not lyghtly ben hearde of For he affyrmeth it to be .xxviii. leagues A lytle further towarde the West yet somewhat more southwarde as the bendyng of the shore requyred he entered into a sea full of herbes or weedes The seede of the herbes whiche swymme on the water are muche lyke the berryes of the tree called Lentiscus whiche beareth the sweete gumme called Mastix they grewe so thycke that they somtyme in maner stayed the shyppes The Admiral reported that here there is not one daye throughout all the yeere much longer or shorter then an other and that the North pole is here eleuate onely fyue degrees as at Paria in whose tracte all these coastes lye He also declared certayne thinges as concernyng the variete of the north pole the whiche because they seeme contrarye to thopinyons of all the Astronomers I wyll touche them but with a drye foote as sayth the prouerbe But it is well knowen most noble prince that whiche we call the pole starre or north starre called of the Italians Tramontana is not the very poynt of the pole Artyke vppon the whiche the axes or extremities of heauens are turned about The whiche thing may well be proued if when the starres fyrst appeare you beholde the pole starre through any narowe hole For so applying your instrument therto in the mornyng somwhat before the daye spring haue blemished theyr light yf then you looke through the same hole you shall perceiue it to be moued from the place where you sawe it fyrst But howe it commeth to passe that at the begynnyng of the euenyng twilight it is eleuate in that Region only fyue degrees in the moneth of Iune and in the mornyng twylyght to be eleuate .xv. degrees by the same quadrant I doo not vnderstande nor yet doo the reasons whiche he bryngeth in any poynt satysfye me For he sayth that he hereby coniectured that the earth is not perfectly round but that when it was created there was a certayne heape raysed theron muche hygher then the other partes of the same So that as he sayth it is not rounde after the forme of an apple or a bal as other thinke but rather lyke a peare as it hangeth on the tree and that Paria is the Region which possesseth the superminent or hyghest part therof nearest vnto heauen In so muche that he earnestly contendeth the earthly Paradyse to be sytuate in the toppes of those three hylles whiche we sayde before that the watchman sawe out of the toppe castel of the shippe and that the outragious streames of the freshe waters whiche so violentlye isshue out of the sayde gulfes and stryue so with the salt water fall headlong from the toppes of the saide mountaynes But of this matter it shall suffyce to haue sayde thus muche Let vs nowe therefore returne to the hystorie from whiche we haue digressed When he perceiued him selfe to be thus inwrapped in so great a gulfe beyonde his expectation so that he had nowe no hope to fynde any passage towarde the north wherby he myght sayle directly to Hispaniola he was enforced to turne backe the same way by the whiche he came and directed his vyoage to Hispaniola by the north of that lande lying towarde the East They whiche afterwarde searched this lande more curyouslye wyll it to be parte of the continent or firme lande of India and not of Cuba as the Admiral supposed For there are many whiche affirme that they haue sayled round about Cuba But whether it be so or not or whether enuying the good fortune of this man they seeke occasyon of quarelyng agaynst hym I can not iudge But tyme shall speake whiche in tyme appoynted reuealeth both truth and falsehod But whether Paria be continent or not the Admirall doth not muche contende but he supposeth it to be continent He also affirmeth that Paria is more southwarde then Hispaniola by eyght hundred fourescore and two myles At the length he came to Hispaniola to see his souldiers which he left with his brethren the thyrd day of the calendes of September in the yeere .1498 but as often times chaunceth in humane thynges among his so many prosperous pleasaunt and luckye affayres fortune myngled some seedes of wormewood and corrupted his pure corne with the malicious weedes of cockle ¶ The seuenth booke of the fyrst decade to the same Lodouike Cardinal c. WHen the Admiral was now come to the Ilande of Hispaniola he founde all thynges confounded and out of order For Roldanus of whom we spake before refused in his absence to obey his brother trusting to the multitude of such as were confedered with hym and not onely behaued hym selfe proudely agaynst the Admiralles brother and Lieuetenant sometyme his maister but also sent letters to his reproche to the kyng of Spayne therin accusyng both the brethren laying heynous matters to theyr charges But the Admirall agayne sent messengers to the kyng whiche myght informe hym of theyr rebellyon instantly desyring his grace to sende hym a newe supplye of men wherby he might suppresse theyr lecentiousnes and punish them for theyr mischeuous actes They accused the Admirall and his brother to be vniust men cruel enimies and shedders of the Spanyshe blood declaryng that vppon euery lyght occasyon they woulde racke them hang them and head them and that they tooke pleasure therin and that they departed from them as from cruell tyrantes and wylde beastes reioycyng in blood also the kynges enimies affyrmyng lykewyse that they wel perceiued theyr entent to be none other then to vsurpe thempire of the Ilandes whiche thyng they sayde they suspected by a thousande coniectures and especially in that they woulde permit none to resorte to the golde mynes but only suche as were theyr familiers The Admirall on the contrary part when he desyred ayde of the kyng to infring theyr insolencie auouched that al those his accusers which had deuised suche lyes agaynst hym were noughtie felowes abhominable knaues and vilains theeues and bandes ruffians adulterers rauishers of women false periured vagaboundes and such as had ben eyther conuict in prysons or fledde for feare of iudgement so escaping punishment but not leauing vice wherin they styll contynued and brought the same with them to the iland lyuing there in like maner as before in thefte lechery all kyndes of mischeefe and so gyuen to Idlenes and sleepe that wheras they were brought thyther for myners labourers scullyans they would not now goe one furlong from theyr houses except they were borne on mens backes like vnto them whiche in olde time were called Ediles Curules For to this office they put the miserable iland mē whom they handled most cruelly For least theyr handes should discontinue from sheddyng of blood and the better to trye theyr strength and manhod they vsed now then for their pastyme to stryue among them selues and proue who coulde most cleanely with his swoorde at one stroke
them selues to leaue the land especialy because the inhabytantes had ouerthrowne the fortresse which Fogeda buylded and had burnt thyrtie houses of the vyllage as soone as Pizarrus and his company lefte of Fogeda and forsaken the land By this occasion therfore being dryuen to seeke further they had intelligence that the west syde of that goulfe of Vraba was more fruitfull better to inhabite Wherfore they sent the one halfe of theyr men thither with the brigandine and left the other neere to the sea syde on the east part This gulfe is fourteene myles in breadth and howe muche the further it entereth into the fyrme lande it is so much the narower Into the gulfe of Vraba there fall many ryuers but one as they saye more fortunate then the ryuer of Nilus in Egypt This ryuer is called Darien vpon the bankes whereof being very fruitfull of trees and grasse they entended to plante theyr newe colonye or habitation But the inhabytantes marueylyng at the brigandyne being bigger then theyr canoas and specially at the sayles therof fyrst sent away theyr chyldren and weakesse sort of theyr people with theyr baggage and houshould stuffe and assembled all suche togeather both men and women as were meete for the warres Thus beyng armed with weapons and desperate mindes they stoode in a redynesse to fyght and taryed the comming of our men vpon a lytle hyll as it were to take the aduauntage of the grounde our men iudged them to be about fiue hundred in number Then Ancisus the captayne of our men and Lieuetenaunt in the steede of Fogeda settyng his men in order of battayle aray and with his whole company kneeling on his knees they all made humble prayers to GOD for the victorie and a vowe to the image of the blessed virgin whiche is honoured in Ciuile by the name of Sancta Maria Antiqua promysyng to sende her many golden gyftes and a straunger of that countrey also to name the vyllage Sancta Maria Antiqua after her name lykewyse to erecte a temple called by the same name or at the least to dedicate the king of that prouince his pallace to that vse if it should please her to assist them in this dangerous enterprise This done al the souldiers toke an oth that no man should turne his backe to his enimies Then y e captayne commaunding them to be in a redynesse with theyr targets and iauelyns and the trumpetter to blowe the battayle they fiercely assayled theyr enimies with a larome but the naked barbarians not long able to abyde the force of our men were put to flight with theyr kyng and captayne Cemaccus Our men entred into the vyllage where they founde plentie of meate such as the people of the countrey vse sufficient to asswage theyr present hunger as bread made of rootes with certayne fruites vnlyke vnto ours whiche they reserue for store as we doo Chestnuttes Of these people the men are vtterly naked but the women from the nauel downewarde are couered with a fyne cloth made of gossampine cotton This region is vtterly without any sharpenesse of wynter for the mouth of this ryuer of Darien is onlye eyght degrees distaunt from the Equinoctiall lyne so that the common sorte of our men scarcely perceyue any dyfference in length betweene the day and nyght all the whole yeere but because they are ignoraunt in astronomie they can perceyue no small dyfference Therefore we neede not muche passe if the degree differ somewhat from theyr opinion forasmuche as the dyfference can not be great The day after that they aryued at the lande they sayled along by the ryuer where they founde a great thycket of reedes continuyng for the space of a myle in length supposing as it chaunced in deede that the borderers thereabout whiche had fled had eyther lyen lurkyng there or els to haue hid theyr stuffe among those reedes Whereupon armyng them selues with theyr targets for feare of the people lying in ambushe they searched the thycket diligently and founde it without men but replenyshed with housholde stuffe and golde They founde also a great multitude of shetes made of the silke or cotton of the gossampine tree lykewyse diuers kyndes of vessels tooles made of wood and many of earth also many brest plates of golde and ouches wrought after theyr manner to the summe of a hundred two pound weight for they also take pleasure in the beautie of golde and worke it very artificially although it be not the pryce of thyngs among them as with vs. They haue it out of other regions for exchaunge of such thynges as theyr countrey bringeth forth for such regions as haue plentie of bread and gossampine lacke golde and suche as bryng forth golde are for the most part rough with mountaynes and rockes and therefore barren and thus they exercise marchandies without the vse of money Reioysyng therefore with double gladnesse aswel in that they sawe great lykenesse of golde as also that fortune had offered them so fayre and fruiteful a countrey they sent for theyr felowes whom they had left before in the East syde of the gulfe of Vraha Yet some say that the ayre is there vnwholsome because that part of the region lyeth in a lowe valley enuironed with mountaynes and maryshes The seconde booke of the seconde Decade of the supposed continent I Haue described to your holynesse where Fogeda with his companye to whom the large tractes of Vraba was assigned to inhabite entended to fasten theyr foote Let vs nowe therefore leaue them of Vraba for a whyle and returne agayne to Nicuesa to whom the gouernaunce and Lieutenauntshyp of the moste large prouince of Beragua beyng the West syde of the gulfe of Vraba was appoynted We haue declared howe Nicuesa departyng with one Carauel and two Brigandines from Vraba the iurisdiction of his frend companion Fogeda directed his course Westwarde to Beragua leauing the bygger shyppes somewhat behind hym to folowe hym a farre of but he tooke this deuice in an euyl houre for he both lost his felowes in the nyght and went past the mouth of the riuer Beragua whiche he cheefely sought One Lupus Olanus a Cantabrian and gouernour of one of the great shyppes had the conduct of one of the Brigandines he commyng behynde learned of the inhabitauntes whiche was the way Eastwarde to the gulfe of Beragua ouerpassed and left behynde of Nicuesa Olanus therfore directyng his course toward the East met with the other Brigandine which had also wandered out of the way by reason of the darkenes of the night The gouernour of this Brigandine was one Petrus de Vmbria Thus both beyng glad of theyr meetyng they consulted what was best to be done and whiche way they coulde coniecture theyr gouernour had taken his voyage After deliberation they iudged that Nicuesa coulde no more lacke some to put hym in remembrance of Beragua then they them selues were mindful hereof hopyng also to
white marble whereby they thynke that in tyme past some straungers haue come to those landes whiche haue dygged marble out of the mountaynes and lefte those fragmentes on the playne There our men learned that the ryuer Maragnonus descendeth from the mountaynes couered with snowe called Montes Niuales or Serra Neuata and the same to be encreased by many other ryuers whiche fall into it throughout all the lowe and waterly regions by the which it runneth with so long a tract from the sayd mountaynes into the sea and this to be the cause of the greatnesse thereof These thynges being thus brought to passe the gouernour commaunded the trumpeter to blowe a retraite Wheruppon they which were sent to lande beyng fiue hundred in number making a great shout for ioy of theyr victory set them selues in order of battayle and so keepyng theyr array returned to the shyppes laden with spoyle of those prouinces and shynyng in souldiers clokes of feathers with fayre plumes and crestes of variable colours In this meane tyme hauyng repaired theyr shyppes and furnyshed the same with all necessaries they loosed anker the .xvi day of the Calendes of Iuly directyng their course to the hauen of Carthagena in the whiche voyage they destroyed and wasted certaine Ilandes of the Canibales lying in the way accordyng as they were commaunded by the kyng But the swift course of the water deceiued both Iohannes Sarranus the chiefe Pilot of the gouernours shippe and all the other although they made their bost that they perfectly knewe the nature therof For they affyrme that in one night they were caried fourtie leagues beyond their estimation The syxte booke of the thyrde Decade HEere must we somewhat digresse frō Cosmography make a philosophical discourse to searche the secrete causes of nature For whereas they all affirme with one consent that y e sea runneth there from the east to the west as swiftely as it were a ryuer fallyng from hygh mountaynes I thought it not good to let suche matter slyppe vntouched The which whyle I consyder I am drawen into no small ambiguitie and doubt whyther those waters haue theyr course whiche flowe with so continuall a tract in circuite from the East as though they fledde to the west neuer to returne and yet neyther the west thereby any whit the more fylled nor the East emptied If we shall say that they fall to theyr centre as is the nature of heauie thynges and assigne the Equinoctiall line to bee the centre as some affyrme what centre shall we appoynt to be able to receiue so great abundance of water Or what circumference shall be founde wet They whiche haue searched those coastes haue yet founde no lyke reason to be true Many thynke that there shoulde bee certayne large straightes or entrances in the corner of that great lande whiche we described to be eyght tymes bygger then Italye and the corner thereof to be full of gulfes whereby they suppose that some strayghtes shoulde passe through the same lying on the west syde of the Ilande of Cuba and that the sayde strayghtes shoulde swalowe vp those waters and so conuey the same into the west and from thence agayne into our East Ocean or north seas as some thynke Other wyll that the gulfe of that great lande be closed vp and the lande to reache farre towarde the north on the backe syde of Cuba so that it embrace the north landes whiche the frosen sea encompasseth vnder the north pole and that all the lande of those coastes shoulde ioyne togeather as one firme lande Whereby they coniecture that those waters shoulde be turned about by the obiecte or resistaunce of that land so bendyng towarde the north as we see the waters turned about in the crooked bankes of certayne ryuers But this agreeth not in all poyntes For they also whiche haue searched the frosen sea and sayled from thence into the west do lykewyse affyrme that those north seas flowe continually towarde the west although nothyng so swiftely These north seas haue ben searched by one Sebastian Cabot a Uenetian borne whom beyng yet but in maner an infant his parentes caryed with them into Englande hauyng occasion to resort thither for trade of marchandize as is the maner of the Uenetians to leaue no part of the worlde vnsearched to obtaine rychesse He therfore furnished two shyppes in England at his owne charges And fyrst with three hundreth men directed his course so farre towarde the north pole that euen in the moneth of Iuly he founde monstrous heapes of Ise swymming on the sea and in maner continuall day lyght Yet sawe he the lande in that tract free from Ise whiche had ben moulten by heat of the Sonne Thus seeyng suche heapes of Ise before hym he was enforced to turne his sayles and folowe the west so coastyng styll by the shore that he was thereby brought so farre into the south by reason of the lande bendyng so muche southwarde that it was there almost equall in latitude with the sea called Fretum Herculeum hauyng the north pole eleuate in maner in the same degree He sayled lykewyse in this tract so farre towarde the west that he had the Ilande of Cuba on his left hande in maner in the same degree of longitude As he traueyled by the coastes of this great lande whiche he named Baccallaos he sayth that he founde the lyke course of the waters toward the west but the same to runne more softly and gentelly then the swifte waters whiche the Spanyardes founde in their nauigations southwarde Wherefore it is not onely more lyke to be true but ought also of necessitie to be concluded that betwene both the landes hitherto vnknowen there shoulde be certayne great open places wherby the waters should thus continually passe from the East into the west whiche waters I suppose to be dryuen about the globe of the earth by the vncessaunt mouyng and impulsion of the heauens and not to beswalowed vp and cast out agayne by the breathyng of Demogorgon as some haue imagined bycause they see the seas by increase decrease to flow reflow Sebastian Cabot hym selfe named those landes Baccallaos bycause that in the seas therabout he founde so great multitudes of certayne bygge fyshes muche like vnto Tunnies which thinhabitants cal Baccallaos that they somtymes stayed his shyppes He founde also the people of those regions couered with beastes skynnes yet not without the vse of reason He also sayth there is great plentie of Beares in those regions whiche vse to eate fyshe For plungeyng them selues into the water where they perceiue a multitude of these fyshes to lye they fasten theyr clawes in theyr scales and so drawe them to lande and eate them So that as he sayth the Beares beyng thus satisfied with fyshe are not noysome to men He declareth further that in many places of these regions he sawe great plentie of laton among the inhabitauntes
hym selfe and they which were his companions in this byoage beyng men of good credit and perceauing my dilygence in searchyng for these matters tolde me yet of a greater thyng that is that for the space of .xxvi. leagues amountyng to a hundreth and foure myles he sayled euer by freshe water insomuch that the further he proceaded especially towarde the west he affirmed the water to be the fresher After this he came to a highe mountayne inhabited onely with Monkeyes or Marmasits on that part towarde the East For that syde was rowgh with rockye and stony mountaynes and therefore not inhabited with men Yet they that went a lande to searche the countrey founde nere vnto the sea many fayre fieldes well tylled and sowen but no people nor yet houses or cotages Parhappes they were gone further into the countrey to sowe theyr corne and applye theyr husbandry as wee often see our husbandemen to leaue theyr stations and villages for the same purpose In the west syde of that mountayne they espyed a large playne whither they made hast and cast anker in the brode ryuer As soone as the inhabitantes had knowledge that a strange nation was arryued in theyr coastes they came flockyng without all feare to see our men We vnderstode by theyr sygnes and poyntynges that this Region was called Paria and that it was very large in so muche that the further it reacheth towarde the weste to be so muche the better inhabited and replenished with people The Admiral therfore takyng into his shippe foure of the men of that lande searched the west partes of the same By the temperatenes of the ayer the pleasaūtnes of the ground and the multitude of people which they sawe daily more more as they sayled they coniectured that these thynges portended some great matter as in deede their opinion failed them not as we will further declare in his place The sonne not yet rysen but beginnyng euen nowe to ryse being one day allured by the pleasauntnes of the place and sweete sauours whiche breathed from the lande to the shyppes they went a lande Here they founde a greater multytude of people then in any other place As our men approched towarde them there came certeine messengers from their Cacici that is the kinges of the countrey to desyre the Admirall in the name of theyr princes to come to theyr palaces without feare and that they and al theyrs shoulde bee at his commaundement When the Admirall had thanked them and made his excuse for that tyme there came innumerable people with theyr boates to the shyppes hauyng for the most parte cheynes about theyr neckes garlandes on theyr heades and braselettes on theyr armes of pearles of India and that so commonlye that our women in playes and tryumphes haue not greater plentie of stones of glasse and crystall in theyr garlands crownes girdels and suche other tyrementes Beyng asked where they gathered them they poynted to the next shore by the sea bankes They signified also by certeyne scornefull iestures whiche they made with theyr mouthes and handes that they nothyng esteemed pearles Taking also baskettes in their handes they made signes that the same myght be fylled with them in shorte space But because the corne wherwith his shyppes were laden to be caryed into Hispaniola had taken hurt by reason of the salt water he determined to deferre this marte to a more conuenient tyme Yet he sent to land two of the shyp boates laden with men to thintent to fetch some garlands of pearles for exchange of our thynges and also somwhat to searche the nature of the Region and disposition of the people They enterteyned our men gentelly and came flocking to them by heapes as it had ben to beholde some strange monsters Fyrst there came to meete our men two men of grauitie whom the multitude folowed One of these was well in age and the other but young They thinke it was the father with his sonne whiche should succeede hym When the one had saluted and embrased the other they brought our men into a certeyne rounde house neere vnto the whiche was a great courte Hyther were brought many chayers and stooles made of a certeyne blacke wood and very cunnyngly wrought After that our men and theyr Princes were sette theyr waytyng men came in laden some with sundry delycate dysihes and some with wyne But theyr meat was only fruites and those of dyuers kyndes and vtterly vnknowen to vs. Theyr wyne was both whyte and redde not made of grapes but of the lycour of dyuers fruites and very pleasaunte in drynkyng After this banquet made in the olde mans house the young man brought them to his tabernacle or mantion place where was a great company both of men and women but they stoode disseuered the one from the other They are whyte euen as our men are sauing suche as are much conuersant in the sunne They are also very gentle and full of humanitie towarde strangers They couer theyr priuie partes with gossampine cotton wrought with sundry colours and are besyde all naked There was fewe or none that had not eyther a coller a chayne or a bracelet of golde and pearles and many had all Beyng asked where they had that golde they poynted to certayne mountaynes seemyng with theyr countenaunce to disswade our men from goyng thither For putting theyr armes in theyr mouthes and grynnyng as though they bytte the same styll poyntyng to the mountaynes they seemed to insinuate that men were eaten there but whether they meant by the Canibales or wylde beastes our men coulde not wel perceiue They tooke it exceedyng greeuouslye that they coulde neyther vnderstande our men nor our men them When they whiche were sent to lande were returned to the shyppes about three of the clocke at after noone the same day bryngyng with them certayne garlandes and collers of pearles they loosed theyr ankers to departe mindyng to come agayne shortlye when all thynges were set in good order in Hispaniola but he was preuented by another whiche defeated him of the rewarde of his trauayle He was also hyndered at this time by reason of the shalownesse of the sea violent course of the water which with continuall tossyng bruised the greatest shippe as often as any great gale of wind arose To auoyde the daungers of suche shalowe places and shelfes he euer sent one of the smallest Carauelles before to trye the way with soundyng and the byggest shyppes folowed behynde The regions beyng in the large prouince of Paria for the space of CCxxx myles are called of the inhabitants Cumana and Manacapana from these regions distant lx leagues is there an other region called Curiana When he had thus passed ouer this long tract of sea supposing styl that it had ben an Ilande doubtyng that he myght passe by the West to the North directly to Hispaniola he chaunced into a ryuer of .xxx. cubits deapth and of suche breadth as hath
standyng agaynste the course of the streame and also that by reason of the largenesse of the place and bendyng sydes it is much lyke to the hauen of Spayne called Carthago The inhabytantes call the Ilande Codego as the Spanyardes cal the Ilande of theyr hauen Scombria This region is called of the inhabitantes Caramairi in the whiche they affyrme both the men and women to bee of goodly stature but naked The men haue theyr heare cutte rounde by theyr eares but the women were it long both the men and women are very good archers Our men founde certayne trees in this prouince which bore great plenty of sweete apples but hurtful for they turne into woormes when they are eaten Especially the shadowe of the tree is contagious for such as sleepe vnder it any tyme haue theyr heades swolne and lose their sight but if they sleepe but a while theyr sight commeth agayne after a fewe dayes This porte is distant foure hundred fyftie sixe myles from that port of Hispaniola whiche the Spanyardes call Beata in the whiche also they furnishe them selues when they prepare anye voyage to seeke other newe landes When Fogeda had entred into the hauen he enuaded slue and spoyled the people whom he founde naked and scattered for they were geuen him for a pray by the kynges letters patentes because they had ben before tyme cruell agaynst the Christians and coulde neuer be allured to permytte them quietlye to come within theyr dominions Here they founde golde but in no great quantitie nor yet that pure they make of it certayne brest plates and brooches whiche they weare for comelynesse But Fogeda not content with these spoyles vsyng certayne captiues which he had taken before for guydes entred into a vyllage twelue myles dystant from the sea syde further into the lande into the which they were fled when he fyrst enuaded Here he found a naked people but apte to warre for they were armed with targettes shieldes long swoordes made of wood and bowes with arrowes typt with bone or hardened with fyre As soone as they had espyed our men they with theyr ghestes whō they had receiceyued assayled them with desperate myndes beyng therto more earnestly prouoked beholdyng the calamitie of these whiche fled vnto them by the violence done to theyr women and chyldren in the spoyle and slaughter In this conflyct our men had the ouerthrowe in the which one Iohannes de Lacossa being in aucthoritie next vnto Fogeda the captayne and also the fyrste that geathered gold in the sandes of Vraba was slaine with fiftie souldiers for these people infecte their arrowes with the deadlye poyson of a certayne herbe The other with theyr captayne Fogeda beyng discomfited fledde to the shyppes Whyle they remayned thus in the hauen of Carthago sorowful and pensiue for the losse of theyr companions the other captayne Diego Nicuesa whom they left in Hispaniola preparyng hym selfe towarde the voyage in the hauen Beata came to them with fyue shippes and seuen hundred fourescore and fyfteene men For the greater number of souldyers folowed Nicuesa bothe because free lybertye was geuen them to choose which of the capytaynes them lyst and also that by reason of his age he was of greater aucthorytie But esspetially because the rumoure was that Beragua being by the kyngs commission appoynted to Nicuesa was rycher in golde then Vraba assygned to Alphonsus Fogeda Therfore at the arryual of Nicuesa they consulted what was best to be doone and determyned fyrste to reuenge the deathe of theyr felowes Wheruppon settyng theyr battayle in araye they marched in the nyght towarde them whiche slue Cossa with his companyons Thus stealyng on them vnwares in the laste watche of the nyght and encompassyng the vyllage where they lay consystyng of a hundred houses and more hauyng also in it thryse as many of theyr neyghbours as of them selues they set it on fyre with diligent watche that none myght escape And thus in short time they brought them and theyr houses to ashes and made them paye the raunsome of blood with blood for of a great multitude of men and women they spared only syxe chyldren all other beyng destroyed with fyre or swoord except fewe whiche escaped priuily they learned by these reserued chyldren that Cossa and his felowes were cut in peeces and eaten of them that slue them By reason whereof they suppose that these people of Camairi tooke theyr original of the Caribes otherwyse called Canibales Here they founde some golde among the ashes For the hunger of golde dyd no lesse incourage our men to aduenture these peryls and labours then dyd the possessyng of the landes These thinges thus finished and the death of Cossa and his felowes reuenged they returned to the hauen After this Fogeda whiche came fyrst fyrst lykewyse departyng with his armie to seeke Vraba committed to his gouernaunce sayled by an Ilande called Fortis lying in the mydway betweene Vraba and the hauen of Carthago into the whiche dessending he founde it to be an Ilande of the Canibales bryngyng with hym from thence two men and seuen women for the residue escaped Here he founde in the cotages of them that fledde a hundred fourescore and tenne drammes of golde caste and wrought in dyuers fourmes Saylyng forwarde from hence he came to the East coastes of Vraba whiche the inhabitauntes call Carihana from whence the Caribes or Canibales of the Ilandes are sayd to haue theyr name and originall Here he began to builde a fortresse and a vyllage neere vnto the same therein intendyng to place theyr fyrst habitation Shortly after beyng instructed by certayne captyues that there was about twelue myles further within the lande a certayne vyllage called Tirufi hauyng in it a ryche golde myne he determined to destroy the village to the which when he came he founde the inhabitantes redy to defende theyr ryght and that so stoutlye that encounteryng with them he was repulsed with shame and domage for these people also vse bowes and venemous arrowes Within a fewe dayes after beyng enforced for lacke of vittualles to inuade another village he hym selfe was strycken in the thygh with an arrowe Some of his felowes say that he was thus wounded of one of the inhabitauntes whose wyfe he had ledde away captiue before They say also that he had fyrst frendlye communed with Fogeda for redeeming of his wife and had appoynted a day to bring a portion of golde for her raunsome and that he came at the day assigned not laden with golde but armed with bowes and arrowes with eyght other confederate with hym which had ben before partakers of the iniuries done to them fyrst at the hauen of Carthago and afterward at the burnyng of the vyllage in reuenge wherof they had desperately consecrated them selues to death But the matter beyng knowen the captayne of this conspiracie was slayne of Fogeda his companions and his wyfe deteyned in captiuitie Fogeda
two of his ships and so tossed the other that they were enforced to heaue ouerboorde part of theyr vyttualles to lyghten them All suche as escaped sayled backe agayne to the coastes of Spayne where beyng newly furnyshed and refreshed by the kyngs officers they went forward on theyr voyage The master Pylote of the gouernours shyp was Iohannes Vesputius a Florentine the neuiew of Americus Vesputius who left him as it were by discent of inheritance thexperience of the Maryners facultie and knowledge of the sea carde and compasse But we were aduertised of late by certayne whiche came from Hispaniola that they had passed the Ocean with more prosperous winde for this marchaunt shyppe commyng from Hispaniola founde them landing at certaine Ilands neere therabout But in the meane time whyle my importunate callers on Galeaceus Butrigarius and Iohannes Cursius men studious by al meanes to gratifie your holynesse ceassed not to put me in remembrance that they had one in a redines to depart into Italy taried only to cary with him vnto your holines these my fayre Nereides although rudely decked lest I shoulde bestow much tyme in vayne I haue let passe many things wil reherse only such as seeme in my iudgement moste worthy memory although somwhat disordered as occasion hath serued So it is therefore that this Petrus Arias hath a wife named Helisabetha Boadilla beyng niese by the brothers syde to the marques of Boadilla whiche rendred the citie of Segouia to Fernando and Helisabeth princes of Spayne at suche time as the Portugales inuaded the kingdome of Castile by reason wherof they were encouraged fyrst to resyst and then with open warre to assayle and expulse the Portugales for the great treasure whiche kyng Henry brother to queene Helisabeth had geathered togeather there This marquesse while she liued did euer shewe a manly and stoute mynde both in peace and warre so that by her counsayle many noble thinges were brought to good effecte in Castile vnto this noble woman the wyfe of Petrus Arias was niese by her brothers syde She folowyng the magnanimitie of her aunt perceiuyng her husband nowe furnyshyng hym selfe to depart to the vnknowen coastes of the newe worlde and those large tractes of lande and sea spake these wordes vnto hym My most deare and welbeloued husbande we ought not nowe to forgeat that from our young yeeres we haue ben ioyned togeather with the yoke of holy matrimonie to thintent that we shoulde so lyue togeather and not asunder duryng the tyme of our natural lyfe wherefore for my part to declare my affection herein you shal vnderstande that whither soeuer your fatall destenie shall dryue you eyther by the furious waues of the great Ocean or by the manyfolde and horrible daungers of the lande I wyl surely beare you company there can no peryll chaunce to me so terrible nor any kynde of death so cruell that shal not be muche easyer for me to abyde then to liue so farre separate from you It were muche better for me to dye and eyther to be cast into the sea to be deuoured of the fyshes or on the lande to the Canibales then with continual mournyng and bewaylyng to liue in death and dye lyuyng whyle I consume in lookyng rather for my husbandes letters then for hym selfe This is my ful determination not rashly nor presently excogitate nor conceiued by the lyght phantasie of womans brayne but with long deliberation and good aduisement Nowe therefore choose to whether of these two you wyll assent eyther to thruste your swoorde in my throte or to graunt me my request As for the children which god hath geuen vs as pledges of our inseparable loue for they had foure sonnes and as many daughters shall not stay me a moment let vs leaue vnto them such goodes and possessions as haue ben left vs by our parentes and freendes whereby they may lyue among the woorshypfull of theyr order for other thynges I take no care When this noble matrone of manly vertue had finished these woordes her husbande seeyng the constant mynde of his wyfe and her in a redynesse to do accordyng to her woordes had no hart to denye her louyng petition but embracing her in his armes commended her intent and consented to her request She folowed hym therfore as did Ipsicratea her Mithridates with her heare hangyng loose about her shoulders for she loued her husband as dyd Halicarnassea of Caria hers being dead and as dyd Artemisia her Mausolus We haue also had aduertisment since theyr departure that she beyng brought vp as it were amōg soft fethers hath with no lesse stoute courage susteyned the roringes and rages of the Ocean then dyd eyther her husbande or any of the Maryners brought vp euen among the sourges of the sea But to haue sayde thus muche hereof this shall suffise let vs nowe speake of other thynges no lesse worthy memorie Therfore wheras in the first Decade we haue made mention of Vincentius Annez Pinzonus ye shal vnderstand ▪ that he accōpanied Christophorus Colonus the Admiral in his first voyage and afterwarde made an other voyage of his owne charges with only one shyppe Agayne the fyrst yeere after the departyng of the Captayne 's Nicuesa and Fogeda he ran ouer those coastes from Hispaniola and searched al the South syde of Cuba from the East to the West and sayled rounde about that Iland whiche to that day for the great length thereof was thought to haue ben part of the continent or firme land although some other say that they dyd the lyke Vincentius Annez therefore knowyng nowe by experience that Cuba was an Ilande sayled on further and found other landes Westwarde from Cuba but suche as the Admiral had first touched Wherfore beyng in manner encompassed with this newe lande turning his course towarde the left hande and rasing the coastes of that lande by the East ouerpassing also the mouthes of the gulfes of Beragua Vraba and Cuchibachoa he arryued at the region whiche in the first Decade we called Paria and Os Draconis and entred into the great gulfe of freshe water which Colonus discouered beyng replenyshed with great abundance of fyshe and famous by reason of the multitude of Ilandes lying in the same beyng distant Eastwarde from Curiana about an hundred and thirtie myles in the which tracte are the regions of Cumana and Manacapana whiche also in the sixt booke of the fyrst Decade we sayd to be regions of the large prouince of Paria where many affyrme to be the greatest plentie of the best pearles and not in Curiana The kynges of these regions whom they cal Chiacones as they of Hispaniola cal them Cacici beyng certified of the comming of our men sent certayne spyes to enquire what new nation was arryued in theyr coastes what they brought and what they would haue and in the meane tyme furnyshed a number of theyr Canoas whiche they call Chichos with men armed after theyr manner for they were
enemies to this kyng of the Ilande got the vpper hande by reason they assayled the kyng sodeinly and vnawares Yet was he determined to assemble a greater power and once agayne to attempt the fortune of warre but that he was otherwyse perswaded by the kynges his borderers whiche counselled him to geue ouer and submit him selfe sometyme by thexample of them selues other threatnyng the destruction of his flooryshyng kyngdome and otherwhyles declaryng vnto him the humanitie and gentlenesse of our men by whose friendship hee might obteyne honour and quietnesse to him and his willyng him furthermore to consider what chaunced vnto them which the yeere before resisted and aduentured the hasarde of the battayle as dyd these kynges Poncha Pocchorrosa Quarequa â—hiapes and Tumacchus with such other By these persuasions the kyng submitted him selfe and came friendly to our men whom he conducted to his palace which they say to bee marueylously adourned and princelyke As soone as they entred into the pallace hee brought foorth a basket of curious workemanshyp and full of pearles which he gaue them The summe of these pearles amounted to the weight of a hundred and ten poundes after .viii. vnces to the pounde being agayne rewarded of our men with such tryfles as they brought with them of purpose as garlandes of Christall and glasse and other counterfet stones of dyuers colours with lookyng glasses also and laton belles and especially two or three Iron hatchets whiche they more esteeme then great heapes of golde hee thought him selfe abuntdantly recompenced They laugh our men to scorne that they will depart with so great and necessarie a thing for any summe of golde affyrmyng an axe or hatchet to bee profitable for many vses of men and that golde serueth onely for wanton pleasures and not to be greatly necessary Beyng therefore ioyfull and glad of the friendship of our men he tooke the captayne by the hande and brought him with certayne of his familiars to the hyghest towre of his palace from whence they might prospecte the mayne sea then castyng his eyes about him on euery syde and lookyng towarde the East he sayde vnto them Beholde heere lyeth open before you the infinite sea extended beyonde the sunne beames then turnyng hym towarde the South and West he signified vnto them that the lande which laye before their eyes the toppes of whose great mountaynes they myght see was exceedyng large then commyng somewhat neerer hee sayde Beholde these Ilandes on the ryght hande and on the left which all obey vnto our empyre and are ryche happye and blessed if you call those landes blessed whiche abounde with golde and pearle We haue in this Ilande litle plentie of golde but the deepe places of all the seas about these Ilandes are full of pearles whereof you shall receyue of mee as many as you will requyre so that yee persist in the bonde of friendshyp which you haue begunne I greatly desyre your friendshyp and woulde gladly haue the fruition of your thinges whiche I set muche more by then millions of pearles You shall therefore haue no cause to doubt of any vnfaythfulnesse or breache of friendshyp on my behalfe Our men gaue hym lyke friendly wordes and encouraged him with many fayre promyses to doe as hee had sayde When our men were now in a readynesse to depart they couenaunted with him to paye yeerely to the great kyng of Castyle a hundred pounde weyght of pearles Hee gladly agreed to theyr request and tooke it for no great thyng nor yet thought him selfe any whit the more to become tributarie With this kyng they founde suche plentie of Hartes and Cunnies that our men standyng in theyr houses myght kyll as many as them lyst with their arrowes They lyue heere very pleasauntly hauyng great plentie of all thinges necessary This Iland is scarsely sixe degrees distant from the Equinoctiall lyne They haue the same maner of bread made of rootes and the graine of Maxium and wyne made of seedes and fruites euen as they haue in the region of Comogra and in other places aswell in the Ilandes as in the firme lande This kyng is now baptised with all his family and subicctes His desyre was at his baptisme to bee named Petrus Arias after the name of the gouernour When our men departed he accompanied them to the sea syde and furnyshed them with boates to returne to the continent Our men diuided the pearles among them reseruyng the fift portion to bee delyuered to thoffycers of the kynges Excheker in those parts They say that these pearles were maruelous precious faire orient exceeding byg insomuch that they brought many with them bygger then hasell nuttes Of what pryce value they myght bee I consider by one pearle the which Paulus predicessour to your holines bought at the second hand of a marchant of Uenice for foure fourtie thousand ducates Yet among those which were brought from this IlaÌ„d there was one bought euen in Dariena for a thousand two hundred Castellans of gold this was almost as byg as a meane walnut came at y t length to the handes of Petrus Arias the gouernour who gaue it to that noble and faythfull woman his wyfe of whose maner of departure with her husbande we haue made mention before We must then needes thinke that this was very precious whiche was bought so deare among such a multitude of pearles where they were not bought by one at once but by poundes and at the least by ounces It is also to be thought that the Uenecian marchaunt bought his for no great summe of money in the East partes But he solde it the dearer for that he chaunced to lyue in those lasciuious and wanton dayes when men were giuen to such nyse and superfluous pleasures and met with a marchant for his purpose But let vs now speake somewhat of the shelfyshes in the which pearles are engendred It is not vnknowne to your holynesse that Aristotle and Plinie his folower were of dyuers opinions as concernyng the generation of pearles But these Indians and our men rest onely in one assertion not assentyng to them in any other as eyther that they wander in the sea or that they moue at any tyme after they are borne They will therefore that there be certayne greene places as it were meadowes in the bottome of the sea bringing foorth an hearbe much lyke vnto Tyme and affyrme that they haue seene the same and that they are engendred noryshed and growe therein as wee see thincrease and succession of Oysters to grow about them selues Also that these fyshes delyghteth not in the conuersation or company of the sea dogges nor yet to bee contented with onely one two or three or at the most foure pearles affyrmyng that in the fyshyng places of the kyng of this Ilande there was founde a hundred pearles in one fyshe the whiche Caspar Moralis the captayne him selfe and his
