and confessed that after it they were holy and so innocent that if they should die then they were secure that their Soul should go immediately out of their Mouth into Heaven and eternal life To this I answered them That I expected Remission of Sin no other ways but only in the Name and for the Merits of our Lord Jesus Christ and that I had not undertaken this Pilgrimage as they did to get any thing by it as by a good Work nor to visit Stone and Wood to obtain Indulgence or with opinion to come here nearer to Christ because all these things are directly contrary to Scripture As the Lord himself saith Time will come that you shall neither on this Mount nor at Jerusalem worship the Father And he also forewarneth us of these that say Lo Christ is here Christ is there lo he is in the desarts he is in the Chamber that we should not believe them nor go out but rather confide on his promise that he will be with us to the end of the World and where two or three are met together in his Name that he will be in the middle of them Wherefore our dear Lord Christ hath no need because he is himself present with them that believe in him of any Vicegerent that should on Earth usurp such Power and take such Honor and Glory to himself as to give Indulgence at his pleasure because all these things belong only to God When I saw that they did not much mind this my Discourse I let them alone in their Opinions but yet I saw here and there all these places and considered by my self what our Lord Christ had by his bitter Sufferings and Death by his Glorious Resurrection and Ascension procured us from his Heavenly Father When the Pilgrims came to one of the above-mentioned places of Mount Zion and had said their Prayers they went into it and contemplated it fell down again before it and kissed it with great Submission and Devotion pulled out several pieces viz. Beads and Rosaries turned of the Wood of the Trees of the Mount of Olives some wrought Points Laces c. tied together in Bundles to touch the holy place with it they also knocked off in some places where they might some small Pieces to take them along with them as consecrated Sanctuaries to distribute them amongst their Friends at their Return All the while that they were thus busie I considered rather standing behind what our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ had suffered for us in these places how he had humbled himself and came down to us miserable Sinners to help us and to extol us that were fallen and to make us free of the heavy Burthen of our Sins how he was led before the Seat of Judicature of Caiaphas that we might not be led before the severe Judgment Seat of the Almighty God that he suffered himself to be led captive and bound to deliver us from the Bands of the Devil and Death and to save us from the Jaws of Hell and as Esaias saith in his 53d Chapter Verse 5. He was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed But that our dear Lord Christ was delivered to the High Priest and Scribes c. for our sakes and that he was obedient to his Heavenly Father unto Death even the Death of the Cross to deliver us from the Curse of God and eternal Death And to make us certain that he had procured these his unspeakable Benefits and Heavenly Treasures for us and that we really should be partakers thereof before his passion he did institute his holy Supper upon the Mount in the large upper Room wherein he doth not only communicate them to us but giveth us also if we receive the holy broken Bread and the blessed Cup with true Faith according to the Institution his real Body and Blood to feed us to eternal Life where we then shall sit with our Lord Christ and all the elected ones after this life as Coheirs in the high upper Room of his Heavenly Father at his Table to eat and drink it with him anew And that we might heartily comfort our selves with these his unspeakable Benefits he also after his Ascension sent us on the Day of Pentecost his Holy Ghost the Spirit of Truth to incline our Hearts to believe stedfastly all that he hath promised us in his holy Word and Sacraments So the sending of the Holy Ghost which was long before predicted by the holy Prophets was fullfilled on this Mount whereof we read in several places of the holy Scripture viz. Joel ii 28. And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh c. For on mount Zion and in Jerusalem must be a Deliverance according to the promise of the Lord. And Isaiah ii 3. Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord c. for out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem So that the Preaching of Christ's holy Gospel and his Kingdom did begin from Zion and Jerusalem and was afterwards spread abroad by his holy Apostles throughout the whole World Grant then O our dear Lord Christ unto us thy Holy Ghost that he may keep us in the Knowledge of thy holy Word and that he may so strengthen and comfort us in it that we may freely and without any fear confess it before the Face of our Enemies and Adversaries and if they offend and prosecute us that we may overcome our Crosses and Persecutions with patience that thy Honor may be advanced and our Constancy appear Grant us also that he may plant these thy Graces in our Hearts that we may comfort our selves with the hope and expectation of those Treasures which thou hast by thy Death and Passion merited and purchased for us So that we may abide in thy Tabernacle and dwell in thy holy Hill for ever Amen Psalm xv 1. CHAP. V. Of the Mount Moria and the Glorious Temple of Solomon WIthin the City near to Mount Zion lieth another called Moria divided from it by the Valley of Tiropaeon which is now filled up and made even with the top as I have said before that hereabout is hardly any Depth or Unevenness to be seen This as well as the other meets with the Rivulet or Brook of Kidron towards the North and on both of them the Town lieth on the sides or descent This is very famous in the Holy Scripture as you read Genesis xxii That the pious Patriarch Abraham was ready to offer his Son Isaac on this Hill for a Burnt-Offering to the Lord whereon Melchisedec the first Founder and King of the Town Salem and Priest of the Almighty God did first build a Temple and therefore named the City Jerusalem So we read in the Second Book of Chronicles Chap. iii. That on the same holy Mount
Shillings that was bigger than an Hungarian Bullock Thus much I had to relate of Bagdet its Situation Trade and strange Plants so much as I could find and see at that improper time Being that I expected daily Company to go with me to Aleppo again by the way of several Towns and not straight through the sandy Wildernesses a Persian that I got acquainted withal in the mean while did inform me that the Sophi King of Persia had several Unicorns at Samarcand which he kept there and also in two Islands Alc and Tylos which lay from Samarcand nine Days Journey further towards the East near Spaam some Griffins by them called Alera which were sent him out of Africa from Prester-John They are a great deal bigger and higher have a red coloured Head a bearded Bill and a Neck over-grown with Feathers a thick Body black Wings like unto an Eagle and a long Tail like a Lion and Feet like a Dragon they are very eager for Flesh while they are yet young the King taketh them along with him and goeth often thither for Sport and Pleasures sake but as they grow up and strong he hath them chained about their Necks very strongly I did believe this the sooner because he could also tell me what Trees and Fruit grow there and chiefly those whereof Theophrastus maketh mention and out of him Pliny He also gave me an Account besides these of others that grow out of Persia in several places as of the Tree Palla which Theophrastus and Pliny mention which the Wise men did eat in the Eastern Countries and of the Musa of the Arabians whereof the former bear delicate sweet-tasted and very wholesome Fruit by them called Wac which are round reddish and as big as the Indian Melons But whether this be the noble Fruit Mangas whereof Clusius maketh mention in his History of Indian Plants which for Goodness sake is carried over Sea into Persia I leave to the learned to decide But the Musa which is as aforesaid also common in Syria beareth a great deal smaller Fruit which is smooth yellowish and bended almost like unto Citruls in shape These are also of a sweetish taste and therefore the pleasanter to eat but are very unwholesome so that Alexander the Great was forced to forbid his Souldiers to eat of them The same Persian did also inform me of the Poysonous Fruit Persea which is still known to them by the Name of Sepha which they esteem very little and also the Peaches called Het which are not so poysonous as some say as the above-mentioned for they esteem the Kernels thereof to be good wholesome Physick But yet that they are not esteemed by them the chief Reason is that they perswade themselves that Nimrod who was a great Magician or Necromancer poysoned them by his Black-Art and that since that time they could not be eaten wherefore they have not been esteemed ever since This I thought convenient to mention rather for the sake of those that have a mind to travel that if one or more of them should go into these Countries they might have occasion to make a more accurate enquiry after these things CHAP. IX Which way I came in my return from Bagdet through Assyria the Confines of Persia and the Province of the Curters to the Town Carcuch Capril c. and at length to the River Tigris to Mossel that Famous Town which was formerly called Nineve WHen hindered in my Travels for several weighty Reasons I was forced to go back again I looked up my Goods as I was advised by my good Friend the Christian whereof I made mention here before and fitted my