euen at this present there is nothyng wherefore it shoulde malice theyr prosperitie not beyng inferiour to them in any felicitie that in maner the heauens can graunt to any lande beyng furthermore suche as mâ—y inryche many prouinces and kyngdomes by reason of many ryche golde mynes that are in it of the beste golde that is founde to this day in the worlde and in greatest quantitie In this Iland nature of her selfe bryngeth foorth suche abundance of cotton that if it were wrought and mayntayned there shoulde be more and better then in any part of the world There is so great plentie of excellent Cassia that a great quantitie is brought from thence into Spaine from whence it is caried to diuers partes of the worlde It encreaseth so muche that it is a marueylous thyng to consider In this are many ryche shoppes where Suger is wrought and that of suche perfectnesse and goodnesse and in such quantitie that shyps come laden therewith yeerely into Spayne All such seedes settes or plantes as are brought out of Spayne and planted in this Ilande become muche better bygger and of greater encrease then they are in any part of our Europe And yf it chaunce otherwyse that sometymes they prosper not so well the cause is that they which should tyl and husband the ground sowe and plant in due seasons haue no respect heereunto beyng impatient whyle the wheat and vines waxe rype beyng geuen to wanderyng and other affayres of present gaynes as I haue sayde as searchyng the golde mynes fyshyng for pearles and occupying marchaundies with suche other trades for the greedy folowyng whereof they neglect and contempne both sowyng and plantyng Suche fruites as are brought out of Spayne into this Iland prosper marueylously and waxe rype all tymes of the yeere as hearbes of al sortes very good and pleasaunt to be eaten Also many Pomgranates of the best kynde and Oranges both sweete and sowre Lykewyse many fayre Limons and Cedars and a great quantitie of all such as are of sharpe sowre and bytter tast There are also many Fygge trees which bryng foorth theyr fruite all the whole yeere Lykewyse those kynde of Date trees that beare Dates and diuers other trees and plantes which were brought out of Spayne thyther Beastes do also encrease in lyke abundaunce especially the heardes of Ryne are so augmented both in quantitie and number that there are now many patrons of cattaile that haue more then two thousand heades of Neate and some three or foure thousande and some more Besyde these there are very many that haue heardes of foure or fyue hundred And trueth it is that this Iland hath better pasture for suche cattayle then any other countrey in the worlde also holsome and cleare water and temperate ayre by reason whereof the heardes of such beastes are much bygger fatter and also of better tast then ours in Spayne because of the ranke pasture whose moisture is better digested in the hearbe or grasse by the continuall temperate heate of the Sonne wherby beyng made more fat and vnctuous it is of better and more stedfast nouryshment For contynuall and temperate heate doth not only drawe much moysture out of the earth to the nouryshment of such thynges as growe and are engendred in that clime but doth also by moderation preserue the same from resolution and putrifaction digesting also and condensatyng or thycknyng the sayde moyst nouryshment into a gummie and vnctuous substaunce as is seene in all suche thynges as growe in those regions and this is the only naturall cause aswell that certayne great beastes and of long lyfe as the Elephant Rhinoceros with suche other are engendred only in the regions neare vnto the Equinoctiall as also that the leaues of suche trees as growe there do not wyther or fall vntyll they be thrust out by other accordyng to the verse of the poet whiche sayeth Et nata pira piris et ficus in ficubus extant this is in effect Peares growing vpon Peares and Fygges vpon Fygges Plinie also wryteth that suche trees are neuer infected with the disease of trees that the Latines call Caries whiche we may call the worme or canker beyng but a certayne putrifaction by reason of a watrishe nouryshment not well consolidate The same thyng hath been the cause that certayne Philosophers considering aswell that man is the hottest and moystest beast that is whiche is the best complexion as also that men lyue longest in certayne partes of India neare the Equinoctiall where yet to this day some liue to the age of an hundred and fyftie yeeres were of opinion that yf mankynde had any beginning on the earth that place ought by good reason to be vnder or not farre from y e Equinoctial line for the causes aforesayde Some of the Diuines also vpon lyke consideration haue thought it agreable that theyr Paradise shoulde be about the same within y e precinct of those riuers which are named in the booke of Genesis But to let passe these thyngs to returne to the historie In this Iland furthermore are manye Sheepe and a great number of Hogges of the whiche as also of the Ryne many are become wylde and lykewyse many Dogges and Cattes of those whiche were brought out of Spayne These and especially the Dogges do much hurt among the cattayle by reason of the negligence of the heardmen There are also many Horses Mares and Mules and such other beastes as serue the vse of men in Spayne and are muche greater then they of the fyrst broode brought thyther out of Spayne Some places of the Ilande are inhabited although not so many as were requisite Of the which I wyl say no more but that al the regions of the Ilande are so well situate that in the course of tyme all thynges shall come to greater perfection by reason of the rychnesse pleasauntnesse of the countrey and fertilitie of the soyle But nowe to speake somewhat of the principall and chiefe place of the Ilande whiche is the citie of San Domenico I saye that as touchyng the buildinges there is no citie in Spayne so much for so much no not Barsalona which I haue oftentymes seene that is to be preferred before this generally For the houses of San Domenico are for the most parte of stone as are they of Barsalona or of so strong wel wrought earth that it maketh a singuler and strong bynding The situation is much better then that of Barsalona by reason that the streates are much larger and plainer and without comparison more directe and streyght foorth For being builded nowe in our tyme besyde the commoditie of the place of the fundation the streetes were also directed with corde compase and measure wherin it excelleth al the cities that I haue seene It hath the sea so neere that of one syde there is no more space betwene the sea
grouth Lykewyse whether pearles be harde within the shel or soft our men haue as yet no certayne experience but I trust or it be long to knowe the trueth hereof for our men are euen nowe in hand with the matter Also as soone as I shall be aduertised of the aryuall of Petrus Arias the captayne of our men I wyll desire hym by my letters to make diligent search for these thynges and certifie me therof in all poyntes I knowe that he wyll not be slacke or omit any thyng herein for he is my verye freende and one that taketh great pleasure in consideryng the workes of nature And surely it seemeth vnto me vndecent that we shoulde with silence ouerslyp so great a thyng which aswel in the olde tyme as in our dayes hath and yet doth drawe both men and women to the immoderate desire of superfluous pleasure Spayne therfore shal be able hereafter with pearles to satisfie the greedy appetyte of such as in wanton pleasures are lyke vnto Cleopatra and Asopus So that from hencefoorth we shall neyther enuie nor reuerence the nice fruitefulnesse of Stoidum or Taprobana or the red sea But let vs now returne to our purpose Vaschus therfore determined with the fyshers of Chiapes to proue what myght be doone in his fishe pooles or stations of sea muscles Chiapes to shewe hym selfe obedient to Vaschus his request although the sea were boysteous commaunded thyrtie of his fyshers to prepare them selues and to resort to the fishyng places Vaschus sent onely sixe of his men with them to beholde them from the sea bankes but not to commit them selues to the daunger of the sea The fishyng place was distant from the pallace of Chiapes about tenne myles They durst not aduenture to dyue to the bottome by reason of the furie of the sea Yet of the muscles whiche lye hyghest and of such as were dryuen to the shore by the violence of the water they brought syxe great fardelles in the space of a fewe dayes The pearles of these were but lyttle about the bygnesse of small fytches yet verye fayre and beautifull by reason that they were taken newely out of the fyshe beyng yet rawe And that they should not be reproued of lying as concernyng the bygnesse of these sea muscles they sent many of them into Spayne to the kyng with the pearles the fyshe beyng taken out We thynke veryly that there may in no place bygger be founde These shel fyshes therefore beyng thus founde here in so many places in that sea and gold in maner in euery house doo argue the ryche treasurie of nature to be hydde in those coastes forasmuche as great ryches haue ben founde as it were in the litle fynger of a giauntes hande What then may we thynke of the whole hande of the giaunt for hytherto they haue onlye benne in hande with the confines of Vraba when they shall haue throughlye searched all the coastes and secretes of the inner partes of all that large lande But Vaschus contented with these signes and ioyfull of his good successe in these enterpryses determined by another way to returne to his felowes in Dariena where also they haue golde mynes about tenne myles from the vyllage He gaue therefore kyng Chiapes leaue to depart and to folowe hym no further counsaylyng hym to continue faythful vnto the christian king his lord and maister Thus embracing the one the other ioyning handes Chiapes departed with teares declaring the good minde which he bore to our men Vaschus leauing his sicke men with Chiapes went forward on his iourney with the residue hauyng also with hym for guides three of Chiapes Maryners He conueyghed his armie ouer a great riuer into the dominion of a certayne king called Teaocha who beyng aduertised of the commyng of our men of whose famous actes he had hearde muche before was very glad thereof and enterteyned them honourably so that for a token of his frendly affection toward them he gaue Vaschus twentie pounds weight of wrought golde after eyght ounces to the pounde also two hundred bygge pearles but not fayre by reason they were taken out of the muscles after they had ben sodden After they had ioyned hands Vaschus recompenced him with certayne of our thinges lykewyse rewarding his guides the seruantes of Chiapes he dismissed them with commendations to their lord King Teaocha at the departure of our men from his pallace dyd not only appoynt them guides to conduct them in the way but also gaue them certayne slaues in the steede of beastes to cary theyr vittuals because they should passe through many desartes barren and rough mountaynes and terrible woods ful of Tigers and Lions He sent also one of his sonnes with these slaues lading them with salted and dried fishe bread of those regions made of the rootes of Maizium and Iucca He also commaunded his sonne not to depart from our men vntil he were licensed by Vaschus By theyr conductyng therfore Vaschus came to the dominion of an other kyng whose name was Pacra a cruel tyrant fearefull to the other kynges his borderers and of greater power then any of them This tyrant whether it were that his giltie conscience for his mischeuous actes put him in feare that our men woulde reuenge the same or that he thought him selfe inferiour to resist them fled at their comming Vaschus writeth that in these regions in the moneth of Nouember he was sore afflicted with great heate and intollerable thirst by reason that side of the mountaynes hath little water Insomuche that they were in daunger to haue perished but that certayne of thinhabitantes shewed them of a spring which was in y e secret place of a wood whither Vaschus with all speede sent two quicke strong young men of his companions with theyr gourdes and such water vessels as Teaocha his men brought with them Of thinhabitantes there durst none depart from theyr company because the wyld beastes do sone inuade naked men For in those mountaines and especially in the woods neare vnto the spring they say that they are somtimes taken out of theyr houses in the night except they take good heede that the doores be well sparde It shal not be from my purpose heere to declare a particuler chaunce before I enter any further in this matter They say therfore that the last yeere the region of Dariena was no lesse infested and troubled with a fierse Tiger then was Calidonia in tyme past with a wild Boore and Nemea with a horrible Lion For they affyrme that for the space of syxe whole monethes there passed not one nyght without some hurt doone so that it kylled nyghtly eyther a Bullocke a Mare a Dogge or a Hogge and sometymes euen in the hygh wayes of the vyllage For our men haue nowe great heardes of cattayle in those regions They say also that when this Tyger had whelpes no man myght safelye goe
in euery citie there be many neuerthelesse in three of them remaine onely such as be condemned to die Their death is much prolonged for that ordinarily there is no execution doone but once a yeere though many die for hunger and colde as we haue seene in this prison Execution is done in this maner The Chian to wyt the hygh commissioner or Lord cheefe Iustice at the yeeres ende goeth to the head citie where he heareth agayne the causes of suche as be condempned Many tymes he delyuereth some of them declaryng that boord to haue been wrongfully put about theyr neckes the visitation ended he choseth out seuen or .viii. not many more or lesse of the greatest malefactours the whiche to feare and keepe in awe the people are brought into a great market place where al the great Louteas meete togeather and after many cerimonies and superstitions as the vse of the countrey is are beheaded This is done once a yeere who so escapeth that day may be sure that he shal not be put to death al that yeere folowyng so remayneth at the kynges charges in the greater prison In that prison where we lay were al waies one hundred moe of these condemned persons besides them that lay in other prisons These prisons wherin the condemned caytyfes do remayne are so strong that it hath not been hard that any prisoner in al China hath escaped out of pryson for in deed it is a thyng impossible The prisons are thus builded Fyrst al the place is myghtelye walled about the walles be very strong and hygh the gate of no lesse force within it three other gates before you come where the prysoners do lye there many great lodginges are to be seene of the Louteas Notaries Parthions that is such as do there kepe watch and ward day and nyght the court large and paued on the one syde wherof standeth a pryson with two myghtie gates wherin are kept such prisoners as haue committed enormious offences This prison is so great that in it are streates and Market places wherein al thyngs necessarie are sold. Yea some prysoners liue by that kynde of trade buyeng and selling and letting out beds to hyre some are dayly sent to pryson some dayly deliuered wherfore this place is neuer voyde of seuen or eyght hundred men that go at libertie Into one other pryson of condempned persons shall you goo at three yron gates the court paued and vauted rounde about open aboue as it were a cloister In this cloister be eight roomes with yron doores and in eache of them a large Gallerie wherein euery night the prisoners do lie at length their feete in the stocks theyr bodies hampered in huge woodden grates that kepe them frō sitting so that they lie as it were in a cage sleepe if they can in the morning they are losed againe that they may go into y e court Notwithstanding the strength of this pryson it is kept with a garrison of men part whereof watche within the house part of them in the Court some keepe about the pryson with lanterns and watchebelles answeryng one an other fyue tymes euerye nyght and geuing warning so lowde that the Loutea resting in a chamber not neare thereunto may heere them In these prysons of condemned persons remayne some .15 other 20. yeeres imprisoned not executed for the loue of theyr honorable frendes that seeke to prolong theyr lyues Many of these prysoners be shomakers and haue from the king a certayne allowaunce of rise some of them worke for the keeper who suffereth them to goe at libertie without fetters and boordes the better to worke Howbeit when the Loutea calleth his checke rolle with the keper vieweth them they al weare theyr lyuereys that is boords at theyr neckes yronned hand and foote When any of these prysoners dieth he is to be seene of the Loutea and Notaries brought out at a gate so narrow that there can but one be drawen out there at once The prysoner beyng brought foorth one of the aforesayde Parthians stryketh hym thryse on the head with an yron sledge that doone he is deliuered vnto his frendes yf he haue any otherwyse the kyng hyreth men to cary hym to his buriall in the fieldes Thus adulterers and theeues are vsed Such as be imprisoned for debt once knowen lye there vntyl it be payed The Taissu or Loutea calleth them many tymes before him by the vertue of his office who vnderstanding the cause wherefore they doo not pay theyr debtes appointeth them a certayne tyme to doe it wtin the compasse wherof if they discharge not theyr debtes beyng debters in deede then they be whipped condemned to perpetual imprisonment yf the creditours be many one is to be payd before an other they do contrary to our maner pay him fyrst of whom they last borowed and so ordinarily the rest in suche sort that the fyrst lender be the last receyuer The same order is kept in paying legacies the last named receyueth his portion first They accompt it nothyng to shew fauour to such a one as can doo the lyke agayne but to doo good to them that haue litle or nothing that is worth thanks therfore pay they the last before the first for that their entent seemeth rather to be vertuous then gainful When I sayde that suche as bee committed to pryson for theft murther were iudged by the Court I ment not them that were apprehended in the deed doyng for they need no tryall but are brought immediatly before the Tutan who out of hand giueth sentence Other not taken so openly and doe neede tryall are the malefactors put to execution once a yeere in the chiefe cities to keepe in awe the people or condempned doe remayne in prison lokyng for theyr day Theeues being taken are carryed to prison from one place to an other in a chest vpon mens shoulders hyred therefore by the kyng the Chest is sixe handfulles hygh the prisoner sitteth therein vppon a benche the couer of the chest is two boordes amyd them both a pillerylyke hole for the prisoner his necke there sitteth he with his head without the chest the rest of his body within not able to moue or turne his head this way or that way nor to plucke it in the necessities of nature he voydeth at a hole in the bottome of the chest the meat hee eateth is put into his mouth by others There abydeth he day and nyght duryng his whole iourney if happely his porters stumble or the chest doe iogge or be set downe carelesly it turneth to his great paynes that sitteth therein all such motions beyng vnto him hangyng as it were Thus were our companyons carryed from Cinceo seuen dayes iourney neuer taking any rest as afterward they told vs theyr greatest griefe was to staye by the way as soone as they came beyng taken out of the chests they were not able to stande on theyr feete and two of them dyed shortly after Whan
well peopled hauyng abundaunce of Oliues and fleshe with also great plentie of corne after our maner but no vines and great scarsenesse of woodde The inhabitauntes are vnciuile and rusticall people of the nation of vagabunde and feelde Arabians and therfore but poore Departing frō hence one dai◠iorney I came to an other citie named Aiaz situate vppon two hylles with a great plaine betweene them and hath in it a notable fountayne therfore diuers nations resort thither as to a famous mart The inhabitauntes are Mahumetans and yet greatly differyng in opinion of theyr religion insomuche that therefore they be at great enimitie one agaynst the other and keepe sore warre The cause whereof they saye to be this That the people of the north mountayne maynteyne the fayth and secte of Mahumet and his felowes of whom we haue spoken before but the other of the South mountayne affyrme that fayth shoulde be geuen onely to Mahumet and Haly saying the other to be false prophetes But let vs nowe returne to the marte Almost all maner of spices are brought hyther The region bryngeth foorth sylke and bombassine also diuers goodly fruites and vynes On the toppe of both the hylles are very strong fortresses two dayes iorney from thence is the citie of Dante well fortified both by arte and nature situate in the toppe of a very great mountaine Of Almacharan a citie of Arabia Faelix and of the fruitefulnesse thereof Cap. 8. DEpartyng from Dantè we came to the citie of Almacharan in two dayes iorney This is situate on a very hygh mountayne and declynyng and difficulte to ascende as of the heyght of seuen myles and the way so narow that onely two men can passe togeather In the toppe is a playne of incredible largenesse very fruiteful with plentie of all thynges to the vse of man And therefore I thynke it to be inexpugnable inaccessible hauyng also so great abundaunce of water that one fountaine may suffice for a hundred thousand men And therfore they saye that the Soltan here hydeth his treasure because he was borne in this citie Here also euer remayneth one of his wyues The ayre is marueylous temperate and holsome and the citie seconde to none in all respectes the colour of the inhabitantes is rather enclynyng to whyte then any other colour And to speake that I haue seene the Soltan reserueth here as much golde as wyll lade a hundred Camels Of Reame a citie of Arabia Faelix and the temperatenesse thereof Cap. 9. THis citie is distaunt two dayes iorney from Almacaran The colour of the inhabitantes is enclinyng to blacke they are great merchantes The soyle is fruitfull of all thynges sauyng wood it conteyneth in circuite two thousande houses on the one syde is a mountayne hauyng on it a very strong fortresse Here I saw a certayne kinde of sheepe hauyng theyr tayles of fortie and foure pounde weyght and are without hornes and also so marueylous fat that they can scarcely goe for fatnesse There be lykewyse certayne grapes without graynes the sweetest that euer I eate and al maner of suche fruites as I haue spoken of before It is of marueylous temperatenesse as witnesseth the long lyfe of men for I haue spoken with many of them that haue passed the age of a hundred and fyue and twentie yeeres yet verye lusty and wel complexioned They goe for the most part naked wearyng only shyrts or other loose and thynne apparell lyke Mantelles puttyng out one Arme all bare Almoste all the Arabians make them Hornes with wreathyng of theyr owne heare and that they thynke very comely Of Sana a citie of Arabia Faelix Cap. 10. DEpartyng from thence three dayes iorney I came to a citie named Sana situate vppon a verye hyghe mountayne verye strong by Arte and Nature The Soltan besyeged this with a great armye of fourescore thousande men for the space of three monethes but coulde neuer wynne it Yet it was at the last rendered by composition The walles are of eyghteene cubites heyght and twentie in breadth insomuch that eyght Camels in order may wel marche vpon them The region is very fruitefull and muche lyke vnto ours and hath plentie of water A Soltan is Lorde of the citie hee hath twelue sonnes of the whiche one is named Mahumet who by a certayne naturall tyrannye and madnesse delyteth to eate mans fleeshe and therfore secretly kylleth many to eate them He is of large and strong body of foure cubites hygh and of the coloure inclinyng to ashes The soyle beareth certayne spyces not farre from the citie It conteyneth about foure thousand houses The houses are of fayre buyldyng and geue no place to ours The citie is so large that it conteyneth within the walles fieldes gardens and medowes Of Taessa Zibith and Damar great cities of Arabia Eaelix Cap. 11. AFter three dayes iorney I came to a citie named Taessa sytuate vppon a mountayne and verye fayre to syght it hath plentie of all delices and especially of marueylous fayre Roses whereof they make Rose water It is an auncient citie and hath in it a Temple buylded after the fashion of the churche of Sancta Maria Rotunda in Rome The houses are very fayre and shewe yet the monumentes of antiquitie innumerable merchantes resort hyther for the trafficke of sundry merchandies In apparrell they are lyke vnto other and of darkyshe ashe coloure of skynne enclynyng to blacke Three dayes iorney from thence I came to an other citie named Zibith very fayre and good distaunt from the redde sea onlye halfe a dayes iorney there is great abundance of merchandies by reason of the nearenesse of the sea It aboundeth with many goodly thynges and especially with most white Suger and sundrye kyndes of pleasant fruites It is sytuate in a very large playne within two mountaynes it lacketh walles and is one of the cheefest martes for all sortes of spyces The inhabitants are of the colour of them aforesaide From hence in one dayes iorney I came to the citie of Damar it is in a fruitefull soyle and hath great exercise of merchandise The inhabitants are Mahumetans in apparrell and colourlyke vnto the other Of the Soltan of the aforesayde cities and why he is named Sechamir Cap. 12. THese cities whereof we haue spoken here a litle before are subiect to a Soltan of Arabia Faelix named Sechamir Secha by interpretation signifieth holy and Amir a Prince named the holy Prince because he abhorreth sheddyng of mans blood At the tyme of my beyng there in pryson he nouryshed syxteene thousand poore men and captiues in pryson condemned to death allowyng to euery of them dayly for theyr diet syxe of theyr pence of the smallest valure and at home in his pallace entertayneth as many blacke slaues Of Monkeys and Marmasettes and other beastes noysome to men Cap. 13. DEpartyng from hence I returned to the citie of Aden in three dayes iorney