leagues beyonde thestimation of the best pilotes The contentes of the sixt booke Fol. 124. OF sundry opinions why the sea runnneth with so swyft a course from the East to the West and of the great gulfe of the North part of the fyrme lande The viage of Sebastian Cabot from England to the frosen sea â–ª and howe beyng repulsed with Ise in the moneth of Iuly he sayled farre Westwarde Of people apparelled with beastes skinnes and how Beares take fyshes in the sea and eate them How Sebastian Cabot after that he had discouered the lande of Baccallaos or Baccallearum was called out of Englande into Spayne where he was made one of the assistaunce of the counsayle of the affayres of India and of his second viage Of the Ilande Fortis and howe a great foule as bygge as a Storke lyghted in the gouernours shyp also howe he arryued at Dariena with the kinges nauie Howe Vaschus receyued the new gouernour and of habitable regions vnder the Equinoctiall How Petrus Arias the new gouernour distributed his armie to conquere the South regions ryche in golde and to erect new colonies in the same Of the ryche golde mynes of Dabaiba and of the expedition agaynst the kyng of that region Of the violent course of the sea from the East to the West and of the difficult saylyng agaynst the same Of the pestiferous and vnholsome ayre of Sancta Maria Antiqua in Dariena and how the Spaniardes were of necessitie enforced to plant theyr fyrst colonie and habitation there The cause of the varietie of regions lying all vnder one degree or paralel and by what meanes the Sonne beames are cause of feruent heate Of toades and flees engendred of droppes of water and of a house set on fyre with lyghtnyng Of a Dogge deuoured of a Crocodyle and of venemous byting of great Bats also of Lions Tigers other wilde beasts How in these regions all foure footed beastes growe to a bigger quantitie then they which were of y e fyrst broode also of certayne trees of whose planckes if shyps be made they are safe from the wormes called Broma or Bissas Of a tree whose wood is present poyson yf it be only borne about and of an hearbe that is a preseruatiue agaynst the same Of the ryche Ilandes of the south sea and of certayne expeditions agaynst the Canibales The contentes of the .vii. booke Fol. 130. THe particuler description of the Ilande of Hispaniola and of the ryche Iland called Margaritea Diues lying in the South sea also of the great abundaunce of bygge pearles founde in the same Howe the auctoure compareth Hispaniola to the earthly Paradyse and howe it farre excelleth Italy in fertilitie and temperate ayre Of the fyrst inhabitours of Hispaniola and of the Ilandes of Canarie Howe thinhabitauntes of Hispaniola in theyr songues and rhymes had certayne prophesies that apparelled men shoulde come to theyr countrey and bryng them into seruitude and of theyr familiaritie with spirites also howe those spirites haue no more appeared to them since they were baptised Of theyr expertenesse in swymmyng and of theyr delicate Serpentes byrdes foules and Popingiays Of the fourme and situation of Hispaniola neere the Equinoctiall and howe colde is in some place thereof accidentall and not by the situation of the region Of the Oxen and Swyne of exceedyng bygnesse and of eares of wheat as bygge as a mans arme in the brawne also howe the Swyne are fedde with Mirobalanes c. Of plentie of golde Brasyle Mastix Gossampyne Electurum of thincommodities of intemperate regions Of dyuers languages in the Ilande and howe the prouinces are diuided into regions Howe Andreas Moralis sayled into a daungerous and darke caue within the rocke of a mountayne and of whole ryuers deuoured of suche caues also of the conflyct of the waters Of a standyng poole in the toppe of an hygh mountayne how fearne and bramble bushes growe onely in colde regions The Contentes of the .viii. booke Fol. 135. OF a great lake or standyng poole of sowre and salte water and of the sea fyshes in the same in the myd lande of the Ilande also of deuouryng fyshes called Tiburoâ—i Of the ryuers fallyng into the lakes and of CC. sprynges in the space of a furlong A marueylous hystorye of a kyng stryken dumbe and lame by a myracle and of the Indian language Howe suche as are drowned in the lake are neuer cast vp agayne and of the Ilande Guarizacca in the myddest of a standyng lake also of a lake of freshe water and an other of salte and freshe water Of a large playne of two hundred myles in length and an other of an hundred and twentie Of the marueilous fyshe or monster of the sea called Manati or Matum fedde with mans handes and howe she caryeth men ouer the lake Of the mountaynes vales hylles playnes and ryuers of Hispaniola and howe golde is founde in all mountaynes and golde and fyshe in all ryuers Of salte bayes and howe the ryuers haue theyr increase from the caues of the mountaynes also howe there is no hurtefull beast in the Ilande Of the pleasures of Hispaniola and of the region of Cotohi wel inhabited situate in a plaine in the toppes of mountaynes reachyng to the cloudes Of moderate colde in the mountaynes and of fearne of marueylous bygnesse Howe pure and massie golde is founde in the region of Cotoy or Cotohi and that the vaine of gold is a lyuyng tree also of the rootes branches and floures of the same and howe certayne caues are susteyned with pyllers of golde What gold is brought yeerely from Hispaniola into Spaine and of the salte of the mountaines being as hard as stones and cleare as crystall also sprynges of salte freshe sowre water Of certayne wylde men lyuing in caues and dennes without any certaine language and of their marueylous swiftnes a foote Of pytche of the rocke and two kyndes of trees and of the leafe of a tree vsed in the steede of paper also howe thinhabitants thynke that the Christians can make those leaues speake and disclose all secretes Of a strong coloure made of the iuice of a certayne apple and of the hearbe whose smoke is poyson The contentes of the nienth booke Fol. 142. OF the kindes of fruites wherewith the inhabitauntes of Hispaniola lyued fyrst and how they came to the knowledge of Iucca also how Ceres fyrst founde Wheate and Barley in Egypt Why theyr kynges are called by diuers names and by what names they salute the kynges chyldren when they are borne How they make theyr testamentes and how certayne of the kynges wyues and concubines are buried with them Of the variable motions of the elementes in Hispaniola and where it rayneth but litle and where muche Of the colonies and villages that the Spaniardes haue builded in Hispaniola and of the other Ilandes about the same Of a spryng whiche runnyng vnder the sea from Hispaniola breaketh foorth in the Iland of Arethusa also
throughout al the valley within the earth as in a mine whiche they dygge and take out suche as they neede of al sortes The other marueylous thyng of this Ilande is this That farre from the sea there ishueth out of a mountayne a certayne lycour muche lyke the Cley of Babylon called Bitumen or lyke vnto pytche in great quantitie and suche as is very commodious for the calkyng of shyppes this falleth continually from the rocke and runneth into sea in suche aboundaunce that it is seene flotyng aboue the water on euerye syde of the sea there about as it is dryuen from place to place by the wynde or course of the water Quintus Cursius wryteth in his historie that great Alexander came to the citie of Memi where is a great Caue or Denne in the whiche is a spryng or fountayne that contynually auoydeth a great quantitie of Bitumen in suche sort that it is an easy thyng to beleeue that the stones of the walles of Babylon might be laid therewith according as the said auctour writeth I haue seene this myne of Bitumen not only in the Iland of Cuba but also such an other in new Spaine whiche was founde of late in the prouince of Panuco where it is much better then the other of Cuba as I haue seene by experience in calkyng of shyppes Of the lande of Baccalaos called Terra Baccalearum situate on the North syde of the firme lande SHortly after that your maiestie came to the citie of Toledo there arriued in the moneth of Nouember Steuen Gomes the pilot who the yeere before of .1524 by the commaundement of your maiestie sailed to y e North partes and founde a great part of lande continuate from that which is called Baccalaos discoursyng toward the West to the .xl. and .xli. degree from whence he brought certayne Indians for so call we all the nations of the newe found landes of the which he brought some with him from thence who are yet in Toledo at this present and of greater stature then other of the firme lande as they are commonly theyr coloure is muche lyke the other of the firme lande they are great archers and go couered with the skinnes of diuers beastes both wylde and tame In this lande are many excellent furres as Marterns Sables and such other ryche furres of the which the sayd pilot brought some with him into Spayne they haue syluer and copper certayne other metals they are Idolaters and honour the Sonne and Moone and are seduced with such superstition and errours as are they of the firme And to haue wryten thus much it may suffice of suche thynges as haue seemed to me most worthy to be noted in the Summarie of Gonzalus Ferdinandus wrytten to Themperours maiestie Particularly of newe Spayne called Noua Hispania or Mexico NEwe Spayne is that part of the continent or firme lande that lyeth West and South from the land of Florida this was subdued to thempire of Castile by the ryght noble gentelman Ferdinando Cortese y e marquesse of the vale of Quaraca In this lande are many prouinces conteynyng in them in maner innumerable cities among which that is the chiefe whiche the Indians cal Mexico or Temixtitan consystyng of more then fiue hundred thousand inhabitauntes It standeth in the middest of a lake of salte water as doth Uenece in the sea the lake conteyneth fourtie Persian miles called Parasange euery one consysting of .xxx. furlonges and more as some say In these regions is found great plentie of gold syluer pretious stones with innumerable other thynges both necessary for the lyfe of man pleasant as Silke Bombasine cotton Alame Safferne Woad with diuers other thinges wherwith cloth and Silke is dyed There is also such abundaunce of suger that certaine Spanishe shippes are yeerely fraighted therwith and bring the same into Smile from whence it is caryed in maner to al partes of Christendome Thinhabitantes of Mexico are subtile people and vse much craft in theyr bargaining they haue not the vse of gold and syluer mony but vse in the steade thereof the halfe shelles of Almonds which kind of Barbarous mony they cal Cacoa or Cacanguate In maner al kinds of corne are there very good cheape especially barly and wheate They haue great plentie of Hartes wylde Bores Lions Leopardes and Tigers whiche beastes wander in maner in euery place The region is most commodious for haukyng and huntyng for the great abundaunce it hath of beastes and foules But the people exercise al theyr cunnyng in makyng the images of their idolatry and in painting Theyr women are valiant and sumptuous in theyr apparell and other tyrementes for they so rychely frynge and beset the same with pearles precious stones and golde that nothyng can be more excellent they haue a kynde of paper greatly differyng from ours in this they expresse their mindes by certayne figures for they haue not otherwyse thuse of letters The nation is desyrous of warre and doth not long keepe the conditions of peace vnuiolated but delyteth rather in ciuile and most cruell battayle among them selues then to liue in peace and quietnesse Such as in the warres fal by any meanes into the handes of theyr enimies eyther by submyssion or otherwyse are partly sacryfised to the Idoles and the resydue geuen to the souldiers to be eaten in lyke maner as we rewarde dogges and haukes with part of theyr pray They haue innumerable Idoles whiche euery one maketh for his particuler god after the phantasie of his owne brayne and geueth therto diuine honour albeit at this day they do by litle and litle leaue of theyr barbarous fyercenesse with our religion imbrace better maners For they nowe professe the fayth of Christ and in his name pray vnto God the Father Of Peru. THe prouince called Peru was also named Noua Castilia by them that fyrst founde it This region is the West part of America and is situate in the longitude of .290 degrees proceeding from the West to the East and Southward begynneth fyue degrees beyonde the Equinoctiall line and is extended very farre into the South This is taken to be the rychest land in golde siluer pearles precious stones and spices that euer was founde yet to this day For gold is there in suche plentie that they make pyspots therof and other vessels applied to fylthy vses But this is more to be marueyled at that in a citie called Collâ—o was founde a house al couered with massie plates of gold In theyr warres also theyr harnesse is of gold and siluer Theyr weapons are bowes arrowes slyngs dartes and pykes The inhabitauntes are warrelyke people and of great agilitie They haue cities defended with lawes and armes The region is exceeding fruitfull and yeldeth corne twyse in the yeere It is so floryshyng with many fayre woods mountaynes ryuers and other both pleasaunt necessarie
requisite for theyr Nauie There stayed Balthasar Gagus a great traueyler fiue monethes who describeth that place after this maner Ainan is a goodly countrey full of Indishe fruites and all kynde of victualles besydes great store of Iuelles and pearle well inhabited the â—ownâ—s buylte of stone the people rude in conditions apparelled 〈◊〉 diuersly coloured rugges with two Oxe hornes as it 〈◊〉 made of fyne cypres hangyng downe about theyr 〈◊〉 and a payre of sharpe cyzers at theyr foreheades The cause wherefore they goe in suche attyre I could not vnderstande except it be for that they doe counterfaite the deuyll in the fourme of a bruite beast offeryng to him vp them selues Santianum is an Isle neare vnto the hauen Cantan in the confines lykewyse of China famous for the death of that woorthie traueyler and godly professour and paynefull doctor of the Indyshe nation in matters concernyng religion Francis Xauier who after great labours many iniuries and calamities infinite suffred with much pacience singular ioye and gladnesse of mynd departed in a cabben made of bowes and rushes vppon a desarte mountayne no lesse voyde of all worldly commodities than endued with all spirituall blessinges out of this lyfe the seconde day of December the yeere of our Lorde .1552 after that many thousandes of these Easterlynges were brought by him to the knowledge of Christ. Of this holy man his perticular vertues and specially traueyle and wonderfull workes in that region of other many litle Isles yet not so litle but that they may ryght well be written of at leasure all the later histories of the Indyshe regions are full FINIS Of the Northeast frostie Seas and kyngdoms lying that way declared by the Duke of Moscouia his ambassadour to a learned Gentleman of Italie named Galeatius Butrigarius likewise of the viages of that worthie old man Sebastian Cabote sometymes gouernour of the companie of the Merchantes of Cathay in the Citie of London IT is doubtlesse a marueilous thyng to consyder what changes and alterations were caused in all the Romane Empyre by the Gothes and Vandales and other Barbarians into Italy For by their inuations were extinguyshed all artes and sciences and all trades of Merchandies that were vsed in dyuers partes of the worlde The desolation and ignoraunce whiche insued hereof continued as it were a cloude of perpetuall darkenesse among men for the space of foure hundred yeeres and more insomuche that none durst aduenture to goe any whyther out of theyr owne natiue countreys whereas before the incursions of the sayde Barbarians when the Romane Empyre floryshed they myght safely passe the seas to all partes of East India whiche was at that tyme as well knowen and frequented as it is nowe by the nauigations of the Portugales And that this is true it is manifest by that whiche Strabo wrytteth who was in the tyme of Augustus and Tiberius For speakyng of the greatnesse and ryches of the citie of Alexandria in Egypt gouerned then as a prouince of the Romanes he wryteth thus This onely place of Egypt is apte to receyue all thynges that come by sea by reason of the commoditie of the hauen and lykewyse all suche thynges as are brought by lande by reason of the ryuer of Nilus whereby they may bee easely conueyed to Alexandria beyng by these commodities the rychest citie of merchauntes that is in the worlde The reuenues of Egypt are so great that Marcus Tullius sayth in one of his orations that kyng Ptolomeus surnamed Auleta the father of queene Cleopatra had of reuenues twelue thousande and fyue hundred talentes whiche are seuen millions and a halfe of golde If therefore this kyng had so great reuenues when Egypt was gouerned of so fewe and so negligently what myght it then be woorth to the Romanes by whom it was gouerned with great diligence and theyr trade of merchandies greatly increased by the traffike of Trogloditica and India wheras in tyme past there coulde hardly be founde .xx. shyppes togeather that durst enter into the gulfe of Arabie or shewe theyr prowesse without the mouth of the same But at this present great nauies sayle togeather into India and to the furthest partes of Ethiope from whence are brought many rich and pretious merchandies into Egypt and are caried from thence into other countreys And by this meanes are the customes redoubled aswel by such thynges as are brought thither as also by suche as are caryed from thence forasmuche as great customes aryse of thinges of great value And that by this voyage infinite and pretious merchaundies were brought from the redde sea and India and those of dyuers other sortes then are knowen in our tyme it appeareth by the fourth volume of the ciuile lawe wherein is described the commission of Themperours Marcus and Commodus with the rehearsall of al such stuffe and merchandies wherof custome shoulde be payde in the redde sea by suche as had the same in fee farme as were payde the customes of all other prouinces partaynyng to the Romane Empyre and they are these folowyng Cinamome Long pepper Whyte pepper Cloues Costus Cancomo Spikenarde Cassia Sweete perfumes Xilocassia Myr. Amome Ginger Malabatrum Ammoniac Galbane Lasser Agarike Gumme of Arabie Cardamome Xilocinamome Carpesio Sylkes of diuers sortes Lynnen cloth Skynnes and Furres of Parthia and Babylon Iuorie Wood of Heben Pretious stones Pearles Iewelles of Sardonica Ceraunia Calamus Aromaticus Berille Cilindro Slaues Cloth of Sarmatia The sylke called Metaxa Uestures of sylke Died cloth and sylke Carbasei Sylke threede Gelded men Popingayes Lions of India Leopardes Panthers Purple Also that iuyce or lyquour whiche is geathered of wooll and of the heare of the Indians By these woordes it doeth appeare that in olde tyme the said nauigation by the way of the red sea was wel knowen muche frequented perhaps more then it is at this present Insomuch that the ancient kynges of Egypt consyderyng the great profite of the customes they had by the viages of the red sea and wylling to make the same more easie commodious attempted to make a fosse or chanel which should begin in the last part of the said sea where was a citie named Arsinoe which perhappes is that that is nowe called Sues and shoulde haue reached to a branch of the riuer of Nilus named Pelusio whiche emptieth it selfe in our sea towarde the East about the citie of Damiata They determined also to make three causeys or hygh wayes by land which shoulde passe from the sayd branch to the citie of Arsinoe but they founde this too difficult to bryng to passe In fine king Ptolomeus surnanamed Philadelphus ordeyned another way as to sayle vppon Nilus agaynst the course of the riuer vnto the citie of Copto and from thence to passe by a desart countrey vntyl they come aboue the red sea to a citie named Berenice or Miosormo where they imbarked
the contrary parte of the sayde lande discouered The sayd maister Antonie wrote furthermore that by the opinion of men well practised there was discouered so great a space of that countrey vnto the sayde sea that it passed .950 leagues whiche make .2850 myles And doubtlesse if the Frenche men in this theyr newe Fraunce would haue passed by lande toward the sayd Northwest and by North they should also haue founde the sea whereby they myght haue sayled to Cathay But aboue all thynges this seemed vnto me most woorthie of commendation that the sayde maister Antonie wrote in his letter that he had made a booke of al the naturall and marueylous thinges whiche they founde in searchyng those countreys with also the measures of landes and altytudes of degrees A worke doubtlesse which sheweth a princely and magnificall mynd wherby we may conceiue that if God had giuen him the charge of the other hemispherie he would or now haue made it better knowen to vs. The which thing I suppose no man doth greatly esteeme at this tyme beyng neuerthelesse the greatest and most glorious enterpryse that may be imagined And heere makyng a certayne pause and turnyng him selfe towarde vs hee sayde Doe you not vnderstande to this purpose howe to passe to India towarde the Northwest wynde as dyd of late a citizen of Uenece so valiant a man and so well practised in all thinges perteynyng to nauigations and the science of Cosmographie that at this present hee hath not his lyke in Spayne insomuche that for his vertues hee is preferred aboue all other pylottes that sayle to the West Indies who may not passe thyther without his lycence and is therefore called Piloto Maggiore that is the graunde pylote And when we sayde that wee knewe him not hee proceeded saying that beyng certayne yeeres in the citie of Siuile and desirous to haue some knowledge of the nauigations of the Spanyardes it was tolde him that there was in the citie a valiant man a Uenecian borne named Sebastian Cabote who had the charge of those thinges beyng an expert man in that science and one that could make cardes for the sea with his owne hande and that by this reporte seekyng his acquayntaunce hee founde him a very gentle person who enterteyned him friendly and shewed him many thinges and among other a large Mappe of the worlde with certayne perticular nauigations aswell of the Portugales as of the Spanyardes and that hee spake further vnto him in this effecte When my father departed from Uenece many yeeres since to dwell in Englande to folowe the trade of merchandyes hee tooke mee with him to the citie of London whyle I was very young yet hauing neuerthelesse some knowledge of letters of humanitie and of the sphere And when my father dyed in that tyme when newes were brought that Don Christopher Colonus Genuese had discouered the coasts of India wherof was great talke in all the court of kyng Henry the seuenth who then reigned insomuche that all men with great admiration affirmed it to be a thing more diuine then humane to sayle by the West into the East where spyces growe by a way that was neuer knowen before By which fame and report there increased in my harte a great flame of desyre to attempte some notable thyng And vnderstandyng by reason of the sphere that if I should sayle by the way of the Northwest wynde I should by a shorter tracte come to India I therevppon caused the kyng to bee aduertised of my diuise who immediately commaunded two Carauels to be furnyshed with all thinges apperteynyng to the vyage which was as farre as I remember in the yeere .1496 in the begynnyng of sommer Beginning therefore to sayle toward Northwest not thinking to fynde any other lande then that of Cathay and from thence to turne toward India But after certayne dayes I founde that the lande ranne towarde the North which was to me a great displeasure Neuerthelesse saylyng along by the coast to see if I could fynde any gulfe that turned I founde the lande styll continent to the .56 degree vnder our pole And seeyng that there the coast turned toward the East dispayring to fynde the passage I turned backe agayne and sayled downe by the coast of that lande towarde the Equinoctiall euer with intent to fynde the sayde passage to India and came to that parte of this firme lande whiche is nowe called Florida Where my victualles faylyng I departed from thence and returned into Englande where I founde great tumultes among the people and preparance for warres in Scotlande by reason whereof there was no more consideration had to this vyage Whervppon I went into Spayne to the Catholyke kyng and queene Elizabeth who beyng aduertised what I had done enterteyned mee and at theyr charges furnyshed certayne shyppes wherewith they caused mee to sayle to discouer the coastes of Brasile where I founde an exceedyng great and large ryuer named at this present Rio della Plata that is the ryuer of siluer into the whiche I sayled and folowed it into the firme lande more then sixe hundred leagues fyndyng it euery where very fayre and inhabited with infinite people whiche with admiration came runnyng dayly to our shyppes Into this ryuer runne so many other riuers that it is in maner incredible After this I made many other vyages whiche I now permyt And wexyng olde I gyue my selfe to rest from suche traueyles bycause there are nowe many young and lusty Pylotes and mariners of good experience by whose forwardnesse I doe reioyce in the fruites of my labours and rest with the charge of this office as you see And this is as muche as I haue vnderstoode of maister Sebastian Cabote as I haue geathered out of dyuers nauigations written in the Italian tongue And whereas I haue before made mention howe Moscouia was in our tyme discouered by Richarde Chanceler in his viage towarde Cathay by the direction and information of the sayd maister Sebastian who long before had this secrete in his mynd I shall not neede heere to describe that viage forasmuche as the same is largely and faythfully written in the Latine tongue by that learned young man Clement Adams schoolemaister to the Queenes Henshemen as he receyued it at the mouth of the sayd Richard Chanceler Neuerthelesse I haue thought good heere to speake somewhat of Moscouia as I haue redde in the booke of Iohn Faber written in the Latine tongue to the ryght noble Prince Ferdinando Archeduke of Austria and Infant of Spaine of the maners and religion of the Moscouites as he was partly instructed by the Ambassadours of the Duke of Moscouie sent into Spayne to Themperours maiestie in the yeere .1525 He wryteth therefore as foloweth I thynke it fyrst conuenient to speake somewhat of the name of this region whereby it is called at this day and howe it was called in olde tyme. Conferryng therefore the moste
dominion remayned whiche opened licentiousnesse to thiniurie of the subiectes this folowed thereof that whereas the Danes by this occasion had no further trust or ayde in the loue of the people they prouided for thindempnitie of theyr owne estate by forcible extenuatyng the goods and power of them whom they desired to keepe in subiection This is the fortune of Norway whose edefices townes and cities can not defende theyr auncient amplitude and dignitie neyther is there any hope of repayryng theyr state For there are no consultations admitted for the redresse of the common welth No man dare shewe his aduice or attempte any thyng vncertayne of the myndes and consent of other To this difficultie is added the qualitie of the place For the Danes haue in theyr power al the nauigations of Norway wherby it may exercise no trade by sea neyther cary forth wares to other places So that in fine it may seeme most vnfortunate as lackyng the fauoure of heauen the sea and the lande From hence is brought into all Europe a fyshe of the kyndes of them whiche we call haddockes or hakes indurate and dried with cold and beaten with clubbes or stockes by reason whereof the Germans call them stockefyshe The takyng of these is most commended in Ianuarie that they may be sufficiently dryed and hardened with colde For suche as are taken in the more temperate monethes do corrupt and putrifie and are not meete to be caryed forth The description of the west coaste with the part thereof lying most towarde the north Wardhus that is the watche house or watche towre 54.70.30 It is a stronge Castell or fortresse appoynted to the Lapones The coaste folowyng .48.50.70 Matthkur c. All the coast from hence and the places neere about vnto the degree .45.69 beyng sometyme lefte desolate by the sedition and destruction of Norway the Lapones chose for their habitations as comming to amore beneficial heauen From y e castel of Wardhus vnto the degree .40.30.64.10 al the coast in the spring tyme is daungerous to passe by reason of whales of such huge byggenesse that some of them growe to an hundred cubites for these fyshes at that tyme of the yeere resort togeather for generation Such shyppes as chaunce to fall eyther vppon theyr bodies or into suche whyrlepooles as they make by theyr vehement motions are in great peryll The remedie to auoyde this daunger is to power into the sea Castoreum that is oyle made of the stones of the beaste called the Beuor myngeled with water For with this the whole hearde of whales vanysheth suddeynely to the bottome of the sea They make a terrible roryng and haue two breathyng places in the hyghest part of theyr forheads standyng foorth ryght a cubite in length and are brode at the endes beyng couered with a skynne through the whiche they blowe waters lyke showers or stormes of raine The prickes of theyr backes are founde conteynyng three els in circuite and euery knotte betwene them of one ell They are at the leaste of .lx. cubites in length and are salted and kept in store houses The greatest are vnprofitable to bee eaten by reason of theyr ranke and vnsauery taste whiche can not be qualified Nidrosia standyng vppon the south syde of the sea banke was the chiefe citie and Metropolitane churche throughout all Norway Iselande Gronlande and the Ilandes there about This citie was noble at the fyrst vnder the floryshyng Empire of Norway conteynyng in circuite .xxiiii. paryshes but it is now brought in maner to a village and is called in the Germane tongue Truthaim as the house of the Dryides There remayneth at this day a Cathedrall churche in token of the auncient felicitie beyng such that in bygnesse and workmanshyp of wrought stone the lyke is not in all Christendome The greeses or compasse about the Altar was destroyed by fyre and repared at the same time that we wrote this historie The charge of the reparation was esteemed to be seuen thousand crownes by which small portion an estimate may be made of the excellencie of the whole Churche The tract of all the sea coastes of Norway is very quiet and meeke the sea is not frosen the snowes endure not long This lande hath also a peculiar pestilence which they call Leem or Lemmer This is a litle foure footed beaste about the byggenesse of a Ratte with a spotted skynne these fall vppon the grounde at certayne tempestes and soddeyne showres not yet knowen from whence they come as whether they are brought by the wyndes from remote Ilandes or otherwyse engendred of thycke and feculent clowdes But this is well knowen that as soone as they fall downe greene grasse and hearbes are found in theyr bowels not yet digested They consume al greene thyngs as do Locustes and such as they only byte wyther and dye This pestilence lyueth as long as it doth not tast of the grasse newely sproong They come togeather by flockes as do Swalows and at an ordinarie time either die by heapes with great infection of the land as by whose corruption y e aire is made pestiferous and molesteth the Noruegians with swymmyng in the head and the Iaundies or are consumed of other beastes named Lefrat Towards the East it is included within the lyne that is drawen by the mountaynes whose endes or vttermoste boundes they are that lye toward the South aboue the mouthes of the riuer Trolhetta but that part that lieth toward the North passeth by the castel of Wardhus and is extended to the vnknowen lande of the Lapones The Lake called Mos and the Ilande of Hosfuen in the myddest therof is in the degree .45 30 61. In this Lake appeareth a straunge monster whiche is a serpent of huge byggenesse And as to all other places of the worlde blasing starres do portend thalteration and chaunge of thynges so doth this to Norway It was seene of late in the yeere of Christ .1522 appearyng farre aboue the water rowlyng lyke a great pyller and was by coniecture farre of esteemed to be of fyftie cubites in length Shortly after folowed the reiectyng of Christiernus kyng of Denmarke Suche other monstrous thyngs are sayd to be seene in diuers places of the world And doubtlesse except we should thynke that the diuine prouidence hauyng mercy vpon mortall men and hereby warnyng them of theyr offences doth send such strange thynges as also blasing starres and armies fyghtyng in the ayre with suche other portentous monsters whereof no causes can be founde by naturall thynges we myght els suspect that such syghtes were but imaginations of the sense of man deceyued On the East syde are exceedyng rough mountaynes which admit no passage to Suetia The sea betweene Norway and the Ilandes is called Tialleslund Euripus or the streyghtes The Iland of Lofoth whose middest .42 67 10. Langanas whose middest .41 67 Vastrall whose middest .41 30 67 30. The sea betwene these
honest rooume and vittayles for theyr mony 18 Item the sayde merchauntes may in any place where they shall thynke best buylde or bye any house or houses to theyr owne vses And no person to molest or trouble them and to stande in any Carauan where they wyll or shal thinke good THe commodities whiche the merchauntes may haue by this trade into Persia are thought to be great and may in tyme perhappes be greater then the Portugalles trade into the East Indies forasmuch as by the way of Persia into Englande the returne may be made euery yeere once wheras the Portugalles make the returne from Calecut but once in two yeeres by a long and daungerous vyage all by sea for whereas the citie and Ilande of Ormus lying in the goulfe of Persia is the most famous marte towne of all East India whyther all the merchaundies of India are brought the same may in shorter time and more safely be brought by land ryuers through Persia euen vnto the Caspian sea and from thence by the countreys of Russia or Moscouia by ryuers euen vnto the citie of Yeraslaue and from thence by lande a hundred and fourescore myles to Vologda and from thence agayne al by water euen vnto England The merchaundies whiche be had out of Persia for the returne of wares are sylke of all sortes and colours both rawe and wrought Also all maner of spices and drugges Pearles and precious stones likewyse carpettes of dyuers sortes with diuers other ryche merchaundies whereof you may reade more here before in the Chapter entituled Of the trafique of Persia with other countreys It was tolde me of them that came last from Persia that there is more sylke brought into some one citie of Persia then is of cloth brought into the citie of London Also that one village of Armenia named Gilgat doth carie yeerely fyue hundred and sometyme a thousande mules laden with sylke to Halepo in Sorya of Turkye beyng foure dayes iorney of Tripoli where the Uenetians haue their continuall abidyng and send from thence sylkes which they returne for English carses and other clothes into al partes of Christendome The maner howe the Christians become Busor men and forsake their religion I Haue noted here before that if any Christian wyll become a Busor man that is one that hath forsaken his fayth and be a Mahumetan of their religion they geue him many giftes and somtyme also a liuyng The maner is that when the deuil is entred into his hart to forsake his fayth he resorteth to the Soltan or gouernoure of the towne to whom he maketh protestation of his diuilyshe purpose The gouernoure appoynteth hym a horse and one to ryde before hym on an other horse bearyng a swoorde in his hande and the Busor man bearyng an arowe in his hand and rydeth in the citie cursyng his father and mother and if euer after he returne to his owne religion he is giltie of death as is signified by the swoorde borne before hym A young man a seruaunt of one of our merchauntes because he woulde not abyde the correction of his maister for his faultes was mynded to forsake his fayth But as God woulde he fell sodaynely sicke and dyed before he gaue hym selfe to the deuil If he had become a Busor man he had greatly troubled the merchauntes for if he woulde then haue sayd that halfe their goods had ben his they would haue geuen credite vnto hym For the auoydyng of whiche inconuenience it was graunted in the priuileges that no Busor man c. as there appeareth In Persia in diuers places oxen and kine beare the tentes and housholde stuffe of the poore men of the countrey which haue neither Camelles nor horses Of the tree whiche beareth Bombasine cotton or Gossampine IN Persia is great abundance of Bombasine cotton and very fyne this groweth on a certayne litle tree or bryer not past the height of a mans waste or litle more the tree hath a slender stalk like vnto a brier or to a carnation gyleflour with very many braunches bearyng on euery braunch a fruite or rather a codde growyng in round fourme conteynyng in it the cotton and when this budde or codde commeth to the bygnesse of a wallnut it openeth and sheweth foorth the cotton which groweth styll in bygnesse vntyll it be lyke a fleece of wooll as byg as a mans fyst and beginneth to be loose and then they geather it as it were the rype fruite The seedes of these trees are as byg as peason and are blacke and somewhat flatte and not rounde they sowe them in plowed grounde where they growe in the fieldes in great aboundance in many countreys in Persia and diuers other regions The writing of the Persians ARthur Edwardes shewed me a letter of the Sophie written in theyr letters backward subsigned with the handes both of the Sophie his secretarye The Sophies subscription was only one word his name I suppose of Shaugh wrytten in golden letters vpon red paper The whole letter was also wrytten on the same peece of red paper beyng long and narrowe about the length of a foote and not past three inches brode The priuate signet of the Sophie was a rounde prynted marke about the byggenesse of a Ryall only prynted vpon the same paper without any waxe or other seale the letters seeme so myshapen and disordered that a man woulde thynke it were somewhat scribled in maner at aduentures Yet they say that almost euery letter with his pricke or circumflexe signifieth a whole worde Insomuch that in a peece of paper as bygge as a mans hand theyr wryting doth conteyne as much as doth ours almost in a sheete of paper ¶ The two viages made out of Englande into Guinea in Affricke at the charges of certayne merchantes aduenturers of the citie of London in the yeere of our Lord ▪ 1553. BEing desired by certayne of my freendes to make some mention of these viages that some memory thereof myght remayne to our posteritie yf eyther iniquitie of tyme consumyng all thynges or ignoranuce creepyng in by barbarousnesse and contempt of knowledge shoulde hereafter bury in obliuion so worthy attempts so much the greatlyer to be esteemed as before neuer enterprysed by Englyshe men or at the least so frequented as at this present they are and may be to the great commoditie of our merchantes yf the same be not hyndred by the ambition of such as for the conquesting of fourtie or fyftie myles here there and erectyng of certayne fortresses or rather blockehouses among naked people thynke them selues worthy to be lordes of halfe the world enuying that other shoulde enioy the commodities which they them selues can not wholy possesse And although suche as haue been at charges in the discoueryng and conquestyng of suche landes ought by good reason to haue certayne priuileges preheminences and tributes for the same yet to speake vnder correction it may seeme somewhat rigorous and agaynst good reason and conscience
sea and the next day all day and the next nyght after vntyl the thyrde day of the sayde moneth about noone makyng our way good dyd runne .60 leagues Item from .xii. of the clocke the thyrde daye tyll .xii. of the clocke the .iiii. day of the sayde moneth makyng our way good southest dyd runne euery three houres two leagues which amounteth to .xvi. leagues the whole Item from xâ—i of the clocke the .iiii. day to .xii. of the clocke the .v. day running southwest in the sea dyd runne .xii. leagues Item runnyng from .xii. of the clocke the .v day vntyll .xii. of the cloke the .vi. day runnyng southeast dyd runne xviii leagues And so from .xii. of the clocke the .vi. day vntyll .xii. of the clocke the .vii. day runnyng southsouthwest dyd runne euery houre .ii. leagues which amount to .xlviii. leagues the whole Item from .xii. of the clocke the .vii. day tyll .iii. of the clocke the .viii. day southsouthwest runnyng in the sea dyd runne .xxx. leagues Item from three of the clocke the .viii. day vntill .iii. of the clocke the .ix. day runnyng southsouthwest dyd runne .xxx. leagues Item from .iii. of the clocke the .ix. day tyll .iii. of the clocke the .x. daye dyd southsoutheast in runnyng in the sea the summe of .xxiiii. leagues Also from .iii. of the clocke the .x. day vntyll .xii of the clocke the .xi. daye dyd runne southsouthwest the summe of .xii. leagues and from .xii. of the clocke tyll .vi of the sayde daye dyd runne vi leagues Running south and by west in the sea from .vi. of the clocke the xi day til .vi. of the clocke the xii day dyd runne .xxxvi. leagues From .vi. of the clocke at after noone the .xii. daye tyll .vi. of the clocke the .xiii. daye at after noone dyd runne .xiii. leagues Item from .vi. of the clocke the .xiii. daye tyll .vi. of the clocke the .xiiii. day at after noone we were becalmed that we coulde lye southwest with a sayle And the .xv. daye in the mornyng the wynd came to the East and Eastnortheast The .xvii. daye in the mornyng we had syght of the I le of Madera whiche doth ryse to hym that commeth in the northnortheast part vpryght lande in the west part of it and very hygh and to the southsoutheast a lowe long lande and a long poynt with a saddle thorough the myddest of it standeth in the .xxxii. degrees and in the west part many sprynges of water runnyng downe from the mountayne and many whyte fieldes lyke vnto corne fieldes and some whyte houses to the southeast parte of it and the toppe of the mountayne sheweth very ragged if you may see it and in the northeast part there is a byght or bay as though it were a harborowe Also in the sayd part there is a rocke a litle distance from the shore and ouer the sayde byght you shall see a great gap in the mountayne The .xix. day at .xii. of the clocke we had syght of the I le of Palmes and Teneriffa and the Canaries The I le of Palme riseth round and lyeth southeast and northwest and the northwest part is lowest In the south is a round hyll ouer the head land and an other round hyll aboue that in the land There is betwene the Southeast part of the I le of Madera and the northwest part of the I le of Palme .lvii. leagues This I le of Palme lyeth in the .xxix. degrees And our course from Madera to the I le of Palme was south south and by west so that we had sight of Teneriffa of the Canaries The southeast part of the I le of Palme and the northnortheast of Teneriffa lieth southeast and northwest and betweene them is twentie leagues Teneriffa and the great Canarie called Grancanaria and the West part of Fortisuentura standeth in .xxvii. degrees and a halfe Gomera is a fayre Iland and very ragged and lyeth West Southwest of Teneriffa And who so euer wyll come betweene them two Ilandes must come South and by East and in the South part of Gomera is a towne and a good rode in the sayde parte of the Ilande and it standeth in twentie and seuen degrees and three terces Teneriffa is an hygh land a great hygh pycke lyke a suger loafe and vpon the said picke is snow throughout al the whole yeere And by reason of that pycke it may be knowen aboue al other Ilandes and there we were becalmed the .xx. day of Nouember from syxe of the clocke in the mornyng vntyl foure of the clocke at after noone Betweene Gomera and Cape de las Barbas THe .xxii. day of Nouember vnder the Tropyke of Cancer the Sunne goeth downe West and by South Upon the coast of Barbarie .xxv. leagues by North Cape blanke at three leagues of the mayne there is .xv. fadome and good shelly grounde sand among and no streames and two small Ilandes standyng in the .xxii. degrees a terce From Gomera to Cape de las Barbas is an hundred leagues and our course was South and by East The sayde Cape standeth in xxii and a halfe and all that coast is flatte .xvi. or xvii fadome deepe Uii. or .viii leagues of frâ—m the ryuer de Oro to cape de las Barbas there vse many Spanyardes and Portugales to trade for fyshyng duryng the moneth af Nouember and al that coast is very lowe landes Also we went from cape de las Barbas southsouthwest and southwest and by south tyl we brought our selues in .xx. degrees and a halfe reckonyng our selues .vii. leagues of and that was the least sholes of cape Blanke Then we went South vntil we brought our selues in thyrtene degrees reckonyng our selues twentie and fyue leagues of And in fyfteene degrees we did reare the crossiers and we myght haue reared them sooner if we had loked for them They are not ryght a Crosse in the moneth of Nouember by reason of the nyghtes are short there Neuerthelesse we had the syght of them the .xxix. day of the sayde moneth at nyght The fyrst of December out thyrteene degrees we set our course South and by East vntyl the fourth day of December at twelue of the clocke the same day Then we were in niene degrees and a terce reckonyng our selues thyrtye leagues of the sholes of the ryuer called Ria Grande beyng West Southwest of them the whiche sholes be thyrtie leagues long The fourth of December â–ª we began to set our course Southeast we beyng in syxe degrees and a halfe The nienth day of December we set our course East Southeast the fourteenth day of the sayde moneth we set our course East we beyng in fyue degrees and a halfe reckonyng our selues thyrtie and syxe leagues from the coast of Guinea The .xix. of the sayde moneth we set our course East and by North reckoning our selues .xvii. leagues distant from Cape Mensurado the sayde Cape beyng East Northeast of vs and the ryuer of