self for my Journey I got for my Companions three Jews one whereof came down the Euphrates with me the others came from Ormutz for I could get no others to travel with me to Aleppo We set out on the 16th of December of the 74th Year for Carcuch distant Six Days Journey in the Confines of Media on the other side of the River Tigris which is still called by them in their Language Hidekel By the way we first saw some well-tilled Fields and above us on the River Tigris some Villages so that I could not but think I should meet with a Country that had plenty of Corn Must and Honey c. as it was commended by the the Arch-koob bearer of the King of Assyria and compared even with the Land of Promise but the further we went the greater grew the Wildernesses so that we were forced to lodge all Night in the Fields The next Morning there appeared a great way off more little Villages belonging to the King of Persia But we went on through the Desarts and my Fellow Travellers told me that they extend themselves to Persia and Media where we lost our way and came in the Evening into a Bog which hindered us so much that I because their Sabbath began whereon according to their Laws they must not travel was forced to stay there with them all Night long in it and also the next Day in great Showers of Rain not without great Inconveniency and Trouble During our staying there I look'd about me for some Plants but found none because they did but first begin to sprout but in the moist Places some wild Galengal with great round Roots by the Inhabitants called Soedt and by both Latines and Grecians Cyperus The 19th Day after we were not without trouble got out of the Mire our way extended its self still further through desolate Places and Desarts I thought of Julian that impious Roman Emperour and of his Army which when it went against the Persians and was very numerous over the River Tigris near to Ctesiphon he was by an Ancient Persian that was a Prisoner decoyed into these Desarts where he was beaten and routed by the Persians In this great Fight when the Emperour himself was mortally wounded he took up as Nicephorus and Eusebius say a handfull of Blood and flung into the Air yielded the Victory and said Then Galilean so he called Christ in whom he at first believed and afterwards denied and persecuted thou hast beaten and conquered me After we had lived for several Days very hardly in the Desarts and spent our time in Misery we came on the 20th by Scherb a Village over an Ascent into another more fruitful and well tilled Country situated on the Confines of Persia and for the most part inhabited by them which we could conjecture by the common Language Now though travelling through the Confines uses commonly to be very dangerous yet I thank God we met with none so that we without any Stop or Hinderance reached that Night the 21st of December to Schilb a curious Village where we rested all Night and refreshed our selves From thence we went on through large and fruitful Valleys but I found nothing for it was but just at the beginning of plowing time that was worthy to be mentioned for the Plants did but just begin
Houses to visit one another and sometimes in the Summer they sleep on the tops of them And so it may very well be that the four Men of which we read in St. Mark the 2 d. and St. Luke the 5 th Chapter that carried the Paralytick Man and could not come to Christ because of the Crowd of the People did carry him on the tops of the Houses and so let him down through the Roof into the Room where our Saviour was They have not great Doors Gates or Comings in from the Street as we have in our Country except some few Merchants Houses because they use neither Wagons nor Carts wherefore they have only a little low Door sometimes not above three Foot high so that you cannot go into them without stooping In a great many Houses the Comings in are so dark and deep that one would think he were going into a Cave or Cellar but when you are come through this Entry into them you see in some great Court-yards wherein are Cisterns to wash themselves in in others large Halls paved and therein some Ascents that go up two or three Steps paved delicately with Marble which they keep very clean and adorned with rich Tapestry whereupon they sit and this is covered with a large Arch left open at one side that the Turks may chiefly in the Summer sit underneath them very airy Their Doors and Houses are generally shut with wooden Bolts which are hollow within and they unlock them with wooden Keys about a Span long and about the thickness of a Thumb into this Key they have driven five six seven eight or nine short Nails or strong Wires in such an order and distance that they just fit others that are within the Lock and so pull them forwards or shut them backwards as they please The Streets are but narrow paved with broad Stones and have chiefly those that are great Roads a Channel in the middle of them about ten Inches broad so that a laden Camel may walk in them with ease or that a Man may step over them which they say are made that the laden Camels or Asses c. that daily arrive in great Caravans may be obliged to walk in them one after another in good order that People may walk in the Streets without being disturbed by them And that these Channels may be kept clean and dry they have in some places some hidden drains covered with broad Stones that as well the Rain-water as that of the Wells may run away through them They cannot brag of any fine Buildings save only the Mosques or Temples into which no Christian must come except he hath a mind to be circumcised and so turn a Mammeluck or Renegado And also some great Houses by the Natives called Champ or Carvatscharas Caravanseries wherein are a great many Shops or Ware-houses and Chambers by one another as is in stately Cloisters in the middle thereof is a great Court-yard where the strange Merchants that daily bring their Merchandizes in great Caravans do Inn considering that the Turks keep no other Inns. The Inns commonly belong to the Grand Seignor or his Basha which they build in several Towns to get themselves a yearly Revenue as the Venetians do in Venice out of the German House Besides these Buildings they have also Hot-Houses or Bagnios which are so glorious and sumptuous that they far exceed all their other Buildings in Beauty wherefore they are very well worth seeing And because the Turks Moors and Arabs c. according to their Mahumetan Laws are bound to bath themselves often to wash themselves clean from their manifold Sins which they daily commit but chiefly when they are going to their Mosques therefore they have their Hot-houses always ready and keep them warm and in an equal heat with a very small Charge and with far less Wood then one can imagine all the Week long both by Night and by Day They have under-ground a large and deep Vault like unto a large Cellar which is every where very close and it hath no more but two Air holes one on the top about three or four Inches Diameter and the other below which is a great deal larger where they put in Wood or for want of it pieces of Peat which they make out of Camels or Goats Dung c. and also out of the Dregs of the pressed Grapes these are so dry that the great Heat melts them just like Sea-coals or Turf which are burnt in the low Countries and other places where they have not plenty of Wood and these give so great a heat that it warmeth the whole Vault quite through And yet this Vault is so close made that you do not perceive the least Smoak nor Vapour although it is sometimes very hot But that the Fire may not decay there is one on purpose to attend it that flings on as much Fuel as is necessary to keep it These Hot-houses which according to the Custom of the Ancient Greeks and Romans are magnificently built have near to the Entry a delicate Hall which is curiously paved as also is the whole Bath and set with Marbles of all colours very artificially and a great Cupolo at the top thereof which is covered with an Arch in shape of a Ball or Globe Round about the Walls are broad Benches made where the People put off their Cloaths wherefore this first part of the Bath whereof the Ancients had five was called Apodyterium In the middle of the Baths is a fine Fountain where they sprinkle every one that goeth out of the Bath with sweet Water and also wash the Bathing-cloaths that were made use of in the Bath which they afterwards fling up upon Lines that are hung at the top of the Vault two or three Fathoms high with an admirable Certainty and spread them out with a long-Pole with one-stroke that they may dry the sooner so even as if it were done with Hands which no body can see without admiration when they have a mind to make use of them again they take them down with the same Sticks that are ready stuck up about the Fountain These are wrought finely with all sorts of Colours whereof they give two to every one that goeth into the Bath or Bagnio two others when he cometh out one to put upon his Head the other to put about him in the manner of an Apron When you will go into the Hot-house you must go through two or three Chambers whereof one is warmer than the other which each of them are covered with round Arches until you come into the great Room these Arches are full of round holes all about which are made in such order and set with Glass so curiously that they do not only make them very light but give also a fine Ornament to them In the great Bath are several great Marble Vessels which they let the Water into round about the great Room there are three or four small Chambers which they keep