reade them ouer to your Honours recreation as one of the principall causes wherefore at this tyme they were set foorth If varietie of matter occurrents out of forraigne countryes newes of newe founde landes the sundry sortes of gouernement the different manners fashions of diuers nations the wonderfull workes of nature the sightes of straunge trees fruites foule and beastes the infinite treasure of Pearle Golde Siluer ioyes may recreate and delight a mynde trauelled in weighty matters weeried with great affayres credit me good Madam in listning vnto this worke shall you haue recreation you shall finde delight in reading ouer these relations wherein so newe so straunge so diuers so many recreations and delightes of the mynd are expressed Your Honours good lykyng thereof wyll be to me no small contentation for this worke paynefully doone a good occasion spedyly to finish the rest of my owne labours concerning this faculty a great encouragement and comfort to bestow my whole time hereafter only in that study wherewith all my former knowledge in Philosophy and Geography may ende The whiche conueniently now I am in good hope to perfourme with my Lorde and your Ladyshyps good leaue and continuance of my duety and effectuall desire to doe your Honours the better seruice At London the 4. day of Iuly 1577. Your Honors seruaunt humbly at commaundement Richarde VVilles R. VVilles Preface vnto the Reader wherein is set downe a generall summe as it were of the whole worke THis greate and large bolume consisteth principally of foure partes agreeable vnto those foure corners of the worlde whereunto the skilfull seamen and merchauntes aduenturers of late yeeres haue chiefely traueiled and yet specially are wont to resorte The first part conteyneth foure Decades written by P. Martyr a learned graue counseller of Charles the Emperour fifte of that name concernyng the Spanyardes voyages Southwestwarde theyr famous exploites doone in these newly discouered partes of the worlde the whiche vsually wee now call the west Indies Hereunto haue we added Gonzalus Eerdinandus Ouiedus breefe historie touching the same matter so that the first part of our volume hath fiue particular bookes In the first whereof cap 1.2.3 4 and 5. P. Martir describeth Columbus first and second nauigations and discoueries of certaine Ilandes made by hym specially and his brother In the 6. chapter or booke thereof for both names we finde is set foorth Columbus third voiage and the discouery of Peru in the maigne west Indish lande In the seuenth his troubles both in the west Indies and retourne into Spaigne with his brother being both prisoners The 8. is of P. Alfonsus voyages that same way In the 9. are declared the trauailes of Vincent and Peter Pinzoni and other Spaniards likewise thither from Palos The 10. is a conclusion of the whole Decade with particuler mention of some special nouelties Colūbus fourth voiage beganne So that in the first Decade you haue historically set downe the discouerye of the west Indies taken in hande about the yeere of our Lorde .1492 by Columbus and his companions vntill the yeere 1510. as P. Martir witnesseth fol. 8. 43 47. and 54. This worthy trauayler and skilfull seaman died at Validolid in Spaigne An. dom 1506. as Lopez reporteth cap. 25. in his generall historie de las Indias The second Decade conteyneth Peru matters entituled by P. Martir Creditus Cortinens that is a continent or maigne lande as in deede it is of it selfe with the rest of America in lyke maner as Europe Affryk Asia be one continent or maigne lande vnited togeather In the fyrst and seconde chapters of this Decade shall you reade the voyages of Fogeda and Nicuesa to Dariena In the thyrd Colmenaris trauayles Nicuesa his death and the Indishe kyng Comogrus beneuolence In the fourth Vasquez Nunnez doynges in Vraba gulfe His conquest of rebellious Barbarian kyngs in the fifte In the syxt Quicedus Colmenaris ambassage out of Dariena to Hispaniola and the religion of king Commendator in Cuba The seuenth booke conteineth Petrus Arias iorney to Paria in Peru. The .8 the dissention betwixt the Spaniardes and Portugales for theyr boundes and makyng of fyue Bishops in these newely founde partes of the worlde In the 9 are shewed the ryuers of Darien and philosophically the causes of so great waters there That countrey is described in the .10 and the extreme hunger abydden by the companions of Nicuesa set forth In the fyrst second and thyrd chapters of the thyrde Decade is conteyned an abridgement of Vascus Nunnez relations concerning his voyage to the south sea for it lyeth south from Darien vsually termed nowe a dayes Mar del zur and may also be called the wyde east Indyshe Ocean The discouery thereof made by Nunnez the kyng subdued by hym especially kyng Commogrus christenyng by the name of Charles and the wynnyng of kyng Tumanama or Tubanama and his countrey In the fourth chapter shal you fynd Columbus fourth vyage began An. do 1502 to the mayne west Indyshe lande with the description of some part therof lying betwyxt our Atlantike or westerne Ocean and the aforesayde Mar del zur as Vraba and Beragua In respecte of the history and course of yeeres this booke myght haue been placed before the seconde Decade but it shoulde seeme that these reportes came no sooner to P. Martyr his handes wherefore he began this fourth booke ryght well thus I was determined c. The fyfth booke conteyneth P. Arias iorney mentioned dec 2 lib. 7. to the north syde of Peru wherein Carthagena and S. Martha two famous hauens do stande with a description of the countrey and people thereof In the syxt you haue a disputation touchyng the Leuant streame or easterne surge of the sea the discouery of Baccalaos done by Cabot P. Arias arriuall in Darien the buildyng of S. Maria antiqua there with other fortresses finally the commodities and vnwholesomnesse of Darien In the .7 8. .9 bookes shal you haue a description of Hispaniola Cuba and other Ilandes thereabout done by Andreas Moralis And in the .10 shall you reade of the Ilande Diues in Mar del zur of the kyng therof subdued by Andreas Moralis of Pearles the finding therof of Petrus Arias Captaynes doinges agaynst the Caniballes of the Barbares fowlyng the manner of the geatheryng of gold in Dariena The fourth Decade for so was it named in the Spanyards edition of P. Martyr his woorkes set forth at Alcala in Spayne An. do 1530. though the Basile and Cullen printers haue entituled it De insulis nuper inuentis that is of Ilandes lately found out to wyt after Columbus voyages this booke I say was by P. Mar. culled out of the Indian registers conteynyng speciall notes that seemed vnto hym most meete to be publyshed as the discouery of certayne Ilandes and creekes namely Iucatan done by Fernandes of Corduba his companions Cozumella the Ilands of Sacrifice the Ilandes of women the prouince Coluacan
sooner come thyther by folowyng the course of the Sunne Westward then agaynst the same Of the colour of the Indians ONe of the marueylous thynges y t God vseth in the composition of man is coloure whiche doubtlesse can not be consydered without great admiration in holdyng one to be whyte and an other blacke beyng colours vtterly contrary some lykewyse to be yealowe whiche is betweene blacke and white and other of other colours as it were of diuers liueries And as these colours are to be marueyled at euen so is it to be considered howe they dyffer one from an other as it were by degrees forasmuch as some men are whyte after dyuers sorts of whitnes yelowe after diuers maners of yelowe blacke after dyuers sorts of blackenes how from white they go to yelow by discolouring to browne red and to blacke by ashe colour murry somwhat lighter then blacke tawny like vnto the west Indians which are altogether in general either purple or tawny lyke vnto sodde Quinses or of the colour of Chestnuttes or Olyues which colour is to them naturall and not by theyr goyng naked as many haue thought albeit theyr nakednesse haue somewhat helped therevnto Therefore in lyke maner and with suche diuersitie as men are commonly whyte in Europe and blacke in Affrike euen with lyke varietie are they tawney in these Indies with diuers degrees diuersly inclinyng more or lesse to blacke or whyte No lesse marueyle is it to consider that men are white in Siuile and blacke at the cape of Buena Speranza and of Chestnut colour at the ryuer of Plata being all in equall degrees from the Equinoctiall lyne Lykewyse that the men of Affrike and Asia that lyue vnder the burnt line called Zona Torrida are blacke and not they that lyue beneath or on this syde the same lyne as in Mexico Iucatan Quauhtema Lian Nicaragua Panama Santo Domingo Paria Cape Sainct Augustine Lima Quito and other landes of Peru which touche in the same Equinoctiall For in all the tracte of these coastes certayne blacke men were founde only in Quarequa when Vaschus Nunnez of Balboa discouered the sea of Sur. By reason whereof it may seeme that such varietie of colours proceedeth of man and not of the earth which may wel be although we be al borne of Adam Eue know not the cause why God hath so ordeyned it otherwise then to consider that his diuine maiestie hath done this as infinite other to declare his omnipotencie and wisedome in such diuersities of colours as appeare not only in the nature of man but the like also in beasts byrdes and floures where diuers and contrary colours are seene in one litle feather or the leaues growyng out of one litle stalke An other thing is also greatly to be noted as touching these Indians and this is that their heare is not curld as is the Moores and Ethiopians that inhabite the same clime neyther are they balde excepte very â—ildome and that but litle All whiche thynges may gyue further occasions to Philosophers to searche the secretes of nature and complexions of men with the nouelties of the newe worlde ⧠A most auncient testimonie of the VVest Indies by the writing of the diuine Philosopher Plato PLato in his famous and diuine Dialogue named Timeus where he entreateth of the vniuersall nature and frame of the whole worlde taketh for his principle the moste auncient hystorie of an Ilande in tyme of great antiquitie named Athlantides makyng also mention of the kyng people and inhabitantes of the same and that they kept warre agaynst the Atheniens and were ouercome of them Plato also there inducing the sayde hystorie to be rehearsed by one named Critia who affirmed that he had often hearde it of his Uncle who was in the tyme of Solon one of the seuen sages of the Grekes This Critia declared that when Solon went into Egypt to a certayne citie named Sâ—im situate vpon the riuer of Nilus where the diuision and recurryng of the riuer maketh the Ilande Delta he there spake with certayne learned priestes very skylful in knowledge of antiquities of many worldes past Insomuch that they made mention of manye thinges that were before the flood of Noe or Deucalion and also before the vniuersal conflagration or burning of the worlde in the tyme of Phaeton forasmuche as the warres betweene the people of the sayde Ilande of Athlantides and the Atheniens was long before the general flood and the conflagration aforesayde Plato induceth the priest speaking to Solon in maner as foloweth Thinges most marueylous and true O Solon remayne in auncient writynges and memorie of our predecessours and olde ages long before our tymes But aboue all thynges one exceedeth al admiration for the greatnesse and singularitie thereof whiche is this It is in our recordes of moste antiquities that in times past your citie of Athens hath oftentymes kepte warres agaynst an innumerable multitude of nations whiche came from the sea Athlantike in maner into al Europe and Asia whereas nowe appeareth no suche nation forasmuche as the sayde sea is nowe al ouer nauigable And yet at that tyme had in the mouth and as it were in the entrie where you place the Columnes of Hercules an Ilande whiche was sayd to be much greater then al Africa and Asia and that from thence was passage to many other Ilandes neare thereabout and from the sayde Ilandes to the continent or fyrme lande whiche was right ouer agaynst it neare vnto the sea Yet that within the mouth there was a litle gulfe with a porte the deepe sea without was the true sea and the lande without was the true continent This Ilande was named Athlantides and in it was a kyng of marueylous great power and myght who had the dominion of the sayde Ilande and many other and also a great part of the continent lande whereof we haue spoken and muche more towarde our partes also forasmuche as they were dominatours of the thyrde part of the worlde conteynyng Africa Egypt and Europe euen vnto the sea Tirrhenum The power therefore of them beyng then so great they came to inuade both your countrey and ours and all other that are within the Columnes of Hercules Then O Solon the vertue of your citie shewed it selfe famous in magnanimitie and feates of armes with the assemblance of the other Grecians in resystyng theyr great power vntyl you had driuen them out of our lands and restored vs to our libertie But shortly after that this enterprise was atchiued befel a marueylous great earthquake and exundation or ouerflowing of the sea which continued for the space of one day and nyght In the whiche the earth opened it selfe and inglutted all those valiant and warlike men and the sayde Ilande Athlantides sunke into the bottome of the sea whiche was the occasion that neuer from that tyme forwarde any shyp coulde sayle that way by reason of the great mudde and slyme whiche remayned of the drowned
otherwyse called Cuba was an ilande As they coasted along by the shore of certayne of these ilandes they hearde Nyghtyngales syng in the thycke wooddes in the moneth of Nouember They founde also great ryuers of freshe water and naturall hauens of capacitie to harbour great nauies of shippes Sayling by the coastes of Iohanna from the north poynt to the west he rode litle lesse then eight hundred miles for they cal it a hundred and fourescore leagues supposing that it had ben the continent or fyrme lande because he coulde neither fynde the landes ende nor any token of the ende as farre as he could iudge with his eye wherfore he determined to turne backe agayne beyng partly thereto enforced by the roughnesse of the sea for the sea bankes of the ilande of Iohanna by sundrye wyndynges and turnynges bende them selues so muche towarde the north that the northnortheast winde roughly tossed the shyps by reason of the winter Turning therfore the stemmes of his shyppes towarde the East he affyrmed that he had found the ilande of Ophir whither Solomons shippes sayled for golde But the discription of the Cosmographers well considered it seemeth that both these and the other ilandes adioynyng are the ilands of Antilia This ilande he called Hispaniola on whose north syde as he approched neare to the lande the keele or bottome of the biggest vessell ranne vpon a blynde rocke couered with water and cloue in sunder but the playnenesse of the rocke was a helpe to them that they were not drowned Makyng haste therfore with the other two shyps to helpe them they brought awaye al the men without hurte Here comming fyrst a land they sawe certayne men of the Ilande who perceiuyng an vnknowen nation comming toward them flocked togeather and ranne al into the thycke woods as it had ben hares coursed with grehoundes Our men pursuing them tooke onely one woman whom they brought to the ships where fylling her with meate and wyne and appareling her they let her depart to her companye Shortly after a greate multitude of them came runnyng to the shore to behold this newe nation whom they thought to haue discended from heauen They cast them selues by heapes into the sea came swimming to the shyppes brynging gold with them whiche they chaunged with our men for earthen pottes drinking glasses poyntes pinnes hawkes bels looking glasses such other trifles Thus growing to further familiaritie our men were honorably entertained of the king of that part of the iland whose name was Guaccâ—narillus for it hath many kyngs as when Eneas arriued in Italy he found Latium diuided into many kingdoms and prouinces as Latium Mezeutium Turnum and Tarchontem which were separated with narowe boundes as shal more largly appeare hereafter At the euen tide about the falling of the sonne when our men went to prayer and kneeled on their knees after the maner of y e Christians they dyd the lyke also And after what maner so euer they sawe them pray to the crosse they folowed them in al poyntes as wel as they coulde They shewed much humanitie towards our men and helped them with theyr lyghters or smal boates which they cal Canoas to vnlade their broken shyppe and that with suche celeritie and cherefulnesse that no frende for frende or kynseman for kynseman in such case moued with pitie coulde do more Theyr boates are made only of one tree made holowe with a certaine sharpe stone for they haue no yron and are very long and narowe Many affirme that they haue seene some of them with fortie ores The wilde and myscheuous people called Canibales or Caribes whiche were accustomed to eate mans fleshe called of the olde writers Anthropophagi molest them exceedyngly inuading their countrey takyng them captiue kyllyng eatyng them As our men sayled to the ilandes of these meke and humane people they left the ilands of the Canibales in maner in the middest of theyr viage toward the south They complayned that theyr ilands were no lesse vexed with the incursions of these manhuntyng Canibales when they goe forth a rouyng to seeke theyr pray then are other tame beastes of Lions and Tigers Such chyldren as they take they geld to make them fat as we do cocke chickens and young hogges and eate them when they are wel fedde of suche as they eate they fyrst eate the intralles and extreme partes as handes feete armes necke and head The other most fleshye partes they pouder for store as we do pestels of porke and gammondes of bakon yet do they absteyne from eatyng of women and counte it vyle Therfore suche young women as they take they kepe for increase as we do hennes to leye egges the olde women they make theyr drudges They of the ilandes which we may nowe cal ours bothe the men and y e women when they perceiue the Canibales commyng haue none other shyft but onely to flee for although they vse very sharpe arrowes made of reedes yet are they of small force to represse y e furie of the Canibales for euen they them selues confesse that ten of the Canibales are able to ouercome a hundred of them if they encountre with them Theyr meate is a certayne roote which they cal Ages muche lyke a nauewe roote in fourme and greatnesse but of sweete tast much lyke a greene chestnutte They haue also an other kynde of rootes which they call Iucca whereof they make bread in kyke maner They vse Ages more often rosted or sodden then to make bread thereof But they neuer eate Iucca except it be first sliced and pressed for it is full of lycoure and then baked or sodden But this is to be marueyled at that the iuice of this roote is a poyson as strong as Aconitum so that if it be drunke it causeth present death and yet the bread made of the masse thereof is of good taste and holsome as they all haue prooued They make also another kynde of bread of a certayne pulse called Panicum muche like vnto wheate whereof is great plentie in the Dukedome of Millane Spayne and Cranatum But that of this Countrey is longer by a spanne somewhat sharpe towarde the ende and as bygge as a mans arme in y e brawne the graynes wherof are set in a marueylous order are in fourme somewhat lyke a Pease Whyle they be soure and vnripe they are whyte but when they are ripe they be very blacke when they are broken they be whiter then snowe this kynde of grayne they call Maizium Golde is of some estimation among them for some of them hang certayne small peeces thereof at theyr eares and nosethrylles A litle beyonde this place our men went a lande for freshe water where they chaunced vpon a riuer whose sande was myxed with muche golde They founde there no kindes of foure footed beastes except three kindes of litle conies These ilandes also nouryshe