Sesto beyng East The .xxi. day of the sayde moneth we fel with Cape Mensurado to the Southeast about two leagues of This Cape may be easely knowen by reason the rysyng of it is like a Porpose head Also toward the Southeast there are three trees whereof the Eastermost tree is the hyghest and the myddlemost is lyke a hie stacke and the Southermost lyke vnto a Gibet and vppon the mayne are foure or fyue hygh hylles rysyng one after an other lyke rounde hoommockes or hyllockes And the Southeast of the three trees is three trees lyke a brandierwyse and all the coast along is whyte sand The sayde Cape standeth within a litle in syxe degrees The .xxii. of December we came to the ryuer of Sesto and remayned there vntyll the .xxix. day of the sayde moneth Here we thought it best to send before vs the pynnesse to the ryuer of Dulce called Rio Dulce that they myght haue the begynnyng of the market before the commyng of the Iohn At the ryuer of Sesto we had a Tunne of graynes This riuer standeth in .vi. degrees lackyng a terce From the ryuer of Sesto to Rio Dulce is .xxv. leagues Rio Dulce standeth in fyue degrees and a halfe The ryuer of Sesto is easye to be knowen by reason there is a ledge of rockes on the Southeast parte of the Rode And at the entryng into the hauen are fyue or sixe trees that beare no leaues This is a good harborowe but very narow at the entrance into the ryuer There is also a rocke in the hauens mouth ryght as you enter And all that coast betweene Cape de Monte and cape de las Palmas lyeth Southeast and by East Northwest and by West being three leagues of the shore And you shall haue in some places rockes two leagues of and that betweene the riuer of Sesto and cape de las Palmas Betweene the ryuer of Sesto the ryuer Dulce is .xxv. leagues and the high lande that is betweene them both is called Cakeado being eight leagues from the ryuer of Sesto And to the Southeastwarde of him is a place called Shawgro and an other called Shyawe or Shauo where you may get freshe water Of this Shyawe lyeth a redge of rockes and to the Southeastwarde lyeth a hedlande called Croke Betweene Cakeado and Croke is .ix. or ten leagues To the Southeastwarde of is a harborowe called saint Vincent Ryght ouer agaynst sainct Vincent is a rocke vnder the water two leagues and a halfe of the shore To the Southeastwarde of that rocke you shall see an Ilande about three or foure leagues of this Ilande is not paste a league of the shore To the East Southeast of the Ilande is a rocke that lyeth aboue the water and by that rocke goeth in the ryuer of Dulce which you shall know by the sayde ryuer and rocke The Northwest syde of the hauen is flatte sande and the Southeast syde thereof is lyke an Ilande and a bare platte without any trees and so is it not in any other place In the Rode you shall ryde in xiii or .xiiii. fadomes good owes and sande beyng the markes of the Rode to bryng the Ilande and the north-Northeast lande togeather and here we Ankered the last of December The third day of Ianuary we came from the riuer of Dulce Note that cape de las Palmas is a fayre high lande but some lowe places thereof by the water syde looke lyke redde cliffes with whyte strakes lyke wayes a cable length a peece this is to the East parte of the cape This cape is the Southermost lande in all the coast of Guinea and standeth in foure degrees and a terce The coast from Cape de las palmas to Cape Trepoyntes or the tres Puntas is fayre and cleare without rocke or other daunger Twentie and fyue leagues from Cape de las Palmas the lande is hygher then in any place vntyl we come to Cape Trepoyntes And about ten leagues before you come to Cape Trepoyntes the land ryseth styll hygher and hygher vntyl you come to Cape Trepoyntes Also before you come to the sayde Cape after other fyue leagues to the Northwest part of it there is certayne broken grounde with two great rockes and within them in the byght of a bay is a castel called Arra parteining to the kyng of Portugale You shal know it by the sayd rockes that lye of it for there is none suche from Cape de las Palmas to cape Trepoyntes This coast lyeth East by North West by South From Cape de las Palmas to the sayd castel is fourscore and fyfteene leagues And the coast lyeth from the sayd castel to the westermost point of the Trepoyntes Southeast and by South Northwest and by North. Also the westermost poynt of the Trepoyntes is a low land lying halfe a myle out in the sea and vppon the innermoste necke to the land ward is a tuft of trees there we arryued the eleuenth day of Ianuary The twelf day of Ianuary we came to a towne called Samma or Samua beyng .viii. leagues from Cape Trepoyntes toward East Northeast Betweene Cape Trepoyntes and the towne of Samua is a great ledge of rockes a great way out in the sea We continued foure dayes at that towne the captayne therof would needs haue a pledge a shore But when they receiued the pledge they kept him still would trafficke no more but shot of theyr ordinance at vs. They haue two or three peeces of ordinance and no more The .xvi. day of the sayde mooneth we made reckonyng to come to a place called Cape Corea where captayne Don Ihon dwelleth whose men entertayned vs frendly This Cape Corea is foure leagues Eastwarde of the castell of Mina other wyse called La mina or Castello de mina where we arryued the .xviii. day of the moneth Here we made sayle of all our cloth sauing two or three packes The .xxvi. day of the same moneth we weighed anker and departed from thence to the Trinitie whiche was .vii. leagues Eastwarde of vs where she solde her wares Then they of the Trinitie wylled vs to go Eastwarde of that .viii or .ix. leagues to sell part of theyr wares in a place called Perecow and an other place named Perecow Grande beyng the eastermost place of both these whiche you shall knowe by a great rounde hyll neere vnto it named Monte Rodondo lying westward from it and by the water syde are many hygh palme trees From hence dyd we set forth homewarde the .xiii. day of February and plyed vp alongest tyll we came within .vii or .viii. leagues to Cape Trepointes About .viii. of the clocke the .xv. day at afternoone we dyd cast about to seawarde and beware of the currantes for they wyl deceiue you sore Whosoeuer shall come from the coaste of Mina homewarde let hym be sure to make
distant from Giaua maior Here they were informed that aboue Giaua maior towarde the north is a great gulfe called the gulfe of China in the whiche are trees of exceedyng byggnesse inhabited with foules of such greatnesse that they cary great beastes in the ayre The fruites of these trees are as byg as Cucummers The cape of Malacha is one degree and a halfe aboue the Equinoctiall line toward the pole Artike On the east syde of this cape runneth a very long coast in the which are many regions cities wherof some are called by these names Cingaporla whiche is the cape Also Pahan Calantan Patani Braalin Benu Longon and Odia wherin is the citie in the whiche dwelleth the kyng of Sian named Zacabedera Theyr cities are buylded as ours are and subiect to the kyng of Sian After the realme of Sian are the regions of Iamgoma and Campaa where Reubarbe groweth of the whiche are diuers opinions some supposyng it to be a roote and other a putrified tree affyrming that if it were not putrified it should not haue so great a sauour They call it Calama Next vnto this is founde the great China whose kyng is thought to be the greatest prince in the worlde and is named Santoa Raia Furthermore all that is written hereafter of this kyng and these regions they learned by thinformation of a Moore that was in the Iland of Timor He affirmed that the sayd kyng hath threescore and tenne crowned kynges vnder his empyre and hath a port in the sea named Canthan and two principall cities named Nauchin and Connulaha where he remaineth hym selfe and hath euer foure of his chiefe princes lying about his palace on euery syde towarde the east west north and south geuyng dilygent attendaunce what is done in euery of theyr quarters All the princes of the greater India called India Maior and of that whereof I haue spoken before are obedient to this kyng And in token that they are true subiectes they keepe in theyr palaces which are in the myddest of theyr cities the beast called Linx beyng fayrer then a Lion and is the great kynges signet whiche all such as intende to go to China beare with them sealed in waxe or on a peece of Iuerye for theyr safe conducte without the whiche they may not enter into the hauen When any of his kynges rebell or are disobedient he causeth them to be flayen and salted and dryed at the Sunne then to be stuffed with chaffe and set vp on some hygh thyng in the myddest of the chiefe streate of the citie where al the people may see it He neuer suffereth his owne person to be openly seene to any man But when his noble men of the courte are desyrous to see hym he commeth downe from his palace into a ryche pauilion accompanyed with syxe of his principall concubines apparelled with lyke vestures as he hym selfe is All this way he is not seene by reason of the pauilion When he hath passed through the pauylyon he entereth into a Serpent named Nagha beyng the most marueylous and ryche woorke of the worlde and placed in the greatest courte of the palace When the kyng entereth into this with the women to the intent that he may not be knowen among them he causeth the sayde noble men onely to looke in at a glasse whiche is in the breste of the Serpent where they see the kyng among the women but can not discerne whiche is he He ioyneth in maryage with his syster that the blood royall be not myxte with any other His palace is enuironed with seuen large walles the one beyng farre distant from the other and hath in euery suche circuite tenne thousand men for the garryson of his palace who haue theyr waytyng dayes appoynted them course by eourse with fresshe men in theyr places and thus keepe theyr watche continually both day and nyght In this palace are .lxxix. haules in the whiche is an infinite number of women that serue the kyng hauyng euer lyght torches in theyr handes for the greater magnificence He that woulde see all the palace shoulde spende a whole daye therein Among other there are foure principal haules where somtimes the kyng geueth audience to his noble men Of these one is couered both aboue and beneath with metall an other all ouer with syluer the thyrde with golde and the fourth with pearles precious stones These people of China are whyte men appareled as we are and eate theyr meate on tables as we do They haue the crosse in some estimation but knowe not the cause whye Beyonde the coaste of China are dyuers other nations and people as Cheneby where Pearles and Sinamonie are founde also the people named Lickij where reigneth the great kyng of Mien hauyng vnder hym .xxii. kynges and is subiecte to the kyng of China Here is also founde the great citie of Cathay â–ª in the East and dyuers other nations in the sayde fyrme lande of the which some are bruityshe and beastiall whiche vse to kyll and eate theyr parentes when they be olde thynkyng thereby that they shall reuyue in them All these people are Gentyles The .xi. daye of February in the yeere .1522 they departed from the Ilande of Timos and were ingulfed by chaunce in the great sea called Lantchidol and tooke theyr course betweene the west and southwest leauyng the north coastes on theyr ryght hande fearyng least if they shoulde sayle towarde the firme land they myght be seene of the Portugales who are of great power in Malacha and therefore dyrected theyr course without the Ilande of Sumatra called in olde tyme Taprobana leauyng also on theyr ryght hand vppon the fyrme lande the prouinces and regions of Pegu Bengala Calecut Canonor Coa Cambaia the gulfe of the Iland of Ormus and all the coastes of the greater India And more safely to passe the cape of Buona Speranza beyng aboue Affrike they sayled about .xlii. degrees towarde the pole Antartike remayned seuen weekes about that cape with many fetches compassyng the wynde with theyr sayles continually alofte because they had a west and northwest wynde in the proos of theyr shyppe whiche woulde not suffer them to passe The cape of Buona Speranza is toward the pole Antartike beneath the Equinoctiall line .34 degrees and a halfe and .1600 leagues from the cape of Malacha and is the greatest and most daungerous cape that is founde at this daye in all the worlde When they had by these peryls ouerpassed this cape certaine of them aswell for lacke of vyttayles as also by reason of syckenesse were mynded to sayle to a hauen of the Portugales named Monzambique aboue Affryke But the other answeared that they woulde rather dye then go to any other place then directly to Spayne They folowed theyr course therefore saylyng toward the Southwest two monethes continually without touchyng at any port in
THE History of Trauayle in the VVest and East Indies and other countreys lying eyther way towardes the fruitfull and ryche Moluccaes As Moscouia Persia Arabia Syria Aegypte Ethiopia Guinea China in Cathayo and Giapan VVith a discourse of the Northwest passage In the hande of our Lorde be all the corners of the earth Psal. 94. Gathered in parte and done into Englyshe by Richarde Eden Newly set in order augmented and finished by Richarde VVilles ¶ Imprinted at London by Richarde Iugge 1577. Cum Priuilegio To the ryght noble and excellent Lady the Lady Brigit Countesse of Bedforde my singuler good Lady and Mystresse AL studies haue theyr speciall tymes Ryght noble Lady all good partes and singuler qualities of the mynde are holden vp and maynteyned with honour The seely chylde learneth in his teÌ„der age how to speake to reade to write youÌ„g laddes bestowe theyr tyme in the study of other liberall sciences as yeeres come on and wyt encreaseth so finally the whole course of learnyng is runne ouer Agayne the arte of Grammer is wont erst to be learned and than Logike afterwarde naturall Philosophie goeth not before eloquence in our schooles Geometry is first read than Geography So that the studies of good letters haue their times in respecte of mans age they haue theyr tymes in the order of learning yea they haue a tyme that maketh vs all to bestowe therein our tyme and to studie eche facultie in due tyme I meane that speciall tyme they floryshe in I may not denye but that learnyng hath at all tymes ben well accompted of in most countreys the skyll of dyuers languages well thought of learned men to haue ben alwayes rewarded what is than that speciall tyme wherin all studies doe flooryshe Learnyng may bee ryght well compared vnto the floutes fruites of the earth and the speciall tyme of learnyng vnto theyr singuler seasons In May floures in Iune Cheries at Haruest corne in September Grapes so fareth it in the study of good letters There was a tyme whaÌ„ the arte of grammer was so muche esteemed that Gramariens proceeded masters thereof as woorshypfully as other professours now doe in any other facultie Than was it honourable to be a Poet honourable I say for that the Poet Laureate enioyed the honour of a Palatine that tyme is paste There was a tyme whan Logike Astrology onely so weeried the heades of young schollers yea and busied olde age also that true Philosophie in deede was almost forgotten eloquence defaced the languages exiled that tyme is past Not long since happy was he that had any skil in the greke tongue he was thought a great scholler that could make a greeke verse Nowe a dayes who studieth not rather the Hebrue language VVhere haue you almost any greeke aucthour printed Geography laye hydden many hundred yeeres in darkenesse and obliuion without regarde and price of late who taketh not vppon him to discourse of the whole worlde and eche prouince thereof particulerly euen by hearesay although in the first principles of that arte he bee altogeather ignorant and vnskylfull This tyme is now So long as Poetry was esteemed the arte of grammer accompted of Logike muche made of Astrology well thought of Diuine Poets good Gramariens perfecte Logiciens excellent Astronomers no where wanted A Virgile can you neuer want where one Mecènas is Honour promotion bestowed vppon the maynteyners of controuersies in religion hath brought gray heares from endlesse Sophistry from Scotus formalites from Buridan and Burley from Holcot from Bricot from Vademecum from Dormi secure and taught yonger yeeres rather to passe through Aristotle and his interpreters than euer to dwell therein caused them to studie the scriptures to reade ouer the fathers to conferre the counseyles to learne the greeke and Hebrue languages to searche the Chalday Paraphraste to peruse the olde Doctours to translate the newe wryters to heape vp common places to discourse of sectes to wryte cunningly to preach eloquently and made them to be for braulyng Sophisters graue Philosophers for formal Dunses plaine doctors for rude questionaries diuine Orators for vnskilful schoolemen eloquent and graue diuines It is nowe almost one hundred fiftie yeeres agoe that Don Henrico sonne of Iohn the fyrst of that name Kyng in Portugale and Nepheu vnto our Kyng Henry the fourth made his vyage after the conquest of Sepâ—a to the Canaries and eâ—â—â—uraged the Portugales to searche the coastes of Africa and to seeke the landes thereabout not spoken of to fore His grande Nepheu Iohn the seconde so furthered this enterpryse that the Portugale shyppes halled the Cape of good hope discouered Aethiopia and sayled where antiquitie denyed passage beyond all Africa into the Indian seas He sent also expert and cunning traueylers into Aegypt and the redde sea coastes to espye what way the Portugales might looke for beyond the Cape of good hope to Calecut in India the which viage in his sonne Emanuell his tyme was prosperously taken in hand by Vasquez Gama the nienth day of Iuly in the yeere of our Lorde .1497 happely ended in Iuly againe two yeeres after to his great credit and preferment to the immortal fame honour of his Prince and countrey Here began the studie of Geographie that euer since Ptolomeus raigne laye troden vnder foote buried in dust and ashes to spring vp agayne and by the relations of skilful traueylers in Europe Affrike Asie through the discouery of the far Indies the Moluccaes new founde landes of late so to be wondred at as no other facultie more I dare be bold to say that generally all Christians Iewes Turkes Moores Infidels Barbares be this day in loue with Geographie The wylde and rogishe Tartares myght for famine perishe in the winter if they in the sommer skylfully followed not the sunne The heathen Giapans diuided the worlde into three partes Afrike was described by a Moore The Iewes report the estates of all countreyes to the Turkes The Turkishe Basshaes gouerne the sweetest prouinces in Europe Afrike and Asia no men greater traueylers than Christians VVho but Geographers doe teach vs what partes of the earth be cold warme or temperate Of whom doe we learne howe to diuyde the world into partes the partes into prouinces the prouinces into shyres of Geographers vnto whom haue wee to make recourse for Mappes Globes tables and Cardes wherein the dyuers countreys of the worlde are set downe vnto Geographers Set Geographie asyde you shal neyther be able to get intelligences of the situation and strength of any citie nor of the limites and boundes of any countrey nor of the rule and gouernement of any kingdome nor be able wel to trauayle out of your owne doores wil you see what wise and experte traueylers skilful in geometry and Astronomy for that is to bee a Geographer in deede be able to doe Looke you on the King of Portugales title the two partes of the three therein were atchiued
and Palmaria c. by Iohn Griâ—alua his felowes the Iucaians captiuitie and discouery of Florida made by those Spanyardes which Diegus Velasquen sent out of Cuba and Ferd. Cortesius fyrst nauigation wherein he conquered Potanchana in newe Spayne the death of Valdiuia y e execution of Vascus Nunnez king MuteezuÌ„a his presentes to Charles the Emperour his bookes letters and superstitions finally the ruine of Hispaniola and vtter decaye thereof if heede shoulde not be taken in tyme. Last of al Gonzalus Ferdinandus Ouedus historie conteineth in .18 seuerall chapters eche one whereof hath his proper title a briefe declaration of the west Indysh nauigation of the metals the which are found in those lately discouered lands of the maners of the people rites customes and cerimonies of the beastes foules byrdes wormes fyshes seas riuers sprynges trees plantes hearbes diuers other thinges that are engendred there both on the land in the water To this haue we added certaine speciall reports of new Spaine or Mexico of Peru â–ª of Rio de la Plata the countrey lying therunto of the lands Laborador Baccalaos with the discoueryng of Florida And thus muche for the fyrst part of this volume The seconde part of this worke appeareth what it is by the title thereof set downe Fol. 230. to wyt a discourse to proue that there is a passage to the Moluccaes by the northwest the whiche presently M. Cap. Furbisher attempteth with certayne reportes of the prouince China in Cathayo where he hath to strike in his voyage and thyrdly of Giapan and other Ilandes by the way The whiche seconde part wherein matter concernyng the northwest is handled is so muche the shorter by how much the fyrst part seemed ouerlong besydes that the particularities of this corner of the worlde are not yet so throughly knowen but that other writers shal doubtlesse in more ample maner employe theyr labour therein after the returne of our northwesterne trauaylers The which I wyshe to be most happie and prosperous as they most valiantly painefully to the renowne of our Englyshe nation do shewe to haue taken it in hande In the thyrd part shal you fynd a discription of the northeasterne frosty seas and kingdomes lying that way as Moscouia Schondia or Denmarke Groenlande Islande Laponia Norway Suecia â–ª or Swethlande Bothnia and Gothlande out of Zeiglerus Paulus Iouius Haiton and Sebastian free lord or Baron of Herbestein with the countreys as well north and northeast beyond Moscouia namely Petzora Iuhra and other prouinces of the Tartars as also the voyages made through Moscouia by the merchauntes of London into Persia conteinyng many speciall thynges woorth the knowledge both of the countrey it self the commodities thereof the manners of the people and the priuiledges graunted vnto our merchauntes by the Sophie or Shaugh the Persian kyng Finally in the fourth part are set downe our merchauntes voyages into Guinea and the other parcelles of Affrike lying towardes the Southeast Lewes Vertomannus nauigations into Egypte Ethiopia Arabia Syria Persia and east India euen to the fruitefull Moluccaes with the prices of drugges and other wares brought from thence Whereto for a conclusion haue we added partly out of Maximilian Transiluanus letter wrytten vnto the Cardinall of Saltzburge and partly out of P. Martyrs other woorkes that famous nauigation made round about the whole world the contention betwixte the Portugales and Spanyardes for the Moluccaes the decydyng thereof by Pope Alexander the syxt and last of all the abridgement of P. Martyrs foure last Decades wherein especially that noble and gloryous conquest of Mexico is wrytten Generally this much of the foure partes of this large volume The lesser parcelles and speciall matter conteyned in eche part you haue so exactely rehearsed in the table of the Decades Fol. 173. and in the resydue of the whole woorke before eche chapter so euidently set downe that any particular table thereof at al the reader greatly needeth not if so be that he be able to remember in what region of the worlde East West North or South that be the which he looketh for Nowe concernyng R. Edens owne doynges syncerely to say what I thynke and curteousely to yeelde hym that due prayse the whiche worthyly these his labours deserue yet not to flatter hym neither where any faulte hath ben committed as hyghly he was to be commended for Englyshyng so straunge so wonderfull so profitable histories as these are nothyng inferior to the bookes of auncient writers far exceedyng the multitude of foolysh commentaries and friuolous translations to to licentiousely vsed in our tyme So may the gentle reader forbeare his ouersyghte in so great a woorke where some Spanyshe prouerbe harsh latine phrase or vncleane speache may seeme hardly Englyshed or any rashe note to shame the texte I woulde excuse hym for translatyng the dayes by the latine names as Fol. 12. Non. April thus At the Nones of Apryll item 3. Idus Octobris thus The thyrd daye of the Ides of October item Fol. 17. tertio Kalend. Maij. thus The thyrd daye before the Kalendes of Maye meanyng in deede the fyfth daye of Apryll the .13 day of October the 29. of Aprill but therein it shoulde seeme that he folowed his owne humor for he obserueth the same phrase of translatyng throughout P. Martyrs whole worke Many of his Englyshe woordes cannot be excused in my opinion for smellyng to much of the Latine as Dominators Fol 5. Ponderouse Fol. 23. Ditionaries Fol. 25. Portentouse Fol. 28. Antiques Fol. 31. despicable Eol 387. Solicitate Fol. 76. obsequiouse Fol. 90. homicide Fol. 390. imbibed Fol. 395. Destructiue Fol. 276. Prodigious Fol. 279. with other such lyke in the steede of Lords weyghtie subiectes wonderfull auncient lowe carefull duetifull manslaughter drunken noysome monstrous c. the which faultes he confesseth in other his owne verses wrytyng thus of hym selfe I haue not for euery worde asked counsayle of eloquent Eliot or Sir Thomas Moore Take it therefore as I haue intended the faultes with fauour may soone be a mended Certayne Preambles here folowe geathered by R. Eden for the better vnderstanding of the whole worke Of the fyrst discoueryng of the west Indies A Certayne Carauel saylyng in the West Ocean about the coastes of Spayne had a forcybly and continuall wynde from the East wherby it was dryuen to a land vnknowen and not described in any map or carde of the sea and was dryuen styl along by the coaste of the same for the space of many dayes vntyll it came to a hauen where in a short tyme the most part of the maryners beyng long before very weake and feble by reason of hunger and trauayll dyed So that onely the Pilot with three or foure other remayned alyue And not only they that dyed dyd not inioye the Indies whiche they fyrst discouered to theyr mysfortune but the resydue also that lyued had in maner as litle fruition of the same not leauyng or at the least
mountaynes be cutte it groweth agayne within the space of foure dayes hygher then wheate And forasmuche as many showres of rayne doo fall in this region whereof the ryuers and flooddes haue theyr encrease in euery of the whiche golde is founde myxt with sande in all places they iudge that the golde is dryuen from the mountaynes by the vehement course of the streames whiche fall from the same and runne into the ryuers The people of this region are geuen to idlenesse and play for suche as inhabite the mountaynes syt quakyng for colde in the Wynter season and had rather to wander vp and downe idelly then take the paynes to make them apparell where as they haue wooddes full of Gossampine cotton but suche as dwell in the valles or playnes feele no colde in Wynter When the Admirall had thus searched the beginning of the region of Cibana he repayred to Isabella for so he named the citie where leauyng the gouernaunce of the Ilande with his deputies he prepared hym selfe to search further the limittes of the Ilande of Cuba or Iohanna whiche he yet doubted to be the firme lande and distant from Hispaniola only .lxx. myles This dyd he with more speedye expedition callyng to remembraunce the kynges commaundement who wylled hym fyrst with al celeritie to ouerrunne the coastes of the new Ilandes lest any other prince shoulde in the meane time attempt to inuade the same for the kyng of Portugale affirmed that it parteyned only to him to discouer these vnknowen landes but the bishop of Rome Alexander the sixt to auoyde the cause of this dissention graunted to the kyng of Spayne by the aucthoritie of his leaden bulles that no other prince shoulde be so bolde as to make any voyages to any of these vnknowen regions lying without the precinct of a direct lyne drawen from the North to the South a hundred leagues Westwarde without the paralels of the Ilandes called Capud Viride or Cabâ—uerde whiche we thinke to be those that in olde tyme were called Hesperides these parteyne to the kyng of Portugale and from these his Pylotes whiche do yeerely searche newe coastes and regions directe theyr course to the East saylyng euer towarde the left hande by the backe of Aphrike and the seas of the Ethiopians neyther to this day had the Portugales at any tyme sayled Southwarde or Westwarde from the Ilandes of Cabouerde Preparing therfore three shyppes he made haste towarde the Ilande of Iobanna or Cuba whyther he came in short space and named the poynt therof where he fyrste arryued Alpha and O that is the fyrste and the last for he supposed that there had ben the ende of our East because the sonne falleth there and of the West because it ryseth there For it is apparant that Westwarde it is the beginning of India beyonde the ryuer of Ganges and Eastwarde the furthest ende of the same whiche thyng is not contrary to reason forasmuche as the Cosmographers haue left the lymittes of India beyond Ganges vndetermined where as also some were of opinion that India was not farre from the coastes of Spaine as we haue said before Within the prospect of the beginnyng of Cuba he founde a commodious hauen in the extreme angle of the Ilande of Hispaniola for in this part the Ilande receiueth a great goulfe this hauen he named Saint Nicholas porte beyng scarcely twentie leagues from Cuba As he departed from hence and sayled Westward by the South syde of Cuba the further that he went so muche the more the sea seemed to be extended in breadth and to bende towarde the South On the South syde of Cuba he founde an Ilande whiche the inhabitauntes call Iamaica this he affirmeth to be longer broder then the Iland of Scicile hauyng in it only one mountaine which on euery part beginning from the sea ryseth by litle and litle into the myddest of the Ilande and that so playnely without roughnesse that such as goe vp to the toppe of the same can scarcely perceiue that they assende This Ilande he affyrmeth to be very fruiteful and ful of people aswel in thinner partes of the same as by the shore and that the inhabitantes are of quicker wytte then in the other Ilandes and more expert Artificers and warlyke men For in many places where he woulde haue aryued they came armed against him and forbode him with threatnyng wordes but beyng ouercome they made a league of frendshyp with hym Thus departing from Iamaica he sayled toward the West with a prosperous wynde for the space of threescore and tenne dayes thynking that he had passed so farre by the compasse of the earth being vnderneath vs that he had ben neare vnto Aurea Chersonesus nowe called Malaccha in our east India beyonde the begynnyng of Persides for he playnely beleeued that he had left only two of the twelue houres of the sunne which were vnknowen to vs for the olde wryters haue left halfe the course of the sunne vntouched where as they haue but only discussed that superficial parte of the earth whiche lyeth betweene the Ilandes of Gades and the ryuer of Ganges or at the vttermost to Aurea Chersonesus In this Nauigation he chaunced on many furious seas running with a fall as it had ben the streames of floods also many whyrlepooles and shelfes with many other dangers and strayghtes by reason of the multitude of ilandes whiche lay on euery syde But not regardyng al these perylles he determined to proceede vntil he had certaine knowledge whether Cuba were an ilande or firme lande Thus he sayled forward coastyng euer by the shore toward the West for the space of CC.xxii leagues that is about a thousande and three hundred myles and gaue names to seuen hundred ilandes by the way leauyng also on the left hande as he feared not to report three thousande here and there But let vs nowe returne to suche thynges as he founde woorthy to be noted in this nauigation Saylyng therefore by the syde of Cuba and searchyng the nature of the places he espyed not farre from Alpha and O a large hauen of capacitie to harborowe many shyppes whose entraunce is bendyng beyng inclosed on both sydes with capes or poyntes whiche receiue the water this hauen is large within and of exceedyng deapth Saylyng by the shore of this porte he sawe not farre from the same two cotages couered with reedes and in many places fyre kyndled Here he sent certayne armed men out of the shyppes to the cotages where they founde neyther man nor woman but rostemeate yenough for they founde certayne spyttes of wood lying at the fyre hauyng fyshe on them about a hundred pounde weight and two serpentes of eyght foote long apeece whereat marueylyng and lookyng about if they could espye any of the inhabitauntes and that none appeared in syght for they fledde al to the mountaynes at the commyng of our men
slayne of any wylde beast As many hartes or wylde bores as our men woulde desyre them to bryng they woulde kyll in the woodes with their arrowes and not to fayle to bryng them They lacke kyne goates and sheepe Theyr bread is made of rootes as is theyrs of the Ilands This nation hath blacke heare grosse and somwhat curlde yet long also They keepe theyr teeth very whyte and for that purpose vse to cary a certaine herbe betwene theyr lyppes for the most part of the day and to washe theyr mouthts when they cast it away The women doo all theyr busynes at home in theyr howses and haue also the cure of tyllage of the grounde but the men apply them selues to the warres and huntyng to playe syngyng and daunsyng They haue sundry kyndes of water pottes iugges and drinkyng cuppes made of earth in other places about them and brought thyther for exchaung of other thynges For they vse fayres and markettes for the same purpose and are greatly desyrous of such thynges as are not brought forth or made in theyr countrey as nature hath geuen a disposytion to al men to desyre and be delyted with newe and strang thynges Many of them had hangyng at theyr pearles the images of certeine beastes and birdes very artifitiously made of golde but not pure these also are brought them from other places for exchang of other thynges The golde wherof they are made is natiue and of much lyke finenes to that wherof the florens are coyned The men of this countrey inclose theyr priuie members in a gourde cutte after the fashioÌ„ of a coddepice or els couer the same with the shell of a tortoyse tyed about theyr loynes with laces of gossampine cotton In other places of that tract they thrust the synew within the sheeth therof and bynde the skinne fast with a string The great wylde beastes wherof we spake before and many other thynges which are not found in any of the Ilandes testifie that this region is parte of y e continet or firme lande But the chiefest coniecture wherby they argue the same is that by the coastes of that lande from Paria towarde the west they sayled about three M. myles findyng no signe or token of any ende These people of Curiana whiche some call Curtana being demaunded where they had such plentie of golde signified that it was brought them from a region called Canchieta or Cauchieta beyng distant from them sixe sunnes that is sixe dayes iourney westwarde and that theyr images of golde were made in the same region Whereupon our men directed theyr voyage thyther immediatly and aryued there at the Kalendes of Nouember in the yeere of Christe a thousande and fyue hundred The people of the countrey resorted to them without feare bryngyng with them of the golde whiche we sayde to be natiue in that region This people had also collers of pearles about theyr neckes which were brought them from Curiana for exchaunge of theyr marchandises None of them woulde exchaunge anye of those thynges whiche they had out of other countreys as neyther the Curians golde nor the Canchietans pearles yet among the Canchietans they founde but lytle golde redy geathered They toke with them from thence certayne very fayre Marmasets or Munkeyes and many Popyngayes of sundrye coloures In the moneth of Nouember the ayre was there most temperate and nothyng colde The guardens of the north pole were out of syght to both these people they are so neare the Equinoctial Of the degrees of the pole they can geue none other accompte These people are wel disposed men of honest conditions and nothyng suspitious for almost al the nyght long they resorted to the shyppe with theyr boates and went aboorde shyppe without feare as dyd the Curians They call pearles Corixas They are somewhat ielous for when anye straungers come among them they euer place theyr women behynde them In this region of Canchieta the gossampine trees growe of them selues commonly in many places as doo with vs elmes wyllowes and sallowes and therefore they vse to make breeches of cotton wherewith they couer theyr priuie partes in many other regions thereabout When they had yet sayled on forwarde by the same coastes there came forth against them about two thousande men armed after theyr manner forbyddyng them to come alande These people were so rude and sauage that our men coulde by no meanes allure them to familiaritie Our men therefore contented only with theyr pearles returned backe y e same way they came where they remained with the Curians continually for the space of .xx. dayes fylled theyr bellies wel with good meate And here it seemeth to me not farre from my purpose to declare what chaunced vnto them in theyr returne when they came now within the sight of the coast of Paria They happened therfore in the way at Os Draconis and the gulfes of Paria wherof we spake before to meete with a nauy of xviii Canoas of Canibales which went a rouing to hunt for men who assoone as they had espied our men assailed their ship fiercely without feare enclosed y e same disturbing our men on euery side with their arrowes but our men so feared them with theyr gunnes that they fled immediatly whoÌ„ our men folowing with the shyp boate tooke one of theyr Canoas and in it only one Canibal for the other had escaped and with him another man bounde who with teares runnyng downe his cheekes and with gesture of his handes eyes and head signified that sixe of his companions had ben cruelly cut in peeces and eaten of that mischeuous nation and that he shoulde haue ben likewyse handled the day folowyng wherefore they gaue hym power ouer the Canibal to do with him what he would Then with the Canibals owne clubbe he layde on hym al that he might dryue with hande and foote grinning and fâ—etting as it had ben a wyld bore thinkyng that he had not yet sufficiently reuenged the death of his companions when he had beaten out his braynes and guttes When he was demaunded after what sort the Canibales were woont to inuade other countreys he answered that they euer vsed to carye with them in theyr Canoas a great multitude of clubbes the whiche wheresoeuer they do lande they pytch in the grounde and encampe them selues within the compasse of the same to lye the more safely in the nyght season In Curiana they founde the head of a captayne of the Canibales nayled ouer the doore of a certayne gouernour for a token of victorye as it had ben the standerde or helmet taken from the enimie in battayle In these coastes of Paria is a region called Haraia in the which great plentie of salt is geathered after a strange sorte for the sea beyng there tossed with the power of the wyndes dryueth the salte waters into a large playne by the sea syde where afterwarde when the sea waxeth calme and the
which should destroy al the customes and cerimonies of the iland and eyther slay al theyr chyldren or bring them into seruitude The common sort of the people vnderstode this oracle to be ment of the Canibales therfore when they had any knowledge of theyr comming they euer fled and were fully determined neuer more to aduenture the battayle with them But when they saw that the Spanyardes had entered into the Ilande consultyng among them selues of the matter they concluded that this was the nation whiche was ment by thoracle Wherin theyr opinyon deceyued them not for they are nowe all subiect to the Chrystians all such beyng slayne as stobernely resysted Nor yet remayneth there anye memorye of theyr Zemes for they are all brought into Spayne that we myght be certyfyed of theyr illusions of euyll spyrites and Idolles the which you your selfe most noble Prynce haue seene and felt when I was present with you I let passe many thynges because you put me in remembrance that to morowe you take your iorney towarde your countrey to bryng home the queene your aunt whom you accompanyed hyther at the commaundement of kyng Frederike your vncle Wherfore I byd you farewell for this time desyryng you to remember your Martyr whom you haue compelled in the name of the kyng your vncle to geather these fewe thynges out of a large feelde of hystories The tenth and last booke of the fyrst Decade as a conclusion of the former bookes wrytten to Inacus Iopez Mendocius Countie of Tendilla viceroy of Granata AT the fyrst begynning and newe attempte when Colonus had taken vpon hym the enterpryse to searche the Ocean sea I was earnestly moued and required by the letters of certaine of my frendes and noble men of Rome to wryte those thinges as shoulde happen For they whispered with great admiration that where as there were many newe landes founde and nations which liued naked and after the lawe of nature they could heare no certentie therof being greatly desyrous of y e same In this meane time had fortune ouerthrowne Ascanius his brother Lodouike being cast out of Millane by the frenchmen whose auctoritie would not suffer me to be idle but euer to haue my pen in hand To him I wrote the two first bookes of this decade beside many other of my hid cōmentaries which you shal see shortly but fortune dyd no lesse withdraw my minde from wryting then disturbe Ascanius from power As he was tossed with contrary stormes and ceassed to perswade me euen so slacked my feruentnesse to enquire any further vntil the yere of Christ ▪ 1500 when the Court remained at Granata where you are viceroy At whiche tyme Lodouike the Cardinal of Aragonie neuiew to king Frederike by his brothers syde beyng at Granata with the queene Parthenopea the sister of our Catholique kyng brought me king Frederikes letters whereby he exhorted me to finishe the other bookes which folowed the two epystell bookes which I wryte to Ascanius For they both acknowledged that they had the copye of al that I wrytte to cardinall Ascanius And albeit that euen then I was sicke as you knowe yet tooke I the burden vppon me and applyed my selfe to wryting I haue therfore chosen these fewe thynges out of a greate heape of such as seemed to me most worthy to be noted among the large wrytynges of the aucthoures and searchers of the same Wherfore forasmuch as you haue endeuored to wrest out of my handes the whole example of all my woorkes to adde the same to the innumerable volumes of your lybrarie I thought it good nowe to make a breefe rehersall of those thynges which were done from that yeare of a thousand and fiue hundred euen vnto this yeare which is the tenth from that For I entend to wryte more largely of these thynges heareafter if god graunt me lyfe I had written a whole booke by it selfe of the superstytions of the people of the iland supposyng therwyth to haue accomplyshed the whole Decade consisting of ten bookes But I haue added this to the tenth as a perpendyculer lyne and as it were a backe guide or rerewarde to the other So that you may knytte the fyrst tenth to the nynth impute this to occupye the place of the tenth to fyll vp the Decade This order haue I appoynted lest I shoulde be compelled often times to wryte ouer the whole worke or send you the same defaced with blottes and interlyning But now let vs come to our purpose The shyppe maisters and mariners ran ouer many coastes during these ten yeares But euer folowed such as were fyrst found by Colonus For rasyng continually alonge by the tract of Paria which they beleue to be part of the firme land or continent of east India some of them chaunced vppon certaine new landes towarde the east and some towarde the west in which they founde both gold and frankensence For they brought from thence manye iewells and ouches of golde and greate plentie of frankensence which they had of the people of those countreyes partlye for exchaunge of some of our thynges and partlye by force ouer commyng them by warre Yet in some places although they be naked they ouercame our men and slewe whole armyes For they are exceedyng fyerce and vse venemous arrowes and long staues lyke iauelens made hard at the ende with fire They founde many beastes both creepyng and foure footed much dyfferyng from ours varyable and of sundrye shapes innumerable yet not hurtfull except Lions Tigers and Crocodiles This I meane in sundry regions of that greate lande of Paria but not in the ilandes no not so muche as one for all the beastes of the ilandes are meeke and without hurte except men which as wee haue sayde are in many ilandes deuourers of mans fleshe There are also dyuers kyndes of foules And in many places battes of such bygnes that they are equall with turtle doues These battes haue oftentymes assalted men in the night in theyr sleepe and so bytten them with theyr venemous teeth that they haue ben therby almost dryuen to madnes in so much that they haue ben compelled to flee from such places as from rauenous Harpies In an other place where certaine of them slept in the night season on the sands by the sea syde a monster commyng out of the sea came vpon one of them secretelye and caryed hym away by the myddest out of the syght of his felowes to whom he cryed in vayne for helpe vntyl the beast leapt into the sea with her pray It was the kynges pleasure that they shoulde remayne in these landes and buylde townes and fortresses whereunto they were so well wyllyng that diuers profered them selues to take vpon them the subduyng of the lande makyng great suite to the kyng that they myght be appoynted thereto The coast of this tracte is exceedyng great and large and the regions and landes thereof extende marueylous farre so that they