Cod-pieces which they do not suffer others to wear that they may wash themselves without hinderance their Private parts Feet Arms Necks or any other parts to cleanse themselves as often as their Laws shall direct them These Drawers they tie about their middle with some Strings or Bands about their naked Body and let their Shirts hang down over them When they have occasion to make Water they untie their Drawers again sit down and cast their Cloaths round about them like Women turn themselves from the South to which they turn when they are going to pray If they see a Man make his water standing they immediately conclude him to be a Christian and none of their Faith They commonly sit with their Legs laid one over the other which they do every where in the East wherefore they have neither Chair nor Table but instead thereof they have a paved place two or three steps high which is arched over head which they keep very clean and cover it with Tapestry or Serge or Mats finely twisted with several colours according to their Ability wherefore to save them the Turks pull of their Shoes and leave them at the Chamber-door Their Shoes are like unto those our Lacques use to wear and like Slippers easie to be put on and off they commonly are of a white or blew colour painted before underneath defended with Nails before and with Horse-shoes behind these are worn by young and old Men and Women rich and poor Besides these they also wear sometimes wooden Shoes which are to be sold every where they are about three Inches high and in the middle underneath carved out to distinguish the Soals from the Heels painted with several colours the same wear the Women which have almost the same Garments with the Men and have also Drawers which sometimes are so long that they hang out before their Coats they are commonly made of fine Cotton of several colours and laced at the sides You very seldom see any Turkish Women either in the Streets or in the Markets to buy Provision or in their Churches where only the chiefest of them come and that but seldom where they have a peculiar place separated from the Men. They have also in their Houses secret places and corners where they hide themselves immediately if any body should come to see their Housholds When they go abroad which is very seldom you see three or four of them together with their Children which are all one Man's for according to their Law they are allowed to take as many as they can maintain Their Faces are all covered with black Vails whereof some are of fine Silk and some of Horse-hair which the poorer sort wear and over their Head they put some white Scarfs made of Cotton which are so broad that they cover not only their Heads but their Arms and Shoulders they look in them almost like our Maids when to keep themselves from the Wet they put a Table-cloth or Sheets over their Heads But because the Turks are very Jealous therefore their Wives seldom meet in the Streets or Markets but only in the Hot-houses or when they go to visit the Tombs of their deceased Parents or Relations which generally are out of the Town near the High-ways When they go thither they take along with them Bread Cheese Eggs and the like to eat there which was called Parentalia by the Latins just as the Heathens used to do in former Ages and sometimes they leave some of their Chear behind them that the Beasts and Birds may eat it after they are gone for they believe that such good bestowed upon the Beasts is as acceptable to God as if it were bestowed on Men. Their Graves are commonly hollow covered at the top with great Stones which are like unto Childrens Bed-steads in our Country which are high at the head and feet but hollowed in the middle they fill them up with Earth wherein they commonly plant fine Herbs but chiefly Flags they also put some green Myrtles in little Air-holes that are round the Tombs and they are of opinion that their Relations are the happier the longer these remain green and retain their colour And for the sake of this Superstition there are in several places of the Town Myrtles to be sold that stand in Water that they may remain fresh which the Women buy to stick up at the Graves of their Relations Their Burying-places are always out of Town near the High-ways that any body that goeth by may be put in mind of them and pray to God for them which is the reason that so many Chappels are built about their Burying-places that People that go by chiefly the Relations of the deceased may go into them to pray to God on their behalf When any of them dieth they wash him and put on his best Cloaths then they lay him on a Bar or Board and strow him with Sweet-smelling Herbs and Flowers leaving only his Face bare that every body may look upon him that knoweth him as he is carried out If it be a Tschelebii that is a Noble Person they put his Helmet and his other Ornaments at his Head his Friends and Acquaintance which go before and follow the Corps keep no order but hang upon one another as if they were fudled and go merrily and shouting along to the Grave as also do the Women who come behind and hollow so loud that you may hear them a great way off CHAP. IV. A Description of the Plants I gathered at Tripoli COnsidering that I undertook this Journey into the Eastern Countries not only to see these People and to observe their Manners c. but also and that principally diligently to enquire and to search out the Plants that were growing there I cannot but shortly describe those I found about Tripoli during my stay there and will begin with such as grew on the Sea-shores which were Medica marina Gnaphalium marinum Leucoium marinum Juncus maritimus Peplis Scammonium Monspeliense which the Natives call Meudheuds but Rhasis in his Book ad Almans calleth it Coriziala Brassica marina which spreads its Roots above the Sand for some Cubits round and has instead of round Leaves rather square ones A kind of wild white Lillies by the Latins and Greeks called Hemerocallis which did not only grow on the Sea-shore but also in Islands thereabout in great plenty with a great many others which I forbear to mention here being common Behind the Custom-house near the Harbour I found in the Ruines of the old Wall that are left of that City Hyoscyamus and hard by it in the Sand an Herb not unlike unto Cantabrica secunda Caroli Clusii saving only the Stalks and Leaves which are woolly But the Ricinus groweth there above all in so great plenty that you can hardly make your way through it the Inhabitants call it still by its old Arabian Name Kerva If you turn from thence to the High-way towards your Right-hand you see the
Ship still wanting both Men and Merchandices to load his Ship withal we were forced to stay somewhat longer for other Merchants which came in a little time from Halepo whereof some were Armenians some Persians others from Bagdet and Balsora to us with these also came into the Ship Four Souldiers that were listed by the Turks to go to Bagdet to reinforce the Confines of Persia Our Master also took in some of their Jews which are worse than ours and so we were warned to have a care of them Besides all these we were forced to take in some of their Religious Men which had long before begged thereabout for they commonly live by begging and desire you to give them something Alla hitsi that is for God's sake and yet if they find an Opportunity they will fall upon you and Rob you They are very ill-favoured idle and yet very hardy Men that run about all Countries and often do a great deal of hurt wherefore one must have especial Care of them chiefly upon the Road. Yet for all this they have in these Countries very great Privileges they pretend to great Holiness and Devotion and pray often and perswade the Vulgar sort of People that God doth hear their Prayers before any others and grants their desires but People do not believe them so readily now as their Ancestors have done formerly wherefore they do not remain long in one place that their Roguery may not so much appear CHAP. II. Which way we went into the Ship and sailed to Racka and how the Son of the King of Arabia with his Retinue came to our Ship to demand his Customs What else we saw by the way and what we did suffer from the Arabians and their Mendicants AFter our Ship as well as the others was sufficiently loaden and with all Necessaries provided we went aboard and began our Voyage in the Name of God the 30th Day of August Anno 74. having stay'd there and lost Seventeen Days in the Evening with an intention to go that Night three Leagues further But two of our Ships got into a branch of the River whereof there are several in the very beginning Our Watermen took great pains to bring them into the right way again and stayed for them which retarded us so long that we were forced to stay all Night at a Market-Town called Caffra which lieth a good League below on the top of a Hill where we landed The next morning at break of Day we got in again and in the beginning we went on very fortunately and began to leave by degrees on our left Hand the Mountain Taurus which extendeth its self Eastward and went more to the right through the great Desarts and Sandy Places of Arabia where that River divideth it self into several broad Branches that the Skippers knew hardly how to steer the right way When we went on so thinking of no danger for the Turkish Ship was got already very safe through one of them the second which we followed stuck upon the Sand by the neglect of their Pilot towards the right so that it did not only stick there but took away the Stream from us which turned their Ship cross very violently after such a manner that we were forced because we were too nigh and our Ship was in her full running so that we could turn no way to fall foul upon it So ours drove with the Stream upon theirs with that force that we broke the two uppermost Boards of their side so the Water ran in and the Ship sank deeper Our Ship although it had received no hurt yet did it not