Cuba by the same way whiche he came Here a multitude of thinhabitantes as well women as men resorted to hym with cheerefull countenances and with feare bringyng with them popingayes bread water and cunnyes but especially stocke doues much bygger then ours which he affirmeth in sauour and taste to be muche more pleasaunt then our partryches Wherefore where as in eating of them he perceiued a certayne sauoure of spyce to proceede from them he commaunded the croppe to be opened of suche as were newely kylled and founde the same full of sweete spyces whiche he argued to be the cause of theyr strange taste For it standeth with good reason that the fleshe of beastes shoulde drawe the nature and qualitie of theyr accustomed nouryshment As the Admirall harde masse on the shore there came towarde hym a certayne gouernoure a man of foure score yeeres of age and of great grauitie although he were naked sauing his pryuie partes He had a great trayne of men wayting on hym All the whyle the prieste was at masse he shewed him selfe very humble and gaue reuerent attendance with graue and demure countenaunce When the masse was ended he presented to the Admirall a baskette of the fruites of his countrey delyuering the same with his owne handes When the Admirall had gentelly entertayned him desyring leaue to speake he made an oration in the presence of Didacus the interpreter to this effect I haue byn aduertised most mighty prince that you haue of late with great power subdued many lands and Regions hytherto vnknowen to you and haue brought no litle feare vppon all the people and inhabitauntes of the same the whiche your good fortune you shal beare with lesse insolencie if you remember that the soules of men haue two iourneyes after they are departed from this body The one foule and darke prepared for suche as are iniurious and cruell to mankynde the other pleasaunt and delectable ordeyned for them which in theyr lyfe tyme loued peace and quietnes If therfore you acknowledge your selfe to be mortall and consider that euery man shal receiue condigne rewarde or punyshement for suche thynges as he hath done in this life you wyl wrongfully hurte no man When he had saide these wordes and other lyke which were declared to the Admirall by the interpreter he marueyling at the iudgement of the naked olde man answeared that he was gladde to heare his opinion as touching the sundry iourneys and rewardes of soules departed from theyr bodyes supposing that nother he or any other of thinhabitantes of those Regions had had any knowledge thereof declaring further that the chiefe cause of his comming thither was to instruct them in such godly knowledge and true religion and that he was sent into those countreyes by the Christian kyng of Spayne his lord and maister for the same purpose and specially to subdue and punyshe the Canibales and suche other mischeuous people and to defend innocentes against the violence of euyl dooers wyllyng hym and al other suche as imbraced vertue in no case to be afrayde but rather to open his mynde vnto hym yf eyther he or any other suche quiet men as he was had susteyned any wrong of theyr neyghbours and that he woulde see the same reuenged These comfortable words of the Admirall so pleased the olde man that notwithstandyng his extreme age he woulde gladly haue gone with the Admiral as he had done in deede yf his wyfe and chyldren had not hyndered hym of his purpose but he marueyled not a lytle that the Admiral was vnder the dominion of another and much more when the interpretour tolde hym of the glorye magnificence pompe great power and furnimentes of warre of our kinges and of the multitudes of cities and townes whiche were vnder theyr dominions Intendyng therefore to haue gone with the Admirall his wyfe and chyldren fell prostrate at his feete with teares desyring him not to forsake them and leaue them desolate at whose pitiful requestes the woorthy olde man beyng mooâ—ed remayned at home to the comfort of his people and familie satisfiyng rather them then hym selfe for not yet ceassyng to woonder and of heauie countenance because he myght not depart he demaunded oftentymes yf that lande were not heauen whiche brought foorth suche a kynde of men For it is certaine that among them the lande is as common as the sunne and water and that Myne and Thyne the seedes of all myscheefe haue no place with them They are content with so lytle that in so large a countrey they haue rather superfluitie then scarcenesse so that as we haue sayde before they seeme to lyue in the golden worlde without toyle lyuyng in open gardens not intrenched with dyches diuided with hedges or defended with walles they deale truely one with another without lawes without bookes and without iudges they take hym for an euyl and myscheuous man whiche taketh pleasure in dooyng hurt to other And albeit that they delyte not in superfluities yet make they prouision for the increase of suche rootes whereof they make theyr bread as Maizium Iucca and Ages contented with suche symple dyet whereby health is preserued and diseases auoyded The Amirall therefore departyng from thence and myndyng to returne agayne shortly after chaunced to come agayne to the Ilande of Iamaica beyng on the south syde thereof and coasted all along by the shore of the same from the West to the East from whose last corner on the East syde when he sawe towarde the North syde on his left hande certayne hygh mountaynes he knewe at the length that it was the south syde of the Ilande of Hispaniola whiche he had not yet passed by Wherefore at the Calendes of September entryng into the hauen of the same Ilande called saint Nicholas hauen he repayred his shyppes to the intent that he might agayne waste and spoyle the Ilandes of the Canibales and burne all theyr Canoas that those rauenyng wolues might no longer persecute and deuoure the innocent sheepe but he was at this tyme hyndered of his purpose by reason of a disease which he had gotten by to much watching Thus beyng feeblâ— aâ—d weake he was ledde of the Maryners to the citie of Isâ—â—ella where with his two brethren whiche were there and other of his familiars he recouered his health in shorte space yet coulde he not at this tyme assayle the Canibales by reason of sedition that was risen of late among the Spanyardes whiche he had left in Hispaniola whereof we wyll speake more hereafter Thus fare ye well The fourth booke of the first Decade to Lodouike Cardinal of Aragonie COlonus the Admiral of the Ocean returning as he supposed from the continent or fyrme lande of East India had aduertisment that his brother Boilus and one Peter Margarita an olde familiar of the kynges and a noble man with diuers other of those to whom he had left the gouernment of the Ilande were of corrupted
he felte the fleshe thereof to be so delycate to his tongue he fel to amayne without al feare the whiche thyng his companions perceiuing were not behinde hym in greedynesse insomuch that they had now none other talke then of the sweetenesse of these serpentes which they affyrme to be of more pleasaunt taste then eyther our Phesantes or Partriches but they lose theyr taste except they be prepared after a certayne fashion as doo Peacockes and Phesantes except they be enterlaâ—ded before they be rosted They prepare them therefore after this manner Fyrst taking out theyr bowelles euen from the throte to the thyghes they washe and rubbe theyr bodyes very cleane both within without then rolling them together on a circle inuolued after the manner of a sleepyng snake they thruste them into a pot of no bigger capacitie then to holde them only this done putting a litle water vnto them with a portion of the Ilande Pepper they seethe them with a soft fyre of sweete wood and suche as maketh no great smoke Of the â—atte of them beyng thus sodde is made an exceedyng pleasant broth or pottage They say also that there is no meate to be compared to the egges of these serpentes which they vse to seethe by them selues they are good to be eaten as soone as they are sodde and may also be reserued many dayes after But hauyng sayde thus much of their entertaynement and dayntie fare let vs nowe speake of other matters When the Lieuetenaunt had fylled one of the Ilande houses with the Gossampine cotton which he had receiued for tribute the kynges promysed furthermore to geue hym as muche of theyr bread as he woulde demaunde he gaue them hartie thankes and gently accepted theyr frendly proffer In the meane tyme whyle this bread was a geatheryng in sundry regions to be brought to the pallace of Beuchius Anachaucoa kyng of Xaragua he sent messengers to Isabella for one of the two Carauelles whiche were lately made there intendyng to send the same againe thither laden with bread The Maryners glad of these tydynges sayled about the Ilande and in shorte space brought the shyppe to the coastes of Xaragua The syster of kyng Beuchius Anacauchoa that wyse and pleasaunt woman Anacuona the wyfe sometyme of Caunaboa the kyng of the golden house of the mountaynes of Cibana whose husbande dyed in the way when he shoulde haue ben caryed into Spayne when she hearde say that our shyppe was arriued on the shore of her natiue countrey perswaded the king her brother that they both myght goe together to see it for the place where the shyppe lay was not paste .vi. myles distant from Xaragua They rested all nyght in the midway in a certayne vyllage in the which was the treasurie or iewel house of Anacaona Her treasure was neither golde siluer or pretious stones but only thynges necessary to be vsed as chayres stooles settels disshes potingers pottes pannes basons treyes and such other housholde stuffe and instrumentes workemanly made of a certayne blacke and harde shyning wood which that excellent learned phisition Iohn baptist Elisius affirmeth to be Hebene Whatsoeuer portion of wit nature hath geuen to the inhabitantes of these ilandes the same doth most appeare in these kynde of woorkes in which they shewe great art and cunnyng but those which this woman had were made in the iland of Guanabba situate in the mouth of the west syde of Hispaniola In these they graue the lyuely images of such phantasies as they suppose they see walke by nyght which the antiques called Lemures Also the images of men serpents beastes what so euer other thing they haue once seene What woulde you thinke moste noble prince that they coulde doo if they had the vse of Iron and steele For they only fyrst make these soft in the fyre afterwarde make them holowe and carue them with a certayne stone which they fynd in the ryuers Of stooles and chayres she gaue the Lieuetenaunt fourteene and of vesselles partayning to the table and kitchen shee gaue hym threescore some of wood and some of earth also gossampyne cotton redye spunne foure great bottomes of exceeding weight The day folowing when they came to the sea side where was an other village of the kynges the Lieuetenaunt commaunded the shyppe boate to be brought to the shore The kyng also had prepared two Canoas paynted after theyr maner one for hym selfe and certayne of his gentelmen an other for his sister Anacaona and her wayting women but Anacaona desyred to be caried in the shippe boate with the Lieuetenaunt When they nowe approched neare vnto the shippe certayne great peeces of ordinaunce were discharged of purpose the sea was fylled with thunder and the ayre with smoke they trembled and quaked for feare supposyng that the frame of the worlde had ben in daunger of fallyng but when they sawe the Lieuetenant laugh and looke chearefully on them they called agayne theyr spirites and when they yet drewe nearer to the shyp and hearde the noyse of the fluites shawlmes and drummes they were wonderfully astonied at the sweete harmonie thereof Entryng into the shyppe and beholdyng the foreshyp and the sterne the toppe castel the maste the hatches the cabbens the keele and the tacklynges the brother fyxyng his eyes on the syster and the syster on the brother they were both as it were dumme and amazed and wyste not what to say for to muche woondryng Whyle beholdyng these thyngs they wandered vp and downe the ship the Lieutenaunt commaunded the ankers to be loosed and the sayles to be hoysed vp Then were they further astonyshed when they saw so great a mole to mooue as it were by it selfe without ores and without the force of man for there arose from the earth suche a wynde as a man woulde haue wyshed for of purpose Yet furthermore when they perceiued the shippe to mooue sometime forwarde and sometyme backward sometyme toward the right hande and sometyme towarde the lefte and that with one winde and in manner at one instant they were at theyr wyttes ende for to much admiration These thynges finished and the shippes laden with bread and suche other rewardes they beyng also recompenced with other of our thynges he dismissed not onely the kyng Beuchius Anachauchoa and his syster but lykewise all theyr seruauntes women replenished with ioye wondering After this he hym selfe tooke his iorney by foote with his souldiers to the citie of Isabella where he was aduertised that one Roldanus Ximenus a noughty felowe whom before beyng his seruant he had preferred to be capitayne of the myners and labourers after made hym a Iudge in causers of controuersie had vsed hymselfe outragiously and was maliciously mynded against hym and further the cause of much mischiefe in his absence For kyng Guarionexius who a whyle before was pardoned of his former rebellion and persuaded the people to obey
the Spanyardes was by his noughtie vsage and suche other as were confedered with hym so accensed to reuenge the iniuries whiche they susteyned at his handes besyde the abominable actes whiche they folowing only the lawe of nature abhorred to admit that he with his famylie famylyers and ditionaries of desperate minde fledde to the mountaines being distaunt from Isabella only tenne leagues westwarde towarde the north side of the sea These mountaynes and also the inhabitauntes of the same they call by one name Ciguaios The great king of all the kinges and regions of these mountaynes is called Maiobanexius and his court or pallace is named Capronus the mountaynes are rough high and such as no man can passe to the toppes therof they are also bending and haue their corners reaching downe to the sea Betweene both the corners of the mountaynes is there a greate playne by the whiche many riuers fall from the mountaynes into the sea the people are verye fierse and warlike men hauing theyr original of the Canibales for when they descend from the mountaynes to the playnes to keepe warre with theyr borderers they eate all such as they kil Guarionexius therfore fleeing to this kyng of these mountaynes gaue him many presentes of such thinges as are wanting in his countrey therwith declaring how vilely villanously and violently he had ben vsed of our men with whom he coulde nothyng preuaile neither by fayre meanes nor by foule nother by humilitie nor by stoutnesse and that to be the cause of his resorting to hym at that tyme most humbly desyring him to be his defence agaynst thoppressions of suche myscheuous people Maiobanexius hereuppon made hym promisse to ayde and helpe hym against the Christians al that he might The Lieutenant therefore made haste to the fortresse of Conception whither as soone as he was come he sent for Roldanus Xeminus who with suche as folowed hym lay in certayne of the Iland villages xii myles distant from the fortresse At his commyng the Lieuetenaunt asked him what al these sturres and tumultes meant He answered without abashment Your brother the Admiral hath to doo therewith and shall aunswere for the fame before the kyng for we perceiue that the kyng hath so put hym in trust that he hath had no regarde to vs here we peryshe for hunger whyle we folowe you and are dryuen to seeke our vnhappye foode in the desartes Your brother also assigned me assystaunt with you in gouernyng the Ilande Wherefore syth you haue na more respecte vnto vs we are determined no longer to be vnder your obedience When Roldanus had spoken these wordes and suche other the Lieuetenaunt woulde haue layde handes on hym but he escaped his fyngers and fledde to the West partes of the region of Xaragua hauyng with hym a trayne of threescore and ten men whiche were of his confederacie Here this fylthy synke of rebelles thus conspired playde theyr vages and lyued with loose brydles in al kynde of myscheefe robbyng the people spoyling the countrey and rauishyng both wyues and virgins Whyle these thynges were dooing in the Ilande the Admiral had eight shippes appoynted him by the kyng of the whiche he sent two laden with vyttualles from Cales or Gades of Hercules pyllers directly to the Lieuetenant his brother These shyps by chaunce arryued fyrst on that syde of the Ilande where Roldanus Xeminus ranged with his companions Roldanus in short tyme had seduced them promysyng them in the steede of mattockes wenches pappes for labour pleasure for hunger abundance and for weerynesse and watching sleepe and quietnesse Guarionexius in the meane tyme assembled a power of his frendes and confederates came oftentymes downe into the playne and slue as many of the Christian men as he coulde meete conuenientlye and also the Ilande men whiche were theyr freendes wasting theyr grounde destroying theyr seedes and spoyling their vyllages But Roldanus and his adherentes albeit they had knowledge that the Admiral woulde shortly come yet feared they nothing because they had seduced the newe men whiche came in the fyrst shyppes Whyle the Lieuetenaunt was thus tossed in the myddest of these stormes in the meane tyme his brother the Admiral set forwarde from the coastes of Spayne but not directly to Hispaniola for he turned more towarde the south In the whiche voyage what he dyd what coastes both of the lande and sea he compassed and what newe regions he discouered we wyl fyrst declare for to what ende and conclusion the sayd tumultes and seditions came we wyl expresse in the ende of the booke folowyng Thus fare ye well The syxt booke of the fyrst Decade to Lodouike Cardinal of Aragonie COlonus the Admirall the thirde day of the Calendes of Iune in the yeere of Christe 1498. hoysed vp his sayles in the hauen of the towne Barramedabas not farre distant from Cales and set forwarde on his voyage with eyght shyppes laden with vittualles and other necessaries He diuerted from his accustomed race whiche was by the Ilandes of Canarie by reason of certayne frenchmen pyrates and rouers on the sea whiche lay in the ryght way to meete with hym In the way from Cales to the Ilandes of Canarie about fourescore and tenne myles towarde the left hande is the Ilande of Madera more southward then the citie of Ciuile by foure degrees for the Pole Artike is eleuate to Ciuile .xxxvi. degrees but to this Ilande as the Mariners say only .xxxii. He sayled therefore fyrst to Madera and sendyng from thence directly to Hispaniola the residue of the shippes laden with vittualles and other necessaries he him selfe with one shyppe with deckes and two Marchant Carauelles coasted towarde the South to come to the Equinoctial lyne and so foorth to folowe the tracte of the same towarde the West to the intent to search the natures of suche places as he coulde finde vnder or neare vnto the same leauing Hispaniola on the north side on his ryght hande In the middle of this race lye xiii Ilandes of the Portugales whiche were in olde tyme called Hesperides and are nowe called Caput Viride or Cabouerde these are situate in the sea ryght ouer agaynst the inner partes of Ethiope Westwarde two dayes saylyng One of these the Portugales call Bonauista With the Snayles or rather the Tortoyses of this Ilande many leprous men are healed and cleansed of theyr leprosie Departing sodainly from hence by reason of the contagiousnesse of the ayre he sayled CCCClxxx myles toward the West southwest whiche is in the middest betweene the West and the South There was he so vexed with maladies and heate for it was the moneth of Iune that his shyps were almost set on fyre The hoopes of his barrels cracked and brake and the fresh water ranne out the men also complayned that they were not able to abide that extremitie of heate Here the north pole was eleuate onely .v. degrees from the Hozizontall For the space