fynde hym there They sayled therefore towarde Beragua where they founde within .xvi. myles distant a ryuer whiche Colonus named Lagartos because it nourysheth great Lysards whiche in the Spanishe tongue are called Lagartos These Lysards are hurtful both vnto man and beast and in shape much like vnto the Crocodiles of the ryuer Nilus in Egypt In this ryuer they founde theyr companions and felowes of theyr errour lying at anker with the great shyppes whiche folowed behynde by the gouernours commaundement Here the whole assemblie beyng careful and disquieted by reason of the gouernours errour after consultation by the aduice of the captaynes of the Brigandines who had rased neere vnto the coastes of Beragua they sayled directly thyther Beragua in the language of the inhabitants of the same prouince is as much to say as the golden riuer The region it selfe is also called by the same name takyng name of the ryuer In the mouth of this ryuer the greatest vesselles cast anker and conueyghed all theyr victuales and other necessaries to lande with theyr shyp boates and elected Lupus Olanus to be theyr gouernour in steede of Nicuesa whom they had loste By thaduyce therfore of Olanus and the other vnder capytaines that all hope of departure myght be taken from the souldyers which they had now brought thyther and to make them the more wylling to inhabite that lande they vtterly forsooke and caste of those shyppes beyng nowe rotten for age and suffered them to be shaken and broosed of the surges of the sea Yet of theyr soundeste plankes wyth other newe made of the trees of that Region which they saye to be exceeding bigge and hygh they framed a new carauell shortelye after whiche they myght vse to serue for theyr necessitie But Beragua was founde by the vnfortunate destenye of Petrus de Vmbria For hee beyng a man of prompt wit and apt forwardnesse to attempte thinges in which sometyme fortune will beare a stroke notwithstanding our prouidence tooke vppon hym thaduenture to searche the shore to thintent to fynde a way for his felowes where they myght beste come aland For this purpose he chose hym .xii. maryners and went aboorde the shyp boate whiche serued the greatest shyppes The flowyng of the sea raged and rored there with a horryble whurling as we reade of the daungerous place of Scylla in the sea of Cicilie by reason of the houge ragged rockes reaching into the sea from whiche the waues rebounding with vyolence make a great noyse and roughnesse on the water which roughnesse or reflowing the Spaniardes call Resacca In these daungers wretched Vmbria wresteled a while but in short space a waue of the sea almoste as bygge as a mountayne reboundyng from the rockes ouerwhelmed the boate and deuoured the same with the men euen in the sight of their felowes So that of them all only one escaped by reason he was expert in swimming For getting holde of the corner of a rocke and susteyning the rage of the sea vntyll the next day when it waxed caulme and the shore was drye by the fall of the water he escaped and resorted to his companye But Vmbria with the other eleuen were vtterlye caste awaye The resydue of the companye durst not committe them selues to the shyppe boates but went alande with theyr brygantines Where remayning a fewe dayes and saylyng along by the ryuer they founde certayne vyllages of the inhabitauntes which they call Mumu. Here they began to builde a fortresse and to sowe seedes after the manner of theyr countrey in a certayne vale of fruiteful grounde because in other places the region is barren As these thyngs were thus doing in Beragua one of theyr companye standing vpon the top of a high rocke of especiall and lyftyng his eyes towarde the West began to crye Lynnen sayles lynnen sayles And the neerer it drewe towarde hym he perceiued it to be a shyp boate commyng with a lytle sayle yet receiued they it with muche reioycing for it was the fysher boate of Nicuesa his Carauel and of capacitie to cary only fyue men and had nowe but three in it whiche had stolne it from Nicuesa because he refused to geue credite to them that he had passed Beragua and left it behinde him Eastwarde For they seeyng Nicuesa and his felowes to consume daylye by famine thought that they would prooue fortune with that boate yf theyr chaunce myght be to fynde Beragua as in deede it was Debatyng therefore with theyr felowes of these matters they declared how Nicuesa erred and lost the Carauel by tempest and that he was nowe wanderyng among the maryshes of vnknowen coastes full of miserie and in extreme penurie of all thynges hauyng nowe lyued for the space of threescore and tenne dayes only with herbes and rootes seldome with fruites of the countrey contented to drynke water and yet that oftentymes faylyng because he was instant to trauayle Westwarde by foote supposyng by that meanes to come to Beragua Colonus the fyrst fynder of this mayne lande had coasted along by this tracte and named it Gracia Dei but thinhabitantes cal it Cerabaro Through this region there runneth a riuer whiche our men named Sancti Matthei distant from the West syde of Beragua about an hundred and thyrtie myles Here I let passe the name of this riuer and of manye other places by the names whiche thinhabitantes vse because our men are ignoraunt thereof Thus Lupus Olanus the conductor of one of the shyps of Nicuesa and nowe also vice Lieuetenaunt in his steede after that he had receyued this information of the Maryners sent thyther a Brigandine vnder theyr guydyng These Maryners therefore whiche came in the fyssher boate founde Nicuesa and brought hym to the place where Olanus lay whom at his comming he cast in prison and accused hym of treason because he vsurped the aucthoritie of the Lieuetenauntshyp and that for the desyre he had to beare rule and be in aucthoritie he tooke no care of his errours also that he behaued him selfe negligently demaundyng furthermore of hym what was the cause of his so long delay Lykewyse he spake to al the vnder officers sharpely and with a troubled mind and within fewe dayes after commaunded them to trusse vp theyr packes and make them redy to depart They desyred him to quyet hym selfe and to forbeare them a whyle vntyl they had reaped the corne that they had sowen whiche woulde shortly be rype for all kynde of corne waxeth rype there euery fourth moneth after it is sowen But he vtterly denyed to tarye anye whyt but that he woulde foorthwith depart from that vnfortunate lande and plucked vp by the rootes all that euer was brought into the gulfe of Beragua and commaunded them to direct theyr course towarde the East After they had sayled about the space of sixteene myles a certaine young man whose name was Gregorie a Genues borne and of a chylde brought vp with Colonus called to remembraunce that
not a lytle astonyshed to beholde our shippes with the sayles spread whereas they vse no sayles nor can vse but small ones yf they woulde by reason of the narownesse of theyr Canoas Swarmyng therefore about the shyppe with theyr Canoas whiche we may wel cal Monoxyla because they are made of one whole tree they feared not to shoote at our men beyng yet within their shyppes and keepyng them selues vnder the hatches as safely as yf they had ben defended with stone walles But when our men had shotte of certayne peeces of ordinaunce agaynst them they were so discomfited with the noyse and slaughter thereof that they droue them selues to flyght Being thus disparcled our men chased them with the ship boate toke many and slue many When the kynges heard the noyse of the gunnes and were certified of the losse of theyr men they sent ambassadours to Vincentius Agnes to entreate of peace fearyng the spoyle of theyr goodes and destruction of theyr people yf our men should come alande in theyr wrath and furie They desyred peace therefore as coulde be coniectured by theyr signes and poyntynges for our men vnderstoode not one woord of theyr language And for the better proofe that they desyred peace they presented our men with three thousande of those weyghtes of gold that the Spanyardes call Castellanum Aureum whiche they commonly call Pesum Also a great barrel of wood ful of moste excellent masculine Frankencense weighing about two thousande and sixe hundred poundes weight after eight ounces to the pounde whereby they knewe that that lande brought foorth great plentie of Frankencense for there is no entercourse of marchaundies betweene the inhabitauntes of Paria and the Sabeans being so farre distant wheras also they of Paria knowe nothing without theyr owne coastes With the golde and Frankencense whiche they presented to our men they gaue them also a great multitude of theyr peacockes both cockes and hennes dead and alyue aswel to satisfie theyr present necessitie as also to carry with them into Spayne for encrease lykewyse certayne carpettes couerlettes table clothes and hangyngs made of Gossampine silke finely wrought after a strange deuice with pleasant and variable colours hauyng golden belles and such other spangles and pendauntes as the Italians call Sonaglios and the Spanyardes Cascaueles hangyng at the purfles therof They gaue them furthermore speakyng popyngayes of sundry colours as many as they woulde aske for in Paria there is no lesse plentie of popyngayes then with vs of doues or sparows Thinhabitants of these regions both men women are apparelled with vestures made of gossampine cotton the men to the knees and the women to the calfe of the legge The fashion of theyr apparel is simple and playne muche lyke vnto the Turkes but the mens is double and quilted like that which the Turkes vse in the warres The princes of Paria are rulers but for one yeere but theyr auctoritie is no lesse among the people both in peace and warre then is thauctoritie of other kyngs in those regions Their villages are builded in compasse along by the bankes of al that great gulfe Fyue of theyr princes came to our men with theyr presentes whose names I thought woorthy to be put in this historie in remembrance of so notable a thing Chiaconus Chiauaccha that is the prince of Chiauaccha for they cal princes or kings Chiaconus Chiaconus Pintiguanus Chiaconus Chamailaba Chiaconus Polomus ▪ and Chiaconus Potto The gulfe beyng first found of the Admiral Colonus they cal Baia Natiuitatis because he entred into the same in the day of y e natiuitie of Christ but at that time he only passed by it without any further searchyng and Baia in the Spanyshe tong signifieth a gulfe Whē Vincentius had thus made a league with these princes folowyng his appoynted course he founde many regions toward y e East desolate by reason of diuers floods and ouerflowyngs of waters also many standyng pooles in diuers places and those of exceeding largenesse He ceassed not to folowe this tracte vntyl he came to the poynt or cape of that most long lande This poynt seemeth as though it would inuade the mount Atlas in Aphrica for it prospecteth towarde that part of Aphrike which the Portugales cal Caput bonae Sperantiae The poynte◠or capes of the mount Atlas are rough and sauage neere vnto the sea The cape of Bona Speranza geathereth thyrtie and foure degrees of the South pole called the pole Antartike but that poynt only seuen degrees I suppose this lande to be that whiche I fynde in olde wryters of Cosmographie to be called the great Ilande Atlantike without any further declaryng eyther of the situation or of the nature thereof The eight booke of the seconde Decade of the supposed continent WHen Iohn the king of Portugale liued whiche was predecessour to him that nowe raigneth there arose a great contention betweene the Castilians and the Portugales as concernyng the dominion of these newe founde landes The Portugales because they were the fyrst that durst attempt to searche the Ocean sea synce the memorie of man affirmed that al the nauigations of the Ocean ought to parteyne to them only The Castilians argued on the contrary part that whatsoeuer God by the ministration of nature hath created on the earth was at the begynnyng common among men and that it is therefore lawful to euery man to possesse such lands as are voyde of Christian inhabitours Whyle the matter was thus vncertaynelye debated both parties agreed that the controuersie shoulde be desyded by the byshop of Rome and plighted fayth to stande to his arbitrement The kyngdome of Castile was at that tyme gouerned by that great queene Helisabeth with her husband for the Realme of Castile was her dowrie She also and the kyng of Portugale were cosyn germanes of two systers by reason whereof the dissention was more easyly pacified By the assent therfore of both parties Alexander the bishop of Rome the .vi. of that name by thaucthoritie of his leaden bull drewe a right lyne from the North to the South an hundred leagues Westwarde without the paralels of those Ilandes whiche are called Caput Viride or Cabouerde within the compasse of this lyne although some denye it falleth the poynt of this lande whereof we haue spoken whiche they cal Caput Sancti Augustini otherwyse called Promontorium Sancti Augustini that is saint Augustines cape or poynt and therefore it is not lawful for the Castilians to fasten foote in the begynnyng of that land Vincentius Annez therefore departed from thence beyng aduertised of the inhabitantes that on the other syde of the hygh mountaynes towarde the South lying before his eyes there was a region called Ciamba whiche brought forth great plentie of golde Of certayne captiues whiche he tooke in the gulfe of Paria whiche certaynely parteyneth to the dominion of Castile he brought some with him to Hispaniola and left
discription hereof then is sayde of the henne when she seeth her young chycken inwrapped in towe or flaxe The breadth of that lande from the North Ocean to the south sea is only sixe dayes iourney by relation of the inhabitauntes The multitude therfore and greatnesse of the riuers on the one syde and on the other syde the narownesse of the lande bryng me into suche doubt howe it can come to passe that in so lytle a space of three dayes iourney measuryng from the high toppes of those mountaynes I doo not vnderstande howe so many and so great ryuers may haue recourse vnto this North sea for it is to be thought that as many do flow toward thinhabitants of the south These riuers of Vraba are but small in comparison of many other in those coastes for the Spanyardes say that in the tyme of Colonus they found and passed by an other riuer after this whose gulfe fallyng into y e sea they affirme to be litle lesse then a hundred myles in the fyrst coastes of Paria as we haue sayde elsewhere for they say that it falleth from the toppes of high mountaynes with so swyft and furious a course that by the violence and greatnesse thereof it dryueth backe the sea although it be rough enforced with a contrary wynd They al affirme lykewyse that in al the large tracte therof they felt no sowre or salt water but that all the water was freeshe sweete and apt to be drunke Thinhabitauntes call this ryuer Maragnonum and the regions adiacent to the same Mariatambal Camamorus and Paricora besyde those riuers whiche I haue named before as Darien â–ª Grandis Dabaiba Beragua Sancti Mathei Boius gatti Delagartos Gaira they which of late haue searched those coastes haue founde many other Deliberatyng therefore with me selfe from whence these mountaynes beyng so narowe and neare vnto the sea on both sydes haue suche great holowe caues or dennes of such capacitie and from whence they are fylled to cast foorth suche abundance of water hereof also askyng them the opinions of the inhabitauntes they affirme them to be of diuers iudgementes herein alleaging fyrst the greatnes of the mountaynes to be the cause whiche they say to be verye high whiche thyng also Colonus the first fynder thereof affirmeth to be true addyng thereunto that the paradise of pleasure is in the tops of those mountaynes whiche appeare from the gulfe of Paria Os Draconis as he is fully perswaded They agree therefore that there are great caues within these mountaynes but it resteth to consyder from whence they are fylled If therfore al the riuers of freshe waters by the opinion of many do so flowe out of the sea as dryuen and compelled through the passages or pores of the earth by the ponderous weyght of the sea it selfe as we see them breake foorth of the sprynges and directe theyr course to the sea agayne then the thyng is lesse to be marueyled at here then in other places for we haue not read that in any other place two suche seas haue enuironed any lande with so narowe lymyttes for it hath on the ryght syde the great Ocean where the sunne goeth downe on the left hande and another on the other syde where the sunne ryseth nothyng inferiour to the fyrste in greatnesse for they suppose it to be myxte and ioyned as al one with the sea of East India This lande therfore beyng burdened with so great a weyght on the one syde on the other yf this opinion be of any value is enforced to swalowe vp such deuoured waters and agayne to cast foorth the same in open springes and streames But yf we shall denye that the earth draweth humours of the sea and agree that all fountaynes or sprynges are engendred of the conuersion or turnyng of ayre into water distilling within the holow places of the mountaines as the most part thinke we wyll geue place rather to thaucthoritie of them whiche stycke to those reasons then that our sense is satisfied of the ful trueth thereof Yet do I not repugne that in some caues of mountaynes water is turned into ayre for I mee selfe haue seene howe in the caues of manye mountaynes in Spayne in manner showres of rayne do fall continuallye and that the water geathered by this meanes doth sende foorth certayne riuers by the sydes of the mountaynes wherewith all suche trees as are planted on the steepe or foote of the mountaynes as vines oliue trees and suche other are watered and this especially in one place as the right honorable Lodouike the Cardinal of Aragonie most obsequious to your holynesse and two other bishops of Italy whereof the one is Siluius Pandonus and the other an Archbishop whose name and title I do not remember can beare me witnesse for when we were togeather at Granata lately deliuered from the dominion of the Moores and walked for our pastyme to certaine pleasant hilles by the whiche there ranne a fayre ryuer â–ª while Cardinal Lodouike occupied hym selfe in shootyng at byrdes whiche were in the bushes neere vnto the ryuer I thother two bishops determined to clime the mountaynes to searche the original and spryng of the ryuer for we were not farre from the toppes thereof Folowyng therfore the course of the ryuer we founde a great caue in which was a continual fal of water as it had ben a showre of rayne the water whereof fallyng into a trenche made with mans hande encreaseth to a ryuer and runneth downe by the sydes of the mountaynes The lyke is also seene in this famous towne of Valladoleto where we nowe soiourne in a certaine greene close not past a furlong distant from the walles of the towne I graunt therefore that in certayne places by conuersion of the ayrie deawe into water within the caues of suche mountaynes many springes and riuers are engendred but I suppose that nature was not sollicitate to bryng foorth suche great floods by this so small industrie Two reasons therfore do sounde best to my iudgement wherof the one is the often fal of rayne the other the continual autume or spryng tyme which is in those regions being so neere vnto the Equinoctial that the common people can perceiue no difference betweene the length of the day and the nyght throughout all the yeere where as these two seasons are more apt to engender abundance of rayne then eyther extreme wynter or feruent sommer An other reason in effect much like vnto the fyrst is this If the sea be ful of pores and that by the pores thereof being opened by the south wyndes we shal consent that vapours are lyfted vp whereof the watery cloudes are engendred this lande must needes be moysted with moe showres then anye other yf it be as narowe as they say and enuironed with two mayne seas collaterally beatyng on the same howsoeuer it be I can not but geue credite to the report of suche worthy men as haue
the woorkemen are but fewe As we haue sayde at the begynnyng your holynesse shal hereafter nouryshe many myriades of broodes of chyckens vnder your wynges But let vs nowe returne to speake of Beragua beyng the West syde of Vraba and first found by Colonus the Admiral then vnfortunately gouerned by Diego Nicuesa and nowe left in maner desolate with the other large regions of those prouinces brought from theyr wylde and beastly rudenesse to ciuilitie and true religion The fourth booke of the thyrde Decade I Was determined moste holy father to haue proceeded no further herein but y e one fyery sparke yet remaynyng in my minde would not suffer me to ceasse Whereas I haue therfore declared how Beragua was fyrst founde by Colonus me thynke I should commit a haynous crime if I shoulde defraud the man of the due commendations of his trauayles of his cares and troubles and finally of the daungers peryls whiche he susteyned in that nauigation Therfore in the yeere of Christ 1502. in the .6 day of the Ides of May he hoysed vp his sayles and departed from the Ilandes of Gades with foure shyppes of fyftie or threescore tunne a peece with a hundred threescore and ten men and came with prosperous wynde to the Ilandes of Canariae within fyue dayes folowyng From thence arryuyng the .16 day at the Ilande of Dominica being the cheefe habitation of the Canibales he saâ—led from Dominica to Hispaniola in fiue other dayes Thus within the space of .26 dayes with prosperous wynde and by the swyfte fall of the Ocean from the East to the West he sayled from Spayne to Hispaniola whiche course is counted of the mariners to be no lesse then a thousand and two hundred leagues He taryed but a whyle in Hispaniola whether it were wyllyngly or that he were so admonished of the Uice Roy. Directyng therefore his voyage from thence toward the west leauyng the Ilandes of Cuba and Iamaica on his ryght hand towarde the north he wryteth that he chaunced vppon an Ilande more southwarde then Iamaica whiche thinhabitantes call Guanassa so floryshyng and fruitefull that it might seeme an earthlye Paradyse Coastyng along by the shores of this Iland he mette two of the Canoas or boates of those prouinces whiche were drawne with two naked slaues agaynst the streame In these boates was caryed a ruler of the Iland with his wyfe and chyldren all naked The slaues seeyng our men a lande made signes to them with proud countenaunce in theyr maisters name to stand out of the way and threatned them if they woulde not geue place Their symplenes is such that they neyther feared the multitude or power of our men or the greatnes and straungenes of our shyppes They thought that our men woulde haue honoured theyr maister with lyke reuerence as they dyd Our men had entelligence at the length that this ruler was a great marchant which came to the marte from other coastes of the Ilande for they exercyse bying and sellyng by exchaunge with their confines He had also with hym good store of suche ware as they stand in neede of or take pleasure in as laton belles rasers knyues and hatchettes made of a certayne sharpe yellowe bryght stone with handles of a strong kinde of wood also many other necessary instrumentes with kytchen stuffe and vesselles for all necessary vses lykewyse sheetes of gossampine cotton wrought of sundrie colours Our men toke hym prysoner with al his family but Colonus commaunded hym to be loosed shortly after and the greatest part of his goodes to bee restored to wynne his frendshyppe Beyng here instructed of a land lying further toward the south he tooke his voyage thyther Therfore litle more then tenne myles distant from hence he founde a large land whiche thinhabitants called Quiriquetana but he named it Ciamba When he went a lande and commaunded his chaplaine to say masse on the sea bankes a great confluence of the naked inhabitantes flocked thither symply and without feare bringyng with them plenty of meate and freshe water marueylyng at our men as they had ben some straunge miracle When they had presentted theyr giftes they went somwhat backward and made lowe curtesy after theyr maner bowyng their heades and bodyes reuerently He recompensed their gentilnes rewardyng them with other of our thynges as counters braslettes and garlands of glasse and counterfet stones lookyng glasses needelles and pynnes with suche other trashe whiche seemed vnto them pretious marchandize In this great tracte there are two regions whereof the one is called Tuia and the other Maia He writeth that all that lande is very fayre and holsome by reason of the excellent temperatnesse of the ayre And that it is inferiour to no land in fruitefull ground beyng partly full of mountaynes and partly large playnes also replenyshed with many goodly trees holsome hearbes continuyng greene and floryshyng al the whole yeere It beareth also very many holly trees and pyneaple trees Also .vii. kyndes of date trees wherof some are fruitefull and some baren It bryngeth foorth likewyse of it selfe Pelgoras and wilde vines laden with grapes euen in the wooddes among other trees He sayth furthermore that there is such abundaunce of other pleasunt and profitable fruites that they passe not of vines Of one of those kindes of date trees they make certayne long and brode swoordes and dartes These regions beare also gossampyne trees here and there commonly in the woods Lykewise Mirobalanes of sundry kyndes as those which the phisitians call Emblicos and Chebulos Maizium also Iucca Ages and Battatas lyke vnto those which we haue sayd before to be founde in other regions in these coastes The same noorysheth also Lions Tygers Hartes Roes Goates and dyuers other beastes Lykewyse sundry kyndes of byrdes and foules among the whiche they keepe onely them to franke and feede which are in colour bygnes and tast muche lyke vnto our Pehennes He sayth that thinhabitantes are of hygh and goodly stature well lymmed and protioned both men and women coueryng theyr priuy partes with fyne breeches of gossampyne cotton wrought with diuers colours And that they may seeme the more comely and beautifull as they take it they paynt theyr bodies redde and blacke with the iuice of certayne apples whiche they plant in theyr gardens for the same purpose Some of them paynt theyr whole bodyes some but part and other some drawe the portitures of hearbes floures and knottes euery one as seemeth best to his owne phantasie Theyr language differeth vtterly from theyrs of the Ilandes neere about them From these regions the waters of the sea ran with as full a course towards the West as if it had byn the fail of a swift riuer Neuerthelesse he determined to searche the East partes of this land reuoluyng in his minde that the regions of Paria Os draconis with other coastes founde before towards the East shoulde be neere there about as
companions diligently numbred For it pleased the kyng at theyr beyng there and in their presence to commaunde his dyuers to goe a fyshyng for those kynde of fyshes They compare the matrices of these fyshes to the places of conception in Hennes in the whiche theyr egges are engendred in great multitudes and clusters and beleue that these fyshes bryng foorth theyr byrth in lyke maner For the better proofe whereof they say that they founde certayne pearles commyng foorth of their matrices as beyng nowe come to the tyme of theyr full rypenesse and moued by nature to come out of theyr moothers wombe openyng it selfe in tyme conuenient lykewyse that within a whyle after they sawe other succeede in lyke maner So that to conclude they sawe some commyng foorth and other some yet abydyng the tyme of theyr perfection which beyng complete they also became loose and opened the matrice They perceyued the pearles to bee inclosed in the myddest of theyr bellyes there to bee nourished and increase as an infant sucking his moothers pappes within her wombe before hee moue to come foorth of her priuie places And if it chaunce any of these shelfyshes to bee founde scattered in the sande of the sea as I my selfe haue seene Oysters disparcled on the shores in dyuers places of the Ocean they affyrme that they haue been violently dryuen thither from the bottome of the sea by force of tempestes and not to haue wandered thither of them selues But that they become whyte by the clearenesse of the mornyng deawe or waxe yelowe in troubled weather or otherwyse that they seeme to reioyce in fayre weather and cleare ayre or contrarywyse to bee as it were astonyshed and dymme in thunder and tempestes with suche other the perfect knowledge hereof is not to bee looked for at the handes of these vnlearned men whiche handle the matter but grossely and enquyre no further then occasion serueth Yet doe they affyrme by thexperience and industrie of the dyuers that the greatest pearles lye in the deepest places they of the meane sort hygher and the least hyghest of all and neerer to the brymme of the water And say therfore that the greatest doe not wander but that they are created nouryshed and increase in the deepest places of the sea whyther fewe dyuers and that but seeldome dare aduenture to diue so deepe to geather them aswell for feare of the sea crabbes whiche wander among these pearle fyshes to feede of them and for feare of other monsters of the sea as also least their breath should fayle them in to long remayning in the water And this they say to bee the cause why the oldest therfore byggest sea muscles inhabite y e deepest places from whence they are not lightly moued by tempestes Furthermore how much the bygger older these fyshes are they say that in their larger matrices the greater number bigger pearles are founde that for this cause there are fewer founde of the byggest sort They thinke also that when they first fall from their fyshes in the deepe places they are deuoured of other fyshes bycause they are not yet hearde Againe the smallest differ from the byggest in a certaine swelling or impostumation which y e Spaniardes call a tympany For they deny that to be a pearle which in olde muscles cleaueth faste to the shell but that it is a wart which being rased from the shell with a fyle is rounde bryght but onely of one syde and not precious being rather of the nature of the fyshe it selfe then of a pearle They confesse that they haue seene certayne of these muscles cleauyng on rockes yet these but fewe and nothyng woorth It is also to bee thought that the pearle fyshes or sea muscles which are founde in India Arabia the redde sea or Taprobana are ruled in suche order as the aforenamed famous aucthours haue written For their opinion herein is not vtterly to bee reiected forasmuch as they were learned men and trauayled long in the searchyng of these thinges But wee haue nowe spoken sufficiently of these sea fyshes and of their egges which the fonde nysenesse and wantonnesse of men haue made deerer then the egges of hennes or geese Let vs therefore entreate somewhat of other perticular thinges which are come to our knowledge of late Wee haue elswhere largely described the mouthes of the gulfe of Vraba with sundry and variable regions diuided with the manifolde gulfes of that sea But as concernyng the West coastes in the which our men haue buylded houses and planted their habitations on the bankes of Dariena I haue no newe matter to wryte Yet as touchyng the East partes of the gulfe I haue learned as foloweth They say that the vniuersall lande of the East region of the gulfe from the corner thereof farre reachyng into the sea and from the extreme or vttermoste mouth of the same receyuyng the waters of the sea whiche fall into it euen vnto Os Draconis and Paria is by one generall name called Caribana of the Caribes or Canibales whiche are founde in euery region in this tract But from whence they had theyr perticuler originall and howe leauyng theyr natiue soyle they haue spredde theyr generation so farre lyke a pestiferous contagion we wyll nowe declare Therefore from the fyrst front reachyng foorth into the sea in whose tract we sayde that Fogeda fastened his foote towarde the corner about niene myles distant there lyeth a village of Caribana named Futcraca three myles distant from this is the village of Vraba of the whiche it is thought that the whole gulfe toke his name bycause this village was once the head of the kyngdome About syxe myles from this is Feti Niene myles from Feti is Zerema And about twelue myles from this Sorache Our men founde all these villages full of people al the whiche gyue them selues onely to manhuntyng Insomuche that if they lacke enimies agaynst whom they may keepe warre they exercise crueltie agaynst them selues and eyther slaye the one the other or els dryue the vanquyshed to flyght Whereby it is apparant that by these theyr continuall warres and dryuyng the one the other out of theyr countreys this infection hath gone so farre not onely on the fyrme lande but also into the Ilandes I was also aduertised of an other thyng the whiche to my iudgement seemeth woorthy to be put in memorye One Coruales a iudge in causes of lawe among the Spanyardes of Dariena sayth that on a tyme walkyng abrode with his booke in his hande he met by the way with a fugityue whiche had fledde from the great landes lying farre towarde the west and remayned here with a Kyng with whom he was entertayned When this man perceyued the lawyer lookyng on his booke marueylyng thereat he came runnyng vnto hym and by interpretours of the kyng whom he serued spake thus vnto hym Haue you also bookes wherein you may reserue thynges in
perpetual memory and letters whereby you may declare your mynde to suche as are absent And herewith desyred that the booke myght be opened vnto hym supposyng that he shoulde therein haue founde the letters of his owne countrey But when he sawe them vnlyke he sayde further that in his countrey there were cities fortified with walles and gouerned by lawes and that the people also vsed apparell but of what religion they were I dyd not learne Yet had our men knowledge both by the woordes and signes of this fugitiue that they were circumcised What nowe thynke you hereby most holy father Or what do you diuine may come hereof when tyme shall subdue all these vnder your throne Let vs nowe entermyngle certayne small thynges among these great matters I haue not thought good to pretermit that which chaunced to Iohannes Solisius who to searche the South syde of the supposed continent departed with three shyppes from the port Ioppa not farre distant from the Ilandes of Gades or Cales in the Ocean the fourth day of the Ides of September in the yeere M.D.xv. or what successe Iohannes Pontius had whom the newe gouernour Petrus Arias appoynted to vanquyshe and destroy the Caribes or Canibales deuourers of mans fleshe also to what ende the voyages of the other captaines came which were sent foorth diuers waies at the same tyme as Gonzalus Badaiocius Franciscus Bezarra and Valleius Iohannes Solicius tooke the matter in hand in an euyll houre He sayled beyond the point of saint Augustine which they cal Cabo S. Augustini toward the South side of the supposed continent beyond the Equinoctial line For as we haue said before that poynt reacheth Southwarde to the seuenth degree of the South pole called the pole Antartike He proceeded in that vyage syxe hundred leagues and found the lande from the poynt to extende so farre towarde the South beyonde the Equinoctial that he came to the thirtieth degree of y e South pole As he sayled thus forwarde hauyng nowe on his backe halfe the starres named Caput Draconis that is the Dragons head and the regions of Paria lying northwarde from hym prospectyng towarde the pole Artyke he chaunced to fall into the handes of the filthy Canibales For these craftie foxes seemed to make signes of peace when in theyr myndes they conceyued a hope of a daintie banquet espying their enimies a farre of began to swalowe theyr spettle as their mouth watered for greedines of theyr pray As vnhappy Solisius descended with as many of his company as coulde enâ—er into the boate of the byggest shyppe sodenly a great multitude of thinhabitantes brust foorth vppon them and â—lue them euery man with clubbes euen in the syght of theyr felowes They caried away the boate and in a moment broke it all to fytters not one escaping Theyr furie not thus satisfied they cut the slayne men in peeces euen vppon the shore where theyr felowes myght behold this horrible spectacle from the sea But they beyng stricken with feare through this example durst not come foorth of their shyppes or deuise how to reuenge the death of theyr Captayne and companyons They departed therefore from these vnfortunate coastes and by the way ladyng theyr shyppe with brasell returned home agayne with losse and heauie cheare Of these thynges I was aduertised of late by theyr owne letters What they haue els doone I shall haue more perticular knowledge heereafter Iohannes Pontius was also repulsed by the Canibales in the Iland of Guadalupea beyng one of the chiefe Ilandes of theyr habitation For when they sawe our men a farre of on the sea they lay in ambushe sodenly to inuade them when they shoulde come alande Our men sent foorth a fewe foote men and with them theyr Laundresses to washe theyr shertes and sheetes For from the Iland of Ferrea beyng one of the Ilandes of Canarie euen vnto this Iland for the space of foure thousand and two hundred myles they had seene no land where they myght fynde any fresh water forasmuche as in all this large space the Ocean is without Ilandes At theyr commyng therefore to lande the Canibales assayled them caried away the women and put the men to suche distresse that fewe of them escaped By reason whereof Pontius beyng greatly discomfited durst not inuade the Canibales fearyng theyr venomed arrowes which these naked man-hunters can direct most certaynely Thus good Pontius fayling of his purpose was fayne to geue ouer the Canibales whom being safe vnder the house roofe he threatned to vanquish and destroy Whyther he went from thence or what new thyngs he founde I haue as yet no further knowledge By these mysfortunes Solisius lost his lyfe Pontius his honour Let vs nowe speake of an other whose enterpryse came to lyke purpose the same yeere Iohannes Aiora borne in the citie of Corduba a man of noble parentage sent in steade of the Lieuetenant as we haue saide more couetous of gold then careful of his charge or desirous of prayle for well deseruing sought occasions of quarelyng agaynst the kynges and spoyled many violentlye extortyng gold of them agaynst ryght equitie and further handeled them so extremely that of frendes they became most cruel enemies insomuch that they ceassed not with desperat myndes by al meanes they coulde to slay our men openly or priuilie By reason whereof it is come to passe that where before they bartered quietly exchanging ware for ware they are nowe fayne to do all thynges by force of armes When he had thus exacted a great quantitie of golde of them as it is sayde he fled priuilye and tooke away a shyp with hym by stealth as the common rumour goeth nor yet hytherto haue we hard whyther he went or where he is arryued Some suspect that Petrus Arias the gouernour should consent to his departure because this Iohannes Aiora is brother to Gonsalus Aiora the kynges historiographer a man both learned and expert in the discipline of warre and so much the gouernours frend that these two among a fewe may be counted examples of rare amitie I my selfe also am greatly bounde vnto them both and haue long enioyed theyr frendshyp yet shall I desire them both to pardon me in declaring my phantasie heerein that in al the turmoyles and tragical affayres of the Ocean nothyng hath so muche displeased me as the couetousnesse of this man who hath so disturbed the pacifyed myndes of the kynges Nowe among these troublous chaunces let vs rehearse the variable fortune of Gonsalus Badaiocius and his felowes whose prosperous begynninges ended with vnfortunate successe Gonsalus therfore in the moneth of May in the yeere of Christ .1515 departed from Dariena with fourscore armed men directing his voyage toward the South and resting in no place vntyll he came to the region of Cerabaro which our men named Gratia Dei distaunt from Dariena about a hundred and