go on but stuck by the other Whereupon we began to labour hard removed the Sand below and made a way to get it clear after we had half drawn it before the other into the Stream the Stream drove it so hard against the other that also a row and a half of our side-board were broken and if it had broken the second row quite we had incurred the same Mischief and Damage as they When we were in this Condition and could not otherwise think but that we must perish all together yet our merciful God and Lord did order it so that we did not only secure the breach but came into the right River free and quit before the other Ship where we did land immediately After we had recovered our selves a little we did not delay to assist the other but unloaded our Ship to load theirs into it and so to land them which we did with all speed In the mean time appeared behind the Trees and Tamarisks at each side a good many Arabians both on Horse-back and foot and came so near that they were not afraid to attack our Guards we had left with our Goods and to attempt to rob us But when they found resistance and heard several of our Guns discharged on our side they were frighted for Guns were unknown to them to that Degree that they turned their Backs and run away as hard as they could drive At last we attempted to draw out the Ship together with some small Goods that were still left in it which succeeded very well for when we hoisted our Sails and drew them on and wrought with all our might and strength it yielded by Degrees so that at length we got it quite off and brought it a-shoar The loss of their Merchandices although it was but small in quantity yet it was very great in their Silk Stuffs of Damasco Soap Sugar Roots of Zarneb Melchi which is good for the Pain in the Back as is here before mentioned Figs and Corn which suffered very much wherefore they begged of us that we would be pleased to stay with them until they had dried their Goods and mended their Ship so that they might go along with us more safely through these Desarts which we granted them readily During this our Stay when we were helping them it fell out that I and one of my Comrades were falsly accused by some Jews before some of their Religious Men that we were often fudling with the Master of the Ship which the Jew did on purpose to make us Out-landish Men hated among them for they do according to their Law not easily admit of drinking of Wine and to disparage us and this his Intention did succeed so well that when their Clergy-men did understand it they became very angry with us took our Vessel of Wine flung it into the River and drew it upon the Land where they let it run out which did not well please the Souldiers and others wherefore they took our part and did give the Jew for it a very severe Reprimand But as no good Deed remaineth unrewarded and no ill one unpunished so it happened here for the chiefest of them which was a Moor and of the Order of the Dervis was the next Day punished severely for a frivolous Cause whereof I unadvisedly was the occasion While our Goods were yet on shoar I
and chuse them for their Servants being in their Business very faithful diligent and careful as I have known many of them These and many more Nations as Turks Moors Armenians Curters Medians c. which every one of them have their peculiar Language are at Bagdet in great Numbers but chiefly the Persians so when I was there there arrived a Caravan of Three Hundred with Camels and Horses c. with an Intention to go to Mecha to give Mahomet a Visit which they think after Hali and Omar who were his Companions and did live in that City to be a very great Man These Persians have a peculiar Language so much differing That neither Turks nor Arabians nor other Oriental Nations can understand them and so they are forced to make them understand their meaning by Signs or an Interpreter as well as I and other Strangers They also have their peculiar Characters They sit well on Horse-back and have on long and wide Drawers which serve them also for Boots and are very well furnished with Scymeters Bows and Darts instead of Spurs they have as it is the Fashion in those Parts pointed Irons which are about an Inch and a half long and are sowed to the hind part of their Shooes They are also called Red Turks which I believe is because they have behind on their Turbants Red Marks as Cotton-Ribbands c. with Red Brims whereby they are sooner discerned from other Nations They may also be distinguished by their grey woollen Coats which have commonly Three Plaits behind and come hardly down to their Knees They are a strong and valiant People of a noble Countenance and Mind very Civil and in their Dealings upright They are very wary in their Undertakings which you may see by this that before they conclude a Bargain they take up more time to consider than others to two or three which I have several times observed Among other Merchandices they have delicate Tapestry of several colours and several sorts of Cotton-Work in which they are great Artists and well skilled but as for others as Gold and Silver working c. they understand little and a great deal less of Gilding wherefore they take any thing that is glossy for Gold They love the Christians that are Artists and Ingenious in these sorts of Works and shew them all Civilities But as for the Turks because great and bloody Wars arise often between them they hate them very much and call them Hereticks 1. Because they will not esteem nor receive Hali and Omar which they denominate Caliphi as the greatest and highest Prophets or Legates of God that have after Mahomet given more certain and better Laws Wherefore they esteem them a great deal higher nay worship them like Gods 2. Because that they as circumcised Men esteem their Women to be unclean and reckon them to be Members that are not to be saved and therefore exclude them out of their Churches so that they may not appear there publickly which by the Persians according to their Laws and Ordinances after they have spoke some Words after them are received as blessed Ones and admitted to come to their Churches From whence arise between these two Nations great Quarrels and Differences sometimes but yet they do not fall upon one another nor make Incursions in time of Peace so violently on the Frontiers as they do in Hungary probably that one may because Negotiation goeth further into Persia and bringeth in great Custom to the Grand Signior trade the safer into these Parts It is cheap and very good travelling through these Countries into the Indies and the Customs and Duties are very easy Further I understood from others that here and there in Persia live several Christians and that most of them are of the perswasion of Prester-John whom they call Amma and which way they are brought to it I am thus informed That formerly about Twelve Years agone it did happen that the King of Persia made a League with Prester-John against the Turks which came then very hard upon him and gave him his hands so full that he was forced to seek for help by Strangers Now when Prester-John thought it very inconvenient for him to make a League with a King that was not of his Religion he sent him a Message again that he could make no League with him except the chiefest of the Articles were that he and his Subjects would receive his Religion then he would not only do him all Friendship that in him lay but also assist him with all his Might and Power which at length was agreed upon Whereupon he did send him one of his Patriarchs and some of his Priests which in process of time had this Effect that now even at this Day there are above twenty Towns in Persia where the most of the Inhabitants are addicted to the Religion of Prester-John They have also as I was told several Books of the Holy Scripture and chiefly among the rest some of the Epistles of St. Thomas which they call Aertisch And besides that their Patriarch hath brought it to that pass that they are no more so zealous in their Superstitions and are of Opinion that Circumcision is not necessary and that so much the rather because their Enemies the Turks and Jews have it And for the same reason they do not abhorr the forbidden Beasts but eat Pork c. nor refuse to drink Wine and that as before said because their Adversaries are forbid it by their Law So that the Christian Faith doth in Persia encrease daily more and more and they begin to be Christened with Fire according to their Fashion and in the Name of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost whom they notwithstanding according to their Opinion rather believe to be a Creature than the Third Person of the Trinity and that he doth only proceed from the Father and not from the Son But that those that are Christians may be discerned they wear a blue Cross on the inside of their left Leg a little above the Knee They also administer the Sacrament of the Holy Supper or Communion and give it as well to the Young as to the Old ones in both kinds but before they go to it they must have their Feet washed wherefore there are little Rivolets led through the Churches where they sit down and some of the chiefest of the Town come to them and wash their Feet and when that is done they give unto one another a Kiss of Love then they read the Words of Christ's Institution and so go to receive it they do not come to Confession before And they endure no Images in their Churches but instead of them they make use of Harps Pipes and other Instruments wherewith they make Musick but chiefly at the King's Court at Samarcand where his best Musicians are which Town as they say was built by Sem the Son of Noah and called after his Name What else is to be said concerning the Points of their
King Solomon did begin to build a House for the Lord at Jerusalem many years afterwards This was formerly very high surrounded with deep Ditches and Cliffs so that it would make a Man giddy to look down from the top into the depth Wherefore Pompey and Titus took a great deal of pains before they could get upon it to take and destroy that glorious and well-built Temple which was in the last Desolation as well as before in the first burnt by Nabuhcodonosor demolished and razed to the Foundations as Christ foretold them Mark xiii That there should not be left one stone upon another that should not be thrown down because they did not acknowledge the gracious time of their visitation And that all hopes might be taken away from the Jews to return and to build the Temple again to re-establish their Worship Hadrian the Emperor to prevent all ordered in the year of Christ 134 all to be broken down that was left and to root it up to demolish all heighths to fill up all Ditches to level Cliffs and to make the Ground even all over he did also alter the Name and Religion of the Inhabitants and instead thereof introduced the Heathenish Idolatry In the place of the Grave of Christ he built a Temple for the Idol Jupiter on Mount Calvaria another for the Idol Venus and another at Bethlehem to the Idol Adonis and at last in the place where formerly in the Temple of Solomon did stand the Sanctum Sanctorum he erected his own Image on a high Column for his memory which was still standing in Hieronymus's time The heighth of this Mount cannot be observed any where else now then without by the Fountain Siloah and in the Valley of Benhinnon and so it did remain desolate to the times of the great Emperor Constantine After that when the Jews undertook to rebuild the Temple at the Charge of Julian the Apostate who would make Christ a liar the Lord having said that their House should be left unbuilt a great Earthquake when they had opened the Ground to lay the Foundation did move and shake the whole place to that degree that every thing was turned upside down and abundance of Jews did perish in it But when the Jews did not matter this but endeavoured to go on with the Work in hand the next day Flames of Fire broke out of the Ground and fiery Beams struck down from Heaven which destroyed more than the Earthquake and burnt all their Tools viz. Saws Axes Shovels Hammers c. When the Jews would not leave their Error for all this the night following some small glittering Crosses like Stars fell down upon their Cloaths which they could not wash off the next Morning nor get out by any means and an Earthquake and such a violent Hurricane came upon it that it dissipated all tâ— Mortar and other Materials into the Air so that frightened and full of fear they were forced to confess that Christ whom their Ancestors Crucified was the true and only Lord and God Seeing that the Temple together with the Mount it stood upon are razed and desolated so that one can hardly now discern what they have been anciently every one that goeth by because the Lord did not favour his own House where his Name was sanctified hath reason to be astonished at it and to call to mind the strange anger of God against those that leave the Lord their God and adhere to other gods serve and adore them Now adays the Turks have taken possession of this Mount and all the Ground whereon Solomon's Temple did stand and have built a Mahumetan Mosche on it which Homar the Third after the great Impostor Mahomet built when he had taken the holy Land and the City of Jerusalem This is not very large nor high but fine and covered with Lead hath a great Court Yard about it paved with white Marble and here and there Orange and Date Trees are planted in it which is very pleasant about the sides thereof are some high Towers and Gates one whereof is vastly bigger than any of the rest which is near to their Batzar or Exchange which is very old high and hath very good Workmanship in it wherefore the Franciscan Monks shew it instead of the Gate of Solomon's Temple before which lay the Man that was lame from his Mother's Womb that begged Alms from Peter and John to whom Peter said Silver and gold I have none but such as I have give I thee In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk At the end of the Gate of this Yard as commonly in all their Church Porches hung some Lamps I could have willingly gone in before them to see the Rock and Fountain whereof Ezek. in his Forty seventh Chapter maketh mention together with the inward Building but because according to their Mahumetan Laws all those that are not circumcised are accounted to be unclean therefore going into their Churches is forbid to Christians if any one is catch'd â—ithin he is in danger of his life or else he must deny his Faith and be made a Mamaluck or Renegado In this Court-Yard is still another Gate called the Golden Gate by the Franciscans but because it stands just over against the Mount of Olives therefore it is to be taken to be the Gate Sur or rather as Nehemias ch iii. Ezek. xlvii and 2 Chron. xxxi say For the Gate of the Stairs which Semaia the Son of Sahamia the Keeper of them did build through which our Lord Christ did go into the Temple on Palm-Day to drive out the Buyers and Sellers Now altho this is walled up in the New Town Wall so that you cannot go either out or in yet considering its ancient Arches it looketh rather like a Church than a Town-Gate In the middle of the Yard stands a Turkish Mosche or Temple called the Rock this is esteemed very much by the Turks and next to those of Mecha and Medina reputed to be the most holy Because God Almighty hath wrought many great Miracles there and that there Mahomet as they falsly write of him in their Books called by God to be the last and greatest Prophet did ride from Mecha to that of the holy Rock of the Temple of Jerusalem which is Forty Days Journey on a very swift Beast called Elmparae conducted thither by the Angel Gabriel who at his arrival did help him off of his Beast tied it up and then led him by the Hand into the Temple where he found many Prophets standing together in a Circle which God had resuscitated for his Honor and to receive him and to acquaint him with new good Tidings and what God had prepared for him I suppose ever burning Flames of Fire among the rest he did also find Abraham Moses and Jesus the Son of Mary each of them presenting him first Moses with a Fatt of Wine Abraham with a Fatt full of Milk and Jesus with a Fatt of Water Then
the Brothers of St. Jacob are known by the Scallopshells The same is also with their Camels for on the lower part of one of their Forefeet you may see as many small Chains hung as they have been times there in Caravans so that you also may soon discern them And that I may return to my purpose again near to the Turkish Moschèe of the Holy Rock is also an other Church which by the Christians when they were in possession of Jerusalem was called the Virgin Mary's Church which is very well built rather bigger then the Turkish and stands without towards the South on the place of the great Porch of the Israelites which is several times mentioned in the Scriptures Viz. Joh. 10. Math. 21. where it is called the Temple and Porch of Solomon where Christ did Preach and drove out the Buyers and Sellers c. Underneath it is a great Cave so wide that some hundred Horse may with ease be drawn up in Battalia therein This is also in the Possession of the Turks and the Christians dare no more come in here then in the other By this Prohibition Viz. That the Mahumetans shall admit into their Churches or Porches thereof no Strangers which according to their Laws are not Cleansed and Washed you may easily see that the Turks have taken many Ceremonies and Laws from the Jews and according to their depraved understanding and mind Transcribed them into their Alcoran So we see that anciently they have their Circumcision Offerings Washings Fasts at certain times of the year marrying more then one Wife not Eating any thing that is Unclean or Pork or what is suffocated not having Bells not drinking Wine as the Levitical Priest must not do derived from the Jews But this last Law concerning not drinking of Wine is not only not kept for they drink thereof without mixture let it be as strong as it can more than ony other Nation It being then true that they choose the Fatt with Wine presented them by Moses as is before said to their own Ruin and Destruction wherefore I pray that God may fulfil their Prophecy Amen CHAP. VI. Of the Saracens and Turkish Religion Ceremonies and Hypocritical Life with a short hint how long time their Reign shall last after Mahomet 's Decease SEing I have here above made mention amongst the rest of the Places and Churches of Jerusalem of the Turkish Moschèes and also of Mahomet their Prophet I cannot but also Relate something of theit Hypocritical and Superstitious Life and belief as I have observed in my Travels and during my stay among them chiefly something of their outward Ceremonies good Works wherewith they think to fulfil the Laws to cleanse themselves from their manifold Sins and Transgressions and to obtain Gods Mercy and Love Wherefore they strive that they may be found always busie in these good Works whereof they reckon the chiefest to be Alms Pilgrimage Fastings to make Offerings to abstain from certain Food or Drinks frequent Washing Praying upon which two last they look most of all as the true means by which if they keep them diligently they may be freed and absolved from their Sins according to the Promises of their dear Prophet Mahomet Such and the like have also the Jews had in the Old Testament where without doubt their Prophet being by his Mother an Ishmaelite had them also But seeing that he also Attributeth to these Absolution and Satisfaction for our Sins and also consequently Salvation and everlasting Life Therefore all those that follow and believe his Doctrine miss the only Mediator and Saviour Jesus Christ of whom as well as of his Holy Word they else have a good Opinion as appeareth by their Alcoran in whom God the Father Almighty will only be known Invoked and Adored As St. John saith in his 5th Chap. 23. He that Honoureth not the Son Honoureth not the Father that hath sent him And Chap. 14. vers 9. where Jesus saith He that hath seen me hath seen the Father and in the 4th Chapt. of the Acts it is said verse 12. There is no Salvation in any other for there is no other Name under Heaven given among Men whereby we must be saved wherefore although Mahomet doth greatly Command and Teach that we must Adore the only God yet they do not know the true God that will only be Adored and Honoured in his Beloved Son and besides Mahomet will not allow that God hath a Son and much less That Christ is the true God in whom we shall believe For in his Diabolical and Blasphemous mind and thoughts he hath this precaution that if God should have a Son he might come to be Disobedient unto him as happeneth sometimes chiefly amongst them to worldly Princes which would expose all Creatures in Heaven as well as on Earth unto great Danger So he denieth the Deity of Christ and Esteemeth him to be no more as Arius doth then a great Saint and meer Man So he hath the same Opinion with Macedonius of the Holy Ghost whom and Christ he sometimes maketh but one person And so the Turks know no more by the Instruction of their Cursed Prophet of the true living God that is one in his Essence and three in Persons then when they Adored the Fire water and other Elements nay Heaven and Earth as also the Persians have done before they come over to the Saracens and adhered to the Doctrine of their Mahomet And besides they have no more comfort in our Lord Christ then the Jews because they do not believe that Jesus the Son of the Virgin Mary and Messenger of God was Crucified Dead and Buried but that another that was very like him suffered instead of him because he was Seated in Heaven where into God received him and that he was to return again at the End of the World a great deal higher then that he could be so shamefully killed by the Jews that impious people wherefore the Turks admire it very much that so many Pilgrims of all Nations come to see the Grave of Christ with so great a Devotion which is not his And although the Turks prefer their Mahomet before Christ and also do not believe right neither of his Essence nor of his person so that therefore all their Worship with what Devotion soever performed is null and in vain because it is not in Christ Yet for all that they Praise and Esteem Christ very high and Extol him far beyond any Man as one that was conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary and that hath here on Earth carried on his Doctrine and confirmed it with powerful Miracles Wherefore they Esteem the Books of Moses and the other Writings of the Prophets but chiefly the Four Evangelists which they call the Book Jugilis and the Books of Moses Thresit as true and Godly And sometimes they pretend so fairly that an ordinary Man that is not well instructed in the Chief Articles of Christianity although there is so
great a difference might easily be seduced and perswaded Besides the Turks will not allow neither to Jews Moors nor Christians nay not to their own Nation to say any thing ill of Christ nor to Curse him but if any body should presume to do it the soles of his Feet are struck very severely with many blows and he is Fined besides according to his Ability So their Prophet Mahomet commends the Holy Scripture very much and saith that it containeth Truth and Happiness If they would but often look into it as their Alcocan teacheth them in several places to read in it and mend their Lives according to it they might easily be brought to the right way again but he himself doth not stand by his words but falleth off again from them afterwards and speaketh quite otherways of the holy Scripture and that so differing that he quite contradicts himself For as he did commend it before so now he discommendeth it again when he saith That it hath been because it is too difficult to be kept long since quite out of Doors chiefly in those parts where is written That we must do good to our Enemies leave all for his sake love God with all our heart c. and our Neighbor as our own self And that therefore he Mahomet was peculiarly and purposely chosen by God Almighty to bring down with him the Alcoran and communicate it to the World that was then drown'd in Lusts Sin and Vices to reform and bring it to rights again Besides this he knew very well how to disguise his Tricks and how to behave himself in his Life and Conversation devoutly and discreetly towards the People and how to blind them under this pretence that they did believe him and receive him the sooner to be a great Prophet and Messenger from God When he found that he had got a good Party and a great many Adherents that impowered him he Studied daily more and more to order his Laws so that they might be acceptable and pleasing to all the World And thus he got in a great many places such a fame that to our Grief in these times he hath seduced and possessed a great part of the World with his Erroneous and Poisonous Doctrine the Turks closely adhering to this Doctrine therefore their Hearts are so blinded with darkness that they cannot have any true knowledge either of God the Father or the Son or the Holy Ghost and so they miss of the right way that would bring them to the Knowledge and Acknowledgment of their Sins and consequently to the Remission thereof and so make them Children of God and Heirs of Life Everlasting But on the contrary they remain Impenitent and persist in their sinful Life with such a Confidence and Security that they know not when they commit Sins as to take a Mans Property and Goods away by force to destroy his House and Lands to undermine his Life and Livelihood and also to contaminate themselves with Uncleanness Whoredom Sodomy Not to keep an Oath that hath been taken to Revenge themselves from whence Results Envy Hatred Anger Contention Murder c. as we hear what Injustice and Violence the Grand Signior committeth daily upon our Brethren and Sisters that border upon his Dominions which we need not to wonder at because if they fall out amongst themselves they try all Unjust means to Revenge themselves Wherefore they accuse their Adversaries often falsely because they dare not offer any violence before their Judges and so bring them to Damage Trouble and Pains But when they have committed one of these or the like Facts and have a mind to free themselves of it or to be Absolved they go after their own invented Devotion to good Works Alms Prayers Fasting Redeeming of Captives c. to make satisfaction to God for their committed Sins as their Alcoran teacheth them And so they lead a Life of good outward Conversation and are very diligent in their Devotion chiefly in going to their Prayers at the five Customary hours of the Day when they leave their VVork and go to Church And seeing that in these Countries they have neither Clocks not VVatches to tell them the time of the Day and Prayers instead of them they have their Priests called Meitzen by them on the Steeples which are ordered to cry out the Hours with a loud Voice that you may hear them as far almost as the Ringing of a Bell even throughout the whole Town The first Hour of Prayers is an Hour and half before Day-light The second is about Noon The third which the Arabians call Latzera is about Three a Clock in the Afternoon The fourth is at Sun-set and the fifth when after the Sun is down the Twilight or whitishness of the Skies is gone and the Stars appear clearly Sometimes two of these Priests sing together which is common in great Towns and they sing almost as with us they sing a Ballad so that while the one is singing the other may fetch his breath and so they sing by turns until the Song is at an end When I came first into these Countries and hear'd them Sing about that time in the Morning I believed the Turks did it that they might brisk themselves up to go to Work until I heard them do the same at other hours in the day time and understood they were their Priests So they Sing about Five a Clock at Night very well and sometimes something longer because of the Sick that live near which desire it of them to make them cheerful and to have a good heart which we need not to wonder at for their Clergy which are not Wiser or more Learned than the Lay-men know not how to comfort them or to make them joyful much less how to give good and wholsome Instruction out of the Word of God although they believe it to be true how to obtain forgiveness of Sin and Gods Mercy Love or Commiseration but think it to be sufficient if they Admonish them that lye a dying to think of God and to Pray to him that he may have Mercy upon them and afterwards to wash their Body to cleanse them quite from all Sins according to the Law of their Mahomet which they highly esteem and that the rather because they serve not only the Living but also the Dead wherefore the Turks wash themselves daily chiefly at the Hours of their Prayer when they are a going to Church and that very carefully and diligently viz. Their Hands Privy-Members Head Neck Feet nay the whole Body according as they are Contaminated or become Unclean So in consideration of their Sins they have three sorts of washing whereof one is that of the whole Body which these must make use of that are not Married and contaminate themselves with Concubines wherefore the Baths are kept continually in an equal heat and are open to any body both by Day and Night that these that have occasion to wash their whole Body may not
always to be found in the Temple of Mount Calvaria And also how these and many other Strangers are treated by the Turkish Emperor as by their chief Head to whom they generally are subjected and his Officers IN the Temple of Mount Calvaria live Christians of several Nations as Latins or Italians Abyssins Graecians Armenians Georgians Nestorians Syrians Jacobites c. which for the most part are Priests and Friers which are of so different Opinions in many Articles of Faith that many of them might sooner be reckon'd amongst the Superstitious and Hereticks than Christians wherefore each of them have their peculiar Habitation and Chapel that they may perform their Devotion undisturbed by one another The Turkish Emperor also lets them alone and doth not at all trouble them for their Religion nor endeavour to bring them over to the Mahumetan Religion and Alcoran and is very well contented to receive his Yearly Tribute which is exactly demanded as it cometh to be due I have seen many of them in the Temple to go up and down in their peculiar Habit and once I did attend at their Devotion so that I easily passed away the time that the Turks kept us Locked up in it Their Pilgrims resort thither Yearly chiefly against the great Feasts or Holy Days in great Numbers to see the holy Places not only from the Eastern but also from the Western Countries These that are under the subjection of the Sultan which they are almost all of them except the Latins and Abyssins must pay him Yearly the fourth part of all their Revenues He that hath four Olive Almond or Quince-Trees must yield one of them to be the Emperors So in their Harvest every fourth Sheaf is also his their Harvest beginneth in the beginning of April and endeth in May as you may see Deut. chap. 16. vers 9. Seven weeks that is from Easter to Whitsonday shalt thou number unto thee begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn Besides this Imposition they have another that is They must pay Yearly for every Head that is Male the Poor as well as the Rich one Ducat and sometimes two chiefly when the Sultan intendeth to go to War with the Christians then he beginneth to lay these Taxes upon them a Year before-hand and hath it Gathered in He that hath not wherewithal to pay it is forced either to sell one or the other of his Children to perpetual Slavery or else to give one of them to the Grand Turk according to his liking to be his own for ever And what is more he sendeth every 4th or 5th Year through all his Dominions his Emissaries viz. Wallachia Servia Bosnia Albania Colchid c. to fetch away every third Son of his Christian Subjects and they always chuse that which they like best and so they bring together a great Number and call them Azanoglans and give them to the Janizaries to be their Servants These have in some chief places their Exercises from their Infancy that in time they may be fit to be made Officers and Commanders in time of War In this the Turks exercise great Cruelty and Pride they spare no Body for if a Christian doth possess some small matter of Riches he must either keep it very privately or else with a great deal of discretion say That it is all belonging to his Emperor and him So if the Grand Signior hath occasion for any thing of theirs whatsoever it must be granted him without any refusal But what a trouble and heart-breaking this must be to the poor Parents not only to have their Children that are free by Nature forced to such a Brutal way of Life and Education but what is more taken away from Baptism to Circumcision from the Christian Congregation and Faith into a severe Slavery and Superstition wherein they are brought from their Duty to their Parents into a mortal enmity against them and their other Relations every Christian may with himself consider The Turks where there is choice take them that are single and young because they being still infirm and but slightly grounded in their Faith they are the sooner seduced chiefly if they are Instructed in their Mahumetan Laws and Educated therein for a while for then they soon forget their own Faith and grow in theirs and so as they grow up in Years they also grow in their Malice and become to be worse than they themselves as daily Experience doth sufficiently testifie Of the same stamp are also these Christians that after they have been taken Prisoners in the War turn Mamalucks which they call in their Language Haracs and are Circumcised These are free from all Imposition as well as the Turks save only the Tenth but dare not go away without their Masters leave upon pain of Death if they are taken they are according to their Law without any Tryal Sentenced and Condemned to be burnt And these also are confirm'd and obdurated in their impious and base Life that they forget God and themselves never think of coming home again to hear the Gospel Preached or to see their Friends and Relations again Yet the Prisoners are not so very much pressed by the Turks to deny their Faith and turn except there should be found one or more great Persons among them for such they always use to press more and endeavour to turn them one way or other and promise them great Preferment if they will declare for their Religion for they are in hopes that if they could perswade them a great many more of the little ones would also come over with them If such are perswaded by them and turn they are entertained by the Turks very Honorably and called Tscheleby that is Gentlemen and endued with great Revenues but yet they do not easily confide in them or put any Trust into their hands and do not esteem such inconstant and faltering Men in their Heart although they carry themselves very friendly before their faces for they make account That he that will easily deny his Religion will also betray his Prince and Country if occasion should serve I have known in these Countries some Slaves whom their Masters that bought them as their Servants did very much press to be Circumcised but when they did mightily resist and excuse themselves and say That they could not admit thereof with a safe Conscience and if by force they should take away their Prepuce and Circumcise them that notwithstanding all that they could not Circumcise their Hearts and therefore they desired them not to trouble themselves any further with them they were for all that ready and willing to serve them honestly and faithfully to the utmost of their power So their Masters have been satisfied with this Answer and have pressed them no more But if it should happen that a Christian should be taken in one of their Mosques for they as unclean Men are forbid to come there or should dispute
got towards Night upon the Balls to stand Centinel it being my turn so when I saw one with a Mug full of Water I desired him to give me some to drink which he was willing to do and reached me the Mug I going to take it trod by chance upon a Fiddle of one of the Turks and broke it Although he had had great occasion to be angry with me for this yet understanding that I had Giue enough to mend it he was presently quieted and well contented The next Morning we sat together and mended the Fiddle as well as we could when the Dervis saw us busy about the Fiddle he was very angry that we did not help to spread out the Merchandices which we had done already before we began so he took the Fiddle broke it and flung it into the River then he came back and pretended to bang us thinking to have the same Success with this as he had with the Wine But the Turk seeing this took up a good Cudgel that was thrown up by the River and struck him several times over his Head and Limbs that the Blood ran down his Ears and Face and at length he grew so angry that he went to draw his Scymeter but before he could we stept in between them got them asunder mitigated the business and appeased them So this Saint of theirs looked very dismal in his long and lank black Hair and had besides on his Body here and there several Scars viz. on his Head and Breast and above all upon his Arms which he had cut or burnt himself which is usual to that Order and other Turks to do which set often on their Flesh burning and red glowing Spangs or instead of them Linen Rags about an Inch thick twisted very hard together broad below and pointed on the top tapering just like unto a Pyramid which they set on Fire and let it burn out with a great deal of Patience upon their bare Skin so long until it is quite consumed and brought to Ashes then they tie it up with Cotton they also do the same sometimes in Rheums of the Head and Eyes c. to dry them up or to turn them and to draw them into another place So I have seen several which have had at least Twenty Scars about them but chiefly on their Arms whereof-some were of the bigness of a Shilling besides Wounds and Scratches they had But from whence they received this inhumane way to wound and torment themselves I do not know except they had it anciently from the Priests of Baal which used to wound themselves with Knives and Lances as we read in the 18th Chapter of the 3d of the Kings until the Blood followed These Holy Scars and Tokens of their Zeal I could soon see and observe on this Moor for according to his Order which is a very great one he was to wear no Cloths upon his Body neither Winter nor Summer only a little Scarf to cover his Privy Members withal Instead of them they put Sheep Skins about them whereon they lie also at Night and so they serve them for Cloaths Bed and Cover And so they pretend by their exteriour Apparel and Behaviour to great Vertue and Patience as if they were dead to the World and to a peculiar Holiness in praying fasting watching c. whereas they are full of Roguery and Knavery so that you shall hardly find any like them With this came also several other Religious Men of several Orders which were all in several distinct Habits as they are in our Country among them was a very strong well set young Man of the Order of the Geomaliers as they call it which are rather Secular than Clergy-men they are generally Tschelebys that is Gentlemen and rich Persons which take great delight in travelling in their young Days under pretence of Holiness like Pilgrims at other Peoples Costs through several Countries and Kingdoms to see and learn and to get Experience This had only a blue Coat on that covered his Body tied about with a Sash and Shooes of Sheeps Skins such as the Arabians in the Desarts use to wear There went along with us Two more whereof one had a great Ring in each Ear about the thickness of a Finger and so heavy that it stretched down his ear-laps to his very Shoulders These are of the Order called the Calendriers which lead a sober and abstemious Life before People wherefore they separate themselves from the People and walk about like Hermits into Desarts where-ever they can to pray there ardently and to cry out the hours whereof they have Five every Day as the Priests do from the Steeples wherefore this Man did separate himself as often as he had an Opportunity far from us that the Beasts could rather see and hear him than we that were in the Ship When he had done this he came to us again and looked so devoutly as if he had been in a Rapture or Ecstasie The other was a Dervis whereof I have made mention before which also kept to a very strict Order for he prayed devoutly and ardently chiefly at Night after Sun set at what time two or three more used to come to him and among them sometimes some of our Merchants they did stand together in a circle and so began to pray as I heard often first very lowly then by degrees louder but when they came to the Leila Hillalla c. they were so loud that you might hear them afar of and then they repeated only these Words very often and every time they repeated them they turned their Head from one side to the other as if they looked upon one another by turns to shew their great Love one to another so they repeat these words very often and every time quicker and quicker until they abbreviate them at last and say only Lahu Huhu By this pratling or jabbering and moving of their Heads they became at length so giddy and weary that the cold Sweat ran down them But this their Saint did not pronounce the words of their Prayers with the rest but struck on his Breast with his Fist upon his Heart which gave instead thereof so strange a Tune as if he had been hallow within much like unto the Noise that a Turky-Cock uses to make when he is very angry so that it would have frighted any Man chiefly if he had been alone with him and he would with his terrible Face rather have taken him to be an Apparition than a Man These above-mentioned Words he repeateth so often and so long until he fainteth away and falls down and there he lieth as if he were dead Then the others cover him let him lie and go their ways After he hath lain thus a good while as if he had been ravished in his Prayers or had seen a peculiar Vision he cometh to himself riseth and appeareth again All these Saints although they practise their Religion after a peculiar manner which according
to their Opinion is quite surpassing that which is prescribed in their Law to move the People the sooner regarding their severity in living their great Patience and frequent Ecstasies to believe them that they under pretence of Piety may go on in their hoggishness uncleanness and robberies as they do without any controuling Yet because their idle Hypocrisie and great Rogueries do daily appear more plainly not without great Damage to the Country therefore they are no more in so great esteem nor have so much given them as formerly Concerning their strange way of Praying chiefly that of the Moors their own People have often told me that because such a Devotee changed his natural Voice given by him God into an unnatural one therefore he ought rather to be accounted a Beast than a Man and consequently much less ought to be esteemed a Divine Thus much I thought convenient to relate here of their Mendicants that travelled with us and now I come to my former purpose again After we had spent four Days in drying our Merchandices and in mending our Ships we did load them again and so set out the next Friday being the 3d. of September about Noon All that Day we saw nothing but Bushes on both sides of the River wherein were several wild Beasts but above all wild Boars till Night when we came in sight of a little Village about two or three Miles distant upon the ascent on our left Hand where we landed and stayed all Night In that place I found nothing but a bastard Camel's Hay which was like unto the true one but without any Virtue in it The next Day our Navigation proceeded very well and at Noon we came to a strong Cittadel call'd Galantza which is situated at this side of the River on a Hill belonging to the King of Arabia with whom the Turkish Emperor as I was informed and could understand that did not know their Language well had long and heavy Wars and could have done him because he could not follow him through the Desarts for want of Water and Provisions no great hurt if the King 's Eldest Son had not put himself into this Castle believing that he might be secure there from any Assault from without wherein he was mightily mistaken For after the Sultan did understand that he was there he was resolved to take it notwithstanding all Difficulties And therefore he summoned all his Forces together in the Year 1570. and did Assault it in three Places at the same time so long and so often until at length he took it by Storm and so he made the King's Son his Prisoner and carried him to Constantinople where he had as they say his Head cut off the following Year This Castle being surrounded with strong Walls and having within a very high and large Tower is still according to my Apprehension very strong but yet it lieth in ruins and the three open places remain unrepaired At Night we landed in a small Island which was not inhabited and in the middle of the River we did not question but we were there very well secured from the Arabians and yet notwithstanding as soon as we had supp'd and began to go to rest some of them came creeping along to us about Midnight rather to visit our Goods than us But because they durst not venture to go to our Ships without great danger of being discovered by our Watch they did visit them that rested on shoar and had taken something considerable from them if they had not been discovered immediately by them and had retaken from them again that which they could not so readily carry over the River The Fifth Day of September some Arabians appeared on shoar early in the Morning by and by we saw more at a great Distance upon the height and some Squadrons of Horse of Forty or Fifty strong ride about from whence we concluded that the King's Camp was not far off which proved to be true For about Noon after we landed the King 's Youngest Son came riding to us on a high black Horse with a Retinue of about Hundred Men most of which had Bows and long Pikes made of Reed He was but young about Twenty Four or Twenty Five Years old of a brownish Colour and had a white Turbant on his Head made of Cotton one end whereof hung down behind about a Span long according to their usual Custom He had on a long Gown made of ordinary Sheeps Skins with the Wooll on them which hung down to his Ankles and so had all his Courtiers which were in their common Dress so like unto one another that one could not have discerned them if his had not been edged with some Gold Lists as we use to edge Childrens Coats in our Country about the Neck and Sleeves and had not had long Sleeves whereon were some Escutcheons to be seen Because Custom is due to the King of Arabia by reason of the Euphrates therefore this Young Prince came to demand and take it so he went into the River and rode first to the Turkish Ship to see what Goods they carried but finding nothing but Corn therein he did not stay long there but came to ours his Servants that were on purpose ordered for that helped him soon up into it and placed him in the middle of it on a Bale but they themselves went about from one Merchant to another to visit their Goods and did open now and then a Chest or a Bale and took some out of them more or less according as they liked them so that it was a great while before they came about from Merchant to Merchant In the mean while they brought also into the Ship a Young Prince perhaps two Years old which one carried before him on Horse-back after his Father He had nothing on but only a Cotton Shirt and Rings about his Neck Wrists and Legs made of fine Arabian Gold At length his Servants came to me and my Comrades into the Poop of the Ship but before we began to shew them any of our Goods they saw my Gun that was in-laid with Ivory which they took immediately to shew it to their Master with a great deal of Admiration being such a one as they had never seen in their Life before The King took it presently into his Hands and was mighty well pleased with it and said that it was Outlandish-Work made by the Franks by which Name they call Outlandish-Men French German Italian c. because they know no Divisions or Distinctions of our Country so we went both to him and acquainted him that we were lately come from those Countries with an Intention to go into the Indies After the King understood this he spoke very kindly to us and bid his Man to leave off and to search no more our Goods and enquired after several other things and at length he told my Comrade that he thought he had seen him before Which was very true for when my Comrade lived