not a lytle astonyshed to beholde our shippes with the sayles spread whereas they vse no sayles nor can vse but small ones yf they woulde by reason of the narownesse of theyr Canoas Swarmyng therefore about the shyppe with theyr Canoas whiche we may wel cal Monoxyla because they are made of one whole tree they feared not to shoote at our men beyng yet within their shyppes and keepyng them selues vnder the hatches as safely as yf they had ben defended with stone walles But when our men had shotte of certayne peeces of ordinaunce agaynst them they were so discomfited with the noyse and slaughter thereof that they droue them selues to flyght Being thus disparcled our men chased them with the ship boate toke many and slue many When the kynges heard the noyse of the gunnes and were certified of the losse of theyr men they sent ambassadours to Vincentius Agnes to entreate of peace fearyng the spoyle of theyr goodes and destruction of theyr people yf our men should come alande in theyr wrath and furie They desyred peace therefore as coulde be coniectured by theyr signes and poyntynges for our men vnderstoode not one woord of theyr language And for the better proofe that they desyred peace they presented our men with three thousande of those weyghtes of gold that the Spanyardes call Castellanum Aureum whiche they commonly call Pesum Also a great barrel of wood ful of moste excellent masculine Frankencense weighing about two thousande and sixe hundred poundes weight after eight ounces to the pounde whereby they knewe that that lande brought foorth great plentie of Frankencense for there is no entercourse of marchaundies betweene the inhabitauntes of Paria and the Sabeans being so farre distant wheras also they of Paria knowe nothing without theyr owne coastes With the golde and Frankencense whiche they presented to our men they gaue them also a great multitude of theyr peacockes both cockes and hennes dead and alyue aswel to satisfie theyr present necessitie as also to carry with them into Spayne for encrease lykewyse certayne carpettes couerlettes table clothes and hangyngs made of Gossampine silke finely wrought after a strange deuice with pleasant and variable colours hauyng golden belles and such other spangles and pendauntes as the Italians call Sonaglios and the Spanyardes Cascaueles hangyng at the purfles therof They gaue them furthermore speakyng popyngayes of sundry colours as many as they woulde aske for in Paria there is no lesse plentie of popyngayes then with vs of doues or sparows Thinhabitants of these regions both men women are apparelled with vestures made of gossampine cotton the men to the knees and the women to the calfe of the legge The fashion of theyr apparel is simple and playne muche lyke vnto the Turkes but the mens is double and quilted like that which the Turkes vse in the warres The princes of Paria are rulers but for one yeere but theyr auctoritie is no lesse among the people both in peace and warre then is thauctoritie of other kyngs in those regions Their villages are builded in compasse along by the bankes of al that great gulfe Fyue of theyr princes came to our men with theyr presentes whose names I thought woorthy to be put in this historie in remembrance of so notable a thing Chiaconus Chiauaccha that is the prince of Chiauaccha for they cal princes or kings Chiaconus Chiaconus Pintiguanus Chiaconus Chamailaba Chiaconus Polomus ▪ and Chiaconus Potto The gulfe beyng first found of the Admiral Colonus they cal Baia Natiuitatis because he entred into the same in the day of y e natiuitie of Christ but at that time he only passed by it without any further searchyng and Baia in the Spanyshe tong signifieth a gulfe Whē Vincentius had thus made a league with these princes folowyng his appoynted course he founde many regions toward y e East desolate by reason of diuers floods and ouerflowyngs of waters also many standyng pooles in diuers places and those of exceeding largenesse He ceassed not to folowe this tracte vntyl he came to the poynt or cape of that most long lande This poynt seemeth as though it would inuade the mount Atlas in Aphrica for it prospecteth towarde that part of Aphrike which the Portugales cal Caput bonae Sperantiae The poynte◠or capes of the mount Atlas are rough and sauage neere vnto the sea The cape of Bona Speranza geathereth thyrtie and foure degrees of the South pole called the pole Antartike but that poynt only seuen degrees I suppose this lande to be that whiche I fynde in olde wryters of Cosmographie to be called the great Ilande Atlantike without any further declaryng eyther of the situation or of the nature thereof The eight booke of the seconde Decade of the supposed continent WHen Iohn the king of Portugale liued whiche was predecessour to him that nowe raigneth there arose a great contention betweene the Castilians and the Portugales as concernyng the dominion of these newe founde landes The Portugales because they were the fyrst that durst attempt to searche the Ocean sea synce the memorie of man affirmed that al the nauigations of the Ocean ought to parteyne to them only The Castilians argued on the contrary part that whatsoeuer God by the ministration of nature hath created on the earth was at the begynnyng common among men and that it is therefore lawful to euery man to possesse such lands as are voyde of Christian inhabitours Whyle the matter was thus vncertaynelye debated both parties agreed that the controuersie shoulde be desyded by the byshop of Rome and plighted fayth to stande to his arbitrement The kyngdome of Castile was at that tyme gouerned by that great queene Helisabeth with her husband for the Realme of Castile was her dowrie She also and the kyng of Portugale were cosyn germanes of two systers by reason whereof the dissention was more easyly pacified By the assent therfore of both parties Alexander the bishop of Rome the .vi. of that name by thaucthoritie of his leaden bull drewe a right lyne from the North to the South an hundred leagues Westwarde without the paralels of those Ilandes whiche are called Caput Viride or Cabouerde within the compasse of this lyne although some denye it falleth the poynt of this lande whereof we haue spoken whiche they cal Caput Sancti Augustini otherwyse called Promontorium Sancti Augustini that is saint Augustines cape or poynt and therefore it is not lawful for the Castilians to fasten foote in the begynnyng of that land Vincentius Annez therefore departed from thence beyng aduertised of the inhabitantes that on the other syde of the hygh mountaynes towarde the South lying before his eyes there was a region called Ciamba whiche brought forth great plentie of golde Of certayne captiues whiche he tooke in the gulfe of Paria whiche certaynely parteyneth to the dominion of Castile he brought some with him to Hispaniola and left
discription hereof then is sayde of the henne when she seeth her young chycken inwrapped in towe or flaxe The breadth of that lande from the North Ocean to the south sea is only sixe dayes iourney by relation of the inhabitauntes The multitude therfore and greatnesse of the riuers on the one syde and on the other syde the narownesse of the lande bryng me into suche doubt howe it can come to passe that in so lytle a space of three dayes iourney measuryng from the high toppes of those mountaynes I doo not vnderstande howe so many and so great ryuers may haue recourse vnto this North sea for it is to be thought that as many do flow toward thinhabitants of the south These riuers of Vraba are but small in comparison of many other in those coastes for the Spanyardes say that in the tyme of Colonus they found and passed by an other riuer after this whose gulfe fallyng into y e sea they affirme to be litle lesse then a hundred myles in the fyrst coastes of Paria as we haue sayde elsewhere for they say that it falleth from the toppes of high mountaynes with so swyft and furious a course that by the violence and greatnesse thereof it dryueth backe the sea although it be rough enforced with a contrary wynd They al affirme lykewyse that in al the large tracte therof they felt no sowre or salt water but that all the water was freeshe sweete and apt to be drunke Thinhabitauntes call this ryuer Maragnonum and the regions adiacent to the same Mariatambal Camamorus and Paricora besyde those riuers whiche I haue named before as Darien â–ª Grandis Dabaiba Beragua Sancti Mathei Boius gatti Delagartos Gaira they which of late haue searched those coastes haue founde many other Deliberatyng therefore with me selfe from whence these mountaynes beyng so narowe and neare vnto the sea on both sydes haue suche great holowe caues or dennes of such capacitie and from whence they are fylled to cast foorth suche abundance of water hereof also askyng them the opinions of the inhabitauntes they affirme them to be of diuers iudgementes herein alleaging fyrst the greatnes of the mountaynes to be the cause whiche they say to be verye high whiche thyng also Colonus the first fynder thereof affirmeth to be true addyng thereunto that the paradise of pleasure is in the tops of those mountaynes whiche appeare from the gulfe of Paria Os Draconis as he is fully perswaded They agree therefore that there are great caues within these mountaynes but it resteth to consyder from whence they are fylled If therfore al the riuers of freshe waters by the opinion of many do so flowe out of the sea as dryuen and compelled through the passages or pores of the earth by the ponderous weyght of the sea it selfe as we see them breake foorth of the sprynges and directe theyr course to the sea agayne then the thyng is lesse to be marueyled at here then in other places for we haue not read that in any other place two suche seas haue enuironed any lande with so narowe lymyttes for it hath on the ryght syde the great Ocean where the sunne goeth downe on the left hande and another on the other syde where the sunne ryseth nothyng inferiour to the fyrste in greatnesse for they suppose it to be myxte and ioyned as al one with the sea of East India This lande therfore beyng burdened with so great a weyght on the one syde on the other yf this opinion be of any value is enforced to swalowe vp such deuoured waters and agayne to cast foorth the same in open springes and streames But yf we shall denye that the earth draweth humours of the sea and agree that all fountaynes or sprynges are engendred of the conuersion or turnyng of ayre into water distilling within the holow places of the mountaines as the most part thinke we wyll geue place rather to thaucthoritie of them whiche stycke to those reasons then that our sense is satisfied of the ful trueth thereof Yet do I not repugne that in some caues of mountaynes water is turned into ayre for I mee selfe haue seene howe in the caues of manye mountaynes in Spayne in manner showres of rayne do fall continuallye and that the water geathered by this meanes doth sende foorth certayne riuers by the sydes of the mountaynes wherewith all suche trees as are planted on the steepe or foote of the mountaynes as vines oliue trees and suche other are watered and this especially in one place as the right honorable Lodouike the Cardinal of Aragonie most obsequious to your holynesse and two other bishops of Italy whereof the one is Siluius Pandonus and the other an Archbishop whose name and title I do not remember can beare me witnesse for when we were togeather at Granata lately deliuered from the dominion of the Moores and walked for our pastyme to certaine pleasant hilles by the whiche there ranne a fayre ryuer â–ª while Cardinal Lodouike occupied hym selfe in shootyng at byrdes whiche were in the bushes neere vnto the ryuer I thother two bishops determined to clime the mountaynes to searche the original and spryng of the ryuer for we were not farre from the toppes thereof Folowyng therfore the course of the ryuer we founde a great caue in which was a continual fal of water as it had ben a showre of rayne the water whereof fallyng into a trenche made with mans hande encreaseth to a ryuer and runneth downe by the sydes of the mountaynes The lyke is also seene in this famous towne of Valladoleto where we nowe soiourne in a certaine greene close not past a furlong distant from the walles of the towne I graunt therefore that in certayne places by conuersion of the ayrie deawe into water within the caues of suche mountaynes many springes and riuers are engendred but I suppose that nature was not sollicitate to bryng foorth suche great floods by this so small industrie Two reasons therfore do sounde best to my iudgement wherof the one is the often fal of rayne the other the continual autume or spryng tyme which is in those regions being so neere vnto the Equinoctial that the common people can perceiue no difference betweene the length of the day and the nyght throughout all the yeere where as these two seasons are more apt to engender abundance of rayne then eyther extreme wynter or feruent sommer An other reason in effect much like vnto the fyrst is this If the sea be ful of pores and that by the pores thereof being opened by the south wyndes we shal consent that vapours are lyfted vp whereof the watery cloudes are engendred this lande must needes be moysted with moe showres then anye other yf it be as narowe as they say and enuironed with two mayne seas collaterally beatyng on the same howsoeuer it be I can not but geue credite to the report of suche worthy men as haue
in deede they were Departyng therfore from the large region of Quiriquetana the .xiii. day of the calendes of September when he had sayled thyrtie leagues he found a ryuer within the mouth wherof he drewe freshe water in the sea where also the shore was so cleane without rockes that he founde grounde euery where where he myght aptly cast anker He writeth that the swift course of the Ocean was so vehement and contrary that in the space of fourtie dayes he coulde scarcely sayle threescore and tenne leagues and that with much dyfficultie with many fetches and compassynges fyndyng him selfe to be some tymes repulsed and dryuen farre backe by the violent course of the sea when he woulde haue taken lande towarde the euening leaste perhaps wanderyng in vnknowen coastes in the darcknesse of the nyght he myght be in daunger of shypwracke He wryteth that in the space of eyght leagues he found three great and fayre ryuers vpon the banckes whereof there grewe reedes bygger then a mannes thygh In these riuers was also great plenty of fyshe and great Tortoyses Lykewyse in many places multitudes of Crocodyles lying in the sande and yanyng to take the heate of the sonne besyde dyuers other kyndes of beastes wherunto he gaue no names He sayeth also that the soyle of that lande is verye diuers and variable beyng somewhere stonye and full of rough and craggie promontories or poyntes reachyng into the sea and in other places as fruitefull as may be They haue also diuers kynges and rulers In some places they call a kyng Cacicus in other places they call hym Quebi and somewhere Tiba Such as haue behaued them selues valyantlye in the warres agaynst theyr enemies and haue theyr faces full of scarres they call Cupras and honour them as the antiquitie dyd the gods whiche they called Heroes supposed to be the soules of suche men as in theyr lyfe tyme excelled in vertue and noble actes The common people they call Chiui and a man they call Homem When they say in theyr language take man they say Hoppa home After this he came to an other ryuer apt to beare great shippes before the mouth whereof lye foure small Ilandes full of floryshyng and fruitfull trees these Ilandes he named Quatuor tempora From hence sayling toward the East for the space of .xiii. leagues styl against the violent course of the water he found twelue other small Ilandes in the which because he founde a new kind of fruites much like vnto our Lemonds he called them Limonarâ—s Wanderyng yet further the same way for the space of .xii. leagues he founde a great hauen entryng into the lande after the maner of a gulfe the space of three leagues and in maner as brode into y e which fel a great riuer Here was Nicuesa lost afterward when he sought Beragua by reason whereof they called it Rio de los perdidos that is the ryuer of the lost men Thus Colonus the Admiral yet further continuyng his course agaynst the furye of the sea founde manye hygh mountaynes and horrible valleys with dyuers ryuers and hauens from all the which as he sayth proceeded sweete sauours greatly recreatyng and comfortyng nature Insomuche that in al this long tract there was not one of his men diseased vntyll he came to a region whiche thinhabitantes call Quicuris in the whiche is the hauen called Cariai named Mirobalanus by the Admirall bycause the Mirobalane trees are natiue in the regions thereabout In this hauen of Cariai there came about two hundred of thinhabitantes to the sea syde with euerye of them three or foure dartes in theyr handes yet of condition gentle yenough and not refusyng straungers Their commyng was for none other purpose then to knowe what this newe nation meant or what they brought with them When our men had geuen them sygnes of peace they came swymmyng to the shyppes and desyred to barter with them by exchaunge The Admiral to allure them to frendshyppe geue them many of our thynges But they refused them suspecting some disceyt thereby bycause he would not receiue theirs They wrought all by sygnes for one vnderstoode not a woord of the others language Suche gyftes as were sent them they left on the shore and woulde take no part thereof They are of suche ciuilitie and humanitie that they esteeme it more honorable to geue then to take They sent our men two young women beyng virgines of commendable fauour and goodly stature sygnifying vnto them that they myght take them away with them if it were their pleasure These women after the maner of their countrey were couered from their ancles somwhat aboue their priuye partes with a certayne cloth made of gossampine cotton but the men are all naked The women vse to cut their heare but the men let it growe on the hynder part of their heades and cut it on the fore part Their long heare they bynde vp with fyllettes and wynde it in sundry rowles as our maydes are accustomed to do The virgines whiche were sent to the Admirall he decked in fayre apparell and gaue them many gyftes and sent them home agayne But lykewyse all these rewardes and apparel they left vppon the shore bycause our men had refused their giftes Yet tooke he two men away with hym and those very wyllyngly that by learnyng the Spanyshe tongue he myght afterward vse them for interpretours He considered that the tractes of these coastes were not greatly troubled with vehement motions or ouerflowynges of the sea forasmuche as trees growe in the sea not farre from the shore euen as they doo vppon the bankes of ryuers the whiche thyng also other do affirme whiche haue latelyer searched those coastes declaryng that the sea ryseth and falleth but litle therabout He sayth furthermore that in the prospect of this land there are trees engendred euen in the sea which after that they are growen to any height bend downe the toppes of theyr braunches into the ground whiche embrasyng them causeth other braunches to spring out of the same and take roote in the earth bryngyng foorth trees in theyr kynd successiuely as dyd the fyrst root from whence they had theyr oryginall as do also the settes of vines when onely both the endes thereof are put into the grounde Plinie in the twelfth booke of his natural historie maketh mention of suche trees describyng them to be on the lande but not in the sea The Admiral wryteth also that the lyke beastes are engendred in the coastes of Cariai as in other prouinces of these regions and such as we haue spoken of before Yet that there is one founde here in nature muche differyng from the other This beast is of the bygnesse of a great Monkey but with a tayle much longer and bygger it lyueth in the wooddes and remoueth from tree to tree in this maner Hangyng by the tayle vppon the braunche of a tree and geatheryng strength by swaying her body twyse
say that this ryuer consisteth and taketh his encrease of foure other ryuers fallyng from the mountaynes of Dabaiba Our men call this ryuer Flumen S. Iohannis They say also that from hence it falleth into the gulfe of Vraba by seuen mouthes as dooth the ryuer of Nilus into the sea of Egypt Lykewyse that in the same region of Vraba there are in some places narowe streyghtes not passing fyfteene leagues and the same to be sauage and without any passage by reason of dyuers maryshes and desolate wayes whiche the Latines call Lamas but the Spanyardes accordyng to theyr varietie call them Tremedales Trampales Cenegales Sumideros Zabondaderos But before we passe any further it shall not be greatly from our purpose to declare from whence these mountaynes of Dabaiba haue theyr name accordyng vnto thantiquities of thinhabitantes They sayd that Dabaiba was a woman of great magnanimitie and wysedome among theyr predecessours in olde tyme whom in her lyfe all thinhabitantes of those prouinces dyd greatly reuerence and beyng dead gaue her diuine honour and named the region after her name beleeuyng that she sendeth thunder and lyghtnyng to destroy the fruites of the earth yf she be angred and to sende plentie if shee be well pleased This superstition hath been persuaded them by a craftie kynde of men vnder pretence of religion to thintent that they myght enioy suche gyftes and offeringes as were brought to the place where she was honoured This is sufficient for this purpose They say furthermore that the maryshes of the narowe land whereof we haue spoken bring forth great plentie of Crocodiles Dragons Battes and Gnats beyng very hurtfull Therefore whensoeuer they take any iourney towarde the south they go out of the way toward the mountaynes and eschewe the regions neere vnto those perylous fennes or maryshes Some thynke that there is a valley lying that way that the ryuer runneth which our men cal Rio de los perdidos that is the ryuer of the lost men so named by the misfortune whiche there befell to Nicuesa and his company and not farre distant from the hauen Cerabaro whiche diuideth those mountaines toward the south But let vs now finishe this booke with a fewe other thinges woorthy to be noted They say therefore that on the ryght hand and left hande from Dariena there are twentye ryuers in all the whiche great plentye of gold is found Beyng demaunded what was the cause why they brought no greater aboundance of golde from thence they answeared that they lacked miners and that the men whiche they tooke with them from Spayne thyther were not accustomed to labour but for the most part brought vp in the warres This land seemeth also to promise many precious stones For besyde those which I sayde to be founde neere vnto Cariai and Sancta Martha one Andreas Moralis a pilot who had trauayled those coastes with Iohannes de la Cossa whyle he yet lyued had a precious Diamonde whiche he bought of a naked young man in the region of Cumana in the prouince of Paria This stone was as long as two ioyntes of a mans myddle fynger and as byg as the fyrst ioynt of the thumbe beyng also paynted on euery syde consisting of eyght squares perfectly fourmed by nature They say that with this they made scarres in anuylles and hammers and brake the teeth of fyles the stone remayning vnperyshed The young man of Cumana wore this stone about his necke among other ouches solde it to Andreas Moralis for fyue of our counterfect stones made of glasse of diuers colours wherewith the ignorant young man was greatly delyted They found also certayne Topases on y e shore But the estimation of gold was so farre entred into the heades of our men that they had no regarde to stones Also the most part of the Spanyardes do laugh them to scorne which vse to weare many stones specially such as are common iudging it to be an effeminate thyng and more meete for women then men The noble men onely when they celebrate solemne mariages or set foorth any triumphes weare cheynes of gold beset with precious stones and vse fayre apparel of silke embrodered with golde intermixt with pearles and precious stones and not at other tymes They thynke it no lesse effeminate for men to smel of the sweete sauours of Arabie and iudge hym to be infected with some kynde of fylthy lechery in whom they smel the sauour of muske or Castoreum But lyke as by one apple taken from a tree we may perceiue the tree to be fruiteful and by one fyshe taken in a ryuer we may knowe that fyshe is ingendred in the same euen so by a litle gold and by one stone we ought to consyder that this lande bringeth foorth great plentie of golde and precious stones What they haue founde in the porte of Sancta Martha in the region of Cariai when the whole nauie passed thereby vnder the gouernaunce of Petrus Arias and his company with certayne other of the kynges officers I haue sufficiently declared in his place To be short therefore al thynges do so floryshe growe encrease and prosper that the last are euer better then the fyrst And surely to declare my opinion herein whatsoeuer hath heretofore ben discouered by the famous trauayles of Saturnus and Hercules with suche other whom the antiquitie for their heroical factes honoured as gods seemeth but litle and obscure if it be compared to the Spanyardes victorious labours Thus I bydde your holynesse farewell desyryng you to certifie me howe you lyke these fyrst fruites of the Ocean that beyng encouraged with your exhortations I may the gladlyer and with lesse tediousnesse wryte suche thinges as shall chaunce hereafter The fyfth booke of the thyrde Decade AL suche lyuyng creatures as vnder the cyrcle of the moone bring foorth any thing are accustomed by thinstincte of nature as soone as they are delyuered of theyr byrth eyther to close vp the matrice or at the least to be quyet for a space But our most fruitefull Ocean and newe worlde engendreth and bryngeth foorth dayly new byrthes wherby men of great wyt and especially such as are studious of new and marueylous thynges may haue somewhat at hand wherwith to feed theyr myndes Yf your holynesse do aske to what purpose is all this ye shal vnderstand that I had scarsly finished the historie of such thynges as chaunced to Vaschus Nunnez and his companie in theyr voyage to the south sea when sodenly there came new letters from Petrus Arias the new gouernour whom the kyng had appoynted the yeere before with an army of men and a nauy of shyps to sayle to these newe landes He signified by his letters that he with his nauie and company arryued al safely Furthermore Iohannes Cabedus whom your holinesse at the request of the most catholique kyng had created Bishop of that prouince of Dariena and three other of the cheefe officers ioyned in commission