had been that attempted the first voyage the yeere before At the fyrst they were gentlye receiued and required to resort to the towne but shortly after they repented that they had bydden them and thereupon willed them to stay about a stones cast from the towne and to proceede no further When our men desired that they myght make prouision for freshe water before theyr departure they assigned them to a certayne well whiche they had left behynde them declaring further that it shoulde be lawfull for them to take water there or els no where Our men rested that nyght in the feelde adioyning to the well the whiche thyng the Barbarians suspectyng assembled an army of three thousand men and encamped not farre from them Both partes passed a way the nyght without sleepe they fearyng lest our men shoulde breake into the towne and our men lest the Barbarians shoulde inuade them sodenly on the one part with Trumpettes and on the other syde with the noyse of Tymbrels kept them styll wakyng that were disposed to sleepe At the spryng of the day the Barbarians approched to our mens campe and called for the interpretours of Cuba whose language is much agreable vnto theirs They had deuised to lyght a Torche of franckensence and to place the same betweene both the armies to the intent that yf our men dyd not depart before the Torche were consumed to stand to theyr peryll The Torche was wasted and the matter came to hand strokes They slue only one of our men with an arrowe because his Target failed him but many were wounded After this conflict our men resorted to theyr ordinaunce whiche they had planted neere vnto the wel When they had discharged certayne peeces the Barbarians fled backe into the towne and our men were of fierse and greedie courrage to haue pursued them but that Grisalua the gouernour would not suffer them From thence they proceeded to the last ende of Iucatana which they founde to reach more then two hundred myles from the East to the West Here they founde a commodious hauen and named it Portus desideratus From hence they sailed to other landes came to the region next to Iucatana Westward which they doubt whether it be an Iland or part of the fyrme lande but thinke it rather to be annext to y e continēt in this there is a gulfe whiche they suppose to be incompassed with both the landes but of this there is no certentie The inhabitauntes call this region Caluacam or otherwise Oloan. They found here also a great riuer whiche by his violent course and fall driueth freshe water two myles into the sea this they called Grisalua after the name of the gouernour The Barbarians marueylyng at the huge greatnesse and mouing of our shyps came swarmyng on the bankes of both sydes the riuer to the number of syxe thousande men armed with targettes and brest plates of golde bowes and arrowes brode swoordes of heauie wood and long iauelyns hardened at the endes with fyre Thus standyng in battayle raye to defende theyr coastes and with proude countenaunces forbyddyng our men to come alande both parties watched all that nyght in armes In the dawne of they daye our men espyed about a hundred Canoas whiche we haue sayde to bee theyr boates full of armed men Here also the language of thinterpretours of Cuba agreed well yenough with theirs When they had admitted the peace profered them by thinterpretours al the Canoas staied except one which approched towarde the shyppes A certayne ruler that was in this Canoa demaunded of our men what they sought in other mens landes They answeared Gold and that for permutation of other ware and not of gift or violently The Canoa returned and the ruler certified the king hereof who came gladly to the shippes When he had saluted the gouernor he called his chamberlaine vnto him commaundyng hym to bryng his armur and other ornamentes of gold wherewith he armed Grisalua from the toppe of the head to the sole of the foote insomuche that what so euer any man of armes armed at all partes is among vs accustomed to weare of Iron or steele when he commeth into the fielde all such kynde of furnitures made of golde and wrought with woonderfull art the kyng gaue to the gouernour He recompenced hym with vestures of sycke cloth lynnen and other of our thynges In the begynnyng of this Iucatana when they sayled to Cozumella they chaunced vpon a Canoa of fishermen to the number of niene fyshyng with hookes of golde they tooke them all prysoners One of them was knowen to this kyng who promysed the day folowyng to send the gouernour as much gold for his raunsome as the man hym selfe waighed But the gouernour denied that he could release hym without the consent of his felowes and therefore kept hym styll to proue what he coulde further knowe of hym Departyng from hence and saylyng styll westwarde they founde a great gulfe in the which three small Ilandes were situate Of these they went to the byggest But oh abhominable crueltie oh most corrupted myndes of men and diuilyshe impietie Let euery godly man close y e mouth of his stomake lest he be disturbed They offer young chyldren of both kyndes to their Idoles of marble earth Among their Idoles of marble there standeth a Lion hauyng a hole through the necke into the whiche they poure the blood of the miserable sacrifyce that it may from thence runne downe into a syncke of marble Let vs nowe declare with what ceremonies they sacrifice the blood of these poore wretches They cut not theyr throtes but open the very brestes of these seelye soules and take out theyr hartes yet pantyng with the hot blood whereof they annoynt the lippes of theyr Idoles and suffer the resydue to fall into the syncke This doone they burne the harte and bowels supposyng the smoke thereof to be acceptable to theyr goddes Of theyr Idoles one is made to the shape of a man bowyng downe his head and lookyng towarde the syncke of blood as it were acceptyng the offeryng of the slayne sacrifyce They eate the fleshe of the armes thyghes and legges especially when they sacrifice an enimie taken in the warres They founde a streame of coniealed blood as though it had runne from a boochery For this mischeuous purpose they bring these wretches from the next Ilandes They sawe also innumerable heades and trunkes of bodies thus mangled besyde many other yet remainyng whole and couered with certayne mattes Al the tractes of these regions abound with gold and pretious stodes One of our men wandryng in the Ilande chaunced to fynde two water pottes of alabaster artificially wrought and full of litle stones of dyuers colours They say also that they founde a stone of the value of two thousande Castellans of golde which the sent to the gouernour This Iland they named the Iland of sacrifice Thinhabitauntes are circumcised There
and many also with slate or other stone The Barbarians them selues confessed that they were that day fourtie thousande men at the battayle which were vanquished of a fewe by reason of the newe and vnknowen kynde of feyght with gunnes and horses For the gouernour had vnbarked .xvi. horses which were also at the battayle and so fyercely assayled the Barbarians on the backehalfe that they brake theyr array and scattered them as it had ben flockes of sheepe ouerthrowing woūding killing them on euery syde Which thing the seely wretches so imputed to a miracle that they had not y e power to occupie their weapones For wheras before they had neuer seene any horses they thought that y e man on horsebacke and the horse had ben all one beaste as the antiquitie dyd fable of the monster Centaurus Our men possessed the towne .xxii. dayes where they made good cheare vnder couert whyle the owners of the houses lay vnder the fyrmament and durst not assayle our men who had placed them selues in the stroungest part of the towne where some kept contynual watch lest the Barbarians shoulde sodenly inuade them whyle other gaue them selues to rest and sleepe The inhabitauntes call this towne Potanchana but our men for the victorie which they obteyned here named it Victoria It is a marueilous thyng to consider the greatnesse magnificence finenesse of the building of certayne palaces they haue in the countrey to the which they resort somtymes for theyr solace and pastyme These are curiously builded with many pleasaunt diuises as galeries solars turrettes portals gutters with chambers boorded after the maner of our waynescot and well floored Foure of our Spaniardes went into one of them of such greatnesse that they wandred in the same for the space of foure houres before they coulde fynde the way out At the length by the interpretours and certayne captiues our men sent for the kyng and suche rulers as were next vnder hym in aucthoritie wyllyng them to submyt them selues and to come into the towne vnarmed geuyng the messengers further in commaundement to certifie them that in theyr so doyng they woulde commune with them as concerning conditions of peace and restore them theyr towne They came gladly and entred euery man into his owne house vpon condition that they shoulde euer thereafter absteyne from such ceremonies and horrible sacrifices of mans fleshe to deuils the mortal enemies to mankinde whose Images they honoured to direct the eyes of theyr myndes to Christ our God y e maker of heauen and earth who was borne into this worlde of a virgin and suffred death on the crosse for the redemption of mankynde and finally to professe them selues subiectes to the Christian kyng of Spayne They promised both and were instructed as farre as the shortnesse of tyme woulde permit Beyng thus restored they recompensed our men with many rewardes supposyng suche men to be sent from heauen whiche beyng so fewe in number durst attempt battayle agaynst so great a multitude They gaue our men also certayne golde and twentie slaues Departyng therefore from hence and coasting styll along by the same shore they came agayne to the gulfe whiche Alaminus the pilot founde before vnder Grisalua This they named Bian Sancti Iohannis that is Saint Iohns gulfe for Bian in the Spanishe tounge signifieth a gulfe Heere the inhabitantes resorted to them peaceably About a myle from the shore was a towne of a thousand and fyue hundred houses situate vpon a hyll They profered our men halfe the towne if they would dwel with them for euer This perhaps they dyd the rather eyther fearyng the example of the inhabitantes of Potanchana the fame whereof myght haue come to theyr eares or els hopyng that vnder the shadowe of suche valiaunt men they myght obteyne ayde and succour agaynst theyr enemies and borderers For as I haue sayde before they destroy one an other with contynuall warre for the desire to enlarge theyr dominions Our men refused parpetuall habitation and accepted theyr frendly proffer for a tyme. As they came alande the people folowed them on euerye syde with bowes in theyr handes whiche they helde ouer our mens heades to defend them from the rayne as though they had walked in a continuall arbour Heere they encamped And lest the residue left in the shyps shoulde in the meane tyme waxe slouthfull with Idlenesse the gouernour gaue commaundement to Alaminus the pilot and Francis Montegius to searche the West partes of that land while he releeued the weeried souldiers and healed such as were wounded To them that went forward on this viage he assigned two brigantines with fyftie men Unto this gulfe the course of the water was gentle enough and moderate but when they had sailed a litle further toward the West they founde the sea running with so swift a course as if it were a great riuer fallyng from the toppes of hygh mountaynes insomuch that in a short space of tyme it caried them fiftie myles from theyr felowes When they were now entred into this violent streame of water they saw on their left hande a large plaine sea which met with the course of the other waters falling from the West And lyke as two great riuers that runne contrarye waies make a vehement conflict where they meete so seemed the waters comming from the South to resyst these waters as enemies that had entred into the ryght or possession of an other On the contrary part they sawe the lande reachyng farre both on the left hande and on the ryght In this stryfe betwene the waters they were so tossed on both sydes and entangled with whirlepoles that they long wrestled without hope of lyfe At the length with muche difficultie turnyng the stemmes or forpartes of theyr shyppes agaynst the streame from whence they came and labouryng all that they myght with theyr ores and sayles they coulde scarsely ouercome the rage of the water insomuche that were as they thought that they had in one nyght sayled two myles they founde that they were dryuen backe foure myles Yet at the length with gods helpe they ouercame this daungerours conflycte They spent xxii dayes in this litle space of sea And when they were nowe returned to theyr felowes declared vnto them that that ende was the lande of Coluacana whiche they adiudged to be part of the supposed continent The lande whiche they sawe a farre of before theyr face they suppose eyther to be annexed to our continent ▪ or to be ioyned to the large North regions called Baccalaos whereof we haue made mention in our Decades in the voiage of Sebastian Cabote This matter is yet doubtefull but we trust it shall once be better knowen While Alaminus and Montegius searched these secretes the kyng of the prouince whose name was Multoxumam sent our men by one of his chiefe officers beyng also his Lieuetenaunt of the sayde towne many ryche and goodly presentes of golde
euery house also howe the treasurie of nature is in those coastes and of the golde mynes of Dariena Howe kyng Teaocha gaue Vaschus .xx. poundes weyght of wrought golde and two hundred pearles also of desartes full of wylde beastes and howe Vaschus was troubled with great heate in the moneth of Nouember Howe a dogge Tyger was taken and his whelpes tyed in cheynes and torne in peeces also how Vaschus gaue .iiii. kynges to his dogges to be deuoured Of the vse of dogges in theyr warres and of the fiercenesse of the Caniballes How kyng Bononiana fauoured the Christians gaue Vaschus xx pound weyght of wrought golde also his oration to Vaschus A similitude prouyng great plentie of golde in the regions of the South sea and of the trauayles which olde souldyers are able to susteyne The contentes of the thyrd booke Fol. 105. HOwe kyng Buchibuea submitted him selfe to Vaschus sent him certayne vesselles of golde also how kyng Chiorisus sent him .xxx. dyshes of pure golde Howe Iron serueth for more necessary vses then golde also an example of the lyfe of our fyrst parentes Howe kyng Pocchorrosa submitted hym selfe and gaue Vaschus fyftiene pounde weyght of wrought golde also how Tumanama the great kyng of the golden regions towarde the South sea is taken prysoner lykewyse howe he gaue Vaschus .xxx. pounde weyght of pure and wrought golde and his noble men .lx. pounds weyght of golde Of the cause of vehement wyndes neere vnto the Equinoctiall lyne and of the coloure of the earth of the golden mynes Of the large and fruitefull playne of Zauana and of the ryuer Comogrus also howe kyng Comogrus baptised by the name of Charles gaue Vaschus .xx. pounde weyght of wrought golde Of the good fortune of Vaschus and howe he was turned from Goliath to Elizeus from Anteus to Hercules with what facilitie the Spaniardes shall hereafter obtayne great plentie of golde and pearles Of the Spanyardes conquestes and fiercenesse of the Canibales also an exhortation to Christian princes to set forwarde Christes religion The contentes of the fourth booke Fol. 110. THe fourth viage of Colonus the Admiral from Spayne to Hispaniola and to the other Ilandes and coastes of the firme lande also of the floryshyng Ilande Guanassa Of the seuen kyndes of Date trees wylde vines and Mirobalanes also of byrdes and foules Of people of goodly stature whiche vse to paynt theyr bodyes and of the swyfte course of the sea from the east to the west also of freshe water in the sea Of the large regions of Paria Os Draconis and Quiriquetana and of great Tortoyses and reedes also of the foure fruitefull Ilands called Quatuor Tempora and .xii. Ilands called Limonares Of sweete sauoures and holsome ayre and of the region Quicuri and the hauen Cariai or Mirobalanus also of certayne ciuil people Of trees growyng in the sea after a straunge sort and of a straunge kynde of Monkyes whiche inuade men and feyght with wylde Bores Of the great gulfe of Cerabaro replenished with many fruitefull Ilandes and of the people whiche weare cheynes of golde made of ouches wrought to the similitude of dyuers wylde beastes and foules Of fyue villages whose inhabitauntes geue them selues onely to geatheryng of golde and are paynted vsyng to weare garlandes of Lions and Tygers clawes also of seuen ryuers in al the which is founde great plentie of golde and where the plentie of gold ceasseth Of certayne people whiche paynt theyr bodyes and couer theyr priuie members with shelles hauyng also plates of gold hangyng at theyr nosethrylles Of certayne woormes whiche beyng engendred in the seas neere about the Equinoctial eate holes in the shyppes and howe the Admirals shyppes were destroyed by them Howe the king of Beragua entertayned the Lieuetenaunt and of the great plentie of golde in the ryuer of Duraba and in al the regions there about also in rootes of trees and stones and in maner in al ryuers Howe the Lieuetenaunt and his company woulde haue erected a colonie besyde the ryuer of Beragua was repulsed by thinhabitauntes Howe the Admiral fel into the handes of the Barbarians of the Iland of Iamaica where he liued miserably the space of tenne monethes and by what chaunce he was saued and came to the Ilande of Hispaniola Of holsome regions temperate ayre and continual spryng al the whole yeere also of certayne people which honour golde religiously duryng theyr golden haruest Of the mountaynes of Beragua beyng fyftie myles in length and higher then the cloudes also the discription of other mountaynes and regions thereabout comparyng the same to Italy Colonus his opinion as touchyng the supposed continent and ioynyng of the north and south Ocean also of the breadth of the sayde continent or firme lande Of the regions of Vraba Beragua and the great ryuer Maragnonus and the ryuer of Dabaiba or Sancti Iohannis also of certayne maryshes and desolate wayes and of Dragons and Crocodiles engendred in the same Of .xx. golden ryuers about Dariena and of certayne precious stones especially a Diamonde of marueylous byggnesse bought in the prouince of Paria Of the heroical factes of the Spanyardes and howe they contemne effeminate pleasures also a similitude prouing great plentie of golde and precious stones The contentes of the fyft booke Fol. 119. THe nauigation of Petrus Arias from Spayne to Hispaniola and Dariena and of the Ilandes of Canarie also of the Ilands of Madanino Guadalupea and Galanta Of the sea of hearbes mountaynes couered with snow also of the swyft course of the sea towards the West Of the ryuer Gaira the region Caramairi and the port Carthago and Sancta Martha also of Americus Vesputius and his expert cunnyng in the knowledge of the carde compasse and quadrant How the Canibales assayled Petrus Arias with his whole nauie and shot of theyr venomous arrowes euen in the sea also of theyr houses and housholde stuffe How Gonsalus Ouiedus founde a Saphire bygger then a goose egge also Emerodes Calcidonies Iaspers and Amber of the mountaynes Of woods of Brasyle trees plentie of gold and marchasites of metals founde in the regions of Caramairi Gaira and Saturma also of a straunge kynde of marchaundies exercised among the people of Zunu That the region of Caramairi is lyke to an earthy Paradise of the fruitfull mountaynes and pleasaunt gardens of the same Of many goodly countreis made desolate by the fiercenesse of the Canibales and of diuers kyndes of bread made of rootes also of the maner of plantyng the roote of Iucca whose iuise is deadly poyson in the Ilandes and without hurt in the continent or fyrme lande Of certayne golden ryuers Hartes wylde Boores foules gossampine whyte marble and holsome ayre also of the great ryuer Maragnonus discending from the mountaynes couered with snowe called Serra Neuata How Petrus Arias wasted certaine Ilands of the Canibales how by the swyft course of the sea his shyps were caried in one night fourtie
to poyson theyr arrowes wherewith they kyll all that they wounde These venomes they mingle togeather and make thereof a blacke masse or composition whiche appeareth lyke vnto very blacke pytch Of this poyson I caused a great quantitie to be burnt in Sancta Maria Antiqua in a place two leagues and more within the lande with a great multitude of theyr inuenomed arrowes and other munition with also the house wherein they were reserued This was in the yeere .1514 at suche tyme as the army arryued there with captayne Pedrarias da villa at the commaundement of the Catholyke kyng Don Ferdinando But to returne to the hystory These Apples as I haue sayde growe neare vnto the sea And whereas the Christians whiche serue your maiestie in these parties suppose that there is no remedy so profytable for such as are wounded with these arrowes as is the water of the sea if the wound be much washed therwith by which meanes some haue escaped although but fewe yet to say the trueth albeit the water of the sea haue a certaine caustike quality against poyson it is not a sufficient remedy in this case nor yet to this day haue the Christians perceyued that of fyftie that haue been wounded three haue recouered But that your maiestie may the better consider the force of the venome of these trees you shal further vnderstand that if a man doe but repose him selfe to sleepe a litle whyle vnder the shadow of the same he hath his head eyes so swolne when he ryseth that the eye lyddes are ioyned with the cheekes and if it chaunce one droppe or more of the deawe of the sayde tree to fall into the eye it vtterly destroyeth the syght The pestilent nature of this tree is suche that it can not be declared in fewe wordes Of these there groweth great plentie in the gulfe of Vraba towarde the North coast on the West and East syde The wood of these trees when it burneth maketh so great a stynke that no man is able to abyde it by reason it causeth so great a payne in the head Among other trees whiche are in these Indies aswell in the Ilandes as in the firme lande there is an other kynde whiche they call Xagua whereof there is great plentie they are very hygh and streyght and fayre to beholde Of these they vse to make â—ykes and Iauelyns of dyuers lengthes and bygnesse they are of a fayre colour betweene russet and whyte this tree bryngeth foorth a great fruit as bygge as Papauer or Poppie and muche lyke therevnto it is very good to bee eaten when it is rype Out of this they get a very cleare water wherewith they washe their legges and sometymes all theyr bodyes when they feele theyr fleshe weery faynt or loose the which water besyde that it hath a byndyng qualitie it hath also this propertie that whatsoeuer it toucheth it steyneth it blacke by litle and litle vntyll it bee as blacke as gete which colour can not bee taken away in lesse space then tenne or twelue dayes And if the nayle bee but touched therewith it is so steyned that it can by no meanes bee taken away vntyll it eyther fall of or grow out and bee clypped away by litle litle as I my selfe haue oftentymes seene by experience There is an other kynde of trees which they call Hohi these are very great and fayre and cause holesome ayre where they growe and a pleasaunt shadowe and are founde in great aboundaunce theyr fruit is very good and of good tast and sauour and much lyke vnto certayne damsons or prunes beyng litle and yelowe but theyr stone is very great by reason whereof they haue but litle meate theyr barke or rynde boyled in water maketh a holesome bathe for the legges because it byndeth and stayeth the loosenesse of the fleshe so sensibly that it is a marueyle to consider It is surely a holesome and excellent bathe agaynst suche fayntnesse and is the best tree that may be founde in those parties to sleepe vnder For it causeth no heauinesse of the head as doe dyuers other trees which thyng I speake because the Christians are muche accustomed in those regions to lye in the fieldes It is therefore a common practise among them that wheresoeuer they fynde these trees there they spreade theyr mattresses and beddes wherein they sleepe There are also a kynde of hygh Date trees and full of thornes the woodde of these is most excellent beyng very blacke and shynyng and so heauye that no parte thereof can swymme aboue the water but synketh immediatly to the bottome Of this woodde they make theyr arrowes and dartes also Iauelyns speares and pykes and I say pykes because that in the coastes of the sea of Sur beyonde Esquegua and Vracha the Indians vse great and long pykes made of the wood of these Date trees Of the same lykewyse they make clubbes and swoordes and dyuers other weapons Also vesselles and housholde stuffe of dyuers sortes very fayre and commodious Furthermore of this wood the Christians vse to make dyuers musicall instrumentes as Claricymballes Lutes Gitterns and suche other the which besyde theyr fayre shynyng colour lyke vnto gete are also of a good sounde and very durable by reason of the hardnesse of the wood After that I haue sayde thus much of trees and plants I haue thought good also to speake somewhat of hearbes You shal therfore vnderstand that in these Indies there is an hearbe much like vnto a yelow Lilie about whose leaues there growe and creepe certayne cordes or lases as the lyke is partly seene in the hearbe which we call lased sauery but these of the Indies are much bigger and longer and so strong that they tye theyr hangyng beds thereby whiche they call Hamacas whereof we haue spoken elsewhere these cordes they call Cabuia and Henequen whiche are all one thyng sauyng that Henequen is lesse and of a fyner substance as it were line and the other is grosser lyke the weeke or twyst of hempe and is imperfect in comparison to the other they are of colour betweene whyte and yelow lyke vnto abarne and some also whyte With Henequen whiche is the most subtyle and fyne threede the Indians sawe in sunder fetters cheynes or barres of Iron in this maner They moue the threed of Henequen vppon the Iron which they intende to sawe or cutte drawyng the one hande after the other as doe they that sawe puttyng euer nowe and then a portion of fyne sande vppon the threede or on the place or parte of the Iron where they continue rubbyng the sayde threed so that if the threed be worne they take an other and continue in theyr worke as before vntyll they haue cutte in sunder the Iron although it be neuer so bygge and cut it as if it were a tender thyng and easy to be sawne And forasmuche as the leaues of trees may bee counted among
bodyes and haue two rowes of teeth the one somewhat separate from the other of cruell shape and standyng very thycke When they haue slayne this fyshe they cut the body thereof in small peeces and put it to drye hangyng it three or foure dayes at the cordes of the sayle clothes to drye in the wynde and then eate it It is doubtlesse a good fyshe and of great commoditie to serue the shyppes for vitalles for many dayes the leaste of these fyshes are most holesome and tender it hath a skynne muche lyke to the skynne of a Sole whereunto the sayd Tiburon is like in shape Whiche I saye because Plinie hath made mention of none of these three fyshes among the number of them wherof he writeth in his natural hystorie These Tiburons come foorth of the sea and enter into the ryuers where they are no lesse perylous then great Lisartes or Crocodiles wherof I haue spoken largely before For they deuoure men kyne and horses euen as do the Crocodiles they are very daungerous in certayne washyng places or pooles by the ryuers sydes and where they haue deuoured at other tymes Dyuers other fyshes both great and small of sundry sortes and kyndes are accustomed to folowe the shyppes goyng vnder sayle of the whiche I wyll speake somwhat when I haue written of Manate whiche is the thyrde of the three wherof I haue promised to entreate Manate therefore is a fyshe of the sea of the byggest sorte and muche greater then the Tiburon in length and breadth and is very bruityshe and vyle so that it appeareth in fourme lyke vnto one of those great vesselles made of goates skynnes wherin they vse to cary newe wyne in Medina de Campo or in Areualo the head of this beast is lyke the head of an Oxe with also like eyes and hath in the place of armes two great stumpes wherwith he swymmeth It is a very gentle and tame beast and commeth oftentimes out of the water to the next shore where if he fynd any hearbes or grasse he feedeth therof Our men are accustomed to kyl many of these and diuers other good fyshes with their crosbowes pursuing them in barkes or Canoas because they swim in maner aboue the water the which thyng when they see they drawe them with a hooke tyde at a small corde but somewhat strong As the fyshe fleeth away the archer letteth go and prolongeth the corde by litle and litle vntyll he haue let it go many fathams at the ende of the corde there is tyde a corke or a peece of lyght woodde and when the fyshe is gone a litle way and hath coloured the water with his blood and feeleth hym selfe to faynt and drawe towarde the ende of his lyfe he resorteth to the shore and the archer foloweth geatheryng vp his corde wherof whyle there yet remayne syxe or eyght fathams or somewhat more or lesse he draweth it towarde the lande and draweth the fyshe therewith by litle and litle as the waues of the sea helpe hym to do it the more easly then with the helpe of the rest of his companie he lyfteth this great beaste out of the water to the lande beyng of suche byggenesse that to conuey it from thence to the citie it shal be requisite to haue a carte with a good yoke of Oxen and sometymes more accordyng as these fyshes are of byggenesse some being much greater then other some in the same kinde as is seene of other beastes Somtymes they lyft these fyshes into the Canoa or barke without drawyng them to the lande as before for as soone as they are slayne they flote aboue the water And I beleeue veryly that this fyshe is one of the best in the worlde to the tast and the lykeest vnto fleshe especially so lyke vnto beefe that who so hath not seene it whole can iudge it to be none other when he seeth it in peeces then very beefe or veale and is certaynly so lyke vnto fleshe that all the men in the world may herein be deceyued the tast likewise is like vnto the tast of very good veale and lasteth long yf it be powdred so that in fine the Base of these parts is by no meanes lyke vnto this This Manate hath a certayne stone or rather bone in his head within the brayne whiche is of qualitie greatly appropriate agaynst the disease of the stone if it be burnt and grounde into small powder and taken fastyng in the morning when the paine is felte in such quantitie as may lye vppon a peny with a draught of good whyte wyne For being thus taken three or foure mornings it acquieteth the greefe as dyuers haue tolde me whiche haue proued it true and I my selfe by testimonie of syght do wytnesse that I haue seene this stone sought of dyuers for this effecte There are also dyuers other fyshes as bygge as this Manate among the whiche there is one called Vihuella This fyshe beareth in the toppe of his head a swoorde beyng on euery syde full of many sharpe teeth this swoorde is naturally very harde and strong of foure or fyue spannes in length and of proportion accordyng to the same byggenesse and for this cause is this fyshe called Spada that is the swoorde fyshe Of this kynde some are founde as litle as Sardines and other so great that two yokes of Oxen are scarsely able to drawe them on a Cart. But whereas before I haue promised to speake of other fyshes whiche are taken in these seas whyle the shyppes are vnder sayle I wyll not forgeat to speake of the Tunnye whiche is a great and good fyshe and is oftentymes taken and kylde with trout speares and hookes cast in the water when they play and swym about the shyppes In lyke maner also are taken many Turbuts whiche are very good fyshes as are lyghtly in all the sea And here is to be noted that in the great Ocean sea there is a strange thyng to be consydered whiche all that haue been in the Indies affirme to be true And this is that lyke as on the lande there are some prouinces fertyle and fruitfull and some barren euen so doth the lyke chaunce in the sea So that at some wyndes the shyppes sayle fyftie or a hundred or two hundred leagues and more without takyng or seeyng of one fyshe and agayne in the selfe same Ocean in some places all the water is seene tremble by the mouyng of the fyshes where they are taken abundantly It commeth further to my remembraunce to speake somewhat of the fleeyng of fyshes whiche is doubtlesse a strange thyng to beholde and is after this maner When the shyppes sayle by the great Ocean folowyng theyr viage there ryseth sometymes on the one syde or on the other many companies of certayne litle fyshes of the whiche the byggest is no greater then a Sardyne and so diminishe lesse and lesse from that quantitie that â—ome of them are very
learned men I am not satisfyed of the naturall cause hereof I content my selfe to knowe and beleeue that he whiche hath made these thynges dooth knowe this and many other which he hath not graunted to the reason of man to comprehende muche lesse to so base a wyt as myne is They therefore that are of greater vnderstandyng shall search the cause hereof for them and for me forasmuche as I haue onely put the matter in question as a wytnesse that haue seene thexperience of the thyng Of the strayght or narrowe passage of the land lying betweene the North and South sea by the which spyces may much sooner and easlyer be brought from the Ilandes of Molucca into Spaine by the VVest Ocean then by that way whereby the Portugales sayle into the East India IT hath been an opinion among the Cosmographers and Pilottes of late tyme and other whiche haue had practyse in thynges touchyng the sea that there shoulde be a strayght of water passing from the North sea of the fyrme into the South sea of Sur which neuerthelesse hath not been seene nor founde to this day And surely yf there be any such strayght we that inhabite those partes do thynke the same should be rather of land then of water For the fyrme land in some partes thereof is so strayght and narrowe that the Indians say that from the mountaynes of the prouince of Esquegua or Vrraca which are betweene the one sea and the other if a man ascend to the top of the mountaines and looke toward the North he may see the water of the North sea of the prouince of Beragua againe looking the contrary way may on the other syde towards the South see the sea of Sur and the prouinces which confine with it as do the territories of the two Lordes or kynges of the sayde prouinces of Vrraca and Esquegua And I beleeue that yf it be as the Indians say of all that is hytherto knowen this is the narrowest strayght of the fyrme land whiche some affirme to be full of rough mountaynes Yet do I take it for a better way or soo short as is that whiche is made from the port called Nomen Dei whiche is in the North sea vnto the newe citie of Panama beyng in the coast and on the bancke of the sea of Sur whiche way is lykewyse very rough full of thycke wooddes mountaynes ryuers valleyes and very difficult to passe through and can not be done without great labour trauaile Some measure this way in this part to be from sea to sea eighteene leagues whiche I suppose to be rather twentie not for that it is any more by measure but because it is rough and difficult as I haue sayde and as I haue founde it by experience hauyng now twise passed that way by foote countyng from the port and village of Nomen Dei vnto the dominion of the Cacique of Iuanaga otherwyse called Capira eyght leagues and from thence to the ryuer of Chagre other eyght leagues So that at this riuer beyng sixteene leagues from the sayde port endeth the roughnesse of the way then from hence to the marueilous brydge are two leagues and beyonde that other two vnto the port of Panama So that altogeather in my iudgement make twentie leagues And yf therefore this nauigation may be founde in the South sea for the trade of spyces as we trust in God to be brought from thence to the sayde port of Panama as is possible enough they maye afterwarde easely passe to the North sea notwithstandyng the difficultie of the way of the twentie leagues aforesayde Which thyng I affirme as a man wel trauayled in these regions hauyng twyse on my feete passed ouer this strayght in the yeere 1521. as I haue said It is furthermore to be vnderstoode that it is a marueilous facilitie to bryng spices by this way which I wil now declare From Panama to the ryuer of Chagre are foure leagues of good and fayre way by the which cartes may passe at pleasure by reason that the mountaines are but few and litle and that the greatest part of these foure leagues is a playne grounde voyde of trees and when the cartes are come to the sayde ryuer â–ª the spyces may be caried in Barkes and pynnesses For this riuer entreth into the North sea fyue or syxe leagues lower then the port of Nomen Dei and emptieth it selfe in the sea neere vnto an Iland called Bastimento where is a verye good and safe port Your maiestie may now therfore consyder howe great a thyng â–ª and what commoditie it may be to conuey spices this way forasmuch as y e riuer of Chagre hauing his originall only two leagues from the South sea continueth his course and emptieth it selfe into the other North sea This riuer runneth fast and is verye great and so commodious for this purpose as may be thought or desired the marueylous brydge made by the worke of nature beyng two leagues beyond the sayde ryuer other two leagues on this syde the port of Panama so lying in the mydde waye betweene them both as framed naturally in suche sort that none which passe by this viage doth see any such brydge or thinke that there is any such buyldyng in that place vntyll they be in the top thereof in the way towarde Panama But assoone as they are on the brydge lookyng towarde the ryght hande they see a litle ryuer vnder them whiche hath his chanell distant from the feete of them that walke ouer it the space of two speares length or more The water of this ryuer is very shalowe not passyng the deapth of a mans legge to the knee and is in breadth betweene thyrtie and fourtie pases and falleth into the ryuer of Chagre Towarde the ryght hand standyng on this brydge there is nothing seene but great trees The largenesse of the brydge conteyneth fyfteene pases and the length thereof about threescore or fourescore pases The arche is so made of most harde stone that no man can beholde it without admiration beyng made by the hygh and omnipotent creatour of all thinges But to returne to speake somewhat more of the conueying of spices I say that when it shall please almyghtie God that this nauigation aforesayde shall be founde by the good fortune of your maiestie and that the spyces of the Ilandes of the South sea whiche may also be otherwyse called the Ocean of the East India in the which are the Ilandes of Molucca shal be brought to the sayd coast and the port of Panama and be conueyed from thence as we haue sayde by the fyrme lande with cartes vnto the ryuer of Chagre and from thence into this our other sea of the North from whence they may afterwarde be brought into Spayne I say that by this meanes the viage shal be shortned more then seuen thousand leagues with muche lesse daunger then is by the viage nowe vsed by the
they haue foules and fruite They make theyr houses of tymber whereof they haue great plentie and in the steade of tiles couer them with the skinnes of fishes and beastes It is sayde also that there are Gryfes in this lande and that the Beares and many other beastes and foules are whyte To this and the Ilandes about the same the Britons are accustomed to resort as men of nature agreeable vnto them and borne vnder the same altitude and temperature The Norwayes also sayled thyther with the pilot called Iohn Scoluo and the Englyshe men with Sebastian Cabot The coaste of the lande of Baccallaos is a great tract and the greatest altitude thereof is .xlviii. degrees and a halfe Sebastian Cabot was the first that brought any knowledge of this land For beyng in England in the dayes of kyng Henrye the seuenth he furnyshed two shyps at his owne charges or as some say at the kynges whom he perswaded that a passage myght be founde to Cathay by the North seas and that spyces myght be brought from thence sooner by that way then by the viage the Portugales vse by the sea of Sur. He went also to knowe what maner of landes those Indies were to inhabite He had with hym three hundred men and directed his course by the tract of Islande vpon the Cape of Laborador at fyftie and eight degrees affirming that in the moneth of Iuly there was such cold heapes of Ise that he durst passe no further also that the daies were very long and in maner without nyght and the nyghtes very cleare Certayne it is that at the threescore degrees the longest day is of eighteene houres But considering the cold and the strangenesse of the vnknowen lande he turned his course from thence to the West folowing the coast of the land of Baccallaos vnto the thirtie eight degrees from whence he returned to Englande To conclude the Britons and Danes haue sayled to the Baccallaos and Iaques Cartier a french man was there twise with three Galeons as one in the yeere .xxxiiii. and the other in the .xxxv. and chose the land to inhabite from the .xlv. degrees to the .li. beyng as good a land as Fraunce and all thynges therin commune to suche as fyrst possesse the same Of these landes Iacobus Gastaldus wryteth thus The new land of Baccallaos is a colde region whose inhabitauntes are Idolatours and praye to the Sonne and Moone and dyuers Idoles they are whyte people and verye rusticall for they eate fleshe and fyshe and all other thynges rawe Sometymes also they eate mans fleshe priuilie so that theyr Cacique haue no knoweledge thereof The apparrel of both the men and women is made of Beares skynnes although they haue Sables and Marternes not greatlye esteemed because they are litle Some of them go naked in sommer and weare apparrell only in winter The Britons and Frenchmen are accustomed to take fyshe in the coastes of these landes where is founde great plentie of Tunnies which thinhabitantes cal Baccallaos wherof the land was so named Northward from the region of Baccallaos is the lande of Laborador all full of mountaynes and great woods in which are many Beares wild Bores The inhabitantes are Idolatours and warlyke people apparelled as are they of Baccallaos In al this new land is neyther citie or castell but they lyue in companies like heardes of beastes The discouering of the land of Florida THe gouernour of the Ilande of Boriouena â–ª Iohn Ponce of Leon beyng discharged of his office and very ryche furnished sent foorth two Carauels to seeke the Ilands of Boiuca in the which the Indians affirmed to be a fountayne or spryng whose water is of vertue to make old men young Whyle he trauayled syxe monethes with outragious desire among many Ilandes to fynde that he sought and coulde fynde no token of any suche fountayne he entred into Bemini and discouered the lande of Florida in the yeere 1512. on Easter day whiche the Spaniards cal the floryshing day of Pascba wherby they named that lande Florida And supposyng that great ryches myght be brought from thence he returned into Spayne and couenanted with king Ferdinando as touchyng the trade and by the intercession of Nicolas de Ouando and Peter Nunnez de Gusman the kyng dyd not only make hym gouernour of Bemini and Florida but also sent foorth with hym three shyppes from Sciuile towards his second viage in the yeere 1515. He touched in the Ilande of Guaccana otherwyse called Guadalupea and sent to lande certayne of his men with the Laundresses of the shyppes whom the Canibales lying in ambushe assayled with theyr inuenomed arrowes and slaying the most part caried away the women With this euill beginning Iohn Ponce departed from hence to Boriquen and from thence to Florida where he went alande with his souldyers to espie a place most commodious to inhabite and plant a colonie But the Indians commyng foorth agaynst him to defende the entrance assayled the Spanyardes fiercely and slue and wounded many of them At whiche conflicte also hee him selfe beyng wounded with an arrowe dyed shortly after in the Ilande of Cuba and so endyng his lyfe consumed a great parte of the rychesse hee had before gotten at sainct Iohans of Boriquen This Iohn Ponce had before sayled with Christopher Colon to the Ilande of Hispaniola in the yeere 1493. Hee was a gentle souldyer in the warres of this Ilande and captayne of the prouince of Higuei for Nicolas de Ouando that conquested the same The region of Florida is a poynt or cape of lande reachyng into the sea lyke vnto a tongue beyng a famous and notorious place among the Indians by reason of many Spanyardes that haue been slayne there But whereas by fame this Florida was esteemed a ryche lande many valiant and noble men desyred the conquest thereof among whom Ferdinando de Soto who had before been a captayne in Peru and greatly inryched by the imprisonment of kyng Atabaliba attempted a viage thither with a good bande of men and spent fyue yeeres in seekyng of golde mynes supposyng that this land had been lyke vnto Peru. In fine hee dyed there and was the destruction and vndoyng of all that went with him without inhabytyng that lande in the whiche the conquestours had hytherto neuer good successe forasmuche as these Indians are valiant archers and strong hardy men But the valiant myndes of the Spanyardes not discouraged by these misaduentures after the death of Ferdinando Soto many woorthie gentlemen desyred this conquest in the yeere .1544 among whom was Iulian Samano and Peter de Abumada beyng bretherne and men of sufficient abilitie for such an enterprise But neyther the Emperour beyng then in Germanie neyther the prince Don Philip his son who gouerned all the kyngdomes of Castile and Aragonie neyther yet the counsayle of the Indies would in any
