right Name was Columbus or Colonus Nor whether the Quadripartite Division of the World is rational or any Equality to be found in it The Reader is suppos'd to have some acquaintance with these things and to know what is the meaning of the Meridian Aequator Zodiack Tropicks Polar Circles and Zones or at least without these Knowledges may reap benefit enough from this Book But tho' this Treatise doth not pretend to shew how the Latitude in the Abstract may be found either in the day-time by the Sun or in the night by the Stars though it doth not brag of having invented any new more certain and ready way than hitherto has been used for the finding out the Longitudes of Places yet in the Descriptions of the most considerable Regions the Longitudes and Latitudes of them are not past over but are very carefully set down There is one Exception more which I am to take notice of That whereas our Author having divided the World into Upper and Nether Hemisphere has considered the first with Relation to France which will not do exactly in England yet since that England for the most part is under the same Meridian with France I have made bold to venture all Countries so considered in English without any Change or Alteration because there will be no great Squares broken For the like reason and by a Pardonable figure of Speech I call Europe Asia and Africa our Continent though we live in an Island which yet as some have said and proved how truly I shall not here question to have been once joyned to the Terra Firma I said I had but one Exception more to wipe off for I am sorry I have not forgot that nice one which some Criticks may make that I say of different Places such a thing in such a Place is the best in the World But besides that some things may be best in different Prospects and Relations these sort of Expressions follow the French and are vulgarly us'd in our own Tongue and are of a very ancient Date as appearing frequently in the Lively Oracles of God when both Hezekiah and Joshua are commended To have had none like unto them neither before nor after them THE PRESENT STATE Of the Four Parts of the WORLD The Terrestrial World WE mean by the Terrestrial World this round Mass which Comprehends the Earth and Water The Earth whose Description is here intended consists principally of two great Continents and some Lands towards both Poles The first of these Continents has three great Parts to wit Africa Asia and Europe Africa lyes toward the South and the West Asia on the East Europe North-West These three great Parts are in our Hemisphere which we call Superiour and Oriental with regard had to that of the Americans which seems to be below us and is West of us America possesses the other great Continent in the Inferiour and Occidental Hemisphere The Lands near the Poles are of two sorts Artick and Antartick neither have they long been nor is there much of them discover'd than what 's along the Sea-Coasts The Antartick Lands are separated from the other great Continents by the Ocean the Turn that Merchants and Travellers take in circling the World from East to West thro' the South Seas having left no subject of doubt We cannot with certainty say the same thing of the Artick Coasts tho' some affirm the Northern Sea communicates with the Oriental towards the North-East of our Continent and with the South-Sea toward the North-West of Northern America The Artick Region THese Parts have been call'd by the name of Artick because they are near the Artick Pole they are called Northern because of the North in which they are scituated * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Boreales from a Greek Word which signifies the North-Wind they consist of Islands and Peninsula's where there are Bears Foxes and Rain-Deer in abundance the Inhabitants living commonly on Hunting or Fishing The Seas of these Regions make a part of the the great Ocean which is here known under the name of Northern and Frozen The Ice there lasts a long time because to these Parts the Sun during several Months discovers not himself and when he appears he doth not heat or thaw it The Bays and Streights of Hudson Davis and Forbisher are in the Inferiour Hemisphere that of Weygats otherwise of Nassaw in the Superiour Hemisphere on the North of our Continent Cabot Willoughby Forbisher Davis Hudson and other English men have sought a Passage to the East-Indies through the three former Streights Barenson Heemskirk and other Hollanders have done the same thro' that of Weygats but all to no purpose by reason of the Ice which is almost continually there and stops Ships in their Navigation and this it is that has hindred 'em from going beyond the 80. Degree of North Latitude Three Courses have been commonly steer'd in these Northern Seas to Archangelo into Moscovy for Furs to Spigelberg and Greenland for Whales and into Norway for Herrings and Timber The Artick Lands are Estotiland Greenland Island Spigelberg Nova Zembla to which may be added the Land of Jesso tho' it be in the Northern temperate Zone Estotiland is towards the North of the great Continent of America Greenland is of a vast extent to the North of Estotiland Christian the Fourth King of Denmark call'd it His Philosophers Stone because the Ships he sent thither could hardly find it out His Successours keep a Governour there at Bearford The Greenlanders Cloaths are made of the Skins of Wild Beasts and their Wastcoats of Birds Skins garnish'd with their Feathers the Flour of the Bread they eat is made of Fishes Bones they drink Sea Water without receiving any inconvenience by so doing Iseland ISeland the Thule of the Ancients one of the greatest Islands in the World lyes towards the North in both Hemispheres where it is part of the Dominions of the Crown of Denmark This advantage it has of not having so many Rocks upon its Coasts as have the other Northern Countreys There are two Principal Villages Hola and Schalholt As for Cities it has none the Houses in other places are commonly of Wood cover'd with the Bark of Trees and with Turfs The Inhabitants are of the Confession of Augsbourg have no Physicians feed their Oxen and their Horses with dry Fish when they are in want of Hay They receive often great floats of Ice which are loosen'd from the Northern Shores whereon is Wood and several sorts of Creatures which they accommodate themselves withal Therefore they inhabit more willingly the Sea-Coasts than the inner part of the Island There are several Mountains whereof Mount Hecla is the most considerable It casts forth Fire and is not to be approached within six Miles distance Danish Hambourger and Lubecker Ships frequently refort thither with diverse Commodities of Europe which the Islanders stand in need of The Danes fetch from thence dryed Fish Whale-Oyl Butter Suet Sulphur Ox-Hides
and those Teeth of Valrushes which some esteem as much as Ivory Spigelberg or Spitsbergen is a Countrey in our Hemisphere the most advanc'd toward the Artick Pole It produces only green Moss those that have been left there to make a full discovery of it perish'd through cold after having fought with White Bears who pretended a right to eat them Upon its Coasts Whales are taken of a prodigious bulk since from one alone has sometimes been drawn a a Hundred and twenty Tun of Oyl The English and Hollanders lay claim to the Dominion of it Nova Zembla is the Island Carambice of the Ancients very near our great Continent from whence one may pass to it upon the Ice and one way stretches as far as Spitsbergen nay and much farther so as it may probably be said that this is the place where those pass'd who first of all inhabited America the streight which parts it from the Terra firma has in its Eastern part high Mountains of Ice which are call'd Pater-nosters This Name of Nova Zembla is by reason of the Way that has been so long sought after along those Coasts to go to the East-Indies through the Tartarian-Sea In the year 1676. Capt. Wood that Ingenious and Industrious Seaman was again sent out by His Majesty King Charles the Second to make a more perfect Discovery of that North-East Passage perswaded unto it by diverse Relations of our own and Dutch Mariners who reported many things concerning it which Capt. Wood upon his own experience conceives to be false as that they were either under or near the Pole that it was there all thaw'd Water and the Weather as warm as at Amsterdam c. He saith further That he himself cou'd pass no further than 76 Deg. where he found the Sea as far as he cou'd discern entirely frozen without intermission That it is most likely that Nova Zembla and Greenland are the same Continent at least that there is no passage betwixt them for that he found scarce any Current And that little which was ran E.S.E. along the Ice and seem'd only to be a small Tide rising not above Eight Foot And whil'st he was in that Degree there were nothing but Frogs Frost and Snow and all imaginable ill Weather tho' at the same time the heat seem'd to be as great as at any time in England The Land of Jesso lyes between Asia and America being separated from each of those Continents by great Arms of the Sea Its Inhabitants exchange in those Cities of Japan that are nearest 'em their Fish their Skins the Tongues and the Fat of their Whales for other Merchandize which they fancy most The Planks of their Vessels are not nail'd they are sewed very dexterously with Ropes made of the Rind or Bark of Cocoes and they do not rot in the Water The Hollanders have been there several times Their Relations affirm That part of this Territory acknowledges the King of Japan for its Soveraign That the Commander in Chief of this Country who has his Residence at Matzimai carries that Monarch every year Silver Birds Feathers of several Colours with very fine Furs The Antartick Lands THe Antartick Land is often called Australis Magellanica Incognita We might with just title name them the Southern Indies and the third World Those who would engage Soveraign Princes to promote the discovery of these Lands say that they are of as great an extent as all America nor less Peopled or less Fertile than Europe They may have above Six thousand Miles of Coast in three several Zones of the Southern part of the World the Hot Temperate and Cold Perhaps Countreys might there be found of all manner of temperament tho' none have yet been beyond the 68 Degree of Southern Latitude Amongst the Streights that are there that of Magellan first afforded a way in the year 1523. to voyage it round the World through the South Sea this Streight is Two hundred Leagues in length in breadth in some places two three in others five six or ten Those who pass through it receive great inconveniencies by reason of the sinuosities and windings and the frequent storms that are there The Streights of Maire which were discovered in the year 1615. are much more commodious 't is but ten or twelve Leagues in length and as many in breadth That of Brouvers which was pass'd in the year 1643. is on the South-East and has the same advantages with that of Le Maire The English and Hollanders sometimes steer this Course to go to the East Indies Besides under the name of Antartick Lands are reckoned Countries which indeed are very far distant from the Southern Pole but which cannot be attributed to the other great parts of the World since they are separated from it by Seas of a vast extent New Guiney the Isles of Solomon New Zealand the Land of Fire the Land of Parrots New Holland There 's hardly any thing known of the other Southern Parts befides the Names of those who discovered them New Guiney towards the South of the Equinoxial Line and in the Inferiour Hemisphere is a very great Isle and bears this Name because it seems to be Diametrically opposite to the Guiney of Africa The Isles of Solomon are in the South Sea at ten or twelve Degrees of the Southern Latitude The Spaniards who have them in possession give them the name of Solomon to persuade the World that that wise King sent for his Gold from thence New Zealand is the Country where the Hollanders have met with scurvy usage when they would have setled themselves there There it is they say are great Men and of a huge stature whether they really be so or fear made them appear such at least each of their two Companies to the Indies avouched the same thing In all probability it was discovered by Fernandez de Quir who tells a thousand advantageous particulars of it He spent Fourteen Years in his Travels Fourteen Months at Court and presented in vain Eight Petitions to the King of Spain to persuade him to send Colonies thither Between New Zealand and the Streights of Magellan some have placed several small Islands which are said to have been discover'd in the Name of the King of Spain by Hernando Gallego in the year 1576. The Land of Fire on the South of America consists of several Islands that are called Magellanic and the Fires that were seen there the first time the Europeans went on shoar have given occasion to this Name The Land of Parrots is probably that which we call Terra Australis In the year 1504. a French-man called Gonneville went on shoar there and was kindly receiv'd by a petty King called Arosca After several Months abode he brought away with him some of the Inhabitants and amongst others one called Essomeriq a King's Son who has left of his Posterity in Normandy New Holland seems to be that Land or rather those two great Islands of Petan and the lesser
Java which Mark Paul saith lies South East of the Isle of Java The Hollanders set so great a value upon these New Lands that they have caused the Map of them to be cut in inlaid or Mosaick Works upon the Pavement of their Stadt-House in Amsterdam America IS a part of the World bearing the Name of Americus Vesputius a Florentine tho' Christopher Columbus a Genoese discover'd it before him It has been also call'd the New World because it was not well known until the last Age and its bigness has made it pass for the greatest Continent of the Earth Sometimes it is called the West Indies and the Little Indies to distinguish it from the East Indies which are great and part of Asia Some give it the Name of the Spanish Indies because the King of Spain has the greatest and better part of it in his possession Thus the Name of Indies is common to two great Regions the one in our Continent the other in the other Hemisphere whether they were discover'd at the same time or that in both the Inhabitants go commonly naked or that from the one and the other are brought rich and precious Merchandize and Commodities or lastly whether the Pilot Alonze Zanches d' Andalousia being the same that saw America before Columbus and left him his Memoirs did think that it was joyn'd to the Indies of Asia In all probability America is the Atlantick Island of the Ancients some say that it is the real Tarsis which Monarchs to take from their People the knowledge of its great Riches and the desire of trading thither had given it very strange Names calling it Hell the Elysian Fields and the Fortunate Islands and that for the confounding the Name of Tarsis they had called by the same Name several Places of our Continent where the Merchants had their Banks and their Correspondencies Several are persuaded that the City and Island of Cadiz are now what was formerly Tarsis Those Soveraigns pretended there were Dragons Infernal Rivers sometimes a Cherubim with a flaming Sword which were probably nothing else than those storms which are frequent in the Torrid Zone and the Insults of Corsairs and Pyrates who watcht the the coming of the Gallies and Fleet from Terra firma to get Booty Several do assure us that it was to the Atlantick Isle Hanno the Carthaginian went when he conducted towards the South West a Fleet of Sixty Sail with Thirty Thousand Men. They also say That five years afterwards the same Hanno being return'd into his own Countrey prohibited all such Voyages to his Citizens that their City might not be depopulated by their going to dwell there charmed with the great Riches that were to be found in those-Countries for fear the Rebels might make it an Asile to the ruin of their State Those Authors find but little credit who undertake to prove by a feigned Medal of Augustus which was pretended to be found in those parts or by a supposed Marble taken out of the ground in Portugal under King Emanuel with Latin Verses of a forged Sybile touching the discovery of this New World If it be then true that America was known by the Ancients we may say that the perils People must expose themselves to in traversing the Seas that are between the two great Continents before they arrive there and the little experience the Ancients had in Navigation did make 'em abandon the persuit of their Commerce into these Regions and that had it not been for the favourable reception that was made by Ferdinand King of Arragon and Castile to Columbus whose proposal had been rejected by the Government of Genoa the Kings of Portugal and England we should perhaps be still to learn if there was any other Continent than ours America is divided into two great parts or Peninsula's the one Northern called Mexicana the other Southern called Peruana This Division is according to the Isthmus or neck of Land which lyes near Panama and not according to the Equinoctial Line The Spaniards had once a design in their heads to cut through that Isthmus for the sparing the Charges which are far greater to them in that Tract of Land by the transportation of their Merchandizes when they go to Peru or return from thence than in all the way by Sea they make between Spain and America tho' this way be above two thousand Leagues But were not able to bring this Enterprize of theirs about The Countries of Northern America are as you go from the North to the South Canada or New France Virginia Florida New Mexico Mexico or New Spain and the Islands of the Antilles You find in Southern America all along the Seas the Terra firma where is Castella del Oro and Guyana Peru Chili Magellanica Paraguay where is Tucuman and la Plata and lastly Brasile America is environned with the Sea if it be true that towards the North West it is separated from the Land of Jesso by the Streights of Anien Those who make it as big as Asia and Africa together compare its Northern part to Asia and its Southern to Africa It has the advantage of being fertil and temperate by reason of its great and goodly Rivers and of the cool Winds that arise there even in the Torrid Zone where the Inhabitants have not the blackness which is natural in most of the Africans and in some Asiaticks of our Continent who inhabit under the same Zone This makes us see that the most or the least heat is not always caused by the proximity or remoteness of the Sun and that which contributes thereto often is the situation of Places the disposition of the Mountains and Valleys the quality of the Soil and the diversity of the Winds which blow in those respective Regions The Riches of America are so great that Spain has drawn out from thence and does still draw every year a prodigious quantity of Gold and Silver of which many private persons of Europe both in Peace and War under diverse borrowed Names receive a good share The Mines of Potosi have always furnished an immense number of Millions Never were any Riches comparable to those of Atabalipa and of Guainacapa Kings of Peru and to the precious Furnitures of the City of Cusco It was no extraordinary thing during the Reign of those Kings to see in some Cities of those Countreys Temples Wainscoted with Silver and Houses Cover'd with Sheets of Gold The Spaniards do affirm their King draws from thence every year above Twelve Millions of Livres by means of the Impositions he lays upon Commodities that are transported from those Parts As Gold Silver Pearls Emeraulds Skins Sugar Tobacco Cutchenelle Sarzepareilla Ginger and several other things Yet it is made out that the first Expence for the discovery of America came but to Fifteen Thousand Ducats which were advanced to Columbus by a Secretary of the King of Spain The Mexican and Peruvian were the only Nations amongst the Americans who had Cities
These Cities tho' built by People we stile Salvage and Barbarous yielded in nothing to those of Europe or for bigness or magnificence No Horses were in America An Indian of good sence reckoned a Horse in the number of the three things he most esteemed the two others were a new laid Egg and Light Horses gave so much terrour to the Americans that for above a hundred years they could not be prevailed with to mount ' em The Inhabitants are of four sorts Europeans Metis Negroes and Salvages Most of the Nations of Europe have Colonies in this Portion of the World which for the most part bear the Names of their respective Provinces and Cities The Spaniards stand possess'd of the greatest the richest and the fertilest Countreys of America Among others of Mexico and Peru formerly two famous Kingdoms the latter Hereditary the other Elective their King pretends a Right to All by vertue of the Donative of Pope Alexander the Sixth in the year 1493. But this other Nations do not allow of The Portugneezes have the Coasts of Brasile The French have Colonies in Canada in several Islands and upon the firm Land The English have fair and great Establishments all along the Coasts of Northern America and in the Islands The Metis are those who are born of the Europeans and Indians In the Territories conquered by the Spaniards they call Crioles those who are born of a Spanish Man and Woman and these are they whom the Spaniards of Europe have a mortal aversion to and whom they put by all great Offices for fear of a Revolt The Negroes are transported into America from Angola and other parts of Africa to labour in the Mines which drudgery the Americans are not able to support The Salvages here live commonly on Hunting Maiz Cassave which is their Corn. They have amongst 'em almost as many Tongues as Villages He who has the use of those of Mexico and Casco may make himself understood through all America This diversity of Tongues is the cause that we have little knowledge of their Origine They are all naturally dexterous and active good Runners and excellent Swimmers Several amongst 'em live like Beasts without King Policy or Law The Sun Moon nay and the Devil too are consider'd by them as so many Divinities The Sooth-sayers who are very numerous in these parts keep 'em in these Errours The Kings of Spain have caused five Arch-Bishopricks to be erected there and about thirty Episcopal Sees The French have one Bishop in Canada The Portugueezes have at this present three in Brasile under the Arch-Bishop of S. Salvador The other Nations who have Settlements in these Countreys have likewise establish'd there the Religion they profess America is not peopled comparatively with the parts of our Continent perhaps by reason of the continual Wars which the Inhabitants wage there against one another or else because of the cruel treatments the Indians have received from the Spaniards some Authors do attest they have put to Death there several Millions of Persons whether for Religion or for other Pretexts and that the Blood of those who have perished in the Mines where they have been forc'd to labour would weigh more than the Gold and Silver they have thence extracted The Spaniards met with no strong resistance in their Conquests where they found none to make head against 'em but naked People whose Armies were easily broken by the Noise only of a Canon-shot or at the sight of a Horse-man The poor Indians stedfastly believed that the Spaniards were the Masters of Thunder they thought 'em half Men and half Horses or some Sea-Monsters when they saw 'em on Horse-back And when they saw them on board their Ships eating Bisket and drinking Claret they said they were descended from Heaven upon a great Bird that they eat Stones and drank Blood If we confider the situation of the Islands of that part of the World we shall find that California is in the West of Northern America the New Lands the Bermudas and the Antilles towards the East The Mountains of the Andes Cross all Southern America from the North to the South That of Potosi in Peru is esteem'd the richest of all by reason of its Silver Mines The Spaniards would persuade us that there are others in the Neighbourhood at least as rich The North Sea is so call'd because it is on the North of the firm Land which makes part of the Southern America and was sooner discovered than the Northern America in regard of which it cannot bear the Name of the North Sea 'T is called the Green Sea towards the Tropick of Cancer by reason of the Herbs found there upon the Surface of the Waters The South Sea is really Southern in regard of that North Sea but if we consider all America both Northern and Southern we shall find that it is Western It 's often called Pacific by reason of its pertinacious Calms or else because very few Acts of Hostility are perform'd there Between Mexico and the Island of California 't is call'd the Vermillion Sea It hardly receives any considerable Rivers The Sweet Sea which is in Canada and the Parime Sea in Southern America bear the names of Lakes because they are in the midst of Lands Many are of opinion that by this Sweet Sea the Northorn Sea communicates with with the Southern Among the Rivers of America that of Canada or St. Lawrence is vulgarly call'd the Great River perhaps for that it receives above two thousand others great and small and that above five hundred Leagues above Quebeck its source has not yet been found out It makes some Lakes grow narrow sometimes it casts it self among the Rocks with such impetuosity that 't is impossible to pass there by reason of the number of Water-falls which they call Saults and Carriages because those who mean to go over must carry their little Boats upon their shoulders which they term Canoes It s ordinary breadth is full twelve or thirteen Leagues its depth does often exceed two hundred fathom it keeps its Waters clear as far as below Quebeck The River of Chayre upon the Confines of the two America's affords means for the Transportation of Merchandizes from one Sea to the other L'Orenoyu is the largest of all those of America The Amanzon is esteemed the greatest strongest and deepest of all those of these Countreys and one of the fiercest in the World In the Year 1638. the Portuguese who were then under the Crown of Spain remounted it up as far as Quito in Peru and came down again the following Year It has its Inundations as well as the Nile whereby the neighbouring Countrey is not incommoded with Insects Above a hundred and fifty several Nations have been observ'd to dwell in the Neighbourhood of this great River and those which fall into it La Plata has its Name from the Mines of Silver which are near it Towards its beginning it bears the Name of Paraguay after having
rare Colonies as in the most considerable of their Conquests notwithstanding the misunderstanding that arose between Cortez and Narvaez their principal Commanders This Region tho' under the Torrid Zone seems to enjoy a perpetual Spring by reason of the purity of its Air and the goodness of its Soyl. 'T is the finest the most agreeable and the most populous of all America All Northern America is called Mexicana It has Mines of Gold and Silver wherein they work with more ease than in those of Peru the Silver that is drawn from thence is unquestionably the best in the World It produces that admirable Plant of Magucaz which produces small Wine Vinegar Honey Needles Thread Stuffs and Timber proper for building It has Cotton Hides Silk Wool Balm Sugar Salt that is made in its Lakes and several sorts of good Fruits It has all the Commodities of Europe unless Wine and Oyl Formerly 't was an Elective Kingdom full of great Cities governed with great Policy and its Inhabitants very civil Its Kings could bring into the Field Armies of three or four hundred thousand tall fighting Men. The Kings of Spain who have a Vice-Roy there whose Residence is in the Castle of Mexico have taken care to erect several Bishopricks The Mexicans are well made dexterous in melting their Metals and in making Pictures of their Feathers which they have off their Cincons small Birds of their Countrey which live only upon Dew They keep their Balls in the open Field where it is pleasant to see 'em Dance or rather make Gamboles and perform the Double Sommerset sometimes two or three thousand together Formerly the Mexicans divided their Countreys into hot and cold At present the Spaniards reckon their several small Provinces as New Galicia Guadalaira New Biscay Mexico Mechoachan Panuco Jucatan Guatimala Honduras Nicaregua Costarica Veragua and others They have establish'd Royal Audiences I mean Parliaments at Mexico Guadalaira and Guatimala There is a sort of Ravenous Birds in Guadalaira which are not much greater than our Sparrows and nevertheless make a horrible distruction of their Corn they have Bees too without stings The Province of Mexico properly taken is that which lies near the City of Mexico the greatest richest and best peopled of all America This City suffer'd a great loss in the Year 1629. all its Digues and most of its Houses having been carried away by the violence of the Waters its scituation being neer a Salt-water-Lake of about twenty five or thirty Leagues in circuit where there enters another Lake of sweet Water Since that it has been rebuilt and has full a hundred thousand Houses great and small Before the coming of the Spaniard into this Countrey there were several places very considerable neer Mexico Chulula contain'd above twenty thousand Houses with as many Temples as there are days in the year and its Inhabitants did annually put to death five or six thousand of their Children in sacrificing them to their Idols Tezeuco was twice as big as Seville in Spain Queretaro had a Fountain which wou'd furnish Water for four years together and cease running four years after Los Angelos upon the way from Vera Cruz to Mexico is a City of ten thousand Inhabitants where is a Bishoprick of great Revenue there 's also a Mint for the coining of Money Cloth Hats and excellent Glasses are made there too Acapulco upon the South Sea with a Fort of five Bastions is a Bay of good security tho' at the entrance it be but a League in breadth Jucatum is a Peninsula between the two Gulphs where the City of Merida is so call'd upon the account of its ancient Structures and Buildings which were found equal to those of Merida in Europe Tabasco the first City that made any defence against the Spaniards is a Province where the Inhabitants have great Priviledges because they contributed much to the Conquest of Mexico Near Tabasco Cortez gain'd a great Victory in the Year 1518. over Montezuma the Ninth and last King of Mexico We killed there upon the spot above three hundred thousand Indians This Land is so fertile that a Peasant having caused two Sheep to come thither from Castile those two Sheep multiplied in such a manner that there were above forty thousand of 'em in a few years The Isle of Cozumel near the Coast is famous upon the account of its ancient Idol Guatimala produces Balm Sulphur Wood and Cacao which is a Fruit like to little Almonds whereof the Inhabitants make a very delicious Drink Near Guatimala is a Vulcan that is a Mountain which casts forth Fire where a private person seeking after Treasures which he fancied there found the End both of his Wealth and his Life The Henduras furnishes Honey Cotten Cloaths and Wool Niceregua was first of all named the Paradice of Mahomet by reason of its fertility and the quantity of its Gold Its Lake of a hundred and thirty Leagues in length ebbs and flows and disgorges it self into the North Sea There was once a design of communicating it with the South Sea but they imagin'd this would cause a great deal of disorder this Sea being much higher than the North Sea because of several Rivers which have their source in its Neighbourhood and nevertheless fall into the North Sea One of the last Kings of Niceregua seems to have had some knowledge of the Mysteries of our Faith He ask'd the Spaniards What they knew of the Deluge If any was to happen If the Sun and Moon won'd one day lose their light What was the Cause of their Motion Whither the Souls went after the separation from their Bodies If the Pope and Emperour were immortal And for what reason they sought after Gold and Silver with so much Eagerness and so many Perils The Caribby Isles or the Antilles UNder the Name of Antilles are generally known all the Islands of the North Sea which are between Florida New Spain and the firm-Firm-Land of Southern America The Luccayes seem to be so called from that of Lucayonequo Bahama gives its name there to a Channel wondrously rapid from the South to the North and famous at present for the passage of the Spanish Fleets in their return from Mexico and from the Terra Firma of America in Europe Bimini which is a place of no easie access by reason of the Flats and Rocks thereabouts has had the renown of having a Fountain which made people young again because the Women there were extraordinary Beautiful and that for their sakes several Men went to dwell there Guanahani is that which was first spyed out by Columbus who called it San. Salvador by reason it was the cause of saving him from the Conspiracy of his Men who a little before would have cast him into the Sea as not in their mind meeting soon enough with those Lands whereof he had given them such hopes Hispagniola otherwise Saint Domingo is the first Country in the New World where the Spaniards built Towns and Fortresses
Crescent very capacious deep and secure for Ships being big enough to secure five hundred Vessels at once from all storms The Town is long containing several Streets and adorned with abundance of well built Houses being the place of Residence of the Governour or His Deputy where the Courts of Judicature are kept It hath two strong Forts opposite to each other for its defence and the security of the Ships but the Town is ill seated the Ground being lower than the Banks of the Sea Little Bristol formerly Sprights Bay scituate about four Leagues from St. Michael a commodious Road for Ships well frequented and defended by two strong Forts St. James formerly called the Hall seated not far from Bristol here is a good Road for Ships also and is a place of considerable Trade Also Charles-Town about two Leagues from St. Michael where are kept weekly Markets and Monthly Courts for the Precincts there are also several good Bays belonging to this Island as Fowle-Bay Austins-Bay Maxwel-Bay c. and here are divers Caves some of which are very deep and large enough to hold five hundred men and those Caves are often the Sanctuaries of such Negro slaves as run away and it is supposed that these Caves were the Habitations of the Natives The Riches and Commodities of the Island consist in Indico Cotton and Ginger in great abundance Logwood Fustick Lignumvitae and Sugars whereof there is so great a quantity that they freight above a hundred Ships with it every year the Inhabitants truck it for other Commodities at the rate of thirty shillings the Quintal this Isle is so very fertil that it bears Crops all the year long The Trees Fields and Woods being alwayes in their Summer Livery They have here in their Seas several sorts of Fish as Cavalos Cong-fish Green Turtles c. which of all other are the most delicious with several other sorts appropriate to this and the rest of the Caribby Isles Here are also almost all sorts of English Herbs and Roots and several sorts of Fowls and great variety of small Birds but no Beasts or Cattel but what are tame and imported as Camels Horses Asnegroes Oxen Bulls Cows Sheep Goats and Hoggs in great plenty here are also Snakes a yard and a half long Scorpions as big as Rats and Lizzards but neither of them hurtful to Man or Beast Musketoes Cock-Roches and Merry-Wings which are very troublesom in the night in stinging and here are Land Crabs in great abundance which are found good to eat and a small Flie called Cayo whose Wings in the night as it flies affords a mighty lustre and the Indians do commonly catch them and tye them to their hands and feet and make use of them instead of Comets which are forbidden them here are also abundance of Fruits as Dates Oranges Pomgranates Citrons Lemmons Icacos Cherries Raisins Indian Figgs Pine-Apples the rarest Fruit in the Indies with several other sorts and for Trees here are great varieties fit for several uses as the Locusts Mastick Red-wood the Prickle Yellow-wood Ironwood-tree Cedar Cassia Fistula Colloquintida Tamorins Cassary Poyson-tree Physick-Nut Calabash the shells of which Tree serveth them for Troughs to carry liquid things in and the Roneon of whose Bark is made Ropes and also Flax Lignum-vitae with several others The other Antilles Islands which are Inhabited have Colonies either of English French or Hollanders There are some other Isles along the Coasts of Terra-firma which are called Sotavento because that in respect of the others which are on the North-East and which go under the Name of Barlovento they are below the Wind which blows commonly from the East to the West Margareta and Cubagua had formerly the Fishing of Pearls which prov'd very profitable to the Spaniads having used all imaginable stratagems to Fish there for those Oysters wherein they found the Pearls Tobago which has given its name to Tobacco or else has received its own from that weed has a Colony of Zelanders Tobacco was formerly called the Nicotion Herb by reason one Doctor Nicot was the first who introduced the use of it into Europe Those who call'd it the Queens Herb gave it that name as having been first presented to a Queen of Spain Castella Aurea CAstella Aurea so called from the Gold which the Spaniards found there in so great abundance that in the Year 1514. several of their Country-men would needs go thither in the Opinion that it was there to be Fisht for with Nets Its Inhabitants eat Crocodiles Serpents whose flesh they find very delicate Food The Spaniards have there several Provinces Terra-firma Cartagena Sancka Martha the Rio de la Hacha Venezuela New Andalousia Popayen and the New Kingdom of Granada The Terra-firma lies near the Isthmus which joyns the two America's It is different from the great Terra-firma which makes part of the Northern America upon the North Sea It s called so as being the first Land of the Continent of America that was discovered after the Islands It s City of Panama upon the South Sea is the Store-House or Magazine of the Gold and Silver of Peru which is afterwards carried by Land to Porto Belo which is sixteen or eighteen Leagues from thence upon the North Sea which is much augmented from the ruins of the City of Nombre de Dios which the ill Air had caused the Spaniards to abandon At Porto-Belo this Gold and Silver is put on board of Ships which carry it into Spain In the way from Panama to Porto-Belo they have the conveniency of the River of Chagre if they please to make use of it and then departing from Panama you have but five Leagues by Land after which they Embark upon that River By the same way do they bring their Merchandizes out of Spain into Peru. In the Year 1668. the English plundered Porto Belo exacted very considerable summs from the Spaniards before they would restore it them The Buccaniers and other Privateers have done the like Cartagena affords Balm Rosin and several sorts of Gums Its Inhabitants had formerly peculiar places whither they carried the Bodies of their Dead with their Gold their Necklaces and other most precious Ornaments The Spaniards to take advantage of this have shown those Relicks the light for the second time the City which is in a Peninsula has had its Name from the resemblance of its Harbour with that of Cartagena in Europe 'T is one of the best of America the Rendezvouze of the Fleets which come from Cadiz for the Terra-firma Sancta Martha produces almost all the sorts of Fruits that are had in Spain and there you see the beginning of those High Mountains which under the Names of Andes advance towards the South The Rio de la Hacha no longer affords the fishing of Pearls in its Neighbourhood Venezuela had this Name from a Town that was found built there upon Piles of Wood in the midst of Waters When this Countrey was Discovered the Germans to
of three or four Foot in length as thick as a Man's arm lying upon the Water with their Roots They are used to pass to such a distance to the Cape des Aiguilles that they can sound the Bank which is in the South of it From thence they go Eastward and then North-East to arrive at Madagascar In the above-mentioned Course they stay some time at the Canary Islands or in those of Cape Verd formerly at Cape Blanck Rufisque in the Isles of the Idols at Tagrin or in the Bay of Saldaignâ—â— upon the Coast of Africk according to their Occasions and Occurrences The Bay of Saldaigna which is seven or eight Leagues in length and two or three in breadth has good anchorage it looks like a Lake and it has good shelter about from five or six small Islands which are there The return into France is performed after another manner than the way they go from thence by reason of the General Winds which reign from the East West-wardly in the Torrid Zone as we have said After having doubled the Cape of Good-Hope and been some hundred Leagues to the East they pursue the Course North North-East unto the sixteenth Degree of Southern Latitude from whence they go directly West to ken the Island of St. Helena where they are used to refresh themselves the English have made there a Fort some few years since From the Isle of St. Helena they go to the Isle of Ascension where they have the conveniency of Fishing for Tortoise and then still towards the North-East until they come to the height of France In their return when they are somewhat on this side the Line they leave the Panedo of St. Peter on the left After that they leave the Isles of Cape-Verd on the right as well as the Tercera's and are very cautious of approaching the Abrolhes which lye on the West of those Islands The Portugals go to the East-Indies by the South of the Cape of Good-Hope their Navigation into the Indian Sea is regulated by certain Seasons and the Winds they call Muessons After having doubled that famous Cape they bend their Course for Goa between the firm Land of Africa and the Island Madagascar to the East or to the West of the Shores of India They go to refresh themselves at Mozambick and pass between the Isles Comorro and Juan-Miz then still to the North-East unto the sixteenth Degree of Northern Latitude in the distance of about a hundred Leagues from the Desart Coast At length they steer directly East for Goa When they go from Goa to Macao they they make Sail along Malabar towards the Cape of Comorin South of Ceilan and of all the Southern Islands They pass through the Streights which are near the Island Galli and Sail along Macasar and the Manilhes unto Macao This they do not without great inconveniencies and they take that great Circuit because the Hollanders hinder them from passing between the Streights of Malacca and Sunda nay and often scout 'em towards Cochim and at the Point of Galle upon the Coast of the Isle of Ceilan The Navigation from Macao to Japan is about twenty days In their return at their departure from Goa they pass by the Cape to the West about a hundred and fifty Leagues and come in ken of the Desart Coast of Africa and in sight of Land and get to Mozambick making Sail between the Isle of Madagascar and the Shores of India they Coast along the Land of Natal where the Currents are commonly from the North-East to the South-West and where the Navigation is very dangerous After which they return into Portugal by the Cape of Good-Hope following the above-mention'd Course The Course the Hollanders often take to the East-Indies is by the South of the Cape of Good-Hope They go thither sometimes through the Streights of le Maire and Brovers They take that way by reason of the Winds motion of the Water which they have then favourable in Sayling towards the West and because commonly they spend less time and lose fewer Men in this than in the other way When by the South of Africa they go and double the Cape of Good-Hope they after touch at the Bay they call Tafel-Bay This Bay is a commodious Retreat for Ships they can Anchor there with all safety at six or eight Fathom Water and shelter themselves from the Storms which are very frequent in those parts The Air is healthful they find all sorts of refreshments excellent Water the access to it is so easie that they can take in fresh Water without any trouble For these considerations the Hollanders made an Establishment there some years since and no longer content themselves as they formerly did with leaving Letters there for their Country-men that might come to pass that way The Mountain of Tafel-Bay is esteemed thirteen hundred and fifty Foot high Those Hollanders who do not stop at Tafel-Bay make for Mauritius-Island otherwise Swan-Island This Island has in its Southern part a Port between the Flats wherein above fifty great Ships may ride safe under the shelter of a Fort built in the Year 1640. From thence between divers Flats they make for the Chanel of Mamale or that of Malique and in this last Course they have favourable Currents For their way towards Malacca whether that they go from Mauritius Island or from Cochim they pass by the Islands of Nicubar North of the Isle of Sumatra and leave the Isle of Pulo-Lada on the left otherwise called the Isle of Pepper of about twenty Leagues in compass They return into Holland after the same manner as do other Europeans Other Tracts and Ways to the East-Indies THE People who inhabit along the Mediterranean Sea designing for the East-Indies go to Alexandretta to Aleppo and Bi r which is four small days Journey from thence There are Caravans from Aleppo to Erzerum to Erivan to Tauris At Bi r they Embark upon the Euphrates to go in ten days to Rousvania from thence by Camels to Bagdad and then by the Tigris to Bassora They may go by Water from Rousvania to Bassora in small Barks from Bassora to El-Catif in eight days the Navigation is not very commodious upon the Euphrates and the Tigris by reason of the numbers of Mills they meet with upon those Rivers Sometimes they go through the Desart to go to those two Cities from whence they go to Ispaham and to Agra by Caravans or else after being Embark'd upon the Tigris they go to Congue and Gombru near Ormus by the Sea El-Catif and into the East-Indies by the Ocean The Customs of the Turk and Persian gain very much by the Merchandizes which take this way The Carriage from Bagdad to Bassora is very easie and pleasant in the Barks which go that way they sometimes make use of Sails and sometimes Oars often do they let themselves be carried along by the Current and Stream of the Water so as they only Steer The River which the
Virginia They would make us believe that there is a flying Squirrel which makes use of its paws as if they were wings The Inhabitants of Virginia love to make good Cheer are Idolaters and have divers Lords whom they call Werouns Their Towns which they surround with Pallisadoes have only 18 or 20 Houses Pomeiock and James-Town are the Principal places of this Region The Bay of Chesapeack is very considerable being seventy five Leagues in length for the most part six or seven broad and ten or twelve towards its entrance The Ships sail up above sixty Leagues for it is often fifteen or sixteen fathom deep and six or seven where it is most shallow The Islands of Barmudas or Summer Isles are under the same Crown and almost in the same Parallel with Virginia distant above three hundred Leagues from the Continent of America They are several in number around the principal one and almost all invironed with Rocks and sufficiently known for the Shipwracks that happen there The Merchants bring thence Cocheneal Tobacco Pearls and Amber there are found Tortoises of an excessive bigness and Spiders without venom extraordinary large of a streak'd colour which spin Webs capable of holding little Birds In the Year 1516. five men being imbarked at the Barmudas in a little Pinnace traversed above twelve hundred Leagues at Sea and by a singular happiness arrived in Ireland In the Year 1525. a Portuguez who was in the East Indies being desirous to do a notable piece of service to his Prince undertook a Voyage which was no less perilous for with a small Gally but sixteen foot long and six-broad he departed from Cochim and having traversed the Occan and all its particular Seas at last he arrived at Lisbon where he brought the King of Portugal the news of the building a Cittadel at Diu a piece of news which was agreeably received in that Court Florida THe Spaniards and French the Discoverers of this Province have but very small knowledge of it as not having been very far in the Country the Spaniards under divers Leaders and principally under Soto made some Expeditions into it but both he and most of his men dyed in the prosecution of their design The Name of Florida was given it either upon the account of its Flowers which it produces in great abundance or by reason of the first Discovery of some of its parts which was on a Palm Sunday The French that setled themselves in that part which lies towards the North-East had left there the names of the Scine Lonaloire Garrone Gironde Chorcute to the Rivers they met withal in those parts But the Spaniards jealous of the French Names having given them others and the English who have lately setled several Colonies here do still at this day Christen them anew In the Year 1562. John Ribaud caus'd to be built upon the River of Port-Royal the Fortress of Charles's Fort which he called by that Name in consideration of King Charles the Ninth of France Two years after one Laudonier built the Fort of Carolina upon the River of May Now by the way it is to be observ'd that several Geographers do not give to these two Places their true Position Since which the French were constrained to abandon 'em both upon the account of the Civil Wars which arose in France and of the jealousie of the Spaniards who could not well bear with the Frenchmen having footing in Florida The Spaniards made Florida much greater than it really is for they attribute to it Virginia and New France perhaps not to prejudice the Pretentions of their Soveraign who attributes to himself all America tho' his Subjects have only appear'd in some of its Provinces Others give only this Name of Florida to the Peninsula of Tegesta which advances to the South and contributes to form the great and famous Gulph of Mexico and the Channel of Bahama The Air of Florida is so temperate that there has been often seen old Men at the Age of Two hundred and fifty years whilst the Children of five Generations are all alive at the same time The Land is fertile full of Fruit-trees and its Towns the best peopled of all America having in several places rich Furs and an immense quantity of Pearls It s Mountain Apalatei produces abundance of Copper It s principal River is that of Spirito Sancto or Chucagua which falls into the Mexican Gulph The Coast is not over convenient for great Ships because the Sea is but very shallow The Inland parts are possess'd by the Savages under the Government and Jurisdiction of divers Paroustis or Caciques who are their Lords Relations acquaint us with the Brave Resistance they made against the Spaniards These Savages adore the Sun and Moon Upon the Coast the Spaniard holds St. Austin and St. Matthews two Colonies of small consideration tho' in each there be a Castle St. Austin is of the greatest importance by reason of its Haven and its nearness to the Channel of Bahama where the Spanish-Fleets commonly pass when with their Cargoes they return from Havana into Europe New Mexico THis Mexico is call'd New because it was one of the last Conquests of the Spaniards in Northern America not being subdued till after the Year 1583. 'T is the Ancient Mexico according to some Authors who say its Inhabitants people part of New Spain The scarcity of Victuals and other inconveniencies of this Countrey have not hindred the Spaniards from going to search for Mines in its Entrals The Natives are Idolaters and call their Chiefs Caciques New Mexico California Anien Quivira and Cibola are its principal parts and Santafe the most considerable Town California on whose Coasts some Pearls are found is one of the greatest Islands in the World Anian gives its Name to a famous Streight beyond which is the Land of Jesso The Wealth of Quivira consists in certain Bulls or Oxen which are very benificial to the Inhabitants their Flesh is their Food of their Skins they make Cloaths and Coverings for their Houses Thread of their Hair Bow-strings of their Nerves Awls and Bodkins of their Bones Trumpets and Bugles of their Horns they preserve Water in their Bladders and make Fewel of their Dung dryed This Creature has something of the Lyon the Camel the Goat and the Sheep There is in Cibola Grandeda Acoma and some other Fortresses upon the Mountains with Palisado's and Ditches which shew that the Americans were not ignorant of the Art of Fortifying such places as they meant or stood in need to defend Other Enumerations are made of the Countreys of New Mexico but very uncertain are they the Inhabitants commonly have no setled abode give the Names of their Chiefs to their Villages and those Names only subsists during the Life of each of those Leaders New Spain THe Indians name this Countrey Mexico and the Spaniards New Spain so that hereby they call their King the King of Spains The Spaniards here establish'd in this Countrey several
and the most populous by reason of the conveniency of trade Some Sea-men call Barbary the Coast of Africk from the Streight of Gibraltar as far as Cap-Blanc which is at twenty Degrees of Northern Latitude The Romans Sarazens Vandals Arabians Moors and Turks who have been consecutively the Lords of the Barbary we treat of have given very different Names to its Towns The Turkish Emperour sways over the greatest portion of it The Kings of Fez and Morocco possess what is most towards the West The Spaniards Portuguese and English have Towns upon the Coast which elsewhere shall be enumerated Susaon Couco Labes are little States which maintain themselves in the Mountains Salley Tituan Algier Tunis and Tripoli are Towns belonging to Corsairs the three last under the Protection of the Grand Seignior who sends Bashaws thither but they have not much authority The French have the Bastion of France and Genoveses the Isle of Tabarca which they keep for the bringing thence the Merchandize of the Countrey which consists in Barks Corn Hides Corral which is of three sorts red white and black The Portuguese were the first that made Conquests in Africa and had it not been for the design they entertain'd of carrying their Arms into the East-Indies from which they expected more advantage they would undoubtedly have made Progresses there much more considerable by reason of the Divisions which were at that time in the Kingdoms of Fez and Morocco There are chiefly seen in Barbary Africans or Bereberes who are called Barbaresques and most commonly Moors Also there are Arabians who came thither about the Year 999 of three Broods These last live in the open Field by Adarous which are Communities compos'd of several Families call'd Baraques where they have commonly a hundred or two hundred Tents disposed around they esteem themselves much more Noble than those who inhabit the Towns and cultivate the Earth nor do they take any care but of their Herds and Flocks or to make Incursions into the Mountains the Moors apply themselves particularly to Commerce Amongst some of their Customs 't is observ'd they are at excessive charges in their Nuptials as the Christians are in their Law-Suits and the Jews in their Passeovers They cause themselves to be buryed in those places where no Body was enterred before that when they rise again they may not be puzzled to know and distinguish their Members from those of others They were used to crucifie their Criminals but since they took notice that the Christians have a respect for Crosses and that a great Drought once happened during some Executions which nevertheless was followed with some Rains after that the Crosses were taken away they attributed this blessing to Mahomet and order'd that for the future Criminals should either be Hang'd or Beheaded They make five Quarters of their Sheep by reason of their extraordinary large Tails nevertheless they often cause them to be roasted whole nay and served so upon the Table too Barbary comprehends several Kiugdoms which have Cities of the same Name Marocco Fez Tremisen Algier Tunis Tripoli and Barcar The Kingdom of Morocco is upon the Ocean which goes under the Name of the Atlantick Sea 'T is full of Mountains excessive high and alwayes covered with Snow It s King styles himself Emperour of Barbary and Morocco King of Fez of Suz and Tafilet Lord of Dara of Gago c. He takes also the Title of Grand Cherif of Mahomet and Successour of his Family This Name of Cherif shows That his Predecessours made use of the pretence of Religion in their Establishment they were also called Amiiel-Momins and by corruption Miramomoulins that is to say Emperours of the Faithful The City of Morocco formerly longer and more populous than it is at present has upon its Royal Palace three or four Golden Apples esteemed at more than two hundred thousand Crowns which are said to be Enchanted because they cannot be taken from the place where they are The Land about it affords Grapes as big as Pullets Eggs and Goats hair which serves to make fine Chamlets Morocco and Safi have Consuls of Europeans for the maintaining the Priviledges there of their several Nations Mazagan is a Fortress of which the Portuguese have made use for the bringing the open Country under Contribution after the examples of the Arabians The little Island of Mogodor five miles from the Continent has a Castle with a Garrison for the security of some Mines of Gold and Silver which are in its Neighbourhood The Kingdom of Fez is fruitful by reason of its Rivers It has four sorts of Land Mountains Valleys Plains and Sea-Coasts the City of Fez which passes in Africa for the seat of the Western Court is the best the finest and and most populous of all Barbary with a Famous University and a Library in which there are above two thousand Manuscripts 'T is said to have above fourscore Gates a hundred thousand Houses two hundred Hospitals thirty two Suburbs and a great number of Temples and Mosques whereof one alone is half a Mile round There is the Old and New Fez this the abode of the Prince and the other accompanied with a Fortress It is near the River of Cebu which has towards its source a very extraordinary Bridge for it is raised a hundred and fifty Fathoms out of the Water and is only a kind of Pannier of Sea-Rushes capable of holding eight or ten Persons This same Pannier is hung up betwixt two Ropes which turn upon two Pulleys fasten'd to the two ends of two Wooden Posts which are upon the Rocks of each side the Valley Salley is a Nest of Corsairs who have alwayes several Pyrate Ships Rubat opposite to Salley was Built after the Model of Morocco and has an Aqueduct of above 12000 Paces Alcazar is known by the Battels of 1578 wherein dyed three Kings one of whom was Sebastian King of Portugal Anafi or Anfa a ruin'd Town with a Castle of the Arabians is thought by the Moors to be an Enchanted Place where are still as they say the Treasures of their first Emperour Tremisen or Telensin is a great City belonging to the Turk seven or eight Leagues distant from the Sea The Town of Argiers is one of the best Inhabited and the Richest of all Africk by means of the Pyracies which the Inhabitants Exercise upon the Ocean and Mediterranean Sea It has full fifteen thousand Houses twelve or fifteen thousand Gardens in its Neighbourhood the Christian Slaves are there to the number of thirty or forty thousand Cardinal Ximenes said That if Argiers could be taken Money enough might be found there to Conquer all Africa Amongst the Tents which are out of the Town there is that of the beautiful Cava the Daughter of Count Julian de la Betica who first caused the Moors to pass over into Spain to revenge himself by their means of King Roderic The Emperour Charles the Fifth had the disatisfaction of seeing the finest Fleet
he ever had lost before Argiers The Kingdom of Tunis can pride it self in the Birth of Hannibal Asdrubal Terence and other great Men and Christianity is obliged to it for the Birth of Tertullian St. Cyprian and St. Augustin The City of Tunis has encreased it self from the Ruins of Carthage the Great formerly the Rival of Rome and the Capital City of a very considerable State At present it obeys a Prince whom they call the Dey Bizerta and Souza are two places where those of Tunis do often keep their Pyrate Ships Souza is composed of the High and Low Town Mahometa is the ancient Adrumetum or Adrumyssus near which some have been pleased to say that formerly thirty Gaulish Cavaliers repulsed above two thousand Moors Caraan has been the Seat of a Calif that is to say of a Mahometan Pontiffe It is the Ancient Thisdrus where Massinissa gained over Asdrubal the Battel which Scipio was spectator of Beja is in a soyl so fertil in Corn that it 's a saying of that Countrey That if there were two Beja's there would be as much Corn as there are grains of sand in the Sea Guadibarbar makes so many turnings and windings that it is passed full five and twenty times in the way from Bone to Tunis Between the Kingdom of Tunis and the Isle of Maltha there are some small Islands Pantalaria belonging to the King of Spain with a Gulph where the vapour which clings to the Rock above distils as much Water as is necessary for the use of the Inhabitants Lampadosa and Linosa depends on the Order of Maltha There is in Lampadosa a Chapel famous for the Offerings both of Christians and Turks And it has been observ'd that the Sacrilegious have never been able to carry any thing away from thence with impunity The Kingdom of Tripoly is a barren Land considerable only for Pyracies and the Commerce of its City called Tripoly of Barbary that it may be distinguish'd from those others of Souria and Natolia which go under the same Name Upon the Coasts of that Kingdom is the Island Zerbi where in the Year 1560 the Spaniards were defeated by the Infidels In this Island was it also that the Corsair Dragut escaped from the famous Doria this last held him there so narrowly Besieg'd that he could not stir out the other bethought himself of making a Channel without the Christians perceiving it and so in a clear night he had the means of Transporting his Galleys into another part of the Island and of retiring to open Sea where he came and presented himself before his Enemy who was in no small surprize The Land of Barca begins at the place where stood formerly the Altars of the Philenians which had also served for Bounds to the States of Carthage and Cyrene and since to the Empires of the West and East 'T is only a meager and desart Plain where stands the City of Caruenna formerly Cirene the Capital of a small State which was given by Cirus for a retreat to King Croesus In this Country did the Psilloe inhabit who had the reputation of making Serpents die only by their presence Egypt FEw Countreys have had so many ancient Names as Egypt the Hebrews and Jews call'd it Mesraim and the Egyptians at present call it Chibet It s length that is to say its extent from the North to the South is two hundred Leagues and its breadth which is what it contains from the West to the East is confin'd by the Mountains which bound the Valley of the Nile It is the only Region of Africa which touches Asia and the Countrey the most populous in the World tho' the Air be somewhat bad Its Women do often bring forth two or three Children at a time which is attributed to the Water of the Nile Egypt was no less peopled formerly if it be true that under Amasis one of its ancient Kings it had full twenty thousand Cities The plenty of Corn it affords made the Ancients call it the Publick Granary of the World The abundance or famine of the Roman Empire depended on the good or ill Harvest in Egypt The Nile by the inundation of its Waters which are full of Nitre as we said before gives it this advantage not by wholly covering the Lands as several have imagin'd but being brought into several Channels after the Inhabitants have broke the Dikes That part which is on the East of the Nile is more fruitful than that which is on the East of the River Its Plants grow so abundantly that they would stifle one another if they did not prevent it by casting Sand in the field Thus it is somewhat surprizing that the Egyptians make their Lands lean with Sand whereas other Nations endeavour to fatten theirs with Dung Besides Corn they transport out of this Countrey Rice Sugar Dates Sena Cassia excellent Balm Skins Linnen and Cloth They are but ill inform'd who say that it never Rains there whereas there are frequent Showers during the Months of November December and January principally on the Mountains and in the lower parts Still are there at this day to be seen in Egypt Pyramids Obelisques Labyrinths and other Works which its ancient Kings caus'd to be made at an extraordinary charge to shew their Power and to give Employment to their People The Statue of Memnon was formerly very considerable there as well as the Pharos near Alexandria But among all these several Works it has been observ'd that the Pyramid is the most solid Monument Antiquity has left us There remains nothing more in the Lake Meris than the place of the Labyrinth which is said to have had above three thousand three hundred Chambers The Mummys which are very frequent in this Region and which Travellers take delight to bring into Europe are Humane Bodies pitch'd and embalm'd that have been preserv'd above two or three thousand years in Caverns whither the ancient Egyptians took care to carry them They passed for that purpose a Lake in a Bark and so first gave occasion to the Fable of Charon Fiction has made Gods Heroes and Men reign in Egypt History gives an account of several of its Kings before Alexander the Great It says that among those Kings Sesostris was the greatest Conquerour that Memnon having dedicated his Statue to the Sun it saluted that Star at its rising that Busiris pass'd there for a Tyrant by reason of the Cruelties he exercised over the Hebrews that Cencres is the Pharoah who was drowned in the Red Sea that Protcus had the repute of changing his Form because he had divers sorts of Head-array that Chemnis employed three hundred and sixty thousand Men for twenty years together in building the first and greatest Pyramid that Sesonchis with an Army of four hundred thousand Foot and sixty thousand Horse took Jerusalem and that Sennacherib King of the Assyrians being come against him wild Rats gnaw'd the Bow-strings in the Assyrian Army that Necaus began the Channel for the
by means of its Waters but the Rains which fall there occasion several Diseases As Commerce is now in high consideration amongst the European Nations it is not improper to say somewhat of the Coast of Nigritia Cap Blanc is a tongue of Land as hard as a Rock ten or twelve fathom high with a very spacious Haven where Ships are safe against most Winds Arguin a Castle in a little Island belongs to the Hollanders The Barks may enter into the River of St. John and treat with the Negroes for Ostridge-Feathers Gums Amber and some small Gold Senega one of the principal Branches of the Niger is not a League in breadth at its disemboguing it self into the Sea The Coast on the North of Senega is very low and hardly to be kenn'd by those that are twelve Leagues distant at Sea The Road of Cape-Verd has twelve or thirteen fathom water upon a bottom of grey Sand. The Island belonging to the Flemmings called Gorea has a Plat-form flank'd by four Bastions of Earth with a Dungeon of Bricks which did not hinder it from being insulted in the late Wars The entrance into it is on the West of the Island where Ships of a hundred Tun may touch and ride The Road is good but no fresh water to be had Rufisca is a retreat commodious enough Gambia is about five Leagues broad at its influx into the Sea but it is not Navigable for Barks above sixty Leagues 'T is said that the Portugals have remounted the Niger sometimes as far as the Kingdom of Benin in the space of above eighteen hundred Leagues that the Danes have formerly possess'd Cantozi towards the place where the Niger divides it self and that this Niger forms great Lakes upon the Banks of which there are several good Cities from whence go Caravans as far as Tripoli of Barbary The English in hopes of getting some of the Gold of the Countrey had a design to go up the Senega with several light Ships but the excessive heats the insults of the Negroes accompanied with some Portugueses made them lay aside the thoughts of their Enterprize The Negroes are commonly simple and candid Idolaters towards the Sea Mahometans in the inland Countrey They have three pretty considerable Kingdoms Tombut Borno and Gaoga Most of their Cities are not to be compared with our Towns the Houses being only built of Wood Chalk and Straw and often one of these Cities makes a Kingdom The last Kings of Tombut whom they call Tombouctou have had the reputation of possessing a great quantity of Gold in Bars and Ingots They are said to have this Gold from the Kingdom of Gago and that from the Kingdoms of Morocco and Sus there go often several Cafiles or Caravans for the bringing it thence The Kingdom of Gualata produces Milet. That of Agades has a City indifferently well built Borno formerly the abode of the Garamantes is inhabited by a People who live in common private persons there acknowledge for their Children those who resemble them and the flattest nosed are the handsomest and greatest Beauties Several Nations are between the branches of the Niger where some Authors place the Gardens of the Hesperides Those of Senega send abroad Slaves Gold in dust Hides Gums and Civit Cats The Negroes are very strong and are more sought after and bought up by the Europeans than those of other Countreys They of Guiney are docible for which reason they are commonly made domestick servants Those of Angola are employed in cultivating of Land by reason of their strength 'T is a saying That he who expects to have any service from his Negro must give him Food enough a great deal of Work and many Blows On the South of the Niger are several other small Kingdomsâ— that of Melli with a City of six thousand Houses Gago rich in Gold as we have said Zegzeg considerable for its Commerce Zanfara fertile in Corn. The enumeration of the other places would be here as tedious as it is unnecessary since they are neither strong nor well peopled and but a very little trade is driven by ' em The Portugals have yielded up to the English some Fortresses which they had towards the Mouths of the Niger which has given our Nation the means of trafficking here and making Enterprizes as do also the Hollanders Nubia NVbia is three hundred and fifty Leagues in length and two hundred in breadth It retains some remnants of Christianity in its old Churches and in the Ceremonies of Baptism that is there administred The Nubians obey a King who commonly keeps Cavalry upon the Frontiers of his Dominions because he hath potent Enemies for his Neighbours the Abissin and the Turk Histories affirm That an Army of a hundred thousand Horse was formerly Levyed and led by a King of Nubia against the Governour of Aegypt Gold Civet Sandal-Wood Ivory Arms and Linnen are Transported from this Country The Commerce of the Nubians is most especially with those of Cairo and the other Cities of Aegypt They have a strong subtle and penetrating Poyson in this Countrey the tenth part of a Grain of which will kill a man in a quarter of an hour and the Ounce is valued at a hundred Ducats One of the King 's principal Revenues consists in the Receipt of the Right of Exportation 'T is sold to Strangers but upon condition of not making use of it but out of the Kingdom The Inhabitants have Sugar-Canes but they know not how to improve them They have amongst them Bereberes of the Mahometan Religion who go in Troops to Cairo and return from thence when they have gotten ten or twelve Piasters The capital Cities are Nubia and Dancala near the Nile the others are but little known to us A Relation of the Year 1657 affirms That the King of Dancala pays a Tribute in Cloths to the King of the Abissins Geography in some sort is indebted to this Countrey since it presented the World with the Author of the famous Geography of Nubia the Cherif-Alderisi Guiney GViney is subject to such great Heats that were it not for the Rains and the coolness of the Night it would be uninhabitable It sends abroad Parrots Apes White-Salt Ivory Skins Wax Amber-Greece Gold and Slaves Its Inhabitants have the repute of being presumptuous thievish Idolatrous and extreamly superstitious It s best Town is St. George de la Mina now in Possession of the Hollanders The English have amongst others Cabo Corso and the Danes Fredericksbourg Most of the Portugals who succeeded the French in that Colony have been compelled by reason of their small numbers to retire into the Inlands during the Wars with Spain The Castle of La Mina having been so called from the Mines of Gold which are in its Neighbourhood the name of St. George was given it by John the Second King of Portugal who after having made the Conquest of it conceal'd the Commerce thereof as long as he could Benin is a particular Kingdom with the best
exact Discoveries of all the Eastern and Southern Coast of the Island The Isle of Bourbon called formerly Mascharenhe five and twenty Leagues in length and fourteen in breadth is in possession of the French It has a Vulcano that is to say a Mountain that spits and casts forth fire the rest of its Land is by much the best and finest Countrey in the World the Waters are very healthful and it has most of the Commodities that are in the Isle of Madagascar The Isle of Maltha MAltha about the midst of the Mediterranean-Sea was formerly call'd Melita by reason of its Honey 'T is attributed to Africk because nearer it than the firm Land of Europe and because the Maltheses have great conformity with the Africans in point of manners It s Land and its Stones have Vertues altogether singular if there be Serpents they have no venome Some appropriate to this Island the particulars of the Shipwrack of St. Paul and those of the little Dogs which others affirm to have been in the Isle of Melada in the Gulph of Venice The Isle of Maltha has often had the same Soveraigns with Sicily at present it is the abode of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem under a Prince whom they call the Great Master The Patron of the Order is St. John Baptist and nevertheless the Name of St. John was given it upon occasion of the place where that Order was first of all establish'd and by reason of a St. John Bishop of Alexandria celebrated for his great and bountiful Alms. The Emperour Charles the Fifth gave it to the Knights who had no setled abode since the loss of Rhodes and who before had resided at Jerusalem at Margat Acre and Limisso in the Isle of Cyprus The Order is compos'd of eight Tongues which are as many principal Nations Provence Auvergne France Italy Aragon England Germany and Castile To each of 'em belong some considerable Dignities Priories and Commanderies The three Tongues of France have full three hundred Commanderies and the five others together have not many more The Name of Knight was not in use in the beginning of the institution of the Order The Religious were then called Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem One of the Statutes of the Order bears That the Knights ought rather to lose their Lives than yield up the Places that are confided to their keeping The Island produces several good Fruits as it has little Corn and Wine to nourish seventy five or eighty thousand persons Sicily does commonly supply that want They make account there of fifteen thousand Men fit for service and they now keep there eight good Galleys It is but ten Leagues in length and five in breadth with several Harbours and Roads that are called Calles and Marsa It is the best fortified of the World as being the principal Rampart and Bulwark of Christendom and its Fortresses have above three hundred pieces of Canon By reason of its strength and the valour of its Knights they say Maltha fior del Mondo There are four Towns the City which is about the midst of the Island Valetta a new City the victorious Burg City which repulsed the Turks in the Year 1565 and St. Michael which is now called the Isle de la Sangle the three last are near one another and seem to make but one La Goza a small Island near that of Maltha affords good Hawks the Great Master styles himself the Prince of it They call those young Knights whom they mean to droll upon for their Bravading by the Title of Prince of Forfola which is a Rock near the Coast Of some other Islands of Africa MAdera eighteen Leagues in compass in the Atlantick and on the North of the Canaries belongs to the Crown of Portugal It enjoys a pleasant Air is not subject to excessive Heats but never feels any Cold. Seven or eight small Rivers contribute much to its temperature It is call'd the Queen of Islands by reason of its Beauty and the fertility of its Soil which produces excellent Wine Here grow also delicate Fruits and they make the best Sugar in the World which furnishes the means of preparing Marmalade Codinniack and other such like Preserves It has three Towns the principal is Funchal the Residence of the Governour and the Bishop 'T is at the foot of a Mountain which is full five Quarts of a League high with three Fortresses and an Harbour in form of a Crescent where Ships may come and lye at Anchor within Pistol-shot of the Town St. Thomas under the Equinoctial is rich in Sugar the Air bad for those Foreigners who go to dwell there they never grow bigger than they were at their first arrival there The Portuguese were the first who subdued it It s best Town is Pavoasan of about seven hundred Families with a Fortress in the Eastern part of the Island at present belonging to the Hollanders It has several Trees like to that of the Island of Fierro they have the same circumstance of distilling Water continually for the use of the Inhabitants Their Swines-flesh is more pleasant and more healthful than that of Fowl by reason that Creature is fed with Canes that produce Sugar The Prince's Island has had this Name since that its Revenue was set apart for the maintenance of the Prince of Portugal Annabon was so called having been first discovered on the first day of the Year The Portuguese have an Habitation there in its Northern part St. Helena of sixteen Leagues in compass is in the Ethiopick There is not an Island in the World farther distant from the Terra firma They call it the Sea's Inn because it has fresh Water in abundance and that those who come from the East-Indies are us'd to touch there to take it in It 's high and full of Mountains with a very clear Coast without Rocks where is even near the Rocks above ten fathom Water The English have found such great accommodation here that they have built a Fort in the Island Zocotora and Bebelmendel are towards the Red Sea this last in the Streight which receives its Name where the passage is most commodious on the side of Africa Zocotora near the Cap Guadarfu five and twenty Leagues in length and ten in breadth obeys a King that is an Arabian It has a good Road and Bays very commodious where Ships may ride safe at Anchor even near the Rocks Ships may Winter there more conveniently than at Mozambique or Mombaze the Air being healthful the Entrance of the Bar without danger and the Cattel in great plenty AsÃa THis part of the World which is called the Levant by reason of its scituation on the East of Europe and of Africa is the greatest of the three which compose our Continent It s Length from the West to the East is full two thousand five hundred French Leagues from the Western parts of Natolia to the most Eastern parts of China If we include herein
the Pagan Priests go in Devotion is a Testimony thereof as well as the Crystal Mountains the Forests of Cinnamon and the Rivers of precious Stones which are all to be found there except the Diamond Doubtless the Cinnamon which is gather'd in this Island is by much the best in the World It affords excellent Ivory The fishing for Pearls is perform'd in its neighbourhood upon the Coast of the Isle of Manar This Island abounds so with Rice that they give it their Horses instead of Oats The Pike of Adam afore-mention'd is a high sharp Mountain The Fables of the Countrey say that Adam was there bred and buried that the Lake of Salt Water which is at the top of it is a Flood of the Tears Eve shed during a hundred years for the death of her Son Abel The Inhabitants of Ceylan are of divers Religions active well shap'd black and very ugly Their Forces consist in Elephants which are reckon'd the most couragious and docible of all India from whence it comes they are called Noble They say moreover that the Elephants of other Countreys seeing them do them Reverence and that the Ivory of their Teeth does never turn yellow There was formerly a white Ape in Ceylan in such veneration amongst the Inhabitants that this Ape falling into the hands of the Portugals they offer'd to the King of Portugal tho' in vain three hundred thousand Crowns to purchase him again The Bannians who reckon amongst their false Divinities Ramo one of their Heroes say amongst other follies that he desiring to pass from the Western Peninsula of India into this Island all the Scale-fish join'd together upon the surface of the Sea to make him a Bridge The Streight of Manar is but a Musket-shot broad by reason of the small Islands which are daily made by the stones that are cast in there that they may approach the nearer to a Pagod or Temple of Idolaters which is in the Terra firma of India upon the Coast of the Fishery There are none but small Vessels which can pass through this Streight So narrow a space of Sea makes it believ'd that the Island was formerly joined to the firm Continent The Portugals have nothing more in Ceylan the Hollanders stand now possess'd of most of the Places upon the Sea There are in this Island several Cities with the Title of Kingdom Candea Das sette-Corolas Ceitavaca Galle Colombo Chialo Jaffanatapan Trinquilemale Baticala Jala The King of Candea is the most powerful of the Countrey and a sworn Enemy of the Hollanders He commonly causes his Blacks to burn the Cinnamon that he may render it useless to his Enemies The best Town of Ceylan is Candea towards the midst of the Island The Islands of Sunda THe Streight of Sunda gives it Name to the Isles of Sumatra and Borneo It is the common passage of the Ships which go to China and in the most Oriental Seas The Air of these three Islands is unwholsome and they do not furnish those Provisions for the Mouth that are to be got in the Terra firma of India Their Inhabitants are Pagans in the Inland-Countrey Mahometans upon the Sea-Coasts They have several Kings who besides their Armies by Land have considerable Forces by Sea They furnish rich Merchandizes and chiefly Spiceries which the English Portugals Hollanders and most other Nations fetch from thence Sumatra is the most renown'd Island of the East by reason of its spaciousness and riches It is seven hundred Miles in length and two hundred in breadth with several Mines of Gold It is ten Leagues distant from the Terra firma the Ancients thought it a Peninsula by reason of the great number of small Islands which seem'd to join it to the Continent It has five or six Kings of whom that of Achem is best known to us the others remain at Camper Jambi Menancabo and Palimban They have maintain'd themselves so well in their Islands that the Europeans have not yet been able to hold there any Fortresses There is a Mountain which casts forth fire and flames in like manner with Mount Gibel in Sicily The Pepper which grows in this Island is better than that of the Coast of Malabar because the Soyl is here more humid The Gold is gathered in grain and small pieces in little Ditches by the means of floods of Water In the Inlands of this Isle there are still barbarous Inhabitants who make no difficulty of eating the raw flesh of their Enemies with Salt and Pepper which they always carry about them for that purpose The City of Achem the most considerable of all the Island was much better than it is at this day It is half a League from the Sea in a Plain with a Fortress upon the Banks of a River which is as broad as the Thames but so shallow that it cannot bear ordinary Vessels Java has several small Kings each City having often its own the knowledge of whom is of no great use to us There are amongst others those of Japara Tuban Jortan Panarvan Panarucan and Palambuam Several are Pagans some Mahometans Most own homage to the Grand Materau who resides either at Materau or Japara and who formerly pretended to the Sovereignty of the whole Island There are Oysters taken upon this Coast some of which are said to weigh full three hundred pounds The Island produces such large Reeds that one of these Reeds alone is sufficient to make a small Boat It likewise furnishes excellent Calamba which is the Wood of the Aigle or Aloes Salt which is taken near Jortan Gold and Silver in abundance It s Southern Coast is not yet known Java is one of the greatest Islands of Asia and by reason of its abundance some call it the Compendium of the whole World Its City of Bantam is at the foot of a Hill environ'd with two Hills and cut through by a third The Walls of the City are of Brick flanck'd with several Cannons without full Earth only three foot thick Its Haven is the most spacious and most frequented that is in all the Islands of Sonde There is all manner of Spices Gums and other Commodities of the East-Indies It is the Staple of the English tho' our last advice from thence tell us of great changes and that the King of Bantam's Son assisted by the Hollanders had drove both the Right King and English from thence The French have of late years drove some small Trade in this Town Some Spaniards call Bantam the Geneva of the East Jacatra or Batavia has since the Year 1669. been the Residence of the Councel of the Hollander's East-India Company and the Magazine General of all the rich Merchandises which they draw from the Countries of the East to send into Europe It has a good Cittadel with four regular Bastions Half-Moons and other Works It is in a Bay which being covered by some Islands toward the Sea forms the best Road in all the Indies After this Jortam is one of
the best and most frequented Havens of the Isle of Java Borneo is the greatest Island of all Asia fertile in Merabolans and Camphire It has several good Roads but few good Towns Some say it is the Java Major of Marc-Pol of Venice and Java Minor is that we have just before made mention of The City of Borneo is built upon Posts in the Sea at the Mouth of a River where is a Great and Commodious Haven It has its particular King as well as Bender-Massin Sabas is the Capital of a Kingdom which affords Diamonds The Isles of Japan THere be several Islands known under this name The three most considerable are Niphon Ximo and Xicoco Niphon much larger than the rest is separated from the firm Land by an Arm of the Sea about ten Leagues in breadth some say that it is joyn'd to it but that by the difficulties of the ways the Japans chuse rather to go thither by Sea All these Islands have a temperate Air abound in Rice Pearls and Mines of Silver very much esteemed Their Pearls are large but are found to have too much of Red in them In this Country is a very extraordinary Tree it becomes dry when they wet it and to nourish it they must put into a hole they make in it filings of Iron with Sand very dry and to make its Branches green and gain and exert its Leaves they are to be fastened with a Nail The Japaneses are Idolaters good Soldiers and very patient Notwithstanding the dangers of the neighbouring Sea they have sometimes taken the Peninsula of Corca from the Chineses They have the most happy memories in the World and a very abounding Tongue for each thing they have several names some for Contempt others of Honour some for the Princes others for the People Their Customs and Manners are wholly contrary to ours They drink Warm water and they give this reason for their so doing that the Cold is binding provokes Coughing and the Distempers of the Stomach but that the Warm nourishes the Natural heat of the Body that the passages are opened by it and that the thirst is the more easily quenched They give such Potions to the Sick as are very sweet and odoriferous They never let Blood because they would spare their Blood as the Vehicle of Life They esteem black Teeth the finest They mount on Horseback on the right side Salute by a shaking of the Feet To treat the King of Japan who calls himself Cube or Caesar three Years are said to be required for Preparations and that the Feasts last full three Months The Jesuites Cordeliers Jacobites and Augustines have been very busie here and are said to have considerably promoted their Religion In the Year 1596. there were reckoned to be six hundred thousand Christians since the Year 1614. they have been extraordinarily persecuted and none dare make Profession of Christianity now there but in private In the Year 1636. the Jesuites the Spaniards and Portugals were entirely driven thence where the Hollanders alone have had the Liberty of Commerce because when they came into those Parts they forbid their Men above all things speaking of Religion They have several particular Tones or Princes the most part of whom confine their Power within the Circle of a Town This Custom is generally receiv'd that when one of those Tones loses his Dominions his Subjects lose likewise their Estates The Capital City is Meaco which is said to contain sixty thousand Housholds Yendo is a Royal Castle Sazay a famous Sea-Port In the Year 1658. a Fire happened at Yendo which occasioned the loss of above forty eight Millions of Gold The Spaniards Sail along these Islands when they return from the Philippines to Mexico and Peru. The Hollanders are said to go now to Japan by the North passing West of the Land of Jeso The Philippine Islands THe King of Spain Philip the Second has given his Name to these Islands which are to the number of forty or fifty this is to be understood of the greatest for if we reckon'd all the small ones they would be found to be above eleven thousand Most of these Isles are fruitful furnish Gold wherewith the Inhabitants pay their Tribute The Council of Spain for the Indies has often propos'd to abandon them by reason of the too great expence of the Garrisons that are necessary to be kept there because they contribute to the Commerce that is driven with China and the Molucco's his Catholick Majesty has thought fit to keep them The Islanders are valiant and defend their Freedoms in several places Lusson otherwise New Castile is the greatest of all the Philippine Islands The City of Manilhe which gives its Name to the whole body of these Islands is the abode of a Governour and an Archbishop 'T is small but beautiful and well fortified the two thirds of its compass are along a River which carries Barks and the third part towards the Sea Besides the Spaniards and Indians it has many Chineses who have taken refuge there as in a Town where is the Magazine of one of the richest Commerces in the World Cavite two Leagues from the Town is the principal Haven secure from great winds and defended by two Forts The Bay is forty Leagues in compass where they have the conveniency of building great Galeons but it is beaten by the Northern Winds the bottom is bad and the entrance difficult Here did the Spaniards detain a French Bishop Titular of Heliopolis to make him afterwards take a turn round the World before that he return'd into Europe from whence that Prelate is departed for the third time with the Apostolical Missions of the See of Rome The Isle of Mindanao was not subdued by the Spaniards till a long while after that of Lusson that of Paragoya obeys still their own Kings that of Tendaye bears the Name of Philippine as having been first discover'd Cebu and Matan are known the first for Magellan's arrival there in the Year 1520 the last for the death of the said Magellan This was the first time that the Voyage had been perform'd round the World which was done in the Ship of this Captain who had put himself into the Service of the King of Castile for that the King of Portugal whose Subject he was had refus'd half a Ducate a Month above his constant Pay The Spaniards who sail to the Philippines do not go through our Hemisphere They go thither by Mexico and the South-Sea For which reason they would fain comprehend these Islands as well as the Moluccoes in the bounds of their West-Indies which they extend for that reason as far as Malacca The Moluccoe Islands THere are five of these Isles with the particular Name of the Moluccoes in the head of several others much greater which receive from them their Name These five Isles are very small and in a situation near the Equinoctial Line where it is unwholsom living for those who go to settle themselves there
They have several peculiar Kings the Hollanders have some Fortresses In the last Age Charles the Fifth Emperour sent Magellan to discover 'em who to arrive there steer'd the Western Course quite contrary to that which the Kings of Portugal had caus'd to be taken since they were engaged to the Portugals who laid claim to 'em as having been there by the common way which was that of the East The Government of these Islands after that was join'd to the Manilhes and the Commerce of 'em was left to the Portugals From hence are transported Nutmegs Cloves and Ginger Ternate the greatest of the five small Islands is eight Leagues in circuit and has a Mountain which casts forth fire the others are Tider very considerable Motir Machian and Bachian The Moluccoes are good Soldiers commonly of the Mahometan Religion Besides the Kings of Ternate Tidor and Bachian there are several others in the Celebes Islands and in Gilolo The King of Macassar in the Celebes has lately caused his City to be fortified He has always given free entrance in his Ports to the Ships of strangers In the Year 1661 he treated with the Hollanders East-India Company and abandoned the Portugals In the Year 1668 the Hollanders oblig'd him to trade with none but them with exclusion to other Nations The state of this Prince would be pretty temperate if the heats were not insupportable in the day time Formerly the Inhabitants of Macassar are humane flesh for which reason the Kings of the Moluccoes and others of their neighbourhood sent their Criminals thither Celebes fertil in Rice and the Land of Papous affords Gold Ambergreese and the Birds of Paradise Banda the only Island in the World which produces Nutmegs and Mace is an Island towards the South of the Moluccoes on the East of that of Amboyna with five or six other smaller Islands It has a Volcan or Mountain which casts forth flames which in the Year 1615 spoil'd all the Artillery in the Island Amboyna fruitful in Cloves likewise on the South of the Moluccoes gives it Name to some other small neighbouring Islands It was taken in the Year 1603 from the Portugals by the Hollanders who have at this day several Fortresses there It 's their best Establishment next that of Batavia They have treated with the Inhabitants of the Island so as these last are oblig'd to receive no Commerce but with the Hollanders Europe EVROPE one of the four great Parts of the World is also one of the most considerable if we respect either the Potency of its States the great Number Beauty and excellent Polity of its Cities its great Commerce the goodness of its Air and its prodigious Fertility 'T was Europe that gave Alexanders and Caesars to the Universe that has had within its Boundaries the principal part of the Roman and Grecian Monarchies and which at this day does send Colonies into other parts of the World For this reason it seems to be represented with a Crown on its Head when it is shewn under the form of a Woman It lies in the North-West of our Continent all in the Northern temperate Zone This exempts it from the insupportable heats which reign in Africk and which the most Southern parts of Asia undergo It s Air is equally mild unless it be in its most Northern Countreys The Ground affords all manner of Grains and Fruits It s length to take it from the Cape St. Vincent towards the West of Spain unto the Parts of Muscovy bordering upon the Mouths of the River Obi exceeds twelve hundred Leagues or is about 3800 Miles It s Breadth that is to say its Extent from the South to the North from Cape Mapatan in Morea to the most Northern Promontory of Norway is full eight hundred Toward the North Europe has the Northern Ocean call'd Frozen by reason of its Ice the Western or Atlantick Ocean towards the West the Mediterranean Sea towards the South and beyond that Sea Africa Now the Bounds which towards the Levant separate it from Asia in remounting the Mediterranean-Sea towards the North are as follows 1. The Archipelago or the White otherwise Aegean Sea 2. The Streight of Gallipoli call'd the Dardanelloes and an Arm of St. George otherwise nam'd the Hellespont two Miles broad 3. The Sea of Marmora otherwise Propontis 4. The Streight of Constantinople or the Chanel of the greater Sea otherwise the Thracian-Bosphorus 5. The Black or Major Sea otherwise Euxinus 6. The Streight of Caffa or Vospero otherwise the Mouth of St. John formerly the Cimmerian Bosphorus 7. The Limen or the Sea of Zabaca and Tana formerly Palus Mcotides 8. The River of Dom or Tana formerly Tanais 9. A Line drawn from the most Eastern winding of the Dom unto the Northern Ocean near Obi. Some draw this Line more towards the West from the Sources of the Dom unto the White Sea which is in Muscovy and make Europe very small Others contain the Conquests of the Great Duke of Muscovy which he made in the Asiatick Tartary Not to confound the true Limits of Asia and Europe together we may say that both the Czar and the Grand Seignior have Territories in each of those Great Parts of the World Europe is to be considered both in Terra firma and in Islands if we make the Numeration of its Parts according to their situation 1. We find towards the West France Spain Portugal three Hereditary Kingdoms 2. Towards the South three Regions belonging to divers Sovereigns the first comprehends the Countreys bordering upon France which were almost all formerly part of Gaule and whereof the greatest part has been reunited in our time in France the Low-Countreys that is to say Holland and Flanders La Franche Compte Suisserland and Savoy The second of these Regions is Italy and the third Germany 3. Towards the North of Europe there is Denmark and Sueden Hereditary Kingdoms Norway is added to the Crown of Denmark as belonging to the same King 4. Towards the East are Poland Muscovy Turkey three the Greatest States of Europe Under the Name of European Turkey is comprehended Turkey properly so taken Greece Hungary Transylvania Walachia Moldavia lesser Tartary the Republick of Ragusa The Isles of Europe are in the Ocean in the Mediterranean in the Baltick-Sea The Isles of the Ocean are Great Britain which comprehends England and Scotland Ireland and other that are smaller all under the Name Britanick Sicily Sardaigna Corsica and Candia are the greatest of the Mediterranean-Sea The Isles of the Baltick are not considerable in respect of us The most renowned Mountains of Europe are the Pyrenees and the Alpes towards the Confines the Cevennes about the midst of France Sierra-Morena in Spain the Apennine in Italy Parnassus in Greece Crapax between Poland and Hungary the Riphees in Moscovy Mount-Gibel otherwise call'd Aetna in Sicily Amongst the most considerable Rivers there are the Tage the Guadiana the Guadalquivir the Eber in Spain The Po the Tyber in Italy
having steered much the same Course these Fleets divide themselves at their departure from the most Eastern of the Antille's Islands that of New-Spain makes for the Cape St. Anthony in the Western part of the Isle of Cuba and then gets to the Port of Vera Cruz by a Northernly Course in Winter by a Southern Course in Summer From thence the Merchants go by Land to the City de los Angelos and to Mexico The Port of Vera Cruz is defended by a Fortress it is much more so by the Flats and Rocks which are at its entrance About three Months time is spent in the way from Spain to Vera Cruz. The Ships which are bound for the Honduras and Guatimala after having sail'd South of the Isle of Hispaniola steer to the North of Jamaica and disembark at Truxillo or at the Golfo Dulce which are places of the Province of Honduras Those who go to the Manilhes after being arriv'd in the City of Mexico go and embark at the Port of Acapulco or in that of Natividad both upon the South-Sea They bring from the Manilhes much Riches and far more precious Merchandizes than those which are carried from Europe to Mexico The Port of Acapulco is spacious sheltered from Winds defended with a Castle and about fourscore Leagues distant from the City of Mexico which sends its Merchandizes upon Mules The Fleet of Cartagena after having pass'd in fight of the Islands steers it Course towards Cartagena where it disembarks for the new Kingdom of Granada The Ships destin'd for Peru go to Porto Belo where they discharge the Merchandizes of Europe that are carried by land to Panama or else for a good space of the way by the River of Charge which lies in the Isthmus of the two America's At Panama those Merchandizes are embark'd for Lima or Arica the nearest Sea Port to Potosi This rich Commerce has been much endammaged for these late years by the Free-booters and Boucaniers Corsairs of the American Islands To return into Europe these Fleets assemble all at the Havana in the Isle of Cuba the best Harbour of the West-Indies 'T is very Commodious and defended with three Castles From thence they steer along the Chanel of Bahama and after having ranged the Coasts they pass by the South of the Tercera's in Winter by the North of the same Islands in Summer for the kenning either the Cape of Finisterre or that of St. Vincent and after that make for the Port of Cadiz or that of St. Mary as they did formerly to that of St. Lucar The ancient way they took in their return was at the departure from Cartagena and from St. Martha to pass to the West of the Isle Hispaniola to the East of Jamaica and Cuba to get loose from all the Antilles by the Chanel between Mayaguana and the Caiques for the getting into the main Ocean and have there the conveniency of the East Winds The Spaniards can no longer with safety steer this Course the English remaining Masters of Jamaica the French of Tortue and several Colonies in the Western part of Hispaniola The French who are bound for the West-Indies steer their Course either towards Canada or towards the Antilles or towards Cayene and the Terra firma which is near it When they go to Canada they make a Traverse of about seven hundred Leagues through the Ocean pass to the North or to the South of New-found-land and so to the great River If they go to the Antilles or to Cayene they go and ken the Canaries and then steer their way Southwards until that in the Torrid Zone they have the conveniency of the Eastern Winds which they fail not to meet with there The Courses which the Europeans Steer in their Way to the East-Indies UNder the Name of the East-Indies we understand the Coasts of Africa and Asia with all the Islands and Peninsula's of our Hemisphere which are in the Indian-Sea beyond the Cape of Good Hope The several Companies of Europe establish'd for Commerce have extended or drawn back suitably to their interest the Lines of the Meridians which include the Lands contain'd in that space and have for that purpose Charts to their advantage enlarging thereby the Countrys which fell to their share Most of the Countreys of the East-Indies are the finest the most delicious and without contradiction the richest of the whole World The Europeans who go by Sea have sought out all imaginable ways to get thither with ease which the Portugals happily effected in the foregoing Age the Hollanders have rendred themselves so powerful in those Parts in our time that they would fain play there the Masters of Commerce But the English thought fitting to share with 'em in it And the French have shewn what a willing mind they have that way if they had but all the Qualities necessary for such like Enterprizes The Portugal Tongue is in use upon the Coasts of the East-Indies When that People return into the East-Indies through the Dominions of the Turk they lay aside that Tongue at Bagdad to make use of Lingua Franca which is Turkish and a corrupted Italian The French at their going out of the Ports of France steer towards the South-East unto the heighth of Cape Finisterre in Spain Thence they go Southerly passing into the East and in sight of the Isle of Madera or much rather to the East of that of Porto-Santo They come in ken of the Isle of Palma one of the Canaries when they are about ten Leagues Westward They pass also sometimes between Teneriff and the great Canary then they must carefully avoid the Flat of the Savages to the South of Porto-Santo there are several small Islands considered as a Bank because they are environ'd with Rocks Afterwards they still steer their Course towards the South and pass between the Isles of Cap-Verd and the Terra firma of Africk about thirty or forty Leagues East of those Islands They do not approach nearer than a hundred Leagues to the Coast of Guinea by reason the Currents of the Sea bear thither and that there are troublesom Calms nor do they come nearer the Coast of Brasil than they do that of Guinea for the avoiding the Abrolhes which begin towards the Isle St. Catherina if they did otherwise they would find themselves obliged to return into Europe They steer a middle Course between the Isle of Ascension and that of Trinity which are at twenty Degrees of Southern Latitude After which they go towards the South-East until that in thirty two Degrees of the same Southern Latitude they be on the North of the Isles of Tristan de Cunha which they dare not come near because the Sea is commonly very high there these Islands are seven in number and one of 'em is much greater than the rest By steering after that East South-East they meet with the signs of the Cape of Good Hope which are of a green Herb called Sargass and of Trombes which are pieces of Reeds
to have admirably well called this River Anas by reason that it enters and rises out of the Earth as a Duck does in the water Some Moderns say this River is hidden by the Mountains others do assure us that these are Breakin gs up of the Ground which are made for the watering the neighbouring Lands that are very lean and hungry Certain it is that this happens towards the Sources of Guadiana and not towards Merida as the old Carts represent it This is one of the Wonders of Spain the two others are a City incircled with Fire by Walls of Flint which is Madrid a Bridge over which Water is seen to run which is the Aqueduct of Segovia One may say of the Cities of this State that they have some appellation for Excellence Sevil the trading Grenada the great Valencia the fair Barcellonna the rich Saragossa the satisfied Valle dolid the Genteel Toledo the ancient Madrid the Royal City There are eight Arch-Bishopricks forty five Bishopricks the Arch-Bishopricks are Toledo Burgos Compostella Sevil Grenada Valencia Saragossa and Taragonna King Richard the First establish'd there the Roman Catholick Religion which is the only one allowed of in the Kingdoms the Inquisition having been introduced against all other Beliefs Some Churches are at Toledo where they still perform the Mus-Arabick Office which is that which the Christians who liv'd amongst the Arabians used Several of their Sea-Ports are very considerable the Passage Saint Andre la Corune Cadiz Cartagena Alicant c. There are reckoned in Spain fifteen great Parts most of which had the Title of Kingdoms in the times of the Moors Five upon the Ocean Biscaya Asturia Galicia Portugal that hath its King Andalousia Five upon the Mediterranean-Sea Granada Murcia Valencia Catalonia the Isles of Majorca and Minorca Five within the Inland of the Country Aragon Navarre the two Castiles Leon. Biscay has Woods which furnish it with the conveniency of building Ships It has so great a quantity of Mines and Iron-Forges that the Spaniards call it the Defence of Castile It is separated from France by the small River of Bidassoa which forms a little Island Celebrated for the conclusion of the Peace in the Year 1659. between the Crown of Spain and France The Biscayans who are the ancient Cantabrians have great Priviledges and boast of never having been subdued The Land as well as in the Kingdom of Navarre is well Cultivated because there is neither Tax nor Tythes nor Right of Importation It s Capital Cities are Bilbao St. Sebastian both driving a great Trade especially in Wooll Great Ships cannot come up to Bilbao but at High-Water The Port of Saint Sebastian is of easie access its entrance is defended with two Castles that of the East upon a Height that of the West on a Level upon a Rock Saint Andero and le Passage are two excellent Sea-Ports in this Country Fonterabia the strongest place Guatari the Country of Sebastian Can he who first went round the World in the Ship called the Victory Asturia breeds Horses much esteemed for their strength it is the Title of the Prince of Spain whose younger Brothers are called Infants since the Reign of King John the First It has serv'd for a retreat to the Gothick Kings and to several Bishops during the irruption of the Moors wherefore Oviedo its Capital City is called the City of Kings and Bishops Galicia is more Populous than Fertile Compostella is known for the Pilgrimages of those who go thither to visit the Relick of Saint James the Patron of the Spaniards la Corune for the goodness and spaciousness of its Harbour The Silver Fleet rich above thirty Millions arrived there in the Year 1661. to avoid meeting with the English who for the surprizing it lay at watch upon all the Avenues of Cadiz They reckon in this Country above forty other Havens whereof that of Vigo is the most considerable Andalousia is so beautiful so abounding in Wines Corn Olives that it passes for the Granary and Store-house-of the Kingdom Sevil is the Magazine of the Riches of the New-World 'T is a Town so well Built that there is a Spanish Proverb which runs Qui en no ha visto Sevilla no ha visto maravilla It still keeps the remains of the City Italica the Native Town of Adrian Corduba which gave Lucan and the two Seneca's to Antiquity was much more considerable under the Moors than it is at present It s principal Church was formerly the greatest Mosque of the Mahometans after that of Mecca San-Lucar at the Mouth of Guadalquivir is a Town of great Trade The Ships which bring Gold and Silver from the West-Indies have sometimes cast Anchor near the Tower of the Port which is sometimes call'd the Tower of Gold This casting Anchor is more commonly performed at Cadiz and the Port Saint Mary which is near it Xeres de la Fontera is in the Neighbourhood of the Place where the Moors entirely defeated the Goths in the Year 712. After which they had the means of Ravaging all Spain as they did The Spaniards have been observ'd to have made no scruple of having Alliance with those Infidels because some of their Divines have maintain'd that they might be made use of as of Horses and Elephants Gibraltar gives its Name to the famous Streight which communicates the Ocean and Mediterranean-Seas and which separates Europe from Africa Palos is the Haven where Columbus embarked for the first Discovery of the New-World Cadiz as we have said is the most usual place of Resort for the Fleets which come from the West-Indies by reason of the conveniency of its Harbour It is of such importance that the Emperor Charles the Fifth recommended the preservation of it above all things to his Son Philip the Second with that of Flushing and la Goulete Antiquity shews here a Temple dedicated to Hercules with two Pillars either of Brass or Silver which are said to be the Pillars of that Hero as well as the two Mountains of the Streights of Gibraltar Julius Caesar is said to have wept in this Temple at the remembrance of the Prodigious Conquests which Alexander the Great had made at the Age of thirty three Years and whereof the consideration carried him to such high Enterprises as that of Xenophon's Cyrus had done Scipio The Name of Andalusians was given to the Moriscoes who were driven out of Andalousia and Granada that of Tagarins to those of Aragon and Catalonia The Kingdom of Granada under its last Moorish Kings who lost it in the Year 1421. was much Richer and more Populous than it is at present it was also much more fertile The Moors had a thousand Inventions to Water their Lands with Rivulets and Trenches by causing Water to be brought thither from great Ponds which they made in the Mountainâ— which are at the foot of la Sierra-Navada The Situation of this Kingdom and the Disposition of its Towns are conformable to the Description Julius Caesar gives
possessed by the Crown of Sueden Of Denmark THE Danes make the Name of their Country come from Dan one of the Successors of Noah They make all their Kings to descend from him to Christian the Fifth now Reigning Grandson of Christian the Fourth who had the happiness to sway the Scepter above sixty Years The King of Denmark commands Countries of vast extent which for the most part are cold by reason of their Situation towards the North full of Mountains and Woods and Ice and Snow Of this Number are the Kingdom of Norway Greenland the Isles of Island and of Fero. Towards the North of America there be some Lands which bear the Name of New-Denmark Some Fortresses in Guinea Krankebar in Coromandel in the East-Indies acknowledg subjection to his Majesty of Denmark What is particularly comprehended under the Name of Denmark is the best inhabited the finest and the most fertile It is an Hereditary Kingdom since the Year 1660. before it was Elective the Nobility being now stript of the Prerogative it formerly possessed The King of Denmark styles himself Count of Oldembourg and Delmenhorst as the Eighth King of that Family into which the Crown of Denmark came in the Year 1448. by the Election of Christian I. He is now in possession of it and caused to be built there in the Year 1681. a new City with a Sea-Port under the Name of Christiana The Opinion of Luther is followed in Denmark since the Reign of King Frederiek Elected in the Year 1523. There is no great Trade drove in Denmark but there is a fine Revenue arising from the Customs which the Merchandizes pay that pass through the Streight of the Sound the Key of the Baltick-Sea This Streight is a Mile in breadth and the Course which the Ships there steer with the most safety and conveniency is nearer Cronembourg than Elsenbourg which belongs to the Crown of Sueden This Revenue is no longer so considerable since the Suedes do not pay there now what they did formerly and it would be less if the design was brought about that has been entertain'd of joyning the Baltick Sea to the Elve by the Lake of Swerin if the transportation of Commodities be continued by Land from Hambourg to Lubeck and if the Elector of Brandenbourg brings to perfection the Chanel which he has begun at Mulras for the transporting the Merchandizes of Poland and Silesia from the Oder into the Elve Ships of ordinary Bulk which take their way through the Streight of the Belt cast Anchor before Nibourg and there pay the Impost This Streight is broader but not so deep as that of the Sound by which means the Sea is there very rough the great Ships meet with several Islands there and do not willingly steer their Course that way which they take more directly and more conveniently through the Sound The King of Denmark raises also a great Revenue from the Cattel of his Dominions which afford 'em both very fat and in great plenty The Germans carry away from thence every Year above fifty thousand Oxen into their own Country Other Foreigners go into Denmark to buy Horses Such abundance is there of Deer that three or four hundred are sometimes killed in one Chace alone the Danes are us'd to salt and barrel 'em up for the victualling as they say the King's Ships the hunting of those Creatures is commonly perform'd in Chariots or a sort of running Waggons by reason these Machines do not fright away the Deer The Ports of Denmark are the Peninsula of Jutland and the Islands near the Streight of the Belt Schonen was yielded up to the Crown of Sueden by the late Treaties of Peace Jutland was the abode of Cimbres who have made Conquest in most of the Regions of Europe and who before they were defeated by Marius gave furious Alarums to the Romans There is somewhat Martial found at this day in the Danish Ladies they love Hunting and receive at Table rather than in their Chambers those persons who make 'em visits In Jutland there be four Diocesses towards the North Ripen Arhusen Alborg Viborg two Dutchies towards the South Sleswick and Holstein Those who inhabit near the Coast are at small Charges in making their Houses for that the Wind does often carry there such drifts of Sand as to constrain 'em to get out at the top of their Houses Kolding is the place of Custom for the Cattel Frederic-Ode which is now called Frederic for the rendring the termination of it the more different from that of Frederick-Ohrt in Holstein is in so important a situation that Charles Gustavus King of Sueden having taken it in the late Wars had then the means of making his Army pass over the Ice into all the Neighbouring Islands and go give the Alarum to Copenhagen which was an Action as bold as that never the like was heard of this Prince made the Cavalry march and lead the Artillery over great Arms of the Sea where before a Man on foot would have been afraid of venturing himself True it is that formerly some Battels have been fought there upon the Ice but commonly the War was made in those Parts by Land in Winter and by Sea in Summer The Dutchy of Sleswick was the ancient abode of the English It belongs to the Duke of Holstein who has his Residence at Gottorp and holds of the Crown of Denmark The City of Sleswick has the remains of the Re-intrenchments which were made there at divers times to hinder entrance into the Peninsula One of the late Dukes of Holstein caused Frederickstadt to be built upon the Eider with design of setling there the Guild-Trade He sent in the Year 1633. for that purpose a signal Embassie into Russia and Persia whereof we have both a fine and an exact Relation drawn up by Olearius Secretary of the Embassie Holstein otherwise Holsatia belongs to the King of Denmark and to the Duke of Holstein who have hitherto done Homage for it to the Emperor as Fief of the Empire and have had alternately the administration of Justice the Session in the Assemblies of the Empire and in all the Rights of Regality By the Peace of the Empire with Sueden Protection is granted the Duke against the King of Denmark which was of no use to him in the late Wars and he was only re-established in his Dominions by the Peace of Nimmighen His Riches consist in the Fishery and in the Transportation of Swine which are fatned in the Woods Some Lands in this Country bring forth for three years together the three years following they are covered with Water by the means of Ponds that are made to overflow The Principal Town is Riel which is near the Port of Christianpreis which was Fortified and near which has lately been built the Fortress of Frederick-Ohrt The greatest Isles of Denmark are Zealand and Fionia Copenhagen in Zealand is a Town of great Commerce the usual abode of the King It has a fine Castle-Royal