white marble whereby they thynke that in tyme past some straungers haue come to those landes whiche haue dygged marble out of the mountaynes and lefte those fragmentes on the playne There our men learned that the ryuer Maragnonus descendeth from the mountaynes couered with snowe called Montes Niuales or Serra Neuata and the same to be encreased by many other ryuers whiche fall into it throughout all the lowe and waterly regions by the which it runneth with so long a tract from the sayd mountaynes into the sea and this to be the cause of the greatnesse thereof These thynges being thus brought to passe the gouernour commaunded the trumpeter to blowe a retraite Wheruppon they which were sent to lande beyng fiue hundred in number making a great shout for ioy of theyr victory set them selues in order of battayle and so keepyng theyr array returned to the shyppes laden with spoyle of those prouinces and shynyng in souldiers clokes of feathers with fayre plumes and crestes of variable colours In this meane tyme hauyng repaired theyr shyppes and furnyshed the same with all necessaries they loosed anker the .xvi day of the Calendes of Iuly directyng their course to the hauen of Carthagena in the whiche voyage they destroyed and wasted certaine Ilandes of the Canibales lying in the way accordyng as they were commaunded by the kyng But the swift course of the water deceiued both Iohannes Sarranus the chiefe Pilot of the gouernours shippe and all the other although they made their bost that they perfectly knewe the nature therof For they affyrme that in one night they were caried fourtie leagues beyond their estimation The syxte booke of the thyrde Decade HEere must we somewhat digresse frō Cosmography make a philosophical discourse to searche the secrete causes of nature For whereas they all affirme with one consent that y e sea runneth there from the east to the west as swiftely as it were a ryuer fallyng from hygh mountaynes I thought it not good to let suche matter slyppe vntouched The which whyle I consyder I am drawen into no small ambiguitie and doubt whyther those waters haue theyr course whiche flowe with so continuall a tract in circuite from the East as though they fledde to the west neuer to returne and yet neyther the west thereby any whit the more fylled nor the East emptied If we shall say that they fall to theyr centre as is the nature of heauie thynges and assigne the Equinoctiall line to bee the centre as some affyrme what centre shall we appoynt to be able to receiue so great abundance of water Or what circumference shall be founde wet They whiche haue searched those coastes haue yet founde no lyke reason to be true Many thynke that there shoulde bee certayne large straightes or entrances in the corner of that great lande whiche we described to be eyght tymes bygger then Italye and the corner thereof to be full of gulfes whereby they suppose that some strayghtes shoulde passe through the same lying on the west syde of the Ilande of Cuba and that the sayde strayghtes shoulde swalowe vp those waters and so conuey the same into the west and from thence agayne into our East Ocean or north seas as some thynke Other wyll that the gulfe of that great lande be closed vp and the lande to reache farre towarde the north on the backe syde of Cuba so that it embrace the north landes whiche the frosen sea encompasseth vnder the north pole and that all the lande of those coastes shoulde ioyne togeather as one firme lande Whereby they coniecture that those waters shoulde be turned about by the obiecte or resistaunce of that land so bendyng towarde the north as we see the waters turned about in the crooked bankes of certayne ryuers But this agreeth not in all poyntes For they also whiche haue searched the frosen sea and sayled from thence into the west do lykewyse affyrme that those north seas flowe continually towarde the west although nothyng so swiftely These north seas haue ben searched by one Sebastian Cabot a Uenetian borne whom beyng yet but in maner an infant his parentes caryed with them into Englande hauyng occasion to resort thither for trade of marchandize as is the maner of the Uenetians to leaue no part of the worlde vnsearched to obtaine rychesse He therfore furnished two shyppes in England at his owne charges And fyrst with three hundreth men directed his course so farre towarde the north pole that euen in the moneth of Iuly he founde monstrous heapes of Ise swymming on the sea and in maner continuall day lyght Yet sawe he the lande in that tract free from Ise whiche had ben moulten by heat of the Sonne Thus seeyng suche heapes of Ise before hym he was enforced to turne his sayles and folowe the west so coastyng styll by the shore that he was thereby brought so farre into the south by reason of the lande bendyng so muche southwarde that it was there almost equall in latitude with the sea called Fretum Herculeum hauyng the north pole eleuate in maner in the same degree He sayled lykewyse in this tract so farre towarde the west that he had the Ilande of Cuba on his left hande in maner in the same degree of longitude As he traueyled by the coastes of this great lande whiche he named Baccallaos he sayth that he founde the lyke course of the waters toward the west but the same to runne more softly and gentelly then the swifte waters whiche the Spanyardes founde in their nauigations southwarde Wherefore it is not onely more lyke to be true but ought also of necessitie to be concluded that betwene both the landes hitherto vnknowen there shoulde be certayne great open places wherby the waters should thus continually passe from the East into the west whiche waters I suppose to be dryuen about the globe of the earth by the vncessaunt mouyng and impulsion of the heauens and not to beswalowed vp and cast out agayne by the breathyng of Demogorgon as some haue imagined bycause they see the seas by increase decrease to flow reflow Sebastian Cabot hym selfe named those landes Baccallaos bycause that in the seas therabout he founde so great multitudes of certayne bygge fyshes muche like vnto Tunnies which thinhabitants cal Baccallaos that they somtymes stayed his shyppes He founde also the people of those regions couered with beastes skynnes yet not without the vse of reason He also sayth there is great plentie of Beares in those regions whiche vse to eate fyshe For plungeyng them selues into the water where they perceiue a multitude of these fyshes to lye they fasten theyr clawes in theyr scales and so drawe them to lande and eate them So that as he sayth the Beares beyng thus satisfied with fyshe are not noysome to men He declareth further that in many places of these regions he sawe great plentie of laton among the inhabitauntes
is gentle or noble Therefore whensoeuer any of the kynges familyers especially such as are knowne to her resorte to the bankes of the lake and call Matum Matum then she as myndefull of such benefites as shee hath receyued of men lifteth vp her head and commeth to the place whither shee is called and there receyueth meate at the handes of such as feede her If any desirous to passe ouer the lake make signes and tokens of theyr intent shee boweth her selfe to them therewith as it were gentelly inuityng them to amount vppon her and conueyeth them safely ouer It hath been seene that this monstrous fyshe hath at one tyme safely caryed ouer tenne men singing and playing But if by chaunce when she lyfted vp her head shee espyed any of the Christian men she would immediatly plunge downe againe into the water and refuse to obey bycause shee had once receyued iniury at the handes of a certayne wanton young man among the Christians who had cast a sharpe darte at her although shee were not huâ—te by reason of the hardenesse of her skynne being rough and full of scales and knobbes as we haue sayde Yet dyd shee beare in memorie thiniurie shee susteyned with so gentle a reuenge requityng thingratitude of him which had delt with her so vngentelly From that day whensoeuer shee was called by any of her familiers she would fyrst looke circumspectly about her least any were present apparelled after the maner of the Christians She would oftentymes play and wrestle vppon the banke with the kynges chamberlens and especially with a young man whom the kyng fauoured well being also accustomed to feede her Shee would bee sometymes as pleasaunt and full of play as it had been a moonkey or marmaset and was of long tyme a great comfort and solace to the whole Iland For no small confluence aswell of the Christians as of thinhabitantes had dayly concourse to beholde so straunge a myracle of nature the contemplation whereof was no lesse pleasaunt then wonderfull They say that the meate of this kynde of fyshe is of good taste and that many of them are engendred in the seas thereabout But at the length this pleasaunt playfelowe was loste and caryed into the sea by the great ryuer Attibunicus one of the foure which diuide the Ilande For at that tyme there chauncâ—d so terrible a tempest of wynde and rayne with suche floods ensuing that the lyke hath not lightly been heard of By reason of this tempest the ryuer Attibunicus so ouerflowed the bankes that it filled the whole vale and myxt it self with all the other lakes at which tyme also this gentle Matum pleasaunt companyon folowing the vehement course and fall of the floods was thereby restored to his olde moother and natyue waters and since that tyme neuer seene agayne Thus hauyng digressed sufficiently let vs now come to the situation of the vale It hath collateraâ—ly the mountaynes of Cibaua and Caiguam which bryng it to the South sea There is an other vale beyonde the mountaynes of Cibaua towarde the North this is called the vale of Guarionexius bycause that before the memorie of man the predicessours auncestours of kyng Guarionexius to whom it is descended by ryght of inheritaunce were euer the Lordes of the whole vale Of this kyng wee haue spoken largely in the fyrst narration of the Ilande in the fyrst Decade This vale is of length from the East to the West a hundred and fourescore myles and of breadth from the South to the North thirtie myles where it is narowest and fiftie where it is brodest It beginneth from the region Canobocoa by the prouinces of Huhabo and Caiabo and endeth in the prouince of Bainoa and the region of Mariena it lyeth in the myddest betweene the mountaynes of Cibaua and the mountaynes of Cahonai Caxacubuna There is no prouince nor any region which is not notable by the maiestie of mountaynes fruitfulnesse of vales pleasauntnesse of hylles and delectablenesse of playnes with abundance of faire ryuers running through the same There are no sides of mountaynes or hylles no ryuers which abound not with golde and delycate fyshes except only one ryuer which from thoriginal thereof with the sprynges of the same breakyng foorth of the mountaynes commeth out salt and so continueth vntill it perysh This ryuer is called Babuan and runneth through the myddle of the region Maguana in the prouince of Bainoa They suppose that this ryuer hath made it selfe a way vnder the grounde by some passages of playster or salte earth for there are in the Ilande manye notable salte bayes whereof we will speake more heereafter Wee haue declared howe the Ilande is diuided by foure ryuers and fyue prouinces There is also an other particion which is this The whole Ilande consisteth of the toppes of foure mountaynes whiche diuide it by the myddest from the East to the West in all these is abundaunce of nooryshyng moysture and great plentie of golde of the caues also of the which the waters of all the riuers into the which the caues emptie them selues haue theyr originall and increase There are lykewyse in them horryble dennes obscure and darke vales and myghtie rockes of stone There was neuer any noysome beast founde in it nor yet any rauenyng foure footed beast no Lion no Beare no fierce Tigers no crafâ—ie Foxes nor deuouring Woolfes All thinges are blessed and fortunate and now more fortunate for that so many thousandes of men are receyued to bee the sheepe of Christes flocke all theyr zemes and Images of deuylles being reiected and vtterly out of memorie If I chaunce now and then in the discourse of this narration to repeate one thing dyuers tymes or otherwyse to make digression I must desyre your holynesse therewith not to bee offended For whyle I see heare and wryte these thinges mee seemeth that I am heerewith so affected that for very ioy I feele my mynde stirred as it were with the spirite of Apollo as were the Sibilles whereby I am enforced to repeate the same agayne especially when I consider howe farre the amplitude of our religion spreadeth her wynges Yet among these so many blessed and fortunate thinges this one greeueth mee not a lyttle that these simple poore men neuer brought vp in labour doe dayly peryshe with intollerabe trauayle in the golde mynes and are thereby brought to suche desperation that many of them kyll them selues hauyng no regarde to the procreation of chyldren insomuche that women with chylde perceyuing that they shall bryng foorth suche as shal be slaues to the Christians vse medecines to destroy theyr conception And albeit that by the kynges letters patentes it was decreed that they should be set at libertie yet are they constrayned to serue more then seemeth conuenient for free men The number of the poore wretches is wonderfully extenuate they were once reckened to bee aboue twelue hundred thousand heades but what they
systers If she fayle to theldest of the seconde syster and so of the thyrde if the seconde also fayle For they are out of doubte that those chyldren come of theyr blood but the chyldren of theyr owne wyues they counte to be not legitimate If there remayne none of theyr systers chyldren they leaue thinheritaunce to theyr brothers and if they fayle it descendeth to theyr owne sonnes Last of all if all these faile they assigne it to the woorthiest as to him that is of greatest power in all the Ilande that he may defende theyr subiectes from their auncient enimies They take as many wyues as them lysteth They suffer the best beloued of the kynges wyues and concubines to be buryed with hym Anachaona the syster of Beuchius the kyng of Xaragua being a woman of such wisedome and cunnyng that in makyng of rhymes and balattes she was counted a prophetisse among the best commaunded that among all the wyues and concubines of the kyng her brother the fayreest whose name was Guanahattabenechina shoulde be buried alyue with hym and two of her waytyng maydes with her She would surely haue appointed diuers other to that offyce if she had not been otherwyse perswaded by the prayers of certayne fryers of saint Fraunces order whiche chaunced then to be present They saye that this Guanahattabenechina had none in all the Ilande comparable to her in beautie She buryed with her all her iewels and twentie of her best ornamentes Their custome is to place besyde euery of them in their sepultures a cuppe full of water a portion of the fyne bread of Cazabbi In Xaragua the region of this kyng Beuchius and in Hazua part of the region of Caiabo also in the fayre vale of salt and freshe lakes and lykewyse in the region of Yaquino in the prouince of Bainoa it rayneth but seldome In al these regions are fosses or trenches made of olde tyme whereby they conueye the waters in order to water theyr fieldes with no lesse art then do thinhabitours of newe Carthage and of the kingdome of Murcien in Spartaria for the seldome fall of rayne The region of Maguana diuideth the prouince of Bainoa from Caiabo and Zauana from Guaccaiarima In the deepe vales they are troubled with rayne more often then nedeth Also the confines of the chiefe citie named saint Dominike are moister thē is necessary In other places it raineth moderatly There are therfore in the Iland of Hispaniola diuers and variable motions of the elementes as we reade the lyke of many other regions Of theyr colonies or mantions which the Spaniardes haue erected in this Iland we haue spoken sufficiently before They haue since that tyme builded these villages Portus platae Portus Regalis Lares Villanoua Azuam and Salua terra Hauing sayde thus much of the Iland of Hispaniola the mother and lady of the other Ilandes and as it were Tethys the most beautifull wyfe of Neptunus the god of the sea let vs nowe entreate somewhat of her Nymphes and fayre Nereides which wayte vppon her and adourne her on euery syde We wyll therfore begyn at the nearest called the newe Arethusa so named of the fountaine Arethusa in the Iland of Sicilie This is famous by reason of a spring but otherwyse vnprofitable Our men named it of late Duas Arbores because it hath onlye two trees growing in it neere vnto the which is a fountayne that commeth from the Iland of Hispaniola through the secrete passages of the earth vnder the sea and breaketh foorth in this Inde as the ryuer Alpheus in Achaia runneth vnder the sea from the citie of Elde and breaketh foorth in y e Iland of Sicilie in the fountayne Arethusa That the fountayne of this newe Arethusa hath his originall from the Ilande of Hispaniola it is manifest heereby that the water issuyng out of the fountayne bryngeth with it the leaues of many trees whiche growe in Hispaniola and not in this Iland They saye that the fountayne hath his originall from the ryuer Yiamiroa in the region of Guaccaiarima confinyng with the lande of Zauana This Ilande is not past a myle in circuite and commodious for fishermen Directly towards the East as it were the porter keepyng the entrye to Tethys lieth the Ilande of Sancti Iohannis otherwyse called Burichena whereof we haue spoken largely before this aboundeth with gold and in fruitefull soile is equall with her mother Hispaniola in this are many colonies or mansions of Spaniardes which apply them selues to geatheryng of golde Towards the west on the North syde great Cuba for the longnesse thereof long supposed to be continent or fyrme lande wardeth our Tethys on the backe halfe This is much longer then Hispaniola and from the East to the west is diuiuided in the middest with the circle called Tropicus Cancri Hispaniola and the other lying on the South syde of this are encluded almost in the mydde space betweene the sayde Tropike and the Equinoctiall line which many of the olde wryters supposed to be vnhabitable and defart by reason of the feruent heate of the Sonne in that clyme as they coniectured but they were deceyued in theyr opinion They affirme that rycher golde mynes are founde in Cuba then in Hispaniola They say also that euen now whyle I wryte these thynges there is golde geathered togeather redy to the meltyng amountyng to the quantitie of a hundred and fourescore thousand Castellans of golde an argument surely of great rychesse Iamaica is more towards the South then these and is a pleasaunt and fruitful Ilande of soyle apt for corne graffes and settes it consisteth of onely one mountayne the inhabitantes are warrelyke men and of good wyt Colonus compared it to Scicilie in bygnesse They whiche of late searched it more exactly say that it is somewhat lesse but not muche It is thought to be without golde and precious stones as the lyke was supposed of Cuba at the begynning The Ilande of Guadalupea fyrst named Caraqueira lying on the South syde of Hispaniola is foure degrees nearer the Equinoctiall It is eaten and indented with two gulfes as we reade of great Britanie nowe called England and Calidonia nowe called Scotland beyng in maner two Ilandes It hath famous Portes In this they founde that gumme whiche the Apothecaries call Animae Album whose fume is holsome agaynst reumes and heauinesse of the head The tree whiche engendreth this gumme beareth a fruite much like vnto a Date beyng a spanne in length When it is opened it seemeth to conteyne a certayne sweete meale As our husbandmen are accustomed to reserue Chestnuts and such other harde fruites all the winter so do they the Dates of this tree beyng muche lyke vnto a Fygge tree They founde also in this Ilande Pyne trees of the best kynde and such other dayntie dyshes of nature whereof we haue spoken largelye before Yea they