northerne lande but suche a one that ether is not to be traueyled for the causes in the first Obiection alleaged or cleane shut vp from vs in Europe by Groenland the South ende whereof Moletius maketh firme lande with America the north parte continent with Lapponlande and Norway Thyrdly the greatest fauourers of this voyage can not deny but that if any such passage be it lyeth subiect vnto Yse and snow for the most parte of the yeere whereas it standeth in the edge of the frostie zone Before the Sunne hath warmed the ayre and dissolued the Yse eche one well knoweth that there can bee no saylyng the Yse once broken through the continuall abode the Sunne maketh a certayne season in those partes how shall it be possible for so weake a vessell as a shyppe is to holde out amyd whole Ilandes as it were of Yse continually beatyng on eche syde and at the mouth of that goulphe issuyng downe furiously from the North safely to passe whan whole mountaynes of Yse and Snow shal be tombled downe vpon her Wel graunt the west Indies not to continue continent vnto the Pole graunt there be a passage betwyxt these two landes let the goulph lye neare vs than commonly in cardes we fynde it set namely betwyxt the .61 .64 degrees north as Gemma Frisius in his Mappes and Globes imagineth it and so left by our countriman Sebastian Cabote in his table the which my good Lorde your father hath at Cheynies and so tryed this last yeere by your Honours seruaunt as hee reported and his carde and compasse doe witnesse Let the way bee voyde of all difficulties yet doeth it not folowe that we haue free passage to Cathayo For examples sake You may trende all Norway Finmarke and Lapponlande and than bow Southwarde to sainct Nicolas in Moscouia you may lykewyse in the Mediterranean sea fetche Constantinople and the mouth of Tanais yet is there no passage by sea through Moscouia into Pont Euxine now called Mare Maggiore Agayne in the aforesayde Mediterranean sea we sayle to Alexandria in Egypt the Barbares bryng theyr pearle and spices from the Moluccaes vp the read sea and Arabian goulph to Sues scarsely three dayes iourney from the aforesayde hauen yet haue we no way by sea from Alexandria to the Moluccaes for that Isthmos or litle streicte of lande betwyxt the two seas In lyke maner although the northerne passage bee free at .61 degrees latitude and the West Ocean beyonde America vsually called Mar del zur knowen to be open at .40 degrees eleuation for the Ilande Giapan yea .300 leagues northerly aboue Giapan yet may there bee lande to hynder the through passage that way by sea as in the examples aforesayde it falleth out Asia and America there beyng ioyned togeather in one continent Ne can this opinion seeme altogeather friuolous vnto any one that diligently peruseth our Cosmographers doynges Iosephus Moletius is of that mynde not onely in his playne hemispheres of the worlde but also in his sea carde The French Geographers in lyke maner bee of the same opinion as by their Mappe cut out in fourme of a harte you may perceyue as though the West Indyes were parte of Asie Whiche sentence well agreeth with that olde conclusion in the scholes Quidquid praeter Africam et Europam est Asia est Whatsoeuer land doeth neyther appertayne vnto Afrike nor to Europe is parte of Asie Furthermore it were to small purpose to make so long so paynefull so doubtfull a voyage by such a new founde way if in Cathayo you should neyther be suffred to lande for silkes and siluer nor able to fetche the Molucca spices and pearle for piracye in those seas Of a lawe denying all Aliens to enter into China and forbiddyng all the inhabiters vnder a great penaltie to let in any stranger into that countreys shall you reade in the report of Galeotto Perera there imprisoned with other Portugalles as also in the Giaponyshe letters howe for that cause the woorthie traueyler Xauierus bargayned with a Barbarian Marchaunt for a great sum of Pepper to be brought into Cantan a porte in Cathayo The great and daungerous piracie vsed in that seas no man can be ignorant of that listeth to reade the Giaponishe and East Indian historie Finally all this great labour would bee lost all these charges spent in vayne if in the ende our traueylers myght not be able to returne agayne and bryng safely home into theyr owne natyue countrey that wealth and ryches they in forreyne regions with aduenture of goodes and daunger of theyr lyues haue sought for By the Northeast there is no way the Southeast passage the Portugalles doe hold as Lordes of that seas At the Southwest Magellanus experience hath partly taught vs and partly we are persuaded by reason howe the Easterne currant stryketh so furiously on that streicte and falleth with such force into that narrow goulphe that hardely any shyppe can returne that way into our West Ocean out of Mar del zur The which if it be true as truly it is than may we say that the aforesayde Easterne currant or leuant course of waters continually folowyng after the heauenly motions looseth not altogeather his force but is doubled rather by an other currant from out the north-Northeast in the passage betwyxt America and the North lande whyther it is of necessitie carryed hauyng none other way to maintaine it selfe in circular motion and consequently the force and fury thereof to be no lesse in the streict of Aniaâ— where it striketh South into Mar del zur beyond America if any such streicte of sea there be than in Magellane frete both streictes beyng of lyke breadth as in Belognine Zalterius table of new France and in Don Diego Hermano di Toledo his carde for nauigation in that region we doe fynde precisely set downe Neuerthelesse to approue that there lyeth a way to Cathayo at the Northwest from out of Europe we haue experyence namely of three brethren that went that iourney as Gemma Frisius recordeth and left a name vnto that streicte whereby nowe it is called Fretum trium Fratrum We do reade againe of a Portugal that passed this streicte of whom M. Furbisher speaketh that was imprisoned therefore many yeeres in Lesbona to veryfie the olde Spanyshe prouerbe I suffer for doyng wel Likewise An. Vrdaneta a fryer of Mexico came out of Mar del zur this way into Germanie his Carde for he was a great discouerer made by his owne experience and trauayle in that voyage hath been seene by gentelmen of good credite Now yf the obseruation and remembrance of thyngs breedeth experience and of experience proceedeth art and the certeine knowledge we haue in al faculties as y e best Philosophers that euer were do affyrme truly the voyage of these aforesayd trauaillers that haue gone out of Europe into Mar del zur and returned thence at the Northwest doo moste euidently conclude that way to be nauigable and that
vs. And M. Furbisher the further he trauayled in the former passage as he tolde me the deeper alwayes he founde sea Lay you now the sum hereof togeather The riuers runne where the Chanels are most hollow the sea in taking his course waxeth deeper the sea waters fall continuallye from the North Southward the Northeasterne currant striketh downe into the streict we speake of is there augmented with whole mountains of I se snow falling downe furiously out from y e land vnder y e North Pole Where store of water is there is it a thing impossible to want sea where sea not only doth not want but waxeth deeper ther can be discouered no land Finally whence I pray you came the contrary tyde that M. Furbisher met withal after that he had sayled no small way in that passage if there be any isthmos or streict of land betwixt the aforesaid Northweststerne gulfe and Mar del Zur to ioyne Asia and America togeather That conclusion frequented in scholes Quidquid preter c. was ment of the partes of the worlde then knowen and so is it of ryght to be vnderstoode The fifte obiection requireth for answere wysedome and policie in the trauailer to wyn the Barbares fauour by some good meanes and so to arme strengthen him selfe that when he shal haue the repulse in one coast he may safely trauaile to an other commodiously taking his conuenient times discretly making choyse of them with whom he wyl throughly deale To force a violent entrie would for vs Englishe men be very hard consyderyng the strength and valeour of so great a nation farre distaunt from vs and the attempt thereof myght bee most perillous vnto the doers vnlesse theyr part were verye good Touchyng theyr lawes agaynst strangers you shall reade neuerthelesse in the same relations of Galeotto Berara that the Cathaian kyng is woont to graunt free accesse vnto all forreiners that trade into his countrey for marchandyse and a place of lybertie for them to remaine in as the Mores had vntyll such time as they had brought the Loutea or Lieuetenaunt of that coaste to be a circumcised Saracene wherefore some of them were put to the sworde the rest were scattred abrode at Fuquien a great citie in China certayne of them are yet this day to be seen As for the Giapans they be most desyrous to be acquaynted with strangers The Portugals though they were straightly handled there at the fyrst yet in the ende they founde great fauoure at the prince his hands insomuch that the Loutea or president that misused them was therefore put to death The rude Indish Canoa halleth that seas the Portugalles the Saracenes Mores traueil continually vp downe that reache from Giapan to China from China to Malacca from Malacca to the Moluccaes and shal an Englishmā better appointed then any of them al that I say no more of our nauie feare to saile in that Ocean What seas at al doo want piracie what nauigation is there voyde of peril To the last argument Our traueylers neede not to seeke their returne by the northeast ne shall they be constrayned except they lyst ether to attempte Magellane streicte at the Southwest or to be in daunger of the Portugalles for the Southeast they may returne by the northwest that same way they do go foorth as experience hath shewed The reason alleaged for proofe of the contrary may be disproued after this maner And fyrst it may be called in controuersie whether any currant continually be forced by the motion of Primum mobile rounde about the worlde or no for learned men do diuersely handle that question The naturall course of all waters is downewarde wherfore of congruence they fall that way where they fynde the earth most lowe and deepe in respecte whereof it was erst sayde the seas to strike from the Northren landes Southerly Uiolently the seas are tossed and troubled diuerse wayes with the wyndes encreased and diminished by the course of the Moone hoysed vp and downe through the sundrye operations of the Sonne and the Starres finally some be of opinion that the seas be carried in part violently about y e world after the daily motion of the highest mouable heauen in lyke maner as y e elementes of ayre and fyre with the rest of the heauenly spheres are from the east vnto the west And this they do call theyr easterne currant or leuant streame Some suche currant may not be denied to be of great force in the hote Zone for the nearenes thereof vnto the centre of the Sonne and blustryng easterne wyndes violently dryuing the seas westwarde howbeit in the temperate climes the Sonne beyng farther of and the wyndes more diuerse blowyng as muche from the north the west and south as from the east this rule doth not effectually withholde vs from traueylyng eastwarde ne be we kepte euer backe by the aforesayde Leuante wyndes and streame But in Magellane streict we are violently driuen backe westwarde Ergo through the Northwesterne streicte or Anian fret shall we not be able to returne eastwarde it foloweth not The fyrst for that the northwesterne streict hath more sea rome at the least by one hundred Englyshe myles then Magellane fret hath the onely want wherof causeth all narrowe passages generally to be most violent So woulde I say in Anian gulfe if it were so narrowe as Don Diego and Zalterius haue paynted it out any returne that way to be ful of difficulties in respect of such streictnes therof not for the nearenes of the Sonne or easterne wyndes violently forceing that way any leuant streame But in that place there is more sea rome by many degrees if the cardes of Cabota and Gemma Frisius and that whiche Tramezine imprinted be true And hytherto reason see I none at all but that I may as well geue credyt vnto theyr doynges as to any of the rest It must be Peregrinationis historia that is true reportes of skilful trauailers as Ptolome writeth that in suche controuersies of Geographie must put vs out of double Ortelius in his vniuersall tables in his particuler Mappes of the west Indies of all Asia of the northren kyngdomes of the easte Indies Mercator in some of his globes and generall mappes of the worlde Moletius in his vniuersall table of the Globe diuided in his sea carde and particuler tables of the East Indies Zalterius and Don Diego with Fernando Bertely and others do so much dyffer both from Gemma Frisius and Cabota among them selues in diuers places from them selues concerning the diuers situation and sundrye limittes of America that one may not so rashly as truelye surmise these men either to be ignorant in those pointes touching the aforesayd region or that the mappes they haue geuen out vnto the world were collected only by them neuer of their owne drawyng M. Furbishers prosperous voyage and happie returne wyl absolutely decide these controuersies and certaynely determine where
the continuall warres they haue with the Tartars of whom the greatest parte gyue obedience to the sayd great Cam as to theyr chiefe Emperour He made also demonstration in the sayde carde by the Northeast that being past the prouince of Permia and the ryuer Pescora which falleth into the North sea certeine mountaines named Catena Mundi there is thentraunce into the prouince of Obdora whereas is Vecchiadoro and the ryuer Obo whiche also falleth into the sayde sea and it is the furthest border of Th empyre of the Prince of Moscouia The sayde ryuer hath his originall in a great lake called Chethai which is the fyrst habitacion of the Tartars that paye tribute to the great Cane And from this lake for the space of two moneths vyage as they were credybly informed by certayne Tartares taken in the warres is the most noble citie of Cambalu beyng one of the chiefest in the dominion of the great Cane whom some call the great Cham. He also affyrmed that if shyppes should be made on the coastes of the sayde sea and sayle on the backe halfe of the coast thereof which he knew by many relations made to his Prince to reach infinitely towarde the Northeast they should doubtlesse in folowyng the same easily discouer that countrey Unto these woordes he added that although there were great difficultie in Moscouia by reason that the way to the sayde sea is full of thicke woods and waters whiche in the sommer make great maryshes and impossible to be traueyled aswell for lacke of victuals whiche can not there be founde not for certayne dayes but for the space of certayne monethes the place beyng desolate without inhabitauntes neuerthelesse he sayde that if there were with his Prince onely two Spanyardes or Portugales to whom the charge of this viage should be committed he no wayes doubted but that they would folowe it and fynde it forasmuch as with great ingeniousnesse and inestimable pacience these nations haue ouercome much greater difficulties then are these whiche are but litle in comparison to those that they haue ouerpassed and doe ouerpasse in all their viages to India He proceeded declaryng that not many yeeres since there came to the courte of his Prince an Ambassadour from pope Leo named maister Paulo Centurione a Genuese vnder dyuers pretenses But the princypall occasion of his commyng was bycause hee had conceyued great indignation and hatred agaynst the Portugales And therfore intended to proue if he could open any vyage by land wherby spyces myght be brought from India by the lande of Tartaria or by the sea Caspium otherwyse called Hircanum to Moscouia and from thence to be brought in shyppes by the ryuer Riga which runnyng by the countrey of Liuonia falleth into the sea of Germanie And that his Prince gaue eare vnto him and caused the sayde vyage to be attempted by certaine noble men of Lordo of the Tartars confinyng next vnto him But the warres which were then betweene them and the great desartes which they should of necessitie ouerpasse made them leaue of theyr enterpryse whiche if it had ben purposed by the coastes of this our North sea it might haue been easily fynyshed The sayde Ambassadour continued his narration saying that no man ought to doubt of that sea but that it may be sayled sixe monethes in the yeere forasmuche as the dayes are then very long in that clime and hot by reason of continuall reuerberation of the beames of the Sunne and shorte nyghtes And that this thing were as well woorthie to bee prooued as anye other nauigation whereby many partes of the worlde heeretofore vnknowen haue been discouered and brought to ciuilitie And heere makyng an ende of this talke he sayde Let vs now omyt this parte of Moscouia with his colde and speake somewhat of that parte of the newe worlde in whiche is the lande of Brytons called Terra Britonum and Baccaleos or Terra Baccalearum where in the yeere .1534 and .1535 Iaques Cartiar in two vyages made with three great French Gallies founde the great and large countreys named Canada Ochelaga and Sanguenai which reach from the .xlv. to the .51 degree beyng well inhabited and pleasaunt countreys and named by him Noua Francia And here staying a while and lyftyng vp his handes he sayde Oh what doe the Christian princes meane that in suche landes discouered they doe not assigne certayne colonies to inhabite the same to bryng those people whom God hath so blessed with naturall giftes to better ciuilitie and to embrase our religion then the whiche nothing can bee more acceptable to God The sayd regions also beyng so fayre and fruitfull with plentie of all sortes of corne hearbes fruites wood fyshes beastes metals and ryuers of suche greatnesse that shyppes may sayle more then .180 myles vpon one of them beyng on both sydes infinitely inhabited And to cause the gouernours of the sayde colonies to searche whether that lande towarde the North named Terra de Laborador doe ioyne as one firme lande with Norway Or whether there bee any streight or open place of sea as is most lyke there should be forasmuch as it is to bee thought that the sayde Indians dryuen by fortune about the coastes of Norway came by that streight or sea to the coastes of Germanie and by the sayde streight to sayle northwest to discouer the landes and countreys of Cathay and from thence to sayle to the Ilandes of Molucca and these surely should bee enterpryses able to make men immortall The which thing that ryght woorthie Gentleman maister Antony di Mendoza consideryng by the singular vertue and magnanimitie that is in him attempted to put this thyng in practyse For being viceroy of the countrey of Mexico so named of the great citie Mexico otherwyse called Temistitan now called new Spayne beyng in the .xx. degree aboue the Equinoctiall and parte of the sayde firme lande he sent certeyne of his Captaines by lande and also a nauie of shyppes by sea to search this secrete And I remember that when I was in Flaunders in Themperours court I saw his letter wrytten in the yeere .1541 and dated from Mexico wherein was declared howe towarde the Northwest he had founde the kyngdome of Sette Citta that is seuen Cities wheras is that called Ciuola by the reuerende father Marco da Niza and howe beyonde the sayde kyngdome yet further towarde the Northwest Captayne Francesco Vasques of Coronado hauing ouerpassed great desartes came to the sea syde where he founde certaine shyppes which sayled by that sea with merchandies and had in theyr banner vppon the prooes of theyr shyppes certayne foules made of golde and siluer which they of Mexico call Alcatrazzi and that theyr mariners shewed by signes that they were xxx dayes saylyng in commyng to that hauen whereby he vnderstoode that these shyppes could be of none other countrey then of Cathay forasmuch as it is situate on
and other great fyshes The nauigation is not open to this Iland but in sommer season and that only for the space of foure monethes by reason of the colde and Ise whereby the passage is stopped If any stryfe or debate aryse on the sea among the mariners for the commoditie of the hauen the gouernour of the place although he haue knowledge thereof yet doeth he not punyshe them forasmuche as it apperteyneth not to his office to decerne such thinges as are done on the sea but only on the lande Ships are there oftentymes in great peryll by reason of Whales such other monsters of the sea except the Mariners take good heede and keepe them far from the shyps with the noyse of Drummes and emptie barrels cast into the sea There are many Mynstrels and other that play on instruments with the sweete noyse wherof they vse to allure foules and fyshes to their nettes and snares Many also lye lurkyng in caues and dennes to auoyd the sharpnesse of cold as the Affricanes doe the lyke to defend them selues from the heate On the top of a certaine mountayne called Weyszarch lying betweene Island and Gruntland or Greonland is erected a shypmans quadrant of marueylous bygnesse made by two Pirates named Pinnigt and Pothorst in fauour of suche as sayle by those coastes that they may thereby auoyde the daungerous places lying towarde Greonland The myddest of the Ilande 7 0 65 30. The citie Harsol c. 7 40 60 42. Laponia THe region of Laponia was so named of the people that inhabite it For the Germanes call all suche Lapones as are simple or vnapte to thinges This people is of small stature and of suche agilitie of bodie that hauyng theyr quyuers of arrowes gerte to them and theyr bowes in theyr handes they can with a leape cast themselues through a circle or hope of the diameter of a cubite They fight on foote armed with bowes and arrowes after the maner of the Tartars They are exercised in hurlyng the darte and shootyng from theyr youth insomuche that they gyue theyr chyldren no meate vntyll they hyt the marke they shoote at as dyd in olde tyme thynhabitauntes of the Ilandes called Baleares They vse to make theyr apparell streight and close to theyr bodyes that it hynder not theyr woorke Theyr wynter vestures are made of the whole skynnes of Seales or Beares artificially wrought and made supple These they tye with a knotte aboue theyr heads leauyng onely two holes open to looke through and haue all the residue of theyr bodyes couered as though they were sowed in sackes but that this beyng adopted to all partes of theyr bodyes is so made for commoditie and not for a punyshment as the Romanes were accustomed to sow paricides in sackes of leather with a Cocke an Ape and a Serpent and so to hurle them alyue altogeather into the ryuer of Tyber And heereby I thynke it came to passe that in olde tyme it was rashly beleeued that in these regions there were men with rough heary bodyes like wylde beastes as parte made relation through ignoraunce parte also takyng pleasure in rehearsall of suche thinges as are straunge to the hearers The Lapones defended by this arte and industry goe abrode and withstand the sharpenesse of wynter and the North wyndes with all the iniuryes of heauen They haue no houses but certayne Tabernacles lyke tentes or hales wherewith they passe from place to place and chaunge their mansions Some of them lyue after the maner of the people of Sarmatia called in olde tyme Amaxobii which vsed waynes in the steade of houses They are much giuen to huntyng and haue suche plentie of wylde beastes that they kyll them in maner in euery place It is not lawfull for a woman to goe foorth of the tent at that doore by the which her husbande went out on huntyng the same day nor yet to touche with her hande any parte of the beast that is taken vntyll her husbande reache her on the spytte suche a portion of fleshe as he thynketh good They tyll not the grounde The region nourysheth no kynde of Serpentes yet are there great and noysome Gnattes They take fyshe in great plentie by the commoditie whereof they lyue after the maner of the Ethiopians called Ichthiophagi For as these drye theyr fyshe with feruent heate so doe they drye them with colde and grynde or stampe them to pouder as small as meale or floure They haue suche aboundaunce of these fyshes that they hourd great plentie thereof in certeyne store houses to carry them vnto other landes neare about them as Northbothnia and whyte Russia Theyr shyppes are not made with nayles but are tyde togeather and made fast with cordes and wythes With these they sayle by the swyft ryuers betweene the mountaynes of Laponia beyng naked in sommer that they may the better swymme in the tyme of perill and geather togeather such wares as are in daunger to be lost by shypwracke Parte of them exercyse handie craftes as imbroderyng and weauyng of cloth interlaced with golde and syluer Suche as haue deuised any necessary Arte or doe increase and amende the inuentions of other are openly honoured and rewarded with a vesture in the which is imbrodered an argument or token of the thyng they deuised And this remayneth to the posteritie of theyr famelie in token of theyr desartes They frame shyppes buylde houses and make dyuers sortes of housholde stuffe artificially and transporte them to other places neare about They buye and sell both for exchaunge of wares and for money And this only by consent of both parties without communication yet not for lacke of wytte or for rudenesse of maners but bycause they haue a peculiar language vnknowen to theyr borderers It is a valiant nation and lyued long free and susteyned the warres of Norway and Suetia vntyll at the length they submitted them selues and payde ryche furres for theyr tribute They chose them selues a gouernour whom they cal a kyng But the kyng of Suetia gyueth him aucthoritie and administration Neuerthelesse the people in theyr suites and doubtful causes resorte to Suetia to haue theyr matters decised In theyr iourneys they goe not to any Inne nor yet enter into any house but lye all nyght vnder the firmament They haue no horses but in the steade of them they tame certayne wylde beastes which they call Reen beyng of the iust bygnesse of a Mâ—le with rough heare lyke an Asse clouen feete and braunched hornes lyke a Harte but lower and with fewer antlettes They will not abyde to be rydden But when theyr peytrels or drawyng collers are put on them and they so ioyned to the Chariotte or steade they runne in the space of .xxiiii. houres a hundred and fyftie myles or .xxx. Schoenos the whiche space they affyrme to chaunge the horizon thryse that is thryse to come to the furthest signe or
Paulus Centurio a citizen of Genua with letters whereby you doe exhort vs to ioyne in power counsayle with you other Princes of Christendome against the enemies of the christian fayth that a free passage redy way may bee opened for both your Ambassadours ours to come go to fro wherby by mutual dutie and indeuour on both parties we may haue knowledge of the state of thinges parteynyng to the wealth of vs both VVe certes as we haue hytherto happely by the ayde and helpe of almightie God constantly and earnestly resisted the cruell wicked enemies of the christian faith so are we determined to doe hereafter and are likewise redy to consent with other christian princes to graunt free passage into our dominions In consideration wherof we haue sent vnto you our faithful seruant Demetrius Erasmus with these our letters with him haue remitted Paulus Centurio desiring you also shortly to dismisse Demetrius with safegard and indemnitie vnto the borders of our dominions And we wil likewise do the same if you send your Ambassadour with Demetrius whereby both by communication and letters we may be better certified of thorder and administration of such things as you require so that being aduertised of the mindes and intent of all other christian princes we may also consult what is best to be done herein Thus fare ye wel Giuen in our dominioÌ„ in our citie of Moscouia in the yeere from the creation of the world .vii. thousand and .300 the third day of Aprill But Demetrius as he is experte in diuine and humane thinges and especially of holy scripture seemed to haue secrete commaundement of greater matters whiche we thinke he will shortly declare to the senate in priuate consultations For he is now deliuered of the feuer into the which he fell by change of ayre and hath so recouered his strength natiue colour that being a man of .lx. yeeres of age he was not only present at the Popes masse celebrated with great solemnitie in the honour of S. Cosmus Damian but came also into the Senate at such tyme as Cardinal Campegius commyng first from the legacie of Pannonia was receiued of the Pope all the nobilitie of the court And furthermore also viewed the Temples of the holy citie with the ruines of the Romane magnificence and with woondring eyes beheld the lamentable decay of the auncient buildinges So that we thinke that shortly after he hath declared his message he shal return to Moscouia with the byshop of Scarense the Popes legate not vnrecompensed with iust rewardes at the handes of his holinesse The name of the Moscouites is nowe newe although the Poete Lucane maketh mention of the Moschos confynyng with the Sarmatians and Plinie also placeth the Moschos at the sprynges of the great ryuer of Phasis in the region of Colchos aboue the sea Euxinus towarde the East Theyr region hath very large boundes and is extended from the Aultars of great Alexander about the sprynges of Tanais to the extreme landes and North Ocean in maner vnder the North starres called charles wayne or the great Beare beyng for the most parte playne of fruitfull pasture but in sommer in many places full of marishes For whereas all that lande is replenyshed with many and great ryuers which are greatly increased by the wynter snowe and I se resolued by the heate of the sunne the playnes and fieldes are thereby ouerflowen with marishes and all iourneys incombred with continuall waters and myrie slabbynesse vntyll by the benefite of the newe wynter the ryuers and marishes be frosen agayne and giue safe passage to the sleades that are accustomed to iourney by the same The wood or forest of Hercynia and not Hyrcania as is red in some false copies occupyeth a great parte of Moscouia and is heere and there inhabited with houses builded therein and so made thinner by the long labour of men that it doeth not now shewe that horrour of thicke impenetrable woods and landes as many thinke it to haue But beyng replenished with many wylde beastes is so far extended through Moscouia with a continuall tract betweene the East and the North towarde the Scythian Ocean that by the infinite greatnesse thereof it hath deluded the hope of suche as haue curiously searched the ende of the same In that parte that reacheth towarde Prussia are founde the great and fierce beastes called Vri or Bisontes of the kynde of Buâ—les Also Alces lyke vnto Hartes which the Moscouites call Lozzi and are called of the Germaynes Helenes On the East syde of Moscouia are the Scythians which are at this day called Tartars a wandryng nation and at all ages famous in warres In the stead of houses they vse wagons couered with beastes hydes whereby they were in olde tyme called Amaxouii For cities and townes they vse great tentes and pauilions not defended with trenches or walles of tymber or stone but inclosed with an innumerable multitude of archers on horsbacke The Tartars are diuided by companyes which they call Hordas which worde in theyr tongue signifieth a consentyng company of people geathered together in forme of a citie Euery Horda is gouerned by an Emperour whom eyther his parentage or warlyke prowes hath promoted to that dignitie For they oftentimes keepe warre with theyr borderers and contende ambiciously and fiercely for dominion It doeth hereby appeare that they consist of innumerable Hordas in that the Tartars possesse the most large desartes euen vnto the famous citie of Cathay in the furdest Ocean in the East They also that are nearest to the Moscouites are knowen by theyr trade of marchaundies and often incursions In Europe neare vnto the place called Dromon Achillis in Taurica Chersoneso are the Tartars called Precopites the daughter of whose prince Selymus the Emperour of the Turkes tooke to wyfe These are most infest to the Polones and waste the regions on euery syde betweene the ryuers of Boristhenes and Tanais They that in the same Taurica possesse Caffam a colonie of the Ligurians called in olde tyme Theodosia doe both in religion and all other thinges agree with the Turkes But the Tartars that inhabite the regions of Asia betweene Tanais and Volga are subiect to Basilius the kyng of the Moscouites and choose them a gouernour at his assignement Among these the Cremii afflicted with ciuile seditions where as heeretofore they were ryche and of great power haue of late yeeres lost theyr dominion and dignitie The Tartars that are beyonde the riuer of Volga do religiously obserue the frendship of the Moscouites and professe them selues to be theyr subiectes Beyond the Cassanites towarde the North are the Sciambani rych in heardes of cattaylle and consistyng of a great multitude of men After these are Nogai whiche obteyne at this day the chiefe fame of ryches and warly affayres Theyr Horda although it
that whereas Paulus Iouius wryteth here that the ryuer of Diuidna otherwyse called Duina runneth through the region of Colmogor it is to bee vnderstood that there are two ryuers of that name the one on the Northeast side of Moscouia toward the frosen sea the other on the Southwest syde fallyng into the sea Baltheum or the gulfe of Finnonia by the citie of Riga in Liuonia And forasmuche as the true knowledge of these and certayne other is very necessarie for all such as shal trade into Moscouia or other regions in those coastes by the North sea I haue thought good to make further declaration hereof as I haue founde in the historie of Moscouia most faythfully and largly wrytten by Sigismundus Liberus who was twyse sent Embassadour into Moscouia as fyrst by Maximilian the Emperour and then agayne by Ferdinando kyng of Hungarie and Boheme This haue I done the rather for that in al the mappes that I haue seene of Moscouia there is no mention made of the riuer of Duina that runneth through the region of Colmogor and by the citie of the same name although the prouince of Duina be in all cardes placed Northwarde from the ryuer of Vstiug or Succana which is the same Duina wherof we now speake and whereof Paulus Iouius wryteth although it be not so named but from the angle or corner where ioynyng with the ryuer of Iug and Succana it runneth Northwarde towards the citie of Colmogor and from thence falleth into the North or frosen sea as shall hereafter more playnely appeare by the wordes of Sigismundus that the one of these be not taken for the other beyng so farre distant that great errour myght ensue by mistaking the same especially because this whereof Paulus Iouius writeth is not by name expressed in the cardes but only in the other wherby the errour myght be the greater Of that therfore that runneth by the confines of Liuonia and the citie of Riga Sigismundus writeth in this maner The Lake of Duina is distant from the sprynges of Boristhenes almost ten myles and as many from the marishe of Fronovvo From it a ryuer of the same name towarde the West distant from Vuilna twentie myles runneth from thence toward the North where by Riga the cheefe citie of Liuonia it falleth into the Germane sea whiche the Moscouites call Vuareâ—zkoie morie It runneth by Vuitepso Polotzo and Dunenburg and not by Plescouia as one hath wrytten This riuer beyng for the moste part nauigable the Liuons call Duna Of the other Duina whereof Poulus Iouious speaketh he wrytteth as foloweth The prouince of Duina and the ryuer of the same name is so named from the place where the ryuers of Suchana and Iug meetyng togeather make one ryuer so called For Duina in the Moscouites tongue signifieth two This ryuer by the space of two hundred myles entreth into the North Ocean on that part where the sayde sea runneth by the coastes of Suecia and Norway and diuideth Engreonland from the vnknowen lande This prouince situate in the full North perteyned in tyme past to the segniorie of Nouogorode From Moscouia to the mouthes of Duina are numbred CCC myles Albeit as I haue sayde in the regions that are beyonde Volga the accompt of the iourney can not be wel obserued by reason of many maryshes ryuers and very great wooddes that lye in the way Yet are we led by coniecture to thynke it to be scarsely two hundred myles forasmuch as from Moscouia to Vuolochda from Vuolochda to Vstiug somewhat into thâ— East and laste of al from Vstiug by the ryuer Duina is the ryght passage to the North sea This region besyde the Castel of Colmogor and the citie of Duina situate almost in the mydde way betwene the sprynges and mouthes of the ryuer and the Castell of Piâ—nega standyng in the very mouthes of Duina is vtterly without townes and Castels Yet hath it many vyllages which are farre in sunder by reason of the barennesse of the soyle c. In an other place he wryteth that Suchana and Iug after they are ioyned togeather in one loose theyr fyrst names and make the ryuer Duina c. But let vs nowe returne to the hystorie of Paulus Iouius Unto Vstiuga from the Permians Pecerrians Inugrians Vgolicans and Pinnegians people inhabytyng the North and Northest prouinces are brought the precious furres of Marterns and Sables also the cases of Woulfes and Foxes both whyte and blacke And lykewyse the skynnes of the beastes called Ceruariâ— Lupi that is harte Woolfes beyng engendred eyther of a Woolfe and a Hynde or a Hart and a bitch Woolfe These furres and skynnes they eâ—chaunge for dyuers other wares The best kynde of Sables and of the â—inest heare wherewith nowe the vestures of princes are lyued and the tender neckes of delicate dames are couered with the expresse similitude of the lyuyng beast are brought by the Permians and Pecerrians whiche they them selues also receyue at the handes of other that inhabite the regions neere vnto the North Ocean The Permians and Pecerrians a litle before our tyme dyd sacrifice to Iâ—ols after the maner of the Gentyles but do nowe acknoweledge Christe theyr God The passage to the Inugrians and Vgolicans is by certayne rough mountaynes whiche perhappes are they that in olde tyme were called Hiperborei In the toppes of these are founde the best kyndes of Falcons whereof one kynde called Herodium is white with spotted fethers There are also Ierfalcons Sakers and Peregrines whiche were vnknowen to the ancient princes in theyr excessiue and nise pleasures Beyonde those people whom I last named beyng all trybutaries to the kynges of Moscouia are other nations the last of men not knowen by any voyages of the Moscouites forasmuche as none of them haue passed to the Ocean and are therefore knowen onely by the fabulous narrations of merchauntes Yet it is apparante that the ryuer Diuidna or Duina draweyng with it innumerable other ryuers runnneth with a vehement course towarde the North and that the sea is there exceedyng large so that saylyng by the coaste of the ryght hande shyppes may haue passage from thence to Cathay as it is thought by most lykely coniecture except there lye some lande in the way For the region of Cathay perteyneth to thextreme and furthest partes of the Easte situate almost in the paralel of Thracia and knowen to the Portugales in India when they sayled neere thereunto by the regions of Sinara and Malacha to Aurea Chersonesus and brought from thence certayne vestures made of Sables skynnes by whiche onely argument it is apparente that the citie of Cathay is not farre from the coastes of Scithia But when Demetrius was demaunded whether eyther by the monuments of letters or by fame lefte them of theyr predicessours they had any knowledge of the Gothes who nowe more then a thousande yeeres since subuerted Thempire of the Romane
and cruell Basilius the Sonne of Iohn was the fyrst that tooke vppon hym the name and title of a kyng in this maner The great lord Basilius by the grace of God kyng and lorde of all Russia and the great Duke of Vuolodimaria Moscouia Nouogradia c. Furthermore wheras nowe this Prince is called Emperour I haue thought good to shewe the title and cause of this errour Note therfore that Czar in the Ruthens tongue signifieth a kyng whereas in the language of the Slauons Pollons Bohemes and other the same worde Czar signifieth Cesar by whiche name the Emperours haue been commonly called For both they and the Slauons that are vnder the kyngdome of Hungarie call a kyng by an other name as some Crall other Kyrall and some Korall but thynke that only an Emperour is called Czar Whereby it came to passe that the Ruthene or Moscouite interpretours hearyng theyr Prince to be so called of strange nations began them selues also to name hym an Emperour thâ—nk the name of Czar to be more worthy then the name of a kyng although they signifie all one thyng But who so wyll reade all theyr histories and bookes of holy scripture shall fynde that a kyng is called Czar and an Emperour Kessar By the lyke errour the Emperour of the Turkes is called Czar who neuerthelesse of antiquitie vsed no hygher tytle then the name of a kyng expressed by this worde Czar And hereof the Turkes of Europe that vse the Slauon tongue call the citie of Constantinople Czargard that is the kyngs citie Some call the Prince of Moscouie the whyte kyng which I thynke to proceede of the whyte Cappes or other tyrementes they weare on theyr heades lyke as they call the kyng of Pertia Kisilpassa that is redde head He vseth the tytle of a kyng when he wryteth or sendeth to Rome the Emperour the Pope the Kyng of Suetia and Denmarke the great maister of Prusia and Liuonia and also to the great Turke as I haue been credibly enfourmed but he is not called kyng of any of them except perhaps of the Liuons Yet by reason of his later conquestes some haue thought hym worthy the name of a kyng or rather of an Emperour because he hath kyngs vnder his Empire To the kyng of Polone he vseth this title The great lorde Basilius by the grace of God lord of al Russia and great Duke of Vuolodimeria Moscouia Nouogradia c. leauyng out the title of a kyng For none of them vouchsafeth to receyue the letters of the other augmented with any newe title as I knewe by experience at my beyng in Moscouia at which time Sigismundus the kyng of Polone sent hym his letters augmented with the title of the Duke of Moscouia wherwith he was not a litle offended They glory in theyr histories that before Vuolodimeria and Olha the land of Russia was baptised and blessed of Sainct Andrewe the Apostle of Christ affirmyng that he came from Grecia to the mouthes of the ryuer Boristhenes and that he sayled vp the ryuer to the mountaynes where as is nowe Chiouia and that there he blessed all the lande and placed his crosse prophesyng also that the grace of God shoulde be great there and that there shoulde be many churches of Christian men Lykewyse that he afterward came to the sprynges of Boristhenes vnto the great Lake Vuolok and by the ryuer Louat descended into the Lake Ilmer from whence by the ryuer Vuolcon whiche runneth out of the same Lake he came to Nouogradia and passed from thence by the same ryuer to the Lake Ladoga and the ryuer Heua and so vnto the sea whiche they call Vuarezkoia beyng the same that we call the Germane sea betweene Vuinlandia or Finlandia and Liuonia by the whiche he sayled to Rome and was at the last crucified for Christ his Gospell in Peloponnesus by the tirranie of Agus Antipater as theyr cronacles make mention The Prince euery seconde or thyrde yeere causeth a muster to bee taken of the Sonnes of the Boiorons and taketh an accompte booth of theyr number and howe manye Horses and men euery of them is able to make and then appoynteth a certayne stypende to suche as are able further to beare theyr owne charges in the warres They haue seldome any rest or quietnesse For they eyther keepe warre with the Lithuanians Liuonians Suetians or Tartars of Casan Or if it so chaunce that the prince keepe no warre yet doth he yeerely appoynte garrysons of .xx. thousande men in places about Tanais and Occa to represse the incursions and robberyes of the European Tartars called Precopites As in other matters euen so in the order of warrefare there is great diuersitie among men For the Moscouian as soone as he beginneth to flye thinketh of none other succoure but putteth all his confidence therin Beyng pursued or taken of his enimie he neyther defendeth hym selfe nor desireth pardon The Tartar cast of from his horse spoyled of all his armure and weapones and also sore wounded defendeth hym selfe with handes feete and teethe and by all meanes he may vntyll his strength and spirite fayle hym The Turke when he seeth hym selfe destitute of all helpe and hope to escape doth humbly desyre pardon castyng away his weapons and armure and reaching forth to the victourer his handes ioyned togeather to be bounde hopyng by captiuitie to saue his lyfe The Moscouites in placeyng theyr armie chuse them a large playne where the best of them pytch theyr tentes and the other make them certaine arbours of bowes fyxt in the grounde bendyng togeather the toppes thereof which they couer with theyr clokes to defende them selues theyr bowes arrowes saddels and other theyr necessaries from rayne They put foorth theyr horses to pasture and for that cause haue theyr tentes so farre in sunder which they fortifie neither with cartes or trenches or any other impedyment except perhappes the place be defended by nature as with wooddes ryuers and maryshes It may perhappes seeme straunge howe he mayntayneth hym and his so longe with so small an armye as I haue sayde I wyll nowe therefore briefely declare theyr sparyng and frugalitie He that hath syxe or sometymes more horses vseth one of them as a packe horse to beare all theyr necessaryes He hath also in a bagge of two or three spannes long the flower or meale of the graine called mille and .viii. or .x. pounds weyght of Swines fleshe poudred He hath lykewyse a bagge of salte myxt with pepper if he be rych Furthermore euery man caryeth with hym a hatchet a fyre boxe and a brasen potâ—e so that if they chaunce to come to any place where they can fynde no fruites Garlyke Onyons or fleshe they kyndle a fyre and fyll theyr pottes with water whereunto they put a spoonefull of meale with a quantitie of salt and make pottage therof wherwith the maister and all his seruauntes lyue contented But if the maister bee very
exceedyng hygh mountaynes reachyng euen vnto the bankes whose rydges or toppes by reason of continuall wyndes are in maner vtterly barren without grasse or fruites And although in diuers places they haue diuers names yet are they commonlye called Cingulus mundi that is the worlde In these mountaynes doo Ierfalcons breede whereof I haue spoken before There growe also Cedar trees among the whiche are founde the best and blackest kynde of Sables and onely these mountaynes are seene in all the dominions of the prince of Moscouia whiche perhappes are the same that the olde wryters call Rhipheos or Hyperboreos so named of the Greeke woorde Hyper that is Under and Boreas that is the North for by reason they are couered with continual snowe and frost they can not without great difficultie be trauayled and reache so farre into the North that they make the vnknowen land of Engreonland The Duke of Moscouia Basilius the sonne of Iohn sent on a tyme two of his captaynes named Simeon Pheodorowitz Kurbski and Knes Peter Vschatoi to searche the places beyonde these mountaynes and to subdue the nations thereabout Kurbski was yet alyue at my beyng in Moscouia and declared vnto mee that he spent .xvii. dayes in ascending the mountayne and yet could not come to the toppe therof which in theyr tongue is called Stolp that is a pyller This mountayne is extended into the Ocean vnto the mouthes of the ryuers of Dwina and Petzora But now hauyng spoken thus much of the sayde iourney I will returne to the dominions of Moscouia with other regions lying Eastwarde and South from the same toward the myghtie Empyre of Cathay But I will fyrst speake somewhat briefly of the prouince of Rezan and the famous ryuer of Tanais The prouince of Rezan situate betweene the ryuers of Occa and Tanais hath a citie buylded of wood not far from the banke of Occa there was in it a Castle named Iaroslaw whereof there now remayneth nothing but tokens of the olde ruine Not farre from that citie the ryuer Occa maketh an Ilande named Strub which was somtyme a great Dukedome whose prince was subiecte to none other This prouince of Rezan is more fruitful then any other of the prouinces of Moscouia Insomuche that in this as they say euery grayne of wheate bringeth foorth twoo and sometymes more eares whose stalkes or strawes grow so thicke that horses can scarsly goe through them or Quayles flee out of them There is great plentie of hony fyshes foules byrdes and wylde beastes The fruites also doe farre exceede the fruites of Moscouia The people are bolde and warlyke men Of the famous ryuer of Tanais FRom Moscouia vnto the Castle of Iaroslaw and beyonde for the space of almost xxiiii leagues runneth the ryuer of Tanais at a place called Donco where the marchauntes that trade to Asoph Capha and Constantinople fraight theyr shyppes and this for the most parte in Autumpe beyng a rayney tyme of the yeere For Tanais heere at other tymes of the yeere doeth not so abounde with water as to beare shyppes of any burden This famous ryuer of Tanais dyuydeth Europe from Asia and hath his orygynall or sprynges almost .viii. leagues from the citie of Tulla towarde the South inclynyng somewhat towarde the East and not out of the Riphean mountaynes as some haue writen But out of a great lake named Iwanwosero that is the lake of Iohn beyng in length and bredth about .1500 Werstes in a wood which some call Okonitzkilles and other name it Iepipbanoulies And out of this lake spryng the two great ryuers of Schat and Tanais Schat towarde the West receyuyng into it the ryuer of Vppa runneth into the riuer of Occa betwene the West and the North But Tanais at the fyrst runneth directly East and continueth his course betwene the kyngdomes of Casan and Astrachan within syxe or seuen leagues of Volga and from thence bendyng towarde the South maketh the fennes or maryshes of Meotis Furthermore nexte vnto his sprynges is the citie of Tulla and vppon the banke of the ryuer almost three leagues aboue the mouthes of the same is the citie of Asoph whiche was fyrst called Tanais Foure dayes iorney aboue this is a towne called Achas situate harde by the same ryuer whiche the Moscouites call Don. I can not sufficiently prayse this ryuer for the exceedyng abundaunce of good fyshes and fayrenesse of the regions on both sydes the bankes with plentie of holesome hearbes and sweete rootes besyde dyuers and many fruitefull trees growyng in suche coomly order as though they had been set of purpose in gardens or orchardes There is also in maner euery where such plentie of wylde beastes that they may easely be slayne with arrowes Insomuch that such as trauaile by those regions shall stande in neede of none other thyng to mayntayne theyr lyfe but only fyre and salte In these partes is no obseruation of myles but of dayes iorneys But as farre as I coulde coniecture from the fountaynes or sprynges of Tanais vnto the mouthes of the same iorneying by lande are almost fourescore leagues And sayling from Donco from whence I sayde that Tanais was fyrst nauigable in scarsely .xx. dayes voyage they come to the citie of Asoph tributarie to the Turkes which is as they say fyue dayes iorney from the streight of Taurica otherwyse called Precop In this citie is a famous marte towne vnto the whiche resort many merchauntes of dyuers nations and from dyuers partes of the worlde For that all nations may the gladlyer haue recourse thyther free lybertie of bying and sellyng is graunted vnto all and that without the citie euery man may freely vse his owne and accustomed maner of lyuyng without punyshement Of the alters of great Alexander and Iulius Cesar whiche many wryters make mention of in this place or of theyr ruines I coulde haue no certayne knoweledge of thinhabitauntes or any other that had oftentymes trayuayled these places Furthermore the souldyers whiche the prince of Moscouia mayntayneth there yeerely to oppresse thincursions of the Tartars being of me demaunded herof answeared y t they neuer saw or heard of any such thing Neuerthelesse they said that about y e mouths of Tanais the lesse foure dayes iorney from Asoph neere vnto a place called Sewerski by the holy mountaynes they sawe certayne images of stone and marble Tanais the lesse hath his springes in the Dukedome of Sewerski whereof it is called Donetz Sewerski and falleth into Tanais three dayes iorney aboue Asoph But such as iorney from Moscouia to Asoph by lande they passyng ouer Tanais about the olde and ruinate towne of Donco do somwhat turne from the South to the East In the which place if a ryght line be drawne from the mouthes of Tanais to the sprynges of the same Moscouia shal be founde to be in Asia and not in Europe More directly from
Moscouia to Cathay THe great and large prouince of Permia is distant from Moscouia two hundred and fyftie or as some sai three hundred leagues directly betwene the East and North and hath a citie of the same name by the ryuer Vischora which runneth .x. leagues beneth Camam The iorney by land can scarsely be trauailed thither but in winter by reasō of mani riuers marishes ▪ and fens But in sommer this iorney is dispatched with more facilitie in boates or smal ships by Vuolochda Vstiug and the ryuer Vitzechda which runneth into Duina .xii. leagues from Vstiug But they that go from Permia to Vstiug must sayle vp the ryuer Vischora agaynst the course of the streame and passyng ouer certayne ryuers sometymes also conueying theyr boates into other ryuers by land they come at the length to Vstiug three hundred leagues distant from the citie of Permia There is smal vse of bread in this prouince For theyr yeerely tribute they pay to the Prince furres and horses They haue a priuate language and letters of theyr owne which one Stephen a Byshop who confirmed them yet waueryng in the fayth did inuent For before beyng yet infantes in the faith of Christ they slewe and fleyde an other Byshop that was appoynted to instruct them This Stephen afterward when Demetrius the sonne of Iohn reygned was taken for a Sainct among the Ruhens Of these people there yet remayne many Idolatours here and there in the woods whom the Munkes and Heremites that go thyther do not cease to conuert from theyr vaine errour In the winter they iorney to Artach as they do in many places of Russia Artach are certaine long patentes of wood of almost six handfulles in length which they make fast to theyr feete with Latchets and therwith perfourme theyr iorneis with great celeritie They vse for this purpose great Dogges in the steade of other beastes with the which they carry theyr fardels on sleades as other do with Hartes in other places as we wyl further declare hereafter They say that the prouince toward the East confineth with the prouince called Tumen parteining to the Tartars The situation of the prouince of Iugaria is apparent by that which we haue sayd before The Moscouites call it Iuhra with an aspiration and call the people Iuhrici This is that Iugaria from whence the Hungarians came in tyme past possessed Pannonia and vnder the conduct of Attila subdued many prouinces of Europe wherein the Moscouites doo greatly glorye that a nation subiect to them inuaded and wasted a great part of Europe Georgius Paruus a Greeke borne and a man of reputation with the Prince of Moscouia wyllyng to ascribe to the ryght of his Prince the great Dukedome of Lithuania and the kyngdome of Polonie ▪ with certayne other Dominions tolde me that the Iuhgarici or Iuhgarie beyng subiects to the great Duke of Moscouia came foorth of theyr owne countrey and fyrst inhabited the regions about the Fennes of Meotis and then Pannonie which was afterward called Hungarie by the ryuer of Danubius Also that in fine they possessed the region of Morauia so named of the ryuer and lykewyse Pollonie so called of Polle whiche signifieth a playne Furthermore that Buda was so called after the name of the brother of Attila They say also that the Iuhgarie vse the same tongue that do the Hungarians the whiche whether it be true or not I do not know For although I haue made diligent inquisition to knowe the trueth hereof yet could I fynde no man of that region with whom my seruaunt beyng expert in the Hungarian tongue might speake They also pay furres for theyr tributes to the Prince of Moscouia And albeit that pearles and precious stones are brought from thence to Moscouia yet are they not geathered in theyr Ocean but in other places especially about the coast of the Ocean neare vnto the mouthes of Duina The prouince of Sibier confineth with Permia and Vuiathka the whiche whether it haue anye castels or cities I do not yet certaynely knowe In this the ryuer Iaick hath his originall and falleth into the Caspian sea They say that this region is desart because it lyeth so neare the Tartars or that yf it be in any part inhabited the same to be possessed of the Tartar Schichmamai Thinhabitantes haue a peculiar language and haue theyr cheefe gaynes by the furres of Marternes whiche in fairnesse and greatnesse excel al the furres of that kynd that are found in any other prouinces Yet could I haue no greate plentie of them in Moscouia at my beyng there Note that long after the wrytyng of this historie at Richard Chaunceler his fyrst bryng in Moscouia Duke Iohn Vasiliuiche that nowe reygneth subdued all the Tartars with theyr regions and prouinces euen vnto the great citie and mart towne of Astrachan the Caspian sea At the same tyme also there was in the Dukes Court an ambassadour that came from this prouince of Sibier who declared that his father had been sent Ambassadour to the great Chan of Cathay and that the great citie of Cambalu where the great Chan kepeth his Court in wynter was in maner distroyed by Nigromancie and Magicall Artes wherein the Cathyans are very expert as wryteth Marcus Paulus Venetus There was also at the same tyme thambassadour of the kyng of Pertia called the great Sophie This Ambassadour was apparelled al in Scarlet and spake muche to the Duke in the behalfe of our men of whose kyngdome and trade he was not ignorant The people called Czeremisse dwell in the wooddes beneth Nouogradia the lower They haue a peculiar language and are of the secte of Machumet They were sometyme subiecte to the kyng of Casan but the greater part of them are nowe subiecte to the prince of Moscouia Many of them at my beyng there were brought to Moscouia as suspected of rebellion This nation doth inhabite a large region without houses from Vuiathka and Vuolochda to the ryuer of Rama All the nation aswell women as men are very swifte of foote and expert archers wherin they so delyght that theyr bowes are in maner neuer out of their handes and geue theyr chyldren no meate vntyll they hyt the marke they shoote at Two leagues distaunt from Nouogradia the lower were many houses to the similitud of a citie or towne where they were accustomed to make salte These a fewe yeeres since beyng burnt of the Tartars were restored by the commaundement of the prince Mordwa are people inhabytyng by the ryuer of Volga on the south banke beneth Nouogradia the lower and are in al thinges lyke vnto the Czeremisses but that they haue more houses And here endeth Thempire of the Moscouites Note here that Matthias of Michou in his booke of Sarmatia Asiatica writeth that the dominion of the Duke of Moscouia reacheth from the northwest to the southeast fyue hundred myles of Germanie
dismissed So that the murderer by the losse of a vyle Horse or a Bowe is discharged of the Iudge with these woordes Get thee hence and goe about thy businesse They haue no vse of gold and syluer except only a few merchauntes but exercyse exchaunge of ware for ware And yf it so chaunce that by sellyng of suche thynges as they haue stolne they get anye money of theyr borderers they bye therewith certayne apparrell and other necessaries of the Moscouites The regions of theyr habitations the feelde Tartars I meane are not lymitted with any boundes or borders There was on a tyme a certayne fatte Tarter taken prysoner of the Moscouites to whom when the Prince sayde howe art thou so fat thou dogge syth thou hast not to eate the Tartar aunswered Why should not I haue to eate syth I possesse so large a lande from the East to the West whereby I may be abundantly nouryshed But thou mayest rather seeme to lacke syth thou inhabytest so small a portion of the woorlde and dooest dayly stryue for the same Casan is a kyngdome also a citie and a castle of the same name scituate by the riuer Volga on the further banke almoste threescore and tenne leagues beneath Nouogradia the lower Along by the course of Volga towarde the East and South it is termined with desart feeldes towarde the Sommer East it confineth with the Tartars called Schibanski â–ª and Kosatzki The kyng of this prouince is able to make an armie of thyrtie thousande men especially footmen of the which the Czeremisse and Czubaschi are moste expert Archers The Czubaschi are also cunnyng Mariners The citie of Casan is threescore leagues distant from the principall castle Vuiathka Furthermore Casan in the Tartars language signifieth a brasen pot boylyng These Tartars are more ciuill then the other for they dwell in houses tyl the grounde and exercise the trade of marchandies They were of late subdued by Basilius the great Duke of Moscouia â–ª and had their Kyng assigned them at his arbitrement But shortlye after they rebelled agayne and associate with other Tartars inuaded the region of Moscouia spoyled and wasted many cities and townes and ledde away innumerable captiues euen from the citie of Moscouia which they possessed for a tyme and had vtterly destroyed the same yf it had not been for the valeauntnesse of the Almaine Gunnners whiche kept the castle with great ordinaunce They also put Duke Basilius to flyght and caused hym to make a letter of his owne hand to Machmetgirei theyr Kyng to acknowledge hym selfe for a perpetuall tributarie to them wherevpon they dissolued the siege and gaue the Moscouites free libertie to redeeme their captiues goods and so departed But Basilius not long able to abyde this contumelie and dishonour after that he had put to death suche as by flying at the first encountryng were the cause of this ouerthrow assembled an armie of an hundred and fourescore thousande men shortly after in the yeere .1523 and sent forwarde his armie vnder the conduct of his Lieuetenant and therewith an Heralde at armes to bydde battell to Machmetgirei the Kyng of Casan with woordes in this effecte The last yeere lyke a theefe and robber without byddyng of battel thou dyddest priuily oppresse mee wherefore I nowe chalenge thee once agayne to proue the fortune of warre if thou mystruste not thyne owne power To this the Kyng answered that there were manye wayes open for him to inuade Moscouia and that the warres haue no lesse respecte to the commoditie of tyme and place then of armure or strength and that hee would take the aduauntage thereof when and where it should seeme best to him and not to other With whiche woordes Basilius beyng greatly accensed and burnyng with desyre of reuenge inuaded the kingdome of Casan whose Kyng beyng stryken with sodayne feare at the approche of so terrible an army assigned the gouernaunce of his kyngdome to the yong Kyng of Taurica his Nâ—uie whyle he him selfe went to requyre ayde of the Emperour of the Turkes But in â—ine the Kyng of Casan submytted him selfe vppon certayne conditions of peace which the Moscouites dyd the gladlyer accept for that tyme because their victualles fayled them to mayneteyne so great a multitude But whereas Duke Basilius him selfe was not present at this last expedition hee greatly suspected Palitzki the Lieuetenant of the army to bee corrupted with brybes to proceede no further In this meane tyme the Kyng of Casan sent Ambassadours to Basilius to intreate of peace whom I sawe in the Dukes courte at my beyng there but I coulde perceyue no hope of peace to be betweene them For euen then Basilius to endomage the Casans translated the marte to Nouogradia whiche before was accustomed to be kepte in the Ilande of marchauntes neare vnto the citie of Casan Commaunding also vnder payne of greeuous punyshement that none of his subiectes shoulde resorte to the Ilande of marchauntes thynkyng that this translation of the marte shoulde greatly haue endomaged the Casans and that only by takyng away their trade of salte which they were accustomed to buye of the Moscouites at that marte they should haue been compelled to submyssion But the Moscouites them selues felte no lesse inconuenience heereby then dyd the Casans by reason of the dearth and scarsenesse that folowed heereof of all suche thinges as the Tartars were accustomed to bryng thyther by the ryuer of Volga from the Caspian sea the kyngdomes of Persia and Armenia and the marte towne of Astrachan especially the great number of most excellent fyshes that are taken in Volga both on the hyther and further syde of Casan But hauyng sayde thus muche of the warres betweene the prince of Moscouia and the Tartars of Casan we will nowe proceede to speake somewhat of the other Tartars inhabiting the regions towarde the Southeast and the Caspian sea Next beyond the Tartars of Casan are the Tartars called Nagai or Nogai which inhabite the regions beyonde Volga about the Caspian sea at the ryuer Iaick runnyng out of the prouince of Sibier These haue no kynges but Dukes In our tyme three brethren deuydyng the prouinces equally betweene them possessed those Dukedomes The first of them named Schidack possesseth the citie of Scharaitzick beyonde the ryuer of Rha or Volga toward the East with the region confinyng with the ryuer Iaick The seconde called Cossum enioyeth all the lande that lyeth betweene the ryuers of Kaman Iaick and Volga The third brother named Schichmamai possesseth parte of the prouince of Sibier and all the region about the same Schichmamai is as much to say by interpretation as holy or myghtie And in maner all these regions are ful of woods except that that lieth toward Scharaitz which consisteth of playnes and fieldes Betweene the riuers of Volga and Iaick about the Caspian sea there sometimes inhabited the kinges called Sawolhenses Demetrius Danielis a man among
swalowing gulfe is such that it draweth into it inuolueth and swaloweth vp shyppes all other thinges that come neare it and that they were neuer in greater danger For the whirlepoole so sodeynely and violently drue vnto it the shyp or barke wherein they were carryed that with the helpe of Ores and great labour they hardly escaped When they had thus ouerpassed the holy nose they came to a certayne stony mountaine which they should needes compasse about but being there stayed with contrary windes for the space of certaine dayes the pylot of the shyp spake vnto them in this effect This stone sayeth he that you see is called Semes the whiche except wee please with some gyfte we shall not passe by without great danger But the Pylot beyng reproued of Istoma for his vayne superstition helde his peace And when they had ben deteined there by tempest for the space of foure dayes at the length the tempest ceassed and they went forward on theyr viage with a prosperous wynde Then the pylot spake vnto them agayne saying You despised my admonition of pleasing the Semes and scorned the same as vayne and superstitious but if I had not priuilie in the night ascended a rocke and pleased the Semes we should surely haue had no passage Being demaunded what he offered to the Semes hee sayde that he poured butter myxt with otemeale vpon the stone which we sawe reach foorth into the sea As they sayled further they came to an other cape named Motka whiche was almost enuironed with the sea lyke an Ilande in whose extreme pointe is situate the Castel of Barthus which some call Wardhus that is a house of defence or fortresse For the kynges of Norway haue there a garrison of men to defend theyr marches He sayde furthermore that that cape reacheth so farre into the sea that they could scarsely compasse it in eyght dayes By which tarying leaste they should be hyndered they caryed on theyr shoulders with great labour theyr barkes and fardelles ouer a streyght of lande conteynyng halfe a league in breadth From hence they sayled to the region of the wylde Lappones called Dikillappones to a place named Dront beyng .200 leagues distant from Dwina toward the North. And thus far as he sayth doth the prince of Moscouia exacte tribute Furthermore leauing their Barkes here they furnyshed the residue of their iourney on Sleades He further declared that there were heards of Hartes as are with vs of Oxen which in the Noruegians tongue are called Rhâ—n beyng somewhat bygger then our Hartes These the Lappones vse in this maner They ioyne them to Sleades made lyke fysher Boates as we put horses to the Cart the man in the Sleade is tyed fast by the feete lest he fal out by the swift course of the Hartes In his leaft hande he holdeth a coller or reigne wherewith he moderateth the course of the Hartes and in the ryght hand a pyked staffe wherwith he may susteyne the Sleade from fallyng yf it chaunce to decline too muche on anye parte And he tolde me that by this meanes he trauayled .xx. leagues in one day and then dismyssed the Hart who by hym selfe returned to his owne maister and accustomed stable This iourney thus finished they came to Berges a citie of Noruegia or Norway situate directlye towarde the North betweene the mountaynes and went from thence to Denmarke on horsbacke At Dront and Berges the day is sayde to be .xxii. houres long in the Sommer Equinoctial Blasius an other of the prince of Moscouia his Interpreters who a fewe yeeres before was sent of his prynce into Spayne to the Emperour declared vnto vs an other and shorter way of his iourney for he sayde that when he was sent from Moscouia to Iohn the kyng of Denmarke he came firste on foote vnto Rostowe and takyng shyppe there came to Pereaslaw and from Pereaslaw by the riuer Volga to Castromow and that from thence goyng seuen werstes by lande he came to a litle ryuer saylyng by the whiche when firste he came to Vuolochda then to Suchana and Dwina and in fiue to the citie of Berges in Norway ouerpassyng in this viage al the perylles and labours that Istoma rehearsed before he came at length to Hafnia the cheefe citie of Denmarke whiche the Germanes call Koppenhagen but in their returnyng home they both confesse that they came to Moscouia by Liuonia and that they were a yeere in this viage albeit Georgius Istoma sayde that halfe the parte of that tyme he was hyndered by tempestes and inforced to carrye long in manye places by the way yet they both lykewyse constantly affyrme that in this iourney eyther of them trauayled a thousande threescore and ten werstes that is three hundred and fourtie leagues Furthermore also Demetrius who of late was sent ambassadour from the prince of Moscouia to the Byshop of Rome by whose relation also Paulus Iouius wrote his description of Moscouia confirmed all these thynges to be true All they beyng demaunded of me of the congeled or frosen sea made none other answere but that in places neere vnto that sea they sawe many and great ryuers by whose vehemente course and abundant flowyng the seas are dryuen farre from the shore and that the sayde water of the ryuers is frosen with the sea a good space from the lande as in Liuonia and other partes of Suecia For although by the vehemencie of the wyndes the Ise is broken in the sea yet doth this chaunce seldome or neuer in ryuers except by some innundation or fluode the Ise geathered togeather be lyfted vp and broken For the flakes or pieces of Ise caryed into the sea by force of the ryuers do flote aboue the water in maner all the whole yeere and are agayne so vehemently frosen togeather that a man may there sometymes see great heapes of the Ise of manie yeeres as doth appeare by suche pieces as are dryuen to the shore by the wynde I haue also been credybly informed by faythfull men that the sea Baltheum otherwyse called the gulfe of Liuonia is oftentymes frosen in many places They say furthermore that in that region whiche is inhabited of the wylde Lappones the Sunne in the sommer Equinoctiall doth not fall for the space of .xl. dayes yet that the body thereof is so hydden with a darke myste or cloude three houres that the beames do not appeare neuerthelesse to geue such light during that time that the darknesse hyndereth not theyr woorke The Moscouites make theyr boste that these wylde Lappones are tributaries to theyr prynce Whereat I do not greatly marueyle forasmuch as they haue none other neere vnto them that may demaund tribute of them Theyr tribute is onely furres and fyshe hauyng in maner none other thyng greatly commodious And albeit they lacke bread salte and other intysementes of gluttony and lyue onely with fyshe and
not vnlyke of heare They haue eyes lyke swyne the snout or trunke very long wherwith they put meate and drinke into their mouth and therefore may it well be called the hande of the Elephant The mouth is vnder the throte much lyke the mouth of a Sowe and the trunke is holowe and can therwith holde fast stickes or slaues and them rule as it were with a hande I sawe also the trunke of a tree ouerthrowen by an Elephant which xxiiii men attempting could not doe The two great teeth or tuskes are placed in the highest iawe Ech of their eares are two handfuls byg whether the beast be of the bygger or lesse kinde The feete are like vnto such round thicke trenchers of wood as he commonly vsed The foote conteineth fyue hoofes in roundnesse like vnto great Oysters The tayle is lyke to the tayle of a Bufle foure handfull long and of thyn heare The Females are also bigger then the Males they are of sundry bignes for some are of .xiii. handfuls high and other of .xiiii. handfuls and some also haue been seene of sixtiene handfuls They goe slowly and walowing and therfore some that haue not ben vsed to them are moued to vomite euen as it were on the sea Yet is it a pleasure to ryde on the young Elephantes bicause they goe softly like ambeling Mules When you mount on them they stoope bend their knees that you may easily ascende They are neuer brydeled neyther vse theyr keepers any halters to gouerne them Of the ingendering of Elephantes and of the magnificence riches of the king of Narsinga Cap. 10. WHen they ingender they resorte to the medowes or woods for by a certaine naturall shamefastnesse they doe it not but in secrete places Although some Aucthours haue written that Elephants engender backward Some take it for a great present to giue the king the member or pissell of an Elephant whiche perhappes they doe for the exceedyng great price of Elephantes For some are solde there for fyue hundred peeces of golde and some as they say for two thousande which peraduenture is not for theyr greatnesses of bodie but rather for certayne properties wyt docilitie wherein some farre exceede other euen as among men And I dare well say that I haue seene some men much inferior to Elephants in wyt and sense Therefore the kyng of Narsinga in riches and dominion farre exceedeth all kynges that euer I haue seene or hearde of The citie in situation and fayrenesse representeth the citie of Milane except only that it is in a declining place and lesse equal Other kingdoms which are subiect to this lye round about it as the kyngdome of Ausonia Venice lye about Milane Their Bramini so are the priestes named tolde me y t the king receiueth dayly of that citie for tribute or reuenue the summe of twelue thousandes of those peeces of golde whiche they call Pardios He maynteyneth an army of many thousandes of men for he liueth in continuall warre with his borderers He is an Idolatour and honoureth the deuyl euen as doth the kyng of Calecut They that are of the rychest sorte vse a slender inwarde apparell or peticote not very long and bynde theyr heades with a phillet or broade bande of sundry colours after the maner of the Mahumetans The common sorte couer only theyr priuities and are besyde all naked The kyng weareth a Cappe of cloth of golde of two handfulles long when he goeth to warre he weareth a vesture of bombasine and thereon a cloke adourned with plates of gold hauyng the borderer garde besette with all sortes of precious stones and Iewelles His horse with the furniture is esteemed to bee woorth as muche as one of our cities by reason of innumerable Iewelles of great price When he goeth a huntyng three other kynges beare him company whose office is to be euer neare him and guyde him When he maketh any iourney or rydeth abrode he is accompanyed with six thousand horsemen And therefore it is manifeste that not only for these thynges whereof we haue spoken but also for dyuers other of lyke magnificence hee is one of the greatest Kynges in the worlde He coyneth money and peeces of golde named Pardios Also other siluer money of lesse value whiche they call Fano conteynyng the value of sixtiene of the smallest money of copper Traueylers may here goe safely through all his dominions if they can auoyde the daunger of the Lions Of theyr dyet and order of lyuyng I will speake more largely where occasion shall serue to wryte of Calecut This kyng of Narsinga is a great friende to the Christians and is in great amitie with the kyng of Portugale and besyde him hee knoweth none other Christian Prince and therefore the Portugales are here friendly and honourably vsed When I had remayned in this citie many dayes I returned to the citie of Canonor And after I had remayned there three dayes I entered further into the lande and came to a citie named Trompata about twelue myles from Canonor The inhabitauntes are Idolatours It is neare vnto the sea and therefore there are seene many merchantes Mahumetans They lyue moderately haue in maner none other ryches then nuttes of India but there are very fayre trees to make shyppes There are in the citie aboue fiftiene thousande Mahumetans although the Kyng be an Idolatour Departyng from hence I came to the citie of Pandara and from thence passyng by the citie of Capagot I came at the length to the famous citie of Calecut And to be breefe I haue here ouerpassed to speake largely of many other people and kyngdomes as are these Chianul Dabul Bathecalo Onouè Bangolor Cauonor Cuchin Cacilon and Calonue which I haue done to the ende that I may entreat more largely of Calecut as the chiefest and as it were the head and metropolitane of all the cities of India For it is certayne that the Kyng of Calecut in royall maiestie exceedeth all the kynges of the East and is therefore in theyr language called Samory that is to say God on the earth The fyfth booke of East India and fyrst of the famous citie of Calecut Cap. 1. THe citie of Calecut is situate vppon the continent or firme lande and the sea beateth vppon the houses of the citie There is no porte but on the South syde about a myle from the citie is a ryuer which runneth into the Ocean sea by a narow mouth This runneth by many braunches into the playne feeldes and is of the inhabitantes by diuers trenches dispearsed to water the grounde It is not past the depth of three or foure foote of water The course of it bendeth towarde the citie and runneth into it The citie is not compassed with walles but conteyneth in circuite sixe thousande houses not adherent or ioynyng togeather after the maner of ours but by a
knowledge thereof But nowe intendyng to speake of the whole worlde I wyll not be long in my preface but begyn my narration as foloweth ¶ A briefe declaration of the viage or nauigation made about the worlde Geathered out of a large booke written hereof by master Antoni Pigafetta Vincentine knyght of the Rhodes and one of the companie of that vyage in the which Ferdinando Magalianes a Portugale whom some call Magellanus was generall captayne of the nauie ALthough Sebastian Munster in his vniuersall Cosmographie in the fyfth booke of the landes of the greater Asia which I translated into Englyshe about .24 yeeres sence hath wrytten of the vyage of Magellanus declaryng therein how the Spanyardes by the West and the Portugales by the East sayling to the Ilandes of Molucca compassed the whole globe of the worlde betweene them yet haue I heere thought it good to make a breefe repeticion of this vyage addyng hereunto dyuers notable thynges which were not touched of Munster as I haue geathered them out of the bookes of Antoni Pigafetta and Transiluanus wrytyng of the same vyage For albeit in deede it was a strange and woonderfull thyng that the Spanyardes and Portugales compassed the whole circumference of the worlde betweene them yet is it more marueylous that the same was done with one ship one companie of men as did the Spanyardes in this viage who keeping their continual course by the west returned into Spaine by the east a thing doubtlesse so much more woonderful and strange then if they had returned from the halfe circumference by the same way they went in how muche they were ignorant in the vyage neuer attempted before besyde the thousande daungers and perylles whiche they were daylye lyke to fal into aswell by wandryng in vnknowen coastes as also by fallyng into the handes of the Portugales by whose dominions in the East they shoulde needes passe of necessitie not trustyng to their gentlenesse for the controuersie whiche had been long betweene them for the Ilandes of Molucca I wyl therfore as I haue sayde make a briefe rehearsal of this viage from the begynnyng to the endyng omittyng neuerthelesse many notable thynges whiche are more largely described in the bookes of Maximilianus Transiluanus and Antonius Pigafetta The tenth day of August in the yeere of our Lord .1519 Ferdinando Magalianes ▪ departed from the port of Siuile in Spayne with a nauie of fyue shippes and 237. men wel furnished with all thynges necessary And saylyng first downe by the ryuer of Guadalchiber which runneth from the sayd port into the sea they came first to a place named Giouan Dulpharaz where are many villages of the Moores and from thence arryued at a castle of the duke of Medina Sidonia where is the port from whiche they enter into the sea to the cape saint Vincent beyng distant from the Equinoctial .37 degrees and from the sayd port .10 leagues and is from thence to Siuile betweene 17. and 20. leagues Heere they remayned certayne dayes to make newe prouision of such thinges as they lacked Departyng from hence the 20. day of September they arryued the 26. day of the same moneth at one of the Ilandes of Canarie called Tenerife beyng 25. degrees aboue the Equinostial In one of these Ilandes is none other water but that is continually engendred of a cloude which appeareth dayly at noone tyde as though it descended from heauen and compasseth about a certayne great tree from whose branches distylleth great aboundaunce of water and falleth in streames from the roote of the same into certaine trenches and cesternes made and placed to receyue it This water serueth sufficiently all the inhabitauntes and cattayle of the Iland The lyke thyng is also seene in the Ilande of saint Thomas lying directly vnder the Equinoctial line The thirde day of October about mydnyght the captayne commaunded them to lyght fyre brandes and to hoyse vp theyr sayles directyng theyr course towarde the South saylyng saylyng betwene Capo Verde of Affrike and the Ilandes lying about the same beyng from the Equinoctial fourteene degrees a halfe They sayled thus many dayes in the syght of the coast of Guinea of Ethiope where is the mountayne called Serra Liona being eyght degrees aboue the Equinoctial In this coast they had no maner of contrary wynde but a great calme and fayre weather for the space of threescore and ten dayes in the whiche they came vnder the Equinoctial line In this viage they sawe many strange Fyshes monsters of the Sea besyde another strange thyng whiche appeared vnto them For there appeared in their shippes certayne flames of fyre burnyng very cleare whiche they cal saint Helen saint Nicholas these appeared as though they had been vpon the mast of the shippes in suche clearenesse that they tooke away theyr syght for the space of a quarter of an houre by reason wherof they so wandred out of theyr course and were dispearsed in sunder that they in maner dispayred to meete agayne but as God would the sea and tempest beyng quieted they came safely to their determined course And before I speake any further of the viage I haue heere thought good to say somewhat of these strange fyers whiche some ignorant folke thynke to be spirites or suche other phantasies wheras they are but naturall thynges proceedyng of naturall causes and engendred of certayne exhalations Of these therfore the great Philosopher of our tyme Hieronimus Cardanus in his second booke De Subtilitate wryteth in this maner There are two maner of fyers engendred of exhalations wherof the one is hurtful the other without hurt That which is hurtfull is fyre in deede engendred of malicious and venemous vapours whiche in successe of tyme take fyre as apt matters to be kyndled The other kynde is no true fyre but lyke the matter that is in such olde putrified wood as geueth the shynyng of fyre without the substaunce or qualitie therof Of the kynde of true fyre is the Fyreball or Starre commonly called saint Helen which is sometyme seene about the mastes of shippes beyng of such fyerie nature that it sometyme melteth brasen vessels and is a token of drownyng forasmuch as this chaunceth only in great tempestes for the vapour or exhalation wherof this fyre is engendred can not be dryuen togeather or compact in fourme of fyre but of a grosse vapour and by a great power of wynde and is therefore a token of imminent perill As on the contrary parte the lyke fyres called in olde tyme Castor and Pollux and nowe named the two lightes of Sainct Peter and Sainct Nicolas which for the most parte fall on the cables of the shyppes leapyng from one to an other with a certayne flutteryng noyse lyke byrdes are a token of securitie and of the tempest ouerpassed For they are but vapours cleauyng to the cables which in successe of tyme the fyre
passing from one to an other appeare in the similitude of a lyght candel They are a token of securitie bycause they are litle not slowe or grosse whereby they myght haue ioyned altogeather in one and been thereby more malicious and lasted longer whereas beyng many and but little they are the sooner consumed Hytherto Cardanus But let vs nowe returne to the vyage When they had sayled paste the Equinoctiall lyne they loste the sight of the North starre and sayled by the southwest vntyll they came to a lande named the lande of Bressil whiche some call Brasilia beyng .xxii. degrees and a halfe towarde the south pole or pole Antartike This lande is continuate and one firme lande with the cape of saint Augustine whiche is .viii. degrees from the Equinoctiall In this lande they were refreshed with many good fruites of innumerable kyndes and founde here also very good suger canes and diuers kindes of beasts and other thinges which I omit for breuitie They entered into this hauen on saint Lucies day where the Sunne being theyr Zenith that is the poynte of heauen directly ouer theyr heades they felte greater heate that day then when they were vnder the Equinoctial lyne This lande of Brasile is very large and great and bygger then all Spayne Portugale Fraunce and Italie and is most abundaunt in all thinges The people of this countrey pray to no maner of thyng but lyue by the instincte of nature and to the age of C.xx and C.xl. yeeres Both the men and women goe naked and dwell in certayne long houses They are very docible and soone allured to the Christian fayth Thirtiene dayes after that they arryued at the sayde porte they departed from this lande and sayled to the xxxiiii degree and a halfe towarde the pole Antartike where they founde a great ryuer of freshe water and certayne Caniballes Of these they sawe one out of theyr shyppes of stature as byg as a Giant hauing a voice like a Bull. Our men pursued them but they were so swyfte of foote that they coulde not ouertake them About the mouth of this riuer are seuen Ilandes in the byggest whereof they founde certayne precious stones and called it the cape of sainct Marie The Spanyardes thought that by this ryuer they myght haue passed into the South sea but they were deceyued in theyr opinion For there was none other passage then by the riuer which is .xvii. leagues large in the mouth Thus folowing this coaste by the tracte of the lande towarde the pole Antartike they came to a place where were two Ilandes replenished with Geese and Wolues of the sea which some thinke to be those fyshes that we call Pikes These were in such number that in an houre all the fyue shyppes might haue ben laden with Geese being all of blacke colour and such as can not flee They liue of fish and are so fatte that they could scarsely flay them They haue no feathers but a certayne downe and theyr bylles lyke Rauens bylles These Woolues of the sea are of dyuers colours and of the bygnesse of Calues with theyr heades of golden colour Here were they in great danger by tempest But as soone as the three fyres called sainct Helen sainct Nycolas and saint Clare appeared vppon the cables of the shyppes sodaynely the tempeste and furie of the wyndes ceassed Departyng from hence they sayled to the .49 degree and a halfe vnder the pole Antartike where beyng wyntered they were inforced to remayne there for the space of two monethes all which tyme they sawe no man excepte that one day by chaunce they espyed a man of the stature of a Giant who came to the hauen daunsing and singyng and shortly after seemed to cast dust ouer his head The Captayne sent one of his men to the shore with the shyppe Boate who made the lyke signe of peace The which thyng the Giant seeyng was out of feare and came with the Captaynes seruaunt to his presence into a little Ilande When he sawe the Captayne with certayne of his company about him he was greatly amased and made signes holdyng vp his hande to heauen signifying thereby that our men came from thence This Giant was so byg that the head of one of our men of a meane stature came but to his waste He was of good corporature well made in all partes of his bodie with a large visage painted with diuers colours but for the most parte yelow Uppon his cheekes were paynted two Hartes and red circles about his eyes The heare of his head was coloured whyte and his apparell was the skynne of a beast sowde togeather This beast as seemed vnto vs had a large head and great eares lyke vnto a Mule with the body of a Camell and tayle of a horse The feete of the Giant were foulded in the sayde skynne after the maner of shooes He had in his hande a bygge and shorte bowe the stryng whereof was made of a sinewe of that beaste He had also a bundell of long arrows made of Reedes feathered after the maner of ours typte with sharpe stones in the steade of Iron heades The Captayne caused him to eate and drynke gaue him many thinges and among other a great lookyng glasse In the which as soone as he sawe his owne lykenesse was sodaynly afrayde and started backe with suche violence that hee ouerthrewe two that stoode nearest about him When the Captayne had thus gyuen him certayne Haukes belles and other great belles with also a lookyng glasse a combe and a payre of beades of glasse he sent him to lande with foure of his owne men well armed Shortly after they sawe an other Giant of somewhat greater stature with his bowe and arrowes in his hande As hee drewe neare vnto our men he layde his hande on his head and poynted vp towarde heauen and our men dyd the lyke The Captayne sent his shyppe Boate to bryng him to a litle Ilande beyng in the Hauen This Giant was very tractable and pleasaunte He soong and daunsed and in his daunsing lefte the print of his feete on the grounde He remayned long with our men who named him Iohan. He coulde well speake and playnely pronounce these woordes Iesus Aue Maria Iohannes euen as we doe but with a bygger voyce The Captayne gaue him a shert of linnen cloth a coate of white woollen cloth also a cappe a combe a looking glasse with diuers such other thinges and so sent him to his company The day folowing he resorted agayne to the shyppes and brought with him one of those great beastes which he gaue the Captayne But after that day they neuer saw him more supposing him to be slayne of his owne company for the conuersation he had with our men After other .xv. dayes were past there came foure other Giantes without any weapons but had hyd theyr bowes and arrowes in certaine bushes The Captaine retayned two of these
which were youngest and beste made He tooke them by a deceite in this maner that giuing them knyues sheares looking glasses belles beades of Crystall suche other trifles he so filled theyr handes that they coulde holde no more then caused two payre of shackels of Iron to be put on theyr legges makyng signes that he would also giue them those chaynes which they lyked very wel bycause they were made of bright and shining metall And wheras they could not carry them bycause theyr handes were full the other Giantes would haue caryed them but the captaine would not suffer them When they felte the shackels faste about theyr legges they began to doubt but the Captayne dyd put them in comfort and bad them stande still In fine when they sawe howe they were deceiued they roared lyke bulles cryed vppon theyr great deuill Setebos to helpe them Being thus taken they were immediately seperate and put in sundry shippes They could neuer bynde the handes of the other two yet was one of them with much difficultie ouerthrowen by .ix. of our men his hands boūd but he sodeinly loosed him selfe and fled as did also the other that came with them In their fleeing they shot of their arrowes and slue one of our men They say that when any of them dye there appeare x. or .xii deuils leaping and daunsing about the bodie of the dead and seeme to haue their bodies paynted with diuers colours and that among other there is one seene bigger then the residue who maketh great mirth reioysing This great deuyll they call Setebos and call the lesse Cheleule One of these Giantes which they tooke declared by signes that he had seene deuylles with two hornes aboue their heades with long heare downe to theyr feete and that they caste foorth fyre at theyr throates both before and behynde The Captayne named these people Patagoni The most parte of them weare the skynnes of such beastes whereof I haue spoken before and haue no houses of continuance but make certayne cotages which they couer with the sayd skynnes and carry them from place to place They lyue of raw fleshe and a certayne sweete roote which they call Capar One of these whiche they had in theyr shyppes dyd eate at one meale a baskette of Bysket and droonke a bowle of water at a draught They remayned fyue monethes in this porte of Sainct Iulian where certayne of the vnder captaynes conspiryng the death of theyr Generall were hanged and quartered among whom the Treasurer Luigo of Mendozza was one Certayne of the other conspiratours he lefte in the sayde lande of Patogoni Departyng from hence to the .52 degree towarde the pole Antartike lackyng a thirde parte they founde a ryuer of freshe water and good fyshe Theyr shyppes were here in great daunger They remayned two monethes in this porte where they made newe prouision of freshe water fuell and fyshe Here the Captayne caused all his men to bee confessed Approching to the .52 degrees they found the straight now called the straight of Magellanus beyng in some place a hundred and ten leagues in length and in breadth somewhere very large and in other places little more then halfe a league in breadth On both the sides of this straight are great and hygh mountaynes couered with snowe beyonde the which is the enteraunce into the sea of Sur. This enteraunce the Captayne named Mare Pacificum Heere one of the shippes stole away priuilie and returned into Spaine In this was one of the Giantes who dyed assoone as he felte the heate that is about the Equinoctiall lyne When the Captaine Magalianes was paste the straight and sawe the way open to the other mayne sea he was so glad thereof that for ioye the teares fell from his eyes and named the poynt of the lande from whence he first sawe that sea Capo Desiderato Supposing that the shyppe which stole away had been lost they erected a crosse vpon the top of a hygh hil to directe their course in the straight if it were theyr chaunce to come that way They founde that in this straight in the moneth of October the nyght was not past foure houres long They founde in this straight at euery three myles a safe hauen and excellent water to drynke wood also and fyshe and great plentie of good hearbes They thinke that there is not a fayrer straight in the worlde Here also they sawe certaine fleeing fyshes The other Giant which remayned with them in the shyppe named breade Capar water Oli redde cloth Cherecai red colour Cheiche blacke colour Amel And spoke all his wordes in the throate On a tyme as one made a crosse before him and kyssed it shewyng it vnto him he sodaynely cryed Setebos and declared by signes that if they made any more crosses Setebos would enter into his bodie and make him brust But when in fine he sawe no hurte come thereof he tooke the crosse and imbrased and kyssed it oftentymes desiryng that he myght be a Christian before his death He was therefore baptysed and named Paule Departyng out of this straight into the sea called Mare Pac ficum the .xxviii. day of Nouember in the yeere .1520 they sayled three monethes and twentie dayes before they sawe any land and hauyng in this tyme consumed all theyr Bysket and other victualles they fell into suche necessitie that they were inforced to eate the pouder that remayned thereof beyng nowe full of woormes and stynkyng lyke pysse by reason of the salte water Theyr freshe water was also putrified and become yelowe They dyd eate skynnes and peeces of leather whiche were foulded about certayne great ropes of the shyppes but these skynnes beyng made very harde by reason of the Sunne rayne and wynde they hung them by a corde in the sea for the space of foure or fiue dayes to mollifie them and sodde them and ate them By reason of this famyne and vncleane feedyng some of their gummes grewe so ouer theyr teethe that they dyed miserably for hunger And by this occasion dyed menetiene men and also the Giaunt with an Indian of the lande of Brasile otherwyse called Terra de papagalli that is the lande of Popingayes Beside these that dyed .xxv or .xxx. were so sicke that they were not able to doe any seruice with theyr handes or armes for feeblenesse So that there was in maner none without some disease In these three monethes and xx dayes they sayled foure thousande leagues in one gulfe by the sayde sea called Pacificum that is peaceable which may well be so called forasmuch as in all this tyme hauyng no sight of any lande they had no misfortune of wynde or any other tempest During this tyme also they discouered only two little Ilandes vnhabited where they sawe nothing but birdes trees and therefore named them infortunate Ilandes being one from the other about two
thousande pounde of our money The starres about the south pole A similitude declaryng Antipodes The maner of of fyshyng for pearles Petrus Arias Wanton and superfluous pleasures The fyshyng place of kyng Chiapes Gold in maner in euery house The rych treasury of nature The golde mynes of Dariena King Teaocha enterteyneth Vaschus frendly Twenty pound weyght of wrought gold Desartes ful of wylde beastes Dryed fyshe Kyng Pacra a tyraunt Great heate in the moneth of Nouember Hurt by wylde beastes A Tyger Calidonia is a forrest in Scotlande Nemea is a wood in Greece Tigers whelpes Thus the Egiptians take Crocodiles The dogge tyger taken The roryng of the tyger Tigers flesh eaten The biâ—the tyger Tigers whelpes A straunge thyng Kyng Pacra Natural hatred of vice Foure Kynges deuoured of dogges The vse of dogges in warre against naked men The Canibales are expert archers Swoordes of wood Fiftie pound weight of gold Kyng Bononiama frend to the christians Wrought gold The oration of kyng Bononiama The sparke of the lawe of nature is the lawe written in the hartes of men Great plenty of golde A symilitude for the profe of plentye of golde Chaunge of dyet is daungerous Old souldiers A long lent Comogrus Two poore kynges Desartes Vessels of golde kyng Chiorisus sendeth Vaschus xxx dyshes of pure golde Axes of Iron more esteemed then any golde Plenty of gold and scarcenesse of meate A good policie The cause of vehement windes neere the Equinocciall Vaschus his Wordes to King Tumanama Oderuut quem metuunt Xxx. pounde weight of wrought gold Threescore poundes weight of gold They abhorrce labour The coloure of the golden earth and a triall of the same Tokens of great plentle of gold Feeblenesse of hunger and watching The riuer Comogrus Vaschus returneth to Dariena The good fortune of Vaschus O flatteryng fortune looke his death in the booke of the Iland lately found The earth is our generall mother The cout of infernal Pluto Manhuntees The fyersnessâ— of the Canibales Our duty to god and naturall loue to mankinde The office of Christian princes The haruest is great The fourth nauigation of Colonus the Admiral From Spaine to Hispaniola a thousande and two hundred leagues Simple people A great marchaunt Gentle people The regions of Tuia Maia Seuen kyndes of date trees Wilde vines Mirobalanes Byrdes and foules People of goodly stature They poynt theyr bodyes The swyft course of the sea from the East to the West Freshe water in the sea Fayre ryuers Great reedes Great Tortoyses Quatuor tempora The region of Quicuri The hauen of Cariai or Mirobalanus Ciuile and humane people Trees growing in the sea after a strange sort Plinie A strange kynd of Monkeys A Monkey fyghteth with a man A conflyct betwene a Monkey and a wyld Bore The bodyes of kynges dryed and reserued Crownes of beastes clawes Spytefull people Guns make peace Seuen golden ryuers Note wher the plentie of gold endeth Crocodiles of sweet sauour Alcayr or Babylon in Egypt Shyppes eaten with wormes Alexandria in Egypt Howe the kyng of Beragua entertayned the Lieuetenant Their reuereÌ„ce to their kyng Slynges and dartes Libertie more esteemed then ryches The Spanyardes are dryuen to flyght A miserable case Necessitie hath no lawe Howe farre life is to be estemed Sanctus Dominicus Landes founde by Colonus Themperat regions and holsome ayre Expert miners A godly nature in golde Golden haruest High and great mountaynes Tirrhenum is nowe called Tuscane The mouÌ„tayns of Beragua higher then the cloudes Mountaynes of fiftie myles heyght Ianus otherwase called Iaphet the son of Noe. By this coniecture the way shoulde open to Cathai by the Hiperboreans Looke the nauigation of Cabote Deca iii. lib. vi The great riuer Maragnonus The great riuer Dabaiba or sancti Iohannes The riuers haue theyr increase from the sprynges of the mountaynes The ryuer of Nilus in Egypt Maryshes and desolate wayes A superstitious opinion of the originall of the mountaynes of Dabaiba Dragons and Crocodiles in the maryshes The hauen Cerabaro Twentie golden ryuers Precious stones A precious Diamond of exceeding bignes Topasis The nauigation of Petrus Arias The Ilande of Canarie Prouision of freshe water and fuel The sea of hearbes These mountaines are called Montes Niuales or Serra Neuata Decade .ii. lib. 1. and .ii. Mountaynes couered with snowe The stoutnes of the Barbarians The Canibales fight in the water The vse of gunnes The generation of thunder and lyghtning Plentie of fysh Cunning fyshers Tapistrie This is he whom Cardanus praiseth Precious stones The Smaradge is the true Hâ—merode Another kynde of Amber is founde in Whales Golde and Brasile Marchasites are flowres of mettals by the colours whereof the kyndes of mettals are knowen These Locustes burne the corne with touching and deuoure the residue They are in India of three foote length Gardens Insubres are nowe called Lumbardes and Hetruci Tuscans One myriade is ten thousande The manner of plantyng the roote Iucca Earth turned into rootes Howe bread is made of rootes Panicum is a grayne somewhat lyke mil The Italians cal it Melica He meaneth the equal length of day and nyght which is continualy in regions vnder the Equinoctiall line Holsome ayre Gossampine Cotton Fethers Bowes and arrowes Dead bodies reserued Gonzalus Ouiâ—dus sayeth that they gylt marueylously with the iuce of a certayne hearbe White marble The great riuer Maragnonus This ioyneth with the mighty riuer called Flumen Amazonum founde of late Clokes of fethers The swift course of the water Fourtie leagues in one nyght Sundry opinions why the sea runneth with so swyft course from the East into the West The Equinoctial line Why al waters moue towarde the south or Equinoctial read Cardanus ae subtilit liber ii de elementis Strayghtes As by the strayght of Magelanus The north landes The frosen sea Sebastian Cabot The voyage of Sebastian Cabot from Englande to the frosen sea Demogorgon is the spirite of the earth People couered with beastes skynnes The Ilandes of the Canybales The Ilande Fortis Salte A strange thing Howe Vaschus receiued the newe gouernour Habitable regions vnder the Equinoctiall line Where the new gouernour planteth his habitation A passinger shyp Decurians are officers deuided into tennes c. The gold mines of Dabaiba An errour The region of Saturma The Ilande of Dominica Difficult saylyng agaynst the course of the sea The daungerous straightes of Scylla and Charibdis The vehement course of the sea from the east to the west By what meanes the Sonne beames are cause of feruent heate The pernitious ayre of Dariena Toades and Flees engendred of drops of water Necessitie hath no lawe A house set on fyre with lightnyng A dogge deuoured of a Crocodile Tanquam canis de Nilo The bytyng of Battes Lions and Tygers Beastes waxe higher in theyr kynde Note Broma or Bissa are wormes which destroy shyppes A venemous tree Perhaps their venemous arrows are made of this wood A preseruatiue against poison The Ilandes of the
south sea The rich Iland called Dites Cap. sancti Augustini Of the euill successe of these viages reade decade 3. Liber 9. An expedition to destroy the Canibales Looke decade .3 Lib. 9. The nauigations of Andreas Moralis A perticular description of the Ilande of Hispaniola Nereides are nymphes of the sea he meaneth Ilandes Tethis the wyfe of Neptunus goddesse of the sea Great pearles Hispaniola like vnto the earthy paradise The fyrst inhabitours of Hispaniola Hierusalem Mecha The Ilandes of Canarie Betanchor a frenchman The first names of Hispaniola Their maner of learnyng Ballets and rhymes Singyng and daunceyng Songes of loue and mournyng Prophesses Note Their familiaritie with spirites The deuyl is driuen away by baptisme Surueyers Serpentes A Crocodile is muche lyke to our Ewte or Lyserte Cipanga Italy called Latium Isabella The fourme of the Ilande of Hispaniola A particuler carde of Hispaniola Hispaniola compared to Itaâ—ie The temprature of Hispaniola The Equinoctiall Cold accidental and not by the situation of the region Perpetuall spring and sommer Maruelous fruitfullnesse Beastes Oxen and swine of exceeding bignesse Swine fed with Mirobalanes An eare of wheat as bigge as a mans arme in the brawne Great plentie of cattayle Incommodities of intemperate regions Holsome ayre and water Golde euery where The citie of S. Dominick Of prouinces diuided into regions The pronunciation of the Hebrues and Arabians The Moores and Arabians possessed Spayne How the aspiration chaungeth the signification of woords Diuers languages in the Iland Riuers denoured of caues Whirlepooles and conflict of waters Cloudes in the caue The Cataracts of Nilus A standing poole in the top of a high mountayne Fearne and bramble bushes growe only in colde regions The Caspian and Hircanian sea A great lake of soure and salte water Sea Fysshes in lakes of the midlande The deuouring Fyshe called Tiburonus The ryuers that fall into the lake Caspium CC. springeâ— within the space of a furlong A myracle The Indian language A kyng striken dumme and lame by a myracle Such as are drowned in the lake are not cast vp againe A lake of salt freshe water A lake of freshe water A lake of ten myles in length A playne of a hundred and twenty myles A plaine of two hundred myles in length The marueylous fyshe Manati A monster of the sea fedde with mans hande Matum A fyshe caryeth men ouer the lake A marueilous thing The ryuer Attibunicus The great vale of Guarionexius Golde in all mountaynes â–ª and golde and fyshe in all ryuers Salte bayes The ryuers haue their increase from the caues of the mountaynes No hurtfull or rauening beast in the Ilande The aucthours excuse By what meanes the people of the Ilande are greatly consumed The pleasures of Hispaniola The region of Cotobi situate in the cloudes A plaine in the toppes of mountaynes The hygher the colder Moderate colde in the mountaynes Golde Thinhabitantes of Hispaniola can abyde no labour nor colde The Ilande of Creta or Candie vnder the dominion of the Uenetians Pure and massie golde in the region of Cotoby The vaine of golde is a lyuyng tree These colours of floures are called Marchasites The roote of the golden tree The branches of the golden tree Caues susteyned with yyllers of golde The stones of the golde mynes What golde is brought yerely from Hispaniola into Spayn Salt of the mountaynes very harde and cleare Salt as harde as stones Springes of salt freshe and sower water Hollow caues in the grounde Certaine wyld men lyuing in caues and dennes Men without a certayne language Men as swift as Grehounds A wylde man runnech away with a chylde Pitch of the rocke Pitch of two kyndes of trees The Pyne tree The tree Copeia The leafe of a tree in the stedâ— of paper They beleeue that leaues do speake A pretie storie Ignorance causeth admiration The leafe wherein they wryte A stronge coloure of the iuice of an apple An hearbe whose smoke is poyson The kyndes of fruites wherewith thinhabitauntes lyued fyrst Necessitie the mother of al artes The fyne bread Cazabbi made of the rootes of Iucca How Ceres fyrst founde wheate and barly in Egypt The rootes of Ages The aucthours excuse Plinie By what names they salute the kyngs children when they are borne The names and tytles of the Romane Emperours Howe they make theyr testamentes So dyd great Alexander The kynges wyues concubines are buryed with him They burye theyr iewels with them A dreame of an other lyfe after this Where it rayneth but seldome Where it rayneth much Variable motions of the Elementes The colonies and villages whiche the Spaniardes haue builded The other Ilandes about Hispaniola The Iland of Arethusa A spring runnyng vnder the sea from Hispaniola to Arethusa The Iland of Sancti Iohannis The Ilande of Cuba Habitable regions vnder the Equinoctial The riche golde mineâ— of Cuba The Iland of Iamaica The Iland of Guadalupea England and Scotland The gum called Anime album Dates Pine trees The Canibales Whereby it was thought that there were Ilandes of women Hony in trees and rockes The Ilande Desiderata The Ilande Galanta The Ilandes of Todos Sanctos or Barbata The Ilande Monsserratus The Ilande Antiqua The Ilande Portus Bellus Great Tortoyses The generation of Tortoyses The Egges of Tortoyses Innumerable Ilandes Troyans Tyrians Greekes Phenitians The North Ilandes The Ilandes of the south sea The Ilande of pearles Wylde beastes must be tamed with the rod. An expedition to the Ilande of Dites in the south sea The Ilande of Margaritea Os Draconis Paria A conflict The kyng of the Ilande of Dites submitteth him selfe The kynges pallace A hundreth and ten pounde weight of pearles Axes and hatchets more esteemed then golde The kynges wordes Ilandes rych in golde and pearles C. pounde weyght of pearles yeerely for a tribute Plentie of Hartes and Cunnies Wyne of fruits and seeds The kyng is baptised The fyft part of pearles due to the kyng Byg pearles A pearle for a Pope An other pearle of great price Nyse and superfluous pleasures Dyuers opinions of the generation of pearles Hearbes in the bottome of the sea A hundred pearles in one shell fyshe The matrice of the pearle fyshe The byrth of pearles Where the biggest meane and least pearls are engendred Sea crabbes The sea muscles wherein pearles are engendred The regions of the East syde of the gulfe of Vraba The region of Caribana The original of the Canibales The villages of Caribana Manhunters Bookes Loke in the begynnyng of the booke of the landes lately founde Circumcised people What chaunced to the Capitaynes whiche the gouernour sent dyuers wayes Looke decade iii. liber vi The vioage of Iohannes Solisius Cab. S. Augustini Iohn Solisius is slayne of the Canibales The fyrcenes of the Canibales Brasyle Iohannes Pontius is repulsed by the Canibales The voyage of Iohannes Aiora Looke Decade iii. liber vi The lewde behauiour of Iohn Aiora The variable fortune of Gonsalus Badaiocius
Cerabaro Decade iii.li.iiii The South sea A league contayneth foure myles by sea and but three by lande The golden region Coiba Dites Sande myxt with golde Howe theyr slaues are marked in the face Golde A fruitefull region left desolate by ciuile discorde Syxe thousand Castellans of golde kyng Taracuru Foure thousand pesos of gold Salte Theyr maner of warre Gonsalus Badaiocius hath the ouerthrowe and is spoiled of great riches of gold The inconstancie of fortune The expedition of Fraunces Bezarra aganst the Canibales Gunnes Valleius repulsed of his enemies The Ilands of the South sea In this sea lye the Ilandes of Mollucca most fruitfull of spyces Collacutea Cochinus and Camemorus from whence the Portugales haue their spyces He meaneth by the streight of Magellanus Howe they take Hartes and wylde Bores Stocke doues Theyr maner of foulyng Popingiayes are easily taken A straunge kynde of foulyng Fyshes and worms engendred of slyme Foules Gourdes of the tree Later opinions of the swyft course of the Ocean toward the West The continent or fyrme lande The vyages of Diegus Colonus The viage from the new lands to Spain The contrary course of waters The poynt of the pole starre The golde mynes of Dariena and the maner of geatheryng golde Our inclosers would leaue no such commens Auri sacra Fames The dropsie of couetousnesse Looke Decade 3. Liber 10. Cities fortifyed with walles The Ilande of Cuba or Fernandina The Spaniards of Cuba attempt new vyages The West angle of Cuba Note The Ilande of Iucatana A great citie well buylded Temples Humane people Cunnyng artifycers Apparelled people Circumcised Idolaters Campechium A towne of three thousand houses Plentie of beastes and foules Theyr Idoles and Idolatry Houses of lime and stone The prouince Aquanil Mosco The Spanyardes are put to flyght and many slayne An other expedition The Ilande of Cozumella Sweete sauoures A fruitefull Ilande Towres and temples Cozumella named Scancta Crux Idles lyke Beares Idolatry Gentle people Iucanata but fyue myles from Cozumella The Barbarians make resistance A conflict The length of Iucatana The region of Caluacam or Oloan. The riuer Grisalua 〈◊〉 and 〈…〉 Armur of gold Expert artificers Fyshe hokes of golde The Ilandes of Sacrifice Chyldren sacrificed to Idols Theyr Idoles of marble Golde and precious stones A stone of great price Ilandes of women Golde Houses lyke Towres .xv. great townes in the prouince of Coluacana Townes of .xx. thousand houses The region of Palmaria A token of frendshyp Priestes Chastitie The punishment of adulterie Mariage is honoured Fasting Kyng Ouandus Idoles iewels and ouches of golde Gold in mountaynes and riuers Theyr maner of geathering golde Sweete sauours A stone of great price Other viages from Cuba oâ— Fernandina Many Ilands betweene Cuba and the fyrme lande Sanctiago the chiefe citie of Cuba The Barbarians slep the Spaniardes with theyr own weapons The chiefe citie of the supposed continent The Spanyardes are slaine againe with their owne weapons The Barbarians are slayne and put to flyght A multitude of Ilandes Archipelagus â–ª An other viage xxvi Ilandes about Hispaniola Cuba Images of golde Rasers of stone Instruments and tooles Landes lyke vnto the earthly Paradyse An other vyage of ten Carauels and fyue hundred men Horses and mares Fernando Cortesius The Ilande of Cozumella Carpettes and sheetes Innumerable bookes Circumcised Idolaters They Sacrifyce Children The Ilandes of Destam and Sestam The sacrifice of dogges They are soone perswaded to our religion This people leauing one kynde of Idolatry be taught another An other viage Aquillaris .vii. yeeres captiue in the Ilande of Iucatana Valdiuia The shipwrack of Valdiuia The quicke sandes called vypers The course of the sea toward the West Valdiuia is sacrificed to Idoles How Aquillaris escaped Kyng Taxmarus The mouth of a ryuer stopped with sande Turky Hens A conflicte The Barbarians arâ— put to flyght The great towne of Potanchana or Victoria A towne of xxv thousande houses Gunnes and horses The men and the horse â–ª thought to be one beast Palaces of maruelous bygnes and well buylded They receyue our religion A towne of a thousand and fyue hundred houses Another voiage of two brigantines and fyftie men Where the sea runneth swyftly from the East to the West A conflict betweene the waters comming from the West and from the South A dangerous and payneful vyage The lande of Coluacana The lande of Baccalaos oâ— Baccalearum Rych presentes of golde and pretious stones A newe colonie This Cortesius hath written a booke of these thynges They weare rynges and plates at theyr lyppes The dyuers phantasies of men Syluer Note where golde and syluer are engendred I thinke this Laton to be some kynde of pure Copper or els Copper that holdeth golde For Laton is an artificial metall and hath no natural myne Theyr bookes Theyr letters What is conteyned in theyr bookes Temples richely adourned Prayer They sacrifice children and captiues A wrong way to heauen Bloody gods Villa Ricca Siuilla Noua The force of an old errour Theyr priests lyue chast Faggotes of bones A figure of baptisme The presentes sent into Spayne to the kyng Two Images of golde and siluer Two cheynes of golde marueylously beset with precious stones and iewelles Buskyns Myters How can we then call them beastly or Barbarous If they had chaunged theyr golde for our Iron â–ª they had not so soone been subdued Quylles Helmets A byrd Speares A scepter A braselet Shooes Glasses Bâ—â—ds foules and fyshes of golde A crowne of golde Images of beastes Sheetes Cloth of Arras A souldyers cloake Registers of th affayres of India Thaucthoritie of the Lieuetenaunt The Spanyardes of Dariena Sansta Maria Antiqua Petrus Arias whom the Spanyardes name Pediarias This sea the Spanyardes call Mardelser Contention betweene Vaschus and Petrus Arias Petrus Arias commaundeth that Vaschus be put to death Vaschus is accused Vaschus is put to death Petrus Arias Lupus Sosa The great ryuer of Dabaiba or Grandis The gulfe of Vraba The ryche mountaynes of Dabaiba Fierce waclyke people Dartes Swoordes of heauy wood Hispaniola Ouiedus wryteth that there are now fyue monasteries Newe and straunge diseases The suger of Hispaniola Suger of Valentia A token of marueylous fruitfulnes Wheat Vines Cassia Fistula Brasyle Myrobalanes Cap. 5. August A marke is a pounde of viii ounces summa xvi.li weyght .viii. ounces after xii ounces to the .li. Of this reade more largely in the decades By the computation of Venice foure granes make a Caract Doctrine not worthy for a christian man Vipers Adders Dragons Spiders Crabbes Serpentes called Iuanni Beâ—res Antes â–ª A strange beast which seemeth a kind of Cameleon Foules and byrdes Alcatraz Panama Passere sempie Picuti Folyshe sparowes Cazzuole Pintadelli Great foules Cocus I haue seene one of these fruites opened the whiche when it was whole if it were shaken the water was harde shogge therein as it were in a bottle but in tyme it consumed and was partly congeled into a saâ—te
substaunce Great trees A marueylous tree Kyndlyng of fyre without fyre Putrified woodde shynyng in the nyght Plinie Trees whiche continue euer greene Cassia A secrete thyng Radycall moysture Platani Fygges Tunas Bihaos Hauas Dying of cotton A strange thyng Note Caniballes archers Wherwith they inuenome theyr arrowes Petrus Arias The water of the sea The gulfe of Uraba Xagua Hohi Some thinke these to be mirobalanes Date trees Thinhabitauntes of the sea of Sur. An hearbe that beareth cordes Cabuia and Henequen A strange thing Leaues A leafe of great vertue Tiburons Manates Great Tortoyses Tiburons Plinie Crocodiles Manates The fyshe Manate A remedy agaynst the stone The swoorde fyshe Tunnye Turbut Note Fleeyng fyshes The Iland of Bermuda Not to hie for the Pye nor to lowe for the Crowe Beragua The west Ocean The sea Mediterraneum Hispaniola Cuba The South sea The power and wysedome of God is sene in his creatures Esquegua and Vrraca Nomen Dei Panama The ryuer of Chagre The Ilande Bastimento The marueylous brydge The Ilandes of Molucca The commoditie of this viage Tigers Plantes and hearbes Birdes Men. Sheepe Bulles Iucca Battes Plinie The Tiger The huntyng of Tigers A rewarde for kyllyng of Tygers Colonus compared to Hercules The pyllers of Hercules The strayghtes of Gibilterra Note Plus Vltra Howe farre the Emperours maiestie excelleth Hercules A Tyger made tame The Indian women The men of India The kyng is borne on mens backes Lettyng of blood They haue no beardes They paynte their bodies The Canibals Armure of golde Their galantnesse in the Warres Theyr Iuelles Howe the women beare vp theyr teates with barres of golde The stature colour of the Indians The Indians called Coronati The Ilande of Giantes Iucatos The sculles of the Indians heades Newe Spaine The houses of the Christians in India Dariena Gardens Men are desirous of newe thynges The commodities of Hispaniola Englande and Sicilie Golde mynes Cotton Cassia Suger Plantes and hearbes Great thynges hyndred by respect of present gaynes Oranges Pomegranats Fygges all the yeere Dates Beastes Great heardes of cattayle Good pasture The effect of continuall and moderate heate The cause of fat nouryshment Beastes of long lyfe in regions about the Equinoctial line Trees whose leaues do not wyther The canker of the tree Long lyued men in India Paradise neare the Equinoctiall line Sheepe and Hogges Dogges and Cattes become wylde The situation of Hispaniola The citi of San Domenico The ryuer Ozama The Hauen A cathadrall churche and monasteris in Hispaniola An Hospitall The people Glowormes Crowes stinkyng sweete Sainct Iohn his Ilande â–ª Iamaica Partriches Pellettes for Gunnes wrought by nature A fountayne of the pytche of Bitumen Quintus Cursius Bitumen of Babylon Panuco Baccalaos Indians Ryche furres and syluer Idolaters The citie of Mexico or Temixtitan Golde and syluer Sylke Cotton Alame Woade Suger Shelles for mony Corne. Beastes Haukyng and huntyng Payntyng WomeÌ„ sumptuously appareled A warlyke nation Captiues sacrificed to Idoles Peru is the rychest land that is knowen A house couered with golde Harnesse of golde A fruitfull region Great sheepe The dutie of Christian Princes Paraue Iohn Dias Solis The Iland Martinus Gratias The viage of Sebastian Cabot to the riuer of Plata Charlis Ophir Cipango Cathay The ryuer of Plata Marueylous fruitefulnes Mountaynes conteynyng golde and syluer Great sheepe Theyr colour Men with deformed legges The way to the Ilandes of Molucca by the north sea The Spanyardes Gasper Cortesreales Insula Cortesreales Snowe and Ise. Furres Fyshe Gryfes Beares The Britons Sebebastian Cabot The lande of Baccallaos The viage of Cabot in the dayes of king Henry the seuenth I se in Iuly Baccallaos Brytons Danes Iaques Cartyre The people of Baccallaos Fyshing for Tunnies Laborador Iohn Ponce Water of great vertue of this reade in the Decades Bemini Guaccana The Canibales Boriquen The death of Iohn Ponce The lande of Florida Ferdinando de Soto The valiant myndes of the Spanyardes The thyrd attempt of the conquest of Florida Certayne Fryers attempt the conquest onely with wordes but with euyll successe The Fryers are slayne and eaten A newe kynde of disgradyng 1. By the southeast 2. By the southwest 3. By the northeast Ortel tab Asiae 3. 4. By the Northwest Ob. 1. In Theatro Ob. 2. Ob. 3. Ob. 4. 5. Ob. Ob. 6. Cic. i. de orat Arist. pri Metaph. Lib. i. Geog. Cap. 2. Sol. i. Sol. 2. Oued 1. Meta. Sol. 3. Sol. 4. Lib. Geog. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. 2. Meteor Cap. 1. Plin. lib. 2. Cap. 67. Sol. 5. Sol. 6. Luc. lib. 1. Pharsal VVhat the easterne currant is Lib. 1. Geog. Cap. 2. Fuquien Cinceo Cantan Chequeam Xutiamfu Chelim Quianci rather Quinzi Pachin al. Pochang Theyr monethes Loutea Chian al. Chaen Ponchiassi Anchiassi al. Hexasi Tuzi Taissu Licentiates Doctors Dutch lyke We that is the Italians and Spaniardes After the Dutch fation Pithigorian lyke The Italians call it the strapadâ— A pylleâ—â— boorde Of like the first lenders be the more welthier Fuquieo Hereof to fore Parai Tamen the proper name of China Pochang al. Theyr enemies Maryage of the kynges children He speaketh not here of all China but of the cities for in other places there be beggers as you haue seene already swarmyng out of trees He speaketh of Fuquien shyre Aliis Cenchi The kynges reuenues Parai That is theyr temples It shoulde seeme by their voyage to be Cardandan in Ortelius It seemeth they came vp the riuer from the Caspian sea At cacan Ali. Auoins Tartares Mounte Vsont Mogorites Bremes Southwarde from Chenchi to the sea Auoins Chenchi Goa is a citie of the Portugales in East Indie Theyr gouernement Tundi P. 231. But his almes are very good Inambuxu Genguis The Giaponish Funerals Ainan 〈…〉 Santianum The Romane Empyre 4. hundreth yeeres of ignoraunce East India well knowen in olde time Strabo The great rychesse of Egypt The citie of Alexandria Marueylous rychesse The gouernaunce and reuenues of the Romanes Trogloditica and India The gulfe of Arabia Ethiope Rych customs The rychesse whiche were brought in olde time from India and the redde sea The commision of Themperours Marcus and Comodus The great riches the kings of Egypt had by customes The noble enterpryses of the kings of Egypt Arsinoe Damiata Pelusio Nilus Copto Berenice A nauigable trenche made from Egypt to the red sea Lacus amari King Sesostre King Psammiticus Kyng Darius Kyng Ptolomeus The citie Heroum What Plinie writeth of the nauigable trenche The largenesse and length of the trenche The viage by land from Egypt to the red sea What kyng Ptolomeus discouered Alcayre The viage to East India frequented in olde tyme. The customes and maners of the Indians The voyage to Cathay Rycharde Chaunceler A learned descourse of dyuers voyages The voyages of the Portugales The worlde hangyng in the ayre What is knowen of the lower hemispherie The lande of Brasile Peru. The charg and dutie of Christian princes Note
Hercules and Alexander The colonies of the Romans in regions subdued The great Ilande of Saynct Laurence or Madagascar The Ilands of Taprobana or Giaua Plinie The historie of Cornelius Nepos Shyps of India driuen into the sea of Germanie An enterprise wherby Princes may obtayne true fame and glory Cathay discouered by Marcus Paulus The citie of Lubyke The kyng of Polonie The Duke of Moscouia An ambassadour from the Duke of Moscouia The woordes of the Ambassadour of Moscouia The way from Moscouia to the North Ocean Cathay Volochda Vstiug Iug. Succana Duina Colmogor The North Ocean Great woods Gothlande The Moscouites haue knowledge of the great Cam of Cathay Permia Pescora Catena mundi Obdora Vecchiadoro Obo The lake Chethay The Tartars The citie of Cambalu Note this secrete Difficult traueylyng in Moscouia Commendation of the Spanyardes and Portugales The hystorie of Paulus Centurio 〈◊〉 his reade more at large in the booke of Paulus Iomus Malice may doe more with some then vertue The Caspian sea Riga The Tartars of Lordo Desartes The vyage by the North sea The woorthinesse of this vyage The vyages of the Frenchmen to the lande of Baccalaos Pleasaunt countreys New France Apostrophe to to the Christian Princes Great ryuers A thyng woorthy to be searched The way to Cathay and the Ilandes of Molucca by the Northwest A notable enterpryse The noble enterprise of Antonie di Mendoza viceroy of Mexico The discoueryng of the Northwest partes Shyppes saylyng from Cathay by the North Hyperboream sea to the coastes of the Northwest parte of the lande of Baccaleos Cathay The sea from newe Fraunce or Tarra Britonum to Cathay A notable booke A great and glorious enterprise Sebastian Cabote the grand pylot of the West Indies Commendation of Sebastian Cabote Sebastian Cabote tolde me that he was borne in Brystow â–ª that at .iiii yeeres olde he was carryed with his father to Venice and so returned agayne into England with his father after certayne yeeres whereby he was thought to haue ben borne in Venice The fyrst vyage of Sebastian Cabote The lande of Florida The seconde vyage of Cabote to the land of Brasile and Rio della Plata Cabote tolde me that in a region within this ryuer he sowed .50 graynes of wheate in September and geathered therof .50 thousande in December as writeth also Francisco Lopes The viage to Moscouia The hystory of Moscouia The dyuers names of Moscouia Roxolani Rosolanâ— Ruthem The ryuer Mosco The ryuer Boristhenes Themperour of Cathay The frosen sea Lacus Cromicus Saturnus Amaltheum The dominion of the Duke of Moscouia The citie of Moscouia The chiefe cities of Moscouia The Duke of Moscouia Emperour of Russia The duke of Moscouia his tytle Duke Basilius Theyr power Theyr obedience to theyr prynce Theyr warres conquestes Gunnes Only the Moscouites haue not felt the commodiâ—â—s of peace Theyr language Dalmatia Pannonia Hungarie Their original The Sclauion tongue reacheth farre Great woods white beares and blacke woolues Abundance of hony and waxe Rych furres Theyr maner of bargayning Rude wylde people Tartares Ciuile people in cities Theyr money They embrase the Christian faith which they receyued of the Apostles The counsayle of Nicene Basilius Magnus Chrisostomus Their constancie in theyr religion The bishops define controuersies in religion Theyr bishops The Archbishop The patriarke of constantinople A notable example of a Christian Prince Theyr religion A monasterie of ccc Munkes Priestes Masse A misterie The primatiue churche A strange custome Sarmatia Asiatica The Scythian Ocean The ryuer of Volga Lacus albus The Caspian sea Theyr chiefe cities The wylde Tartars Hordas The bygnes of the citie of Moscouia Syluer The region of Moscouia Beastes A fayre and stronge castel in the citie of Mosca The Dukes pallaice Theyr drynke They are geuen to drunkennesse Corne and grayne Stoues The famous ryuer of Tanais The marishes of Meotis Volga Ocha The sea Euxinum The forest of Hircania Vri. Alces They trauayle in winter on sleades Causeys of tymber Trees and fruites Corne and graynes Hony in wods and trees Lakes or pooles of Hony A man almost drowned in hony A merueylous chaunce Beares feede of hony bees Beares inuade Bulles The Beares byrth The Beares denne Beares lyue without meate xl dayes The sleape of Beares The religion of the Moscouites The Scythians subiect to the Duke of Moscouia It was then an opinion that all ryuers sprong out of mountaynes The fruitfull region of Colmogora The great ryuer Diuidna Wheate without plowing The ryuer of Iuga Vstiuga Furres The naturall cause of much hony in colde regions Gummes and spyces in hoote countreys Floures in colde regions Floures of trees Blossomes of trees An example of the degrees of heate The generation of floures by moderate heate Long dayes and shorce nyghtes Bramble and fearne Spyces The sauour of floures What Plinie wryteth of hony Sirius is otherwyse called Canicula that is the Dogge of whom the canicular dayes haue theyr name What is hony Howe hony is corrupted â—ony of great quantitie in North regions Hot nyghtes in colde regions A simiâ—itude Naturall heat doeth subtyle and digest all thinges Subtyle vapours digested by heate Colde regions Ziglerus Ziglerus The qualitie of sommer in colde regions The course of the Sunne Vapours Short and warme nyghts Gothlande One day of .vi. monethes Howe the sommer is increased in colde regions Rome Colde nyghtes in hot regions The Romane wynter Our night of vi monethes Obiections The twylightes The lyght of the Moone The nyght vnder the pole A demonstration The Moone Remedies of nature art The olde writers persuaded by coniecture A brasen potte broken with frost Fyshes of the North seas The North sea The qualitie of water The land The diuine prouidence in moderatyng the elementes The nature of the sea Salt Generatyue heate Outward colde is cause of inwarde heate Metals Vapoures and exhalations Whales Beastes Hereby may be considered the cause of the death of our men that sayle directly to Guinea No passage from our extremitie to an other but by a meane Caues and Dennes Valleis The best furres Sables Beastes that lye hyd in wynter All beasts haue the nature of the place where they are engendred What exercise may do Vse maketh masteries Scondia Scone is fayre in the duch tongue The fertilitie of Schondia He meaneth Diodorus Siculus Thinuasions of the Gothes Transiluania The Gothes Lumbardes Fruitfull pasture Religion neglecteâ— Inchaunteâ—â— The viage of Sebastian Cabot to the frosen sea Gronelande Wardhus Lapponia and Gronelande Schoeni Cabot tolde me that this I se is of fresh water not of the sea A commixtion of salt water fresh The sea between Norway and Island Terra Viridis Pigmei Baccallaos Islande called Thyle Schoene is lx furlonges Myracles of nature in Islande Three marueylous mountaynes Helga Hecla Straunge visions Ise. A straunge thyng Foure spryngs oâ— contrary nature Aboundaunce of brymstone Dryed fyshe Scarsenesse of corne Haukes White Rauens
Mare pacificum The Giants died for heate Capo Desiderato Short nightes in the moneth of October Fleeing fyshes The Giantes language The Giant is baptised Three moneths saylyng without the sight of lande Extreme famyne Diseases of famyne Vnfortunate Ilandes What they sayled dayly The starres about the South pole The needle of the compase The lode stone The Equinoctiall line The Ilands of Cipanghu and Sumbdit Insulae Latronum People with long heare The Ilande of zamall Wyne of Date trees The maruilous fruite Cocus The Iland of zuluan The sea called Archipelago di san Lazaro Gentiles Foure Ilands The Iland of Buthuan The Ilande of Caleghan Plenty of gold The kyng of Buthuan A combatte Moores and Gentiles Mani Ilands The Iland of Messana Battes as byg as Eagles Fowles with hornes Egges hatched in sande The Ilande of zubut A shyppe laden with gold and slaues Calecut Malacha Sheaddyng of blood is a token of frendshyp The kyng of zubut is baptised The kyng of Zabut his apparell Well fauoured women Barteryng Pesus what it is They breake theyr Idolles and erecte the Crosse. Fyue hundred men baptised The Queene of Zabut The Queenes apparell A miracle The Ilande of Mathan The Captayne Magellanus is slayne The Ilande of Bohol They burnt one of theyr shyppes Blacke men The Ilande of Chippit The Ilande of Caghaian The Ilande of Pulaoan The Ilande of Burnei or Porne A great citie Elephantes The Ilande of Cimbulon Leaues of trees which seeme to lyue A sea full of weedes Pearles Men ouergrowen with heare The Ilandes of Molucca The Portugales are reproued Tidore one of the Ilandes of Molucca A vision in the Planettes The fyue Ilandes of Molucca Tarenate The Ilande of Gilolo Moores and Gentyles Golde Water in Reedes Theyr maner of barteryng Water of a straunge qualitie Byrdes of a straunge fourme They leaue one of theyr shippes behinde them The Ilandes of Molucca Hony of flyes Popingayes The Ilande of Tidore Terenate Mutir Macchian Bacchian Many Ilands The Iland of Mallua Pepper Litle men with long eares The Ilande of Timor White Saunders and Gynger The dyuell appeareth Saint Iob his disease Cinamome The Ilandes of Giana Malaccha The great gulfe of China The cape of Malacha The names of many regions Rubarbe The great kyng of China The greater India The beast called Linx The punishment of rebels The kyng is not seene but at a glasse A thyng of strange workemanshyp The kyng marieth his syster His palace A marueylous garde Women serue the kyng Foure maruelous haulles The people of China The great kyng of Mien Cathay The sea of Lantchidol Malacha The Iland of Sumetra Pegu. Bangala Calecut Canonor Coa Cambala Ormus East India Cap. de Buona Speranza The port of Monzambique The ingratitude of the Portugales The port of S. Lucar neere vnto Siuile What became of the other shyppe Dariena The Cape of Cattigara The voyage hardly performed They bye slaues for lacke of helpe Maryners woorthy immortal fame Iohn Sebastian The trade of spices parteineth to Themperour Iohn kyng of Portugale The trade of Spices The controuersie determined by Cosmographers and Pilots The arbytrers on the Emperours syde Sebastian Cabote Instruments of Cosmographie The Ilandes of Maluca The Arbitrers on the Portugales syde The place where they mette The order of theyr proces The Portugales Contention for drawyng the lyne of the diuision Howe the Portugales were deceyued The Spanyardes allegations Samatra Malacha China Magallanes Buena Vista The Ilandes of Cabo Verde The Portugales cauillations The lyne of diuision The sentence The Portugales threaten death to the Castilians The line of the last diuision The great Ilande of Samotra The lande of Brasile parteyneth to the Portugales A mery tale The gold mine of Guinea Alonso kyng of Portugale Golde for thinges of small value Contention for the kingdome of Castile Warre against the Moores of Granada The conquests of the Portugales in Affrike Pope Alexander The Pope maâ—keth the diuision The kyng of Portugale refuseth to stande to the Popes Bull. The agreement of the last diuision Wherein the Portugales were deceyued Sebastian Cabote The Emperour and the kyng of Portugale ioyned in aliance by maryage The Portugales robbe the Castilians The coronation of the Emperour The gagyng of â—he Ilandes of Malucas Zamatra and Malaca Tascalteca Churultecal Kyng Metuzuma his oration to the Spanyards A note A note Mexico Themestitan The Courtiers The kynges houses The seruice of the kyng Corteâ—ius returneth to Themistitan Muteezuma slayne A Parle Cortesius fleeeth out of Themistitan Cortesius returneth to the siege of Themistitan Themistitan conquered agayne The fyrst part The second part The third part