golden Letters VIRTVTIS