shall dryue vs and among these so many pleasaunt and fruitfull prouinces of this large lande let vs choose one in the whiche wee maye with libertie spende that portion of our lyues which yet remayneth Who can fynde vs or shal be able to profer vs violence When these or the lyke wordes were declared to Petrus Arias hee sent to the South partes for Vaschus wyllyng him by the vertue of his commission to repayre to him foorthwith Vaschus obeyed and at his commyng was cast in pryson yet constantly denying that euer hee entended any such thyng Witnesses were brought agaynst him and his wordes rehearsed from the begynnyng To conclude hee was iudged woorthy death and was put to execution And this is the rewarde wherewith the blynde goddesse oftentymes recompenseth such as haue susteyned great trauayles and daungers to bee hyghly in her fauour Petrus Arias leauyng hys wyfe in Dariena embarked him selfe in the shippes left of Vaschus to thintent to search those coastes But whether hee bee returned or not wee haue yet no certayne knowledge He hath also his fortune Yet is there an other gouernour assigned whose name is Lupus Sosa the viceroye of the Ilandes of Canarie What stomake Petrus Arias may haue if he returne let good men iudge There was nothing done vnder him woorthy glorie Some thynke that hee was at the beginnyng to slacke and negligent in his office and not seuere in correctyng errours and misorders But we will leaue him and rehearse somewhat whereof we haue been lately infourmed as touchyng the great and deepe ryuer of Dabaiba the whiche for the greatnesse and largenesse thereof our men named Grandis that is great as we haue noted in our Decades This ryuer falleth into the furthest corner of the gulfe of Vraba by seuen portes or mouthes as doth the ryuer of Nilus into the Egyptian sea whose large description you may also reade in our Decades That the mountaynes on euery syde about this ryuer are ryche in golde wee haue learned by thinformation of thinhabitauntes of whom wee made diligent inquisition Vaschus and besyde him other gouernours and Lieuetenauntes haue fouretymes entred into this ryuer with theyr armies in battayle array and with dyuers kyndes of shippes fyrst for the space of fourtie myles then fyftie and at the last fourescore and at an other tyme also ouerthwarte the ryuer Oh shamefull chaunce and detestable cowardnesse of our men A naked nation encountryng with them that had apparell the armed against the vnarmed had the ouerthrow in maner in all conflictes and were either all slayne or wounded They vse inuenomed arrowes and are such experte archers that if they espy any place of theyr enimie bare or vnarmed they will not lyghtly fayle to stryke him there They vse also many dartes which in the tyme of the battayle they hurle so thicke a farre of that they take the lyght of the sunne from theyr enemies as it were with a cloude They haue lykewise brode long swoordes made of a heauy and harde kynde of wood wherewith they fight fiercely neare at hand Vaschus him selfe receiued many woundes in encountryng with them And thus by reason of the fiercenesse of these Barbarians the ryuer of Dabaiba is yet left vnsearched Wee will nowe speake somewhat more of the Ilande of Hispaniola which the Spanyardes call Spagnuola the mother and chiefe of all other landes or Ilands wherof we entended to write In it the Senate is now restored and fyue Iudges assigned to giue lawes to all thinhabitauntes of those tractes But in short tyme they shall ceasse geathering of gold although there bee great plentie by reason they shall lacke labourers and myners forasmuch as thinhabitauntes whose helpe they vsed heerein are brought to a small number consumed partely by warre and many more by famine that yeere that they dygged vp the rootes whereof they made theyr best bread and lefte of sowyng their grayne of Maizium which is their common foode supposing hereby to haue dryuen our men out of the Ilande who had vittayles sent them from Spayne A great number of them also dyed of new and straunge diseases which in the yeere of Christ a thousande fyue hundred and eightiene consumed them lyke rotten sheepe And to say the trueth our mens vnsaciable desyre of golde so oppressed these poore wretches with extreme labour and toyle where as before they lyued pleasauntly and at libertie gyuen onely to playes and pastymes as daunsyng fyshyng foulyng and huntyng of little Cunnies that many of them peryshed euen for very anguyshe of mynde the which with theyr vnaccustomed labour are thinges of them selues sufficient to engender many newe diseases But the kyng and the Senate haue nowe determyned that they bee reduced to a people and to gyue them selues onely to increase and tyllage of the grounde and that onely suche as are bought or taken out of other regions be appoynted to labour in the gold mynes But it shall suffyse to haue sayde thus muche of the pestiferous hunger of golde therfore I wil speake of other matters It is a marueylous thyng to consider how all thinges increase and prosper in this Ilande There are nowe .xxviii. suger presses wherewith great plentie of suger is made The canes or reedes wherein the suger groweth are bygger and hygher then in any other place and are as bygge as a mans arme in the brawne and hygher then the stature of a man by the halfe This is more wonderfull that where as in Ualentia in Spayne where a great quantitie of suger is made yeerely where so euer they applye them selues to the great increase thereof yet doeth euery roote bryng foorth not past fyue or syxe oâ— at the most seuen of those reedes whereas in Hispaniola oâ—e roote beareth twentie and oftentymes thirtie Foure footed beastes and cattayle are marueylously increased in this Ilande And albeit that the rauenyng hunger of golde hath hitherto greatly hyndered our men from tyllage of the grounde yet is there great plentye of wheate whiche prospereth so well that it yeeldeth some tyme a hundred folde and this especially on the hylles or rydges of the mountaynes prospectyng towarde the North Uines doo also encrease here with no lesse fruitefulnesse What shoulde I speake of the trees that beare Cassia fistula brought fyrst into this Ilande from the other Ilandes neere vnto the supposed Continent as we haue noted in our Decades There is nowe suche plentie hereof that after a fewe yeeres we shall haue a pounde of the pryce that we paye nowe for an ounce Of the Brasyle and Mirobalane trees with other innumerable prerogatiues and benefytes which nature hath plentifully geuen to this blessed Ilande we haue spoken sufficiently in our Decades Yet haue I thought good to repeate parte of the same because I thynke that the wittes of many readers haue diuerted from the weight of great affaires to
euery house also howe the treasurie of nature is in those coastes and of the golde mynes of Dariena Howe kyng Teaocha gaue Vaschus .xx. poundes weyght of wrought golde and two hundred pearles also of desartes full of wylde beastes and howe Vaschus was troubled with great heate in the moneth of Nouember Howe a dogge Tyger was taken and his whelpes tyed in cheynes and torne in peeces also how Vaschus gaue .iiii. kynges to his dogges to be deuoured Of the vse of dogges in theyr warres and of the fiercenesse of the Caniballes How kyng Bononiana fauoured the Christians gaue Vaschus xx pound weyght of wrought golde also his oration to Vaschus A similitude prouyng great plentie of golde in the regions of the South sea and of the trauayles which olde souldyers are able to susteyne The contentes of the thyrd booke Fol. 105. HOwe kyng Buchibuea submitted him selfe to Vaschus sent him certayne vesselles of golde also how kyng Chiorisus sent him .xxx. dyshes of pure golde Howe Iron serueth for more necessary vses then golde also an example of the lyfe of our fyrst parentes Howe kyng Pocchorrosa submitted hym selfe and gaue Vaschus fyftiene pounde weyght of wrought golde also how Tumanama the great kyng of the golden regions towarde the South sea is taken prysoner lykewyse howe he gaue Vaschus .xxx. pounde weyght of pure and wrought golde and his noble men .lx. pounds weyght of golde Of the cause of vehement wyndes neere vnto the Equinoctiall lyne and of the coloure of the earth of the golden mynes Of the large and fruitefull playne of Zauana and of the ryuer Comogrus also howe kyng Comogrus baptised by the name of Charles gaue Vaschus .xx. pounde weyght of wrought golde Of the good fortune of Vaschus and howe he was turned from Goliath to Elizeus from Anteus to Hercules with what facilitie the Spaniardes shall hereafter obtayne great plentie of golde and pearles Of the Spanyardes conquestes and fiercenesse of the Canibales also an exhortation to Christian princes to set forwarde Christes religion The contentes of the fourth booke Fol. 110. THe fourth viage of Colonus the Admiral from Spayne to Hispaniola and to the other Ilandes and coastes of the firme lande also of the floryshyng Ilande Guanassa Of the seuen kyndes of Date trees wylde vines and Mirobalanes also of byrdes and foules Of people of goodly stature whiche vse to paynt theyr bodyes and of the swyfte course of the sea from the east to the west also of freshe water in the sea Of the large regions of Paria Os Draconis and Quiriquetana and of great Tortoyses and reedes also of the foure fruitefull Ilands called Quatuor Tempora and .xii. Ilands called Limonares Of sweete sauoures and holsome ayre and of the region Quicuri and the hauen Cariai or Mirobalanus also of certayne ciuil people Of trees growyng in the sea after a straunge sort and of a straunge kynde of Monkyes whiche inuade men and feyght with wylde Bores Of the great gulfe of Cerabaro replenished with many fruitefull Ilandes and of the people whiche weare cheynes of golde made of ouches wrought to the similitude of dyuers wylde beastes and foules Of fyue villages whose inhabitauntes geue them selues onely to geatheryng of golde and are paynted vsyng to weare garlandes of Lions and Tygers clawes also of seuen ryuers in al the which is founde great plentie of golde and where the plentie of gold ceasseth Of certayne people whiche paynt theyr bodyes and couer theyr priuie members with shelles hauyng also plates of gold hangyng at theyr nosethrylles Of certayne woormes whiche beyng engendred in the seas neere about the Equinoctial eate holes in the shyppes and howe the Admirals shyppes were destroyed by them Howe the king of Beragua entertayned the Lieuetenaunt and of the great plentie of golde in the ryuer of Duraba and in al the regions there about also in rootes of trees and stones and in maner in al ryuers Howe the Lieuetenaunt and his company woulde haue erected a colonie besyde the ryuer of Beragua was repulsed by thinhabitauntes Howe the Admiral fel into the handes of the Barbarians of the Iland of Iamaica where he liued miserably the space of tenne monethes and by what chaunce he was saued and came to the Ilande of Hispaniola Of holsome regions temperate ayre and continual spryng al the whole yeere also of certayne people which honour golde religiously duryng theyr golden haruest Of the mountaynes of Beragua beyng fyftie myles in length and higher then the cloudes also the discription of other mountaynes and regions thereabout comparyng the same to Italy Colonus his opinion as touchyng the supposed continent and ioynyng of the north and south Ocean also of the breadth of the sayde continent or firme lande Of the regions of Vraba Beragua and the great ryuer Maragnonus and the ryuer of Dabaiba or Sancti Iohannis also of certayne maryshes and desolate wayes and of Dragons and Crocodiles engendred in the same Of .xx. golden ryuers about Dariena and of certayne precious stones especially a Diamonde of marueylous byggnesse bought in the prouince of Paria Of the heroical factes of the Spanyardes and howe they contemne effeminate pleasures also a similitude prouing great plentie of golde and precious stones The contentes of the fyft booke Fol. 119. THe nauigation of Petrus Arias from Spayne to Hispaniola and Dariena and of the Ilandes of Canarie also of the Ilands of Madanino Guadalupea and Galanta Of the sea of hearbes mountaynes couered with snow also of the swyft course of the sea towards the West Of the ryuer Gaira the region Caramairi and the port Carthago and Sancta Martha also of Americus Vesputius and his expert cunnyng in the knowledge of the carde compasse and quadrant How the Canibales assayled Petrus Arias with his whole nauie and shot of theyr venomous arrowes euen in the sea also of theyr houses and housholde stuffe How Gonsalus Ouiedus founde a Saphire bygger then a goose egge also Emerodes Calcidonies Iaspers and Amber of the mountaynes Of woods of Brasyle trees plentie of gold and marchasites of metals founde in the regions of Caramairi Gaira and Saturma also of a straunge kynde of marchaundies exercised among the people of Zunu That the region of Caramairi is lyke to an earthy Paradise of the fruitfull mountaynes and pleasaunt gardens of the same Of many goodly countreis made desolate by the fiercenesse of the Canibales and of diuers kyndes of bread made of rootes also of the maner of plantyng the roote of Iucca whose iuise is deadly poyson in the Ilandes and without hurt in the continent or fyrme lande Of certayne golden ryuers Hartes wylde Boores foules gossampine whyte marble and holsome ayre also of the great ryuer Maragnonus discending from the mountaynes couered with snowe called Serra Neuata How Petrus Arias wasted certaine Ilands of the Canibales how by the swyft course of the sea his shyps were caried in one night fourtie
crude and of a baser alay and caract and doth wast so muche the more in meltyng and remayneth more brickle Sometymes there are founde graines of golde of great quantitie and of great weyght aboue the earth and sometymes also vnder the earth And the greatest of all other that was founde to this day in the Indies was that whiche was lost in the sea about the Ilande Beata whiche weyghed three thousande and two hundred Castellans of gold which are in value foure thousand a hundred thyrtie and eyght ducades of golde whiche weigh one Arroua and seuen pounde or thyrtie and two pounde after twelue ounces to the pounde whiche make threescore and foure markes of golde And I sawe in the yeere .1515 in the handes of Mychel Passamonte treasurer to your maiestie two graines of the whiche one wayed seuen poundes which are .xiiii. markes and are in value about threescore and fyue ducades of golde euery marke the other was of .x. markes whiche are fyue poundes of lyke value and of very good golde of .xxii. caractes and better There are also founde many other great graynes although not equall vnto these in bygnesse And forasmuch as I haue spoken of gold I haue thought good to declare somewhat howe the Indians can very excellently gylte suche vesselles of copper and base golde as they make for they can geue them so fayre and floryshyng a coloure that al the masse which they gylt appeareth as though it were golde of .xxii. caractes and better This colour they geue with a certayne hearbe as though it were wrought by y e art of any goldsmith of Spayne or Italie and woulde of them bee esteemed as a thyng of great ryches and a secrete maner of gyldyng And for as muche as I haue spoken sufficiently of the mynes of golde I wyl nowe speake somewhat of copper because I haue made mention thereof This metal is founde in many of the Ilandes of the Indies and also in the firme lande and is founde dayly in great quantitie holdyng somewhat of golde But for the desyre that our men haue to golde they nothyng esteeme the copper although there myght great commoditie and profyt be had thereby and also by other metals whiche they nothyng regarde except syluer which is founde abundantly in that parte of the firme lande whiche is called newe Spaine But of this it shal suffise to haue saide thus muche because I haue more particulerly entreated of these thynges in my generall hystory of India Of the maner of fyshyng for pearles THe Indians exercise this kynde of fyshyng for the most part in y e coastes of the North in Cubagua and Cumana and many of them which dwell in the houses of certayne particular lords in the Ilandes of San Dominico and Sancti Iohannis resort to the Ilande of Cubagua for this purpose Theyr custome is to go fyue syxe or seuen or more in one of theyr Canoas or barkes earely in the mornyng to some place in the sea thereabout where it appeareth vnto them that there should be great plentie of those shell fyshes which some call Muscles and some Oysters wherein pearles are engendred there they plunge them selues vnder the water euen vnto the bottome sauyng one that remayneth in the Canoa or boate which he keepeth styll in one place as neare as he can lookyng for theyr returne out of the water And when one of them hath ben a good whyle vnder the water he ryseth vp and commeth swymmyng to the boate entryng into the same and leauyng there al the Oysters which he hath taken and brought with hym for in these are the pearles found and when he hath there rested hym selfe a whyle and eaten part of the Oysters he returneth agayne to the water where he remayneth as long as he can endure and then ryseth agayne and swymmeth to the boate with his pray where he resteth hym as before and thus continueth course by course as do all the other in lyke maner beyng al most expert swymmers and dyuers and when the night draweth neare they returne to the Ilande to theyr houses and present all the Oysters to the maister or stewarde of the house of theyr lorde who hath the charge of the sayde Indians and when he hath geuen them somewhat to eate he layeth vp the Oysters in safe custodie vntyll he haue a great quantitie therof then he causeth the same fysher men to open them and they fynd in euery of them pearles other great or small two or three or foure and sometymes fyue or syxe and many small graines accordyng to the liberalitie of nature They saue the pearles both smal and great whiche they haue founde and eyther eate the Oysters if they wyl or cast them away hauyng so great quantitie thereof that they in maner abhorre them These Oysters are of harde fleshe and not so pleasaunt in eatyng as are ours of Spayne This Iland of Cubagua where this maner of fyshing is exercised is in the North coaste and is no bygger then the Ilande of Zeland Oftentymes the sea increaseth greatly and much more then y e fishers for pearles would because where as the place is very deepe a man can not naturally rest at the bottome by reason of the abundaunce of ayry substaunce whiche is in hym as I haue oftentymes prooued For although he may by violence and force discende to the bottome yet are his feete lyfted vp agayne so that he can contynue no tyme there and therefore where the sea is very deepe these Indian fyshers vse to tye two great stones about them with a cord on euery syde one by the weyght whereof they discende to the bottome and remayne there vntyll them lysteth to ryse agayne at whiche tyme they vnlose the stones and ryse vp at theyr pleasure But this theyr aptenesse and agilitie in swymmyng is not the thyng that causeth men most to marueyle but rather to consyder howe many of them can stande in the botome of the water for the space of one whole houre and some more or lesse accordyng as one is more apt heereunto then an other An other thyng there is whiche seemeth to me very straunge and this is that where as I haue oftentimes demaunded of some of these Lordes of the Indians yf the place where they are accustomed to fyshe for pearles beyng but litle and narrowe wyll not in short tyme be vtterly without Oysters yf they consume them so fast They all answered me that although they be consumed in one part yet if they goe a fyshyng in an other part or an other coaste of the Ilande or at an other contrary wynde and contynue fyshyng there also vntyll the Oysters be lykewyse consumed and then returne agayne to the first place or any other place where they fished before and emptied the same in lyke maner they finde them agayne as full of Oysters as though they had neuer been fyshed Wherby we may iudge that these Oysters eyther remoue from one place to an other
differyng from al other beastes whiche haue ben seene in other partes of the world these beastes are called Bardati and are foure footed hauyng their tayle and al the rest of theyr bodyes couered onely with a skynne lyke the coperture of a barbed horse or the checkered skinne of a Lisarte or Crocodile of coloure betwene white and russet inclynyng somwhat more to whyte This beast is of fourme and shape muche lyke to a barbed horse with his barbes and flankets in al poynts and from vnder that which is the barbe and coperture the taile commeth forth and the feete in theyr place the necke also the eares in theyr partes and in fyne al thynges in lyke sorte as in a barbed courser they are of the bygnesse of one of these common dogges they are not hurtfull they are fylthy and haue theyr habitation in certaine hillockes of earth where dygging with their feete they make theyr dens very deepe the hoâ—es thereof in like maner as do Connies they are very excellent to be eaten are taken with nettes and some also kylled with Crosbowes they are likewise taken oftentymes when the husbandmen burne the stubble in sowyng tyme or to renue the herbage for Kyne and other beastes I haue oftentymes eaten of theyr flesh which seemeth to me of better tast then Kyddes fleshe and holsome to be eaten And if these beastes had euer been seene in these partes of the worlde where the fyrst barbed horses had theyr originall no man woulde iudge but that the fourme and fashyon of the coperture of horses furnyshed for the warres was fyrst deuised by the syght of these beastes There is also in the fyrme lande an other beast called Orso Formigaro that is the Ante beare This beast in heare and coloure is much lyke to the Beare of Spaine and in maner of the same makyng saue that he hath a muche longer snout and is of euyll syght they are oftentymes taken only with staues without any other weapon and are not hurtful they are also taken with dogges because they are not naturally armed although they byte somewhat they are founde for the most part about and neare to the hyllockes where are great abundaunce of Antes For in these regions is engendred a certayne kynde of Antes very litle and blacke in the feeldes and playnes where as growe no trees where by the instinct of nature these Antes separate them selues to engender farre from the wooddes for feare of these Beares the which because they are fearefull vyle and vnarmed as I haue sayde they keepe euer in places full of trees vntyll very famine and necessitie or the great desire that they haue to feede on these Antes cause them to come out of the woods to hunt for them these Antes make a hillocke of earth to the heyght of a man or somewhat more or lesse and as byg as a great chest sometymes as byg as a Butte or a Hogshead as hard as a stone so that they seeme as though they were stones set vp to limit the endes confines of certaine lands Within these hillocks made of most harde earth are innumerable and infinite litle Antes the whiche may be geathered by bushelles when the hyllocke is broken the whiche when it is sometymes moysted by rayne and then dryed agayne by the heate of the Sonne it breaketh and hath certayne small ryftes as litle and subtyle as the edge of a knyfe and it seemeth that nature hath geuen sense to these Antes to fynde suche a matter of earth wherewith they may make the sayde hyllocke of suche hardnesse that it may seeme a strong pauement made of lyme and stone and whereas I haue proued and caused some of them to be broken I haue founde them of such hardnesse as yf I had not seene I could not haue beleeued insomuch that they coulde scarcely be broken with pykes of Iron so strong fortresses doo these litle beastes make for theyr sauegard against theyr aduersarie the Beare who is chiefely nouryshed by them and geuen them as an enimie accordyng to the common prouerbe whiche sayeth Non e alcuna persona si libera a chimanchi il suo Bargello that is there is no man so free that hath not his persecutor or priuie enimie And here when I consyder the marueilous prouidence whiche nature hath geuen to these litle bodies I cal to remembrance the wittie sentence of Plinie where speakyng of such litle beastes he sayeth thus Why do we marueile at the Towrebearyng shoulders of Elephantes and not rather where nature hath placed so many senses such industrye in such litle bodies Where is hearing smelling seeing and feelyng yea where are the vaynes and arteries without which no beast can lyue or moue in these so litle bodies whereof some are so small that theyr whole bodies can scarsly be seene of our eyes What shall we then saye of the partes of the same Yet euen among these there are many of such sagasitie and industry as the like is not seene in beastes of greater quantitie no nor yet in man c. But to returne to the history This enimie whiche nature hath geuen to these litle beastes vseth this maner to assayle them When he resorteth to the hyllocke where the Antes lie hid as in theyr fortresse he putteth his tongue to one of the ryftes whereof we haue spoken being as subtile as the edge of a sword and therewith contynuall lickyng maketh the place moyst the fome and froth of his mouth beyng of suche propertie that by contynuall lickyng the place it enlargeth the ryft in such sort by litle and litle that at the length he easely putteth in his tongue whiche he hath very long and thynne and muche disproportionate to his bodie and when he hath thus made free passage for his tongue into the hyllocke to put it easely in and out at his pleasure then he thrusteth it into the hole as farre as he can reache and so letteth it rest a good space vntyll a great quantitie of the Antes whose nature reioyceth in heate and moyster haue laden his tongue and as many as he can conteyne in the holownesse thereof at which tyme hee sodeynly draweth it into his mouth and eateth them and returneth agayne to the same practise immediatly vntyll he haue eaten as many as him lysteth or as long as he can reache any with his tongue The fleshe of this beast is filthy and vnsauery but by reason of the extreme shyftes and necessitie that the Christian men were put to at theyr fyrst commyng into these partes they were inforced to proue all thinges and so fell to the eatyng of these beastes but when they had found more delycate meates they fel into hatred with this These Antes haue thappearance of the place of theyr entraunce into the hyllocke vnder the grounde and this at so litle a hole that it coulde hardely be founde if certayne of them were not seene to passe in and out but by this
to poyson theyr arrowes wherewith they kyll all that they wounde These venomes they mingle togeather and make thereof a blacke masse or composition whiche appeareth lyke vnto very blacke pytch Of this poyson I caused a great quantitie to be burnt in Sancta Maria Antiqua in a place two leagues and more within the lande with a great multitude of theyr inuenomed arrowes and other munition with also the house wherein they were reserued This was in the yeere .1514 at suche tyme as the army arryued there with captayne Pedrarias da villa at the commaundement of the Catholyke kyng Don Ferdinando But to returne to the hystory These Apples as I haue sayde growe neare vnto the sea And whereas the Christians whiche serue your maiestie in these parties suppose that there is no remedy so profytable for such as are wounded with these arrowes as is the water of the sea if the wound be much washed therwith by which meanes some haue escaped although but fewe yet to say the trueth albeit the water of the sea haue a certaine caustike quality against poyson it is not a sufficient remedy in this case nor yet to this day haue the Christians perceyued that of fyftie that haue been wounded three haue recouered But that your maiestie may the better consider the force of the venome of these trees you shal further vnderstand that if a man doe but repose him selfe to sleepe a litle whyle vnder the shadow of the same he hath his head eyes so swolne when he ryseth that the eye lyddes are ioyned with the cheekes and if it chaunce one droppe or more of the deawe of the sayde tree to fall into the eye it vtterly destroyeth the syght The pestilent nature of this tree is suche that it can not be declared in fewe wordes Of these there groweth great plentie in the gulfe of Vraba towarde the North coast on the West and East syde The wood of these trees when it burneth maketh so great a stynke that no man is able to abyde it by reason it causeth so great a payne in the head Among other trees whiche are in these Indies aswell in the Ilandes as in the firme lande there is an other kynde whiche they call Xagua whereof there is great plentie they are very hygh and streyght and fayre to beholde Of these they vse to make â—ykes and Iauelyns of dyuers lengthes and bygnesse they are of a fayre colour betweene russet and whyte this tree bryngeth foorth a great fruit as bygge as Papauer or Poppie and muche lyke therevnto it is very good to bee eaten when it is rype Out of this they get a very cleare water wherewith they washe their legges and sometymes all theyr bodyes when they feele theyr fleshe weery faynt or loose the which water besyde that it hath a byndyng qualitie it hath also this propertie that whatsoeuer it toucheth it steyneth it blacke by litle and litle vntyll it bee as blacke as gete which colour can not bee taken away in lesse space then tenne or twelue dayes And if the nayle bee but touched therewith it is so steyned that it can by no meanes bee taken away vntyll it eyther fall of or grow out and bee clypped away by litle litle as I my selfe haue oftentymes seene by experience There is an other kynde of trees which they call Hohi these are very great and fayre and cause holesome ayre where they growe and a pleasaunt shadowe and are founde in great aboundaunce theyr fruit is very good and of good tast and sauour and much lyke vnto certayne damsons or prunes beyng litle and yelowe but theyr stone is very great by reason whereof they haue but litle meate theyr barke or rynde boyled in water maketh a holesome bathe for the legges because it byndeth and stayeth the loosenesse of the fleshe so sensibly that it is a marueyle to consider It is surely a holesome and excellent bathe agaynst suche fayntnesse and is the best tree that may be founde in those parties to sleepe vnder For it causeth no heauinesse of the head as doe dyuers other trees which thyng I speake because the Christians are muche accustomed in those regions to lye in the fieldes It is therefore a common practise among them that wheresoeuer they fynde these trees there they spreade theyr mattresses and beddes wherein they sleepe There are also a kynde of hygh Date trees and full of thornes the woodde of these is most excellent beyng very blacke and shynyng and so heauye that no parte thereof can swymme aboue the water but synketh immediatly to the bottome Of this woodde they make theyr arrowes and dartes also Iauelyns speares and pykes and I say pykes because that in the coastes of the sea of Sur beyonde Esquegua and Vracha the Indians vse great and long pykes made of the wood of these Date trees Of the same lykewyse they make clubbes and swoordes and dyuers other weapons Also vesselles and housholde stuffe of dyuers sortes very fayre and commodious Furthermore of this wood the Christians vse to make dyuers musicall instrumentes as Claricymballes Lutes Gitterns and suche other the which besyde theyr fayre shynyng colour lyke vnto gete are also of a good sounde and very durable by reason of the hardnesse of the wood After that I haue sayde thus much of trees and plants I haue thought good also to speake somewhat of hearbes You shal therfore vnderstand that in these Indies there is an hearbe much like vnto a yelow Lilie about whose leaues there growe and creepe certayne cordes or lases as the lyke is partly seene in the hearbe which we call lased sauery but these of the Indies are much bigger and longer and so strong that they tye theyr hangyng beds thereby whiche they call Hamacas whereof we haue spoken elsewhere these cordes they call Cabuia and Henequen whiche are all one thyng sauyng that Henequen is lesse and of a fyner substance as it were line and the other is grosser lyke the weeke or twyst of hempe and is imperfect in comparison to the other they are of colour betweene whyte and yelow lyke vnto abarne and some also whyte With Henequen whiche is the most subtyle and fyne threede the Indians sawe in sunder fetters cheynes or barres of Iron in this maner They moue the threed of Henequen vppon the Iron which they intende to sawe or cutte drawyng the one hande after the other as doe they that sawe puttyng euer nowe and then a portion of fyne sande vppon the threede or on the place or parte of the Iron where they continue rubbyng the sayde threed so that if the threed be worne they take an other and continue in theyr worke as before vntyll they haue cutte in sunder the Iron although it be neuer so bygge and cut it as if it were a tender thyng and easy to be sawne And forasmuche as the leaues of trees may bee counted among
they haue foules and fruite They make theyr houses of tymber whereof they haue great plentie and in the steade of tiles couer them with the skinnes of fishes and beastes It is sayde also that there are Gryfes in this lande and that the Beares and many other beastes and foules are whyte To this and the Ilandes about the same the Britons are accustomed to resort as men of nature agreeable vnto them and borne vnder the same altitude and temperature The Norwayes also sayled thyther with the pilot called Iohn Scoluo and the Englyshe men with Sebastian Cabot The coaste of the lande of Baccallaos is a great tract and the greatest altitude thereof is .xlviii. degrees and a halfe Sebastian Cabot was the first that brought any knowledge of this land For beyng in England in the dayes of kyng Henrye the seuenth he furnyshed two shyps at his owne charges or as some say at the kynges whom he perswaded that a passage myght be founde to Cathay by the North seas and that spyces myght be brought from thence sooner by that way then by the viage the Portugales vse by the sea of Sur. He went also to knowe what maner of landes those Indies were to inhabite He had with hym three hundred men and directed his course by the tract of Islande vpon the Cape of Laborador at fyftie and eight degrees affirming that in the moneth of Iuly there was such cold heapes of Ise that he durst passe no further also that the daies were very long and in maner without nyght and the nyghtes very cleare Certayne it is that at the threescore degrees the longest day is of eighteene houres But considering the cold and the strangenesse of the vnknowen lande he turned his course from thence to the West folowing the coast of the land of Baccallaos vnto the thirtie eight degrees from whence he returned to Englande To conclude the Britons and Danes haue sayled to the Baccallaos and Iaques Cartier a french man was there twise with three Galeons as one in the yeere .xxxiiii. and the other in the .xxxv. and chose the land to inhabite from the .xlv. degrees to the .li. beyng as good a land as Fraunce and all thynges therin commune to suche as fyrst possesse the same Of these landes Iacobus Gastaldus wryteth thus The new land of Baccallaos is a colde region whose inhabitauntes are Idolatours and praye to the Sonne and Moone and dyuers Idoles they are whyte people and verye rusticall for they eate fleshe and fyshe and all other thynges rawe Sometymes also they eate mans fleshe priuilie so that theyr Cacique haue no knoweledge thereof The apparrel of both the men and women is made of Beares skynnes although they haue Sables and Marternes not greatlye esteemed because they are litle Some of them go naked in sommer and weare apparrell only in winter The Britons and Frenchmen are accustomed to take fyshe in the coastes of these landes where is founde great plentie of Tunnies which thinhabitantes cal Baccallaos wherof the land was so named Northward from the region of Baccallaos is the lande of Laborador all full of mountaynes and great woods in which are many Beares wild Bores The inhabitantes are Idolatours and warlyke people apparelled as are they of Baccallaos In al this new land is neyther citie or castell but they lyue in companies like heardes of beastes The discouering of the land of Florida THe gouernour of the Ilande of Boriouena â–ª Iohn Ponce of Leon beyng discharged of his office and very ryche furnished sent foorth two Carauels to seeke the Ilands of Boiuca in the which the Indians affirmed to be a fountayne or spryng whose water is of vertue to make old men young Whyle he trauayled syxe monethes with outragious desire among many Ilandes to fynde that he sought and coulde fynde no token of any suche fountayne he entred into Bemini and discouered the lande of Florida in the yeere 1512. on Easter day whiche the Spaniards cal the floryshing day of Pascba wherby they named that lande Florida And supposyng that great ryches myght be brought from thence he returned into Spayne and couenanted with king Ferdinando as touchyng the trade and by the intercession of Nicolas de Ouando and Peter Nunnez de Gusman the kyng dyd not only make hym gouernour of Bemini and Florida but also sent foorth with hym three shyppes from Sciuile towards his second viage in the yeere 1515. He touched in the Ilande of Guaccana otherwyse called Guadalupea and sent to lande certayne of his men with the Laundresses of the shyppes whom the Canibales lying in ambushe assayled with theyr inuenomed arrowes and slaying the most part caried away the women With this euill beginning Iohn Ponce departed from hence to Boriquen and from thence to Florida where he went alande with his souldyers to espie a place most commodious to inhabite and plant a colonie But the Indians commyng foorth agaynst him to defende the entrance assayled the Spanyardes fiercely and slue and wounded many of them At whiche conflicte also hee him selfe beyng wounded with an arrowe dyed shortly after in the Ilande of Cuba and so endyng his lyfe consumed a great parte of the rychesse hee had before gotten at sainct Iohans of Boriquen This Iohn Ponce had before sayled with Christopher Colon to the Ilande of Hispaniola in the yeere 1493. Hee was a gentle souldyer in the warres of this Ilande and captayne of the prouince of Higuei for Nicolas de Ouando that conquested the same The region of Florida is a poynt or cape of lande reachyng into the sea lyke vnto a tongue beyng a famous and notorious place among the Indians by reason of many Spanyardes that haue been slayne there But whereas by fame this Florida was esteemed a ryche lande many valiant and noble men desyred the conquest thereof among whom Ferdinando de Soto who had before been a captayne in Peru and greatly inryched by the imprisonment of kyng Atabaliba attempted a viage thither with a good bande of men and spent fyue yeeres in seekyng of golde mynes supposyng that this land had been lyke vnto Peru. In fine hee dyed there and was the destruction and vndoyng of all that went with him without inhabytyng that lande in the whiche the conquestours had hytherto neuer good successe forasmuche as these Indians are valiant archers and strong hardy men But the valiant myndes of the Spanyardes not discouraged by these misaduentures after the death of Ferdinando Soto many woorthie gentlemen desyred this conquest in the yeere .1544 among whom was Iulian Samano and Peter de Abumada beyng bretherne and men of sufficient abilitie for such an enterprise But neyther the Emperour beyng then in Germanie neyther the prince Don Philip his son who gouerned all the kyngdomes of Castile and Aragonie neyther yet the counsayle of the Indies would in any
in maner vnder the same qualitie of heauen persysted wyllyngly in the same opinion with more confidence then consideration of the thynges whereof we nowe intreate so lyghtly was that opinion receyued as touchyng the vnhabitable clime vnder the poles But we with better confidence and faith forasmuche as we are not instructed with coniectures intend to stande against the sentence of the olde autours affirmyng the North regions within the colde clime to be inhabited with herrynges coddes haddockes and brettes tunnyes and other great fyshes with thinfinite number whereof tables are furnyshed through a great parte of Europe All whiche are taken in the North sea extended beyonde our knoweledge This sea at certayne tymes of the yeere poureth foorth his plentifulnes or rather driueth foorth his increase to seeke newe mansions and are here taken in theyr passage Furthermore also euen the mouthes of the riuer of Tiber receiued a fyshe as a newe gest sent from the north sea this swamme twise through Fraunce and twise through Spayne ouerpassed the Ligurion and Tuscan sea to communicate her selfe to the citie of Rome The lakes also and ryuers of those regions are replenyshed with fyshe insomuch that no power of colde is able to extinguyshe thincrease of the yeere folowing and the succession reparable so many hundred yeeres And I plainely thinke that if it should of necessitie folowe that one of these two elementes the earth and the water should be destructiue to lyuyng creatures the water shoulde chiefely haue wrought this effecte But this is founde so tractable that in the depe wynter both that increase is brought foorth and fyshing is also exercised The lande is lykewise inhabited with like plentifulnesse But that we wander not to farre let the fayth hereof rest in thexposition folowing wherin we intend to declare howe by the power of nature and industry of man this commoditie may come to passe Therefore as touchyng nature we suppose that the diuine prouidence hath made nothyng vncommunicable but to haue geuen suche order to all thynges wherby euery thyng may be tollerable to the next The extremities of the elementes consent with theyr next The ayre is grosse about the earth and water but thynne and hot about the fyre By this prouidence of nature the vttermost sea is very salt And salt as witnesseth Plinie yeldeth the fattnesse of Oyle But Oyle by a certayne natyue heate is of propertie agreeable to fyre The sea then beyng al of such qualitie powreth foorth it selfe farre vpon thextreeme landes whereby by reason of the saltnesse thereof it moueth and stirreth vp generatiue heate as by fatnesse it norisheth the fecunditie of thynges generate It geueth this fruitefulnesse to the earth at certayne floods although the earth also it selfe haue in his inner bowels the same lyuely and norishing heate wherby not only the Dennes Caues and hollow places but also spryngs of water are made warme this so much the more in how muche the wynter is more vehement This thyng doth more appeare by this example that the mountaines of Norway and Swethlande are fruitfull of metales in the which siluer and copper are concoct and molten into veines â–ª which can scarcely by done in fornaces By this reason also the vapoures and hot exhalations pearsyng the earth and the waters and through both those natures breathyng foorth into the ayre temperateth the qualitie of heauen maketh it tollerable to beasts as witnesseth the huge bygnesse of the Whales in those seas with the strength of body and long lyfe of such beastes as lyue on the land which thyng coulde not be except all thyngs were there commodiously norished by the benefite of the heauen and the ayre For nothyng that in the tyme of encrease is hyndred by any iniurie or that is euyl fedde al the tyme it lyueth can prosper wel Neyther are such thynges as liue there offended with theyr natural wynter as though an Egiptian or Ethiopian were sodenly conueighed into those cold regions For they were in long tyme by litle and litle brought fyrst acquaynted with the nature of that heauen as maye be prooued both by the lyfe of man and by the hystorie of holy scripture They that were led from Mesopatamia and that famous Tower of Babilon towards the North partes of the worlde in the fyrst dispertion of nations did not immediately passe to the extreme boundes but planted theyr habitations first vnder a myddle heauen between both as in Thracia and Pontus where theyr posteritie was accustomed the better to susteyne the rigour of Scythia and Tanais as he that commeth from winter to sommer may the better after abyde yse and snow beyng fyrst hardened thereto by the frostes of Autumne In lyke maner mortal men accustomed to beare the hardnesse of places next vnto them were thereby at the length more confirmed to sustayne the extremities And here also if any sharpnesse remaine that may seeme intollerable nature hath so prouided for the same with other remedies For the land and sea hath geuen vnto beastes deepe and large Caues Dennes and other hollowe places and secreete corners in mountaynes and rockes both on the land and by sea banckes in the which are euer conteyned warme vapoures so muche the more intent and vehement in how much they are the more constrayned by extreeme cold Nature hath also geuen valleyes diuerted and defended from the North windes She hath lykewyse couered beastes with heare so muche the thycker in how much the vehemencie of cold is greater by reason wherof the best and richest furres are brought from those regions as Sables whose pryce is growne to great excesse next vnto gold and precious stones and are esteemed princely ornamentes The beasts that beare these furres are hunted cheefelye in winter whiche thyng is more strange because their heare is then thicker and cleaueth faster to the skin How greeuous then shal we thinke the wynter to be there where this litle beast liueth so wel and where the hunters may search the Dennes and hauntes of such beastes through the woods and snow But such beastes the condition of whose bodies is so tender that they are not able to abide thiniurie of the cold either lye hyd in winter or change their habitation as do certaine beasts also in our clime Nature hath furthermore geuen remedie to man both by art and industry to defende him selfe both abrode and at home Abrode with a thicke vesture and the same well dowbeled At home with large fyers on Harthes Chymneyes and in Stooues for the daye with close Chaumbers and Couches soft and warme Beddes for the nyght by whiche remedies they mittigate the wynters which seeme rigorous to straungers although they are to thinhabitantes more tollerable then our opinion as in deede by the fyrst naturall mixture or composition of theyr bodies such thyngs are agreeable to them as seeme very hard to other The Lion
in Affrik and the beare in Sarmatia are fierce as in theyr present strength and vigoure but translated into a contrary heauen are of lesse strength and courage The foule called Ciconia which some thynke to be the Storke doth not tary the wynter yet do the Cranes come at that tyme. The Scythian wyll accuse the Romane heauen as inducyng feuers whereas neuerthelesse there is none more holsome Such as haue been tenderly brought vp if they come suddeynely into the campe can not away with hunger watchyng heate passages through ryuers battayles sieges and assaultes But the olde souldier exercised in the warres vseth these as meditations of the fielde as hardened therto by long experience He that hath been accustomed to the shadowe of the citie and wyll attempte the saying of the poet Uirgil Nudus ara sero nudus that is naked and bare without house and home shal to his peryl make an end of the verse Habebis frigora febram that is he shal haue the colde ague Suche thynges therfore as seeme hard vnto vs beyng accustomed by litle and litle become more tollerable Insomuch that this exercise of sufferaunce by such degrees doth oftentimes growe to prodigious effectes farre beyond our expectation And thus we seeme to haue made sufficient demonstration by heauen nature and art wherby it may appeare that no part of the land or sea is denied to liuing creatures The reader may also perceiue howe large matter of reasons and examples may be opened for the declaryng of our opinion wherin we rest Let therfore thauctoritie of the auntient auctours geue place and the consent of the newe writers agree to this history not as nowe at the length comprehended wheras before many hundred yeeres Germanie and Scondia had entercouse of merchandies not seuered by the large gulfe of Gothia but as nowe by our commentaries brought to lyght and hauyng sayde thus muche in maner of a preface we wyll nowe proceede to wryte of the North regions Schondia SCondia Schondania or Schondenmarchia is as muche to saye as fayre Dania or fayre Denmarke Plinie in one place nameth it Scandia and in an other Scandinauia if there be no faute in thexemples It was named Schondia by reason of the fayrenesse and fruitefulnesse thereof And this aswell for that in beneficiall heauen fertilitie of grounde commoditie of hauens and marte townes abundaunce of ryuers and fyshe plentie of beastes great quantitie of metall as golde syluer copper and leade diligent culturyng the grounde with townes and cities well â—nhabited and gouerned by ciuile lawes it geueth place to none other fortunate region This was in maner vnknowen to the olde Greekes and Latins as may appeare by this argument that with one consent they affirmed that in these north regions the colde Zone or clime was condemned to perpetuall snowe intollerable to al lyuyng creatures For fewe of them haue made mention hereof as to be inhabited Among whom Plinie as one of the chiefe saith in his fourth booke that Schondania is of vnknowen biggenesse and onely that portion thereof to be knowen which is inhabited with the nation of the Hilleuiones in fiftie villages Neither yet is Eningia lesse in opinion Other more auncient then Plinie haue placed most fortunate regions with men of long lyfe which the Greekes call Macrobios and of most innocent behauour vnder the tracte of those landes and that there came from thence to Delphos certayne religious virgines with vowes and giftes consecrated to Apollo And furthermore that that nation obserued this institution vntyll the saide virgins were violated of them of whom they were receiued as straungers These are most cleare testimonies of Antiquitie both of the greatnesse of Schondia and the people that inhabite the same although they were since vnknowen as lykewyse the Gothes departyng from these North landes although they obteyned Thempire of the regions about the maryshes of Meotis and the coastes of the sea Euxinus with the realme of Denmarke wherof that is thought to be a portion whiche is nowe called Transiluania and the bankes of the ryuer of Danubius and in fine inuaded the Romane Empire yet were not the regions well knowen from whence they tooke theyr originall Therefore lyke as part of the olde wryters are vnsufficient witnesses to testifie of our narrations as touchyng these landes vnknowen to them Euen so the other parte whiche excluded the same as vnhabitable are to be conuinced leaste theyr authoritie beyng admitted shoulde engender opinions not agreeable or conuenient to the nature of places Sigismundus Liberus in his commentaries of Moscouia writeth thus Scandia or Scondia is no Ilande as some haue thought but part of the continent or firme land of Suetia which by a long tract reacheth to Cothland and that nowe the kyng of Denmarke possesseth a great part thereof But whereas the writers of these thynges haue made Scondia greater then Suetia and that the Gothes and Lumbardes came from thence they seeme in my opinion to comprehend these three kyngdomes as it were in one bodie only vnder the name of Scondia forasmuch as then that part of land that lyeth betweene the sea Baltheun which floweth by the coastes of Finlandia and the frosen sea was vnknowen and that by reason of so manye maryshes innumerable riuers and intemperatenesse of heauen it is yet rude vncultured and litle knowen Which thyng hath been the cause that some iudged al that was called by the name of Scondia to be one great Iland Gronelande GRonelande is interpreted greene land so called for the great encrease and fruitfulnesse of pasture By reason whereof what great plentie of cattaile there is it may hereby appere that at such time as shippes may passe thither they set foorth great heapes of Cheese and Butter to be solde whereby we coniecture that the lande is not rough with barren mountaynes It hath two Cathedrall Churches vnder the Ordination of Nidrosia To one of these was of late yeeres a Byshop appoynted only by the title of a Suffragane in consideration that while the Metropolitane doth neglect the direction of religion for the distance of the place and difficult nauigation the people is in maner falne to gentilitie being of them selues of moueable wittes geuen to magicall artes For it is sayd that they as also the people of Laponia do rayse tempestes on the sea with magicall inchauntmentes and bryng such shyps into daunger as they entend to spoyle They vse litle ships made of Leather and safe agaynst the brusing of the sea and rockes and with them assaile other shyps Peter Martir of Angleria writeth in his Decades of the Spanysh nauigations that Sebastian Cabot saylyng from England continually towarde the North folowed that course so farre that he chaunced vpon great flakes of yse in the Mooneth of Iuly and that diuertyng from thence he folowed the coast by the shore bendyng toward the South vntyll he came to the clyme
three Ilands is called Muscostrom that is boyling At the flowing of the sea it is swalowed into the Caues and is blowne out agayne at the reflowing with no lesse violence then the streames of ryuers fall from mountaines This sea is nauigable vntyl it be lower then the mouthes of the rockes Such as chaunce into it out of due time are caried headlong into Whyrpooles The fragmentes of the lost shyps are seldome cast vp agayne But when they are cast vp they are so brused and fretted against the rockes that they seeme to be ouergrowne with hoare This is the power of nature passing the fabilous Simpleiades the fearful Malea with the dangerous places of Silla and Caribdis and all other miracles that nature hath wrought in any other sea hytherto knowen to man The Ilands about Norway are of such fruitful pasture that they bryng not theyr beastes into the stables before the moneth of Nouember and do in many places wynter them abrode Suecia or Suethlande SVecia is a kyngdome ryche in Golde Syluer Copper Leade Iron fruite cattayle and exceedyng increase of fyshe of the ryuers lakes and the sea and hath no lesse plentie of such wylde beastes as are taken with huntyng Towarde the West it is ended with the mountaynes of Norway from the Castel of Wardhus vnto th ende .51.63.40 Towarde the South with the line from this ende vnto the degrees 53.30.61 And from thence vnto the degrees 61.60.30 Aboue the gulfe of Suecia towarde the north with the south end of Lapponia from the castel of Wardhus vnto the ende .62.70 Towarde the East it is ended with the line from this ende vnto the degree .63.69 c. Stokholme the chiefe citie .64.61 This is the chiefe mart towne of Suecia and is strongly defended by art and nature It is situate in maryshes after the maner of Uenice and was therfore called Stokholme forasmuch as beyng placed in the water the fundation is fortified with stockes or piles The sea entreth inâ—o it with two armes or branches of such largenesse and depth that shyps of great burden and with maine sayles may enter by the same with theyr ful fraight This suffered of late yeeres greeuous spoile and destruction to the singular exemple of cruel hostilitie and such as the lyke hath not been lyghtly shewed to any other citie receiued by league and composion In al the tract from Stokholme to the lake aboue the ryuer of Dalekarle whiche is in the degree .56 30 63 50. are mountaynes fruiteful of good syluer copper and lead They get great ryches by the salmons and plentie of other fyshes whiche they take in certayne great lakes The dukedome of Agermannia occupieth the north syde to the confines of Laponia This tract is ful of wods in the which they hunt the beastes called Vros or Bisontes which in theyr tongue they call Elg that is wylde Asses These are of such heyght that the hyghest part of theyr backes are equal with the measure of a man holdyng vp his armes as hygh as he may reach c. Vpsalia the chiefe citie .62.62.30 here is buryed the body of saint Henricus kyng and martyr Copperdalia that is the copper valley is a Dukedome southwarde from the Dukedom of Iemptia Under this is the valyant nation of the people called Dalekarly Oplandia is a Dukedome and the nauil or myddest of Scondia The citie of Pircho on the North syde of the lake of Meler â–ª was once a great citie and able to arme .xiiii. thousande men to the warres but is nowe brought to a vyllage All the tracte of Oplandia hath mynes of Syluer Copper and Steele Of the Ilandes and rockes that lye about Suecia the myddest is .67.30.61.30 These were called of the olde writers Done the reason of which name remayneth vnto this daye For there are in these innumerable multitudes of byrdes insomuch that thinhabitauntes of the next coast sayle thyther in the moneth of May whyle the byrdes syt on theyr egges which they steale and reserue them in salt for a long tyme. Bothnia BOthnia is so named of the pretious furres of all sortes that are caryed from thence into foraigne regions For by these and theyr fyshyng they haue great commoditie Salmons of the best sort are taken in these seas are great riches among these nations Bothnia is diuided into two partes as Northbothnia South Bothnia called Ostrobothhia Northbothnia is termined with the South ende of the Lapones vnto the ende .78.30.69 Towarde the East it is termined with this ende and vnto the degree .78.30.68.20 Towarde the West with the line terminyng the East syde of Suecia And towarde the South with the residue of the gulfe of Suecia from th ende that hath degrees .63.69 Ostrobothnia towarde the East is termined from the sayde ende of the most East coast And towarde the South with a line extended by the mountaynes from this ende vnto the degree .71 66 Towarde the North and West with part of the gulfe of Suecia c. Gothia or Gothlande GOthia is by interpretation good For the holy name of God is in the Germane tongue Goth that is Good At what tyme the Gothes vpon a generall consent sent foorth theyr ofspring or sucession to seeke new seates or countreys to inhabite and when they possessed the coastes of Meotis and Asia none of the olde wryters haue made mention as farre as I know But they haue been knowen since the tyme that the Romanes dilated theyr Empire by Illirium now called Slauonie vnto the ryuer of Danubius and were also famous from the time of Cesar Dictator and Octauianus Augustus by reason of their great warres at Danubius being the vtermost bound of Thempire Neuerthelesse in that renowme what Gothia was vnder what part of heauen it was scituate or of whom the Gothes tooke their original it hath been vnknowen almost to this age This is termined toward the North with the South ende of Suetia and towarde the West with the other mountaynes of Norway whiche continue from the boundes of Suetia to the mouthes of the ryuers of Trolheta c. It hath many goodly Townes Cities Castles Mines c. The citie of Visba being in the degree .61.30.54.15 was an ancient and famous mart Towne as is Genua in Italie at this day but afterward being afflicted by y e incursions of the Pirates of the Danes and Moscouites it was left desolate There remayne to this day certayne ruines whiche testifie the auncient nobilitie In this place were the firste stations of the Gothes that possessed Meotis It is at this day of fruiteful soyle and famous by many goodly and strong Castles Monasteries There is among other a Monasterie of the order of Saint Benedict in the whiche is a librarie of about two thousande bookes of old auctors About the yeere of Christe fourescore and eyght the Gothes vnto whom resorted
or rather against the charitie that ought to be among Christian men that such as violentlye inuade the dominions of other shoulde not permit other frendly to vse the trade of merchandies in places neerer or seldome frequented of them whereby theyr trade is not hyndred in such places where they them selues haue at theyr owne election appointed the martes of theyr trafficke But forasmuch as at this present it is not my entent to accuse or defend approue or improue I wil ceasse to speake any further hereof proceade to the discription of the first viage as breefely and faithfully as I was aduertised of the same by the information of such credible persons as made diligent inquisition to know the trueth hereof as much as shal be requisite omittyng to speake of many partiticuler thinges not greatly necessarie to bee knowen whiche neuerthelesse with also the exacte course of the nauigation shall be more fully declared in the seconde vyage And if herein fauour or friendshyp shall perhappes cause some to thynke that some haue been sharpely touched let them laye a parte fauour and friendshyp and gyue place to trueth that honest men may receyue prayse for well doyng and lende persons reproche as the iust stipende of theyr euyll desartes whereby other may bee deterred to doe the lyke and vertuous men encouraged to proceede in honest attemptes But that these vyages may be more playnely vnderstoode of all men I haue thought good for this purpose before I intreate hereof to make a breefe description of Affrica beyng that great parte of the worlde on whose Weste syde begynneth the coaste of Guinea at Cabo Verde about the twelue degrees in latitude on this syde the Equinoctiall line and two degrees in longitude from the measuryng lyne so runnyng from the North to the South and by East in some places within v.iiii and .iii. degrees and a halfe within the Equinoctiall and so foorth in maner direcly East and by North for the space of xxxvi degrees or there about in longitude from the West to the East as shall more playnely appeare in the description of the seconde vyage A breefe description of Affrike IN Affrica the lesse are these kyngdomes the kingdome of Tunes Constantina which is at this day vnder Tunes and also the region of Bugia Tripoli and Ezzah This part of Afrike is very baren by reason of the great desartes as the desartes of Numidia Barcha The principall portes of the kingdome of Tunes are these Goletta Bizerta Potofarnia Boua and Stora The chiefe cities of Tunes are Constantina and Boua with diuers other Under this kyngdome are many Ilands as Zerbi Lampadola Pantalarea Limoso Beit Gamelaro and Malta where at this present is the great maister of the Rodes Under the South of this kyngdome are the great desartes of Libia All the nations in this Africa the lesse are of the secte of Mahumet a rusticall people lyuyng scattered in villages The best of this parte of Afrike is Barbaria lying on the coast of the sea Mediterraneum Mauritania now called Barbaria is diuided into two partes as Mauritania Tingitania and Cesariensis Mauritania Tingitania is nowe called the kyngdome of Fes and the kyngdome of Marrocko The principall citie of Fes is called Fessa and the chiefe citie of Marrocko is named Marrocko Mauritania Cesariensis is at this daye called the kyngdome of Tremisen with also the citie called Tremisen or Telensin This region is full of desartes and reacheth to the sea Mediterraneum to the citie of Oram with the porte of Massaquiber The kyngdome of Fes reacheth vnto the Ocean sea from the West to the citie of Argilla and the porte of the sayde kyngdome is called Salla The kyngdome of Marrocko is also extended aboue the Ocean sea vnto the citie of Azamor and Azafi which are aboue the Ocean sea towarde the West of the sayde kyngdome In Mauritania Tingitania that is to say in the two kyngdomes of Fes and Marrocko are in the sea the Ilandes of Canarie called in olde tyme the fortunate Ilandes Towarde the South of this region is the kyngdome of Guinea with Senega Iaiofo Gambra and many other regions of the blacke Moores called Ethiopians or Negros all whiche are watered with the ryuer Negro called in olde tyme Niger In the sayde regions are no cities but only certayne lowe cotages made of boughes of trees plastered with chauke and couered with strawe In these regions are also very great desartes The kyngdome of Marrocko hath vnder it these seuen kyngdoms Hea Sus Guzula the territory of Marrocko Duchala Hazchora and Telde The kyngdome of Fes hath as many as Fes Temesne Azgar Elabath Errifi Garet and Elcauz The kyngdome of Tremisen hath these regions Tremisen Tenez and Elgazaet all which are Machometistes But all the regions of Guinea are pure Gentyles and Idolatours without profession of any religion or other knowledge of God then by the lawe of nature Africa the great is one of the three partes of the worlde knowen in olde tyme and seuered from Asia on the East by the ryuer Nilus on the West from Europe by the pillers of Hercules The hyther parte is now called Barbarie and the people Moores The inner parte is called Libia and Ethiopia Afrike the lesse is in this wyse bounded On the West it hath Numidia On the East Cyrenaica On the North the sea called Mediterraneum In this countrey was the noble citie of Carthage In the East side of Africke beneath the redde sea dwelleth the great and myghtie Emperour and Christian kyng Prester Iohn well knowen to the Portugales in theyr vyages to Calicut His dominions reache very farre on euery syde and hath vnder hym many other kynges both Chrystian and heathen that pay hym tribute This mightie prince is called Dauid Themperour of Ethiopia Some wryte that the kyng of Portugale sendeth hym yeerely .viii. shyppes laden with marchaundies His kingdome confineth with the redde sea and reacheth farre into Afrike toward Egypte and Barbarie Southwarde it confineth with the sea towarde the cape de Buona Speranza and on the other syde with the sea of sande called Mare de Sabione a very dangerous sea lying betweene the great citie of Alcayer or Cairo in Egypt and the countrey of Ethiopia In the whiche way are many vnhabitable desarts cōtinuing for the space of fiue dayes iorney And they affirme that if the sayd Christian Emperour were not hyndered by those desartes in the whiche is great lacke of victualles and especially of water he woulde or nowe haue inuaded the kingdome of Egypt and the citie of Alcayer The cheefe citie of Ethiopia where this great Emperour is resident is called Amacaiz being a faire citie whose inhabitantes are of the colour of an Olyue There are also many other cities as the citie of Saua vpon the ryuer of Nilus
him Take these I pray thee for thou shalt not refuse them He gaue also to eche of the Christians two Rubies whiche were woorth a thousand crownes to be solde but those which he gaue the Persian were esteemed woorth a hundred thousand crownes This kyng therefore doubtlesse in munificence passeth all the kynges of the worlde and in maner no lesse in richesse for he receyueth yeerely of his subiectes two hundred thousand peeces of golde This region bryngeth foorth all sortes of colours and great plentie of bombasine and silke but these great riches the kyng consumeth on his souldiers Not long after newes were brought that the kyng of Aua was commyng with a myghtie force whom the kyng in maner with an innumerable army went to resist Here also in certayne places we sawe women burned aftâ—r the maner of Tarnassari Of the citie of Melacha and the great ryuer of Gaza Cap. 17. VVIthin two dayes after taking ship we sailed westwarde towarde the citie of Melacha and arryued there in eight dayes saylyng Not farre from this citie is a famous ryuer named Gaza the largest that euer I sawe conteynyng xxv myles in breadth On the other syde is seene a very great Ilande whiche they call Sumetra and is of olde writers named Traprobana The inhabitauntes say that it conteyneth in circuite fyue hundred myles When wee came to the citie of Melacha which some call Melcha we were incontinent commaunded to come to the Soltan being a Mahumetan and subiecte to the great Soltan of Chini and payeth him tribute Of whiche tribute they say the cause is that more then fourescore yeeres past that citie was buylded by the kyng of Chini for none other cause then only for the commoditie of the hauen being doubtlesse one of the fayrest in that Ocean and therefore it is lykely that many shyppes should resorte thyther for merchandies The region is not euery where fruitefull yet hath it sufficient of wheate and fleshe and but little wood They haue plentie of foules as in Calecut but the Popingays are much fayrer There is also founde Sandalum and Tynne Lykewyse Elephantes horses sheepe kyne Pardalles Bufles Peacockes and many other beastes and foules They haue but fewe fruites and therefore there is no merchandies to be solde but spices and silke The people are of blackyshe ashe colour Theyr apparell is like to the Mahumetans of the citie Memphis otherwise named Cayr Alchayr or Babylon of Nilus They haue very large foreheades rounde eyes and flatte noses It is dangerous there to goe abrode in the night the inhabitantes are so giuen to murder and robbery for they kill one another lyke dogges and therefore the merchantes remayne in their shyppes all the nyght The people are fierce of euyll condition and vnruly for they will obey to no gouernour being altogeather giuen to sedition and rebellion and therefore say vnto theyr gouernours that they will forsake the countrey if they stryue to bynde them to order whiche they say the more boldly bycause they are neare vnto the sea and may easily departe into other places For these causes we spent no long tyme here but hyring a Brigantine we sayled to the Ilande of Sumatra where in fewe dayes saylyng we arryued at a citie of the Ilande named Pyder distaunt about fourescore myles from the continent or firme lande Of the Ilande of Sumatra or Taprobana Cap. 18. WE haue sayd here before that the Ilande of Sumatra conteyneth in circuite fyue hundred myles The citie where we fyrst arryued in the Iland is named Pider hauyng a very fayre port I beleeue veryly this Ilande to be Taprobana as also most autours do agree It is gouerned by foure kynges and all Idolaters in fashions apparell and maner of lyuyng not muche differyng from the kyng of Tarnassari The women burne them selues after the death of theyr husbandes as do they of whom we haue spoken before They are of whityshe coloure with large forheades rounde eyes and of brasyll colour They weare theyr heare long and haue very brode and flatte noses and are of despicable stature Iustice is there well obserued Their mony is of golde syluer and tynne The golde coyne hath on the one syde the grauen head of a deuyl and on the other syde a wagon or charrette drawen with Elephantes The syluer mony hath the lyke coyne tenne of these are valued for one of golde But of the tynne coyne .xxv. make the value of one of golde Here are seene more Elephantes bygger and fayrer then in any other place that I haue been This people hath no experience of warres but are geuen altogeather to gaynes and merchandies They are hospitable and enterteyne strangers frendly Of an other kynde of Pepper Also of sylke and the precious gumme called Laserpitium or Belzoe Cap. 19. IN the sayde Iland is a kynde of long Pepper in great abundance Pepper in theyr language is called Molaga is much longer whiter then that which is brought hither yet lighter hotter it is sold there not by weight but bi measure as wheat with vs. It is there in so great abundaunce that there is caryed from hence yeerely twentie shyppes laden with Pepper This is caryed to Cathay and is there well solde by reason of the coldnesse of the region The tree that beareth this kynde of pepper hath a greater body and larger and fatter leaues then the pepper tree of Calecut This Ilande beareth also plentie of sylke whiche for the most parte is made after our maner There is an other sorte which the trees bryng foorth of them selues in the wooddes and feeldes without menage or dressyng but this is woorse then the other Here also groweth the Laser tree whiche bryngeth forth the precious gumme named Laserpitium or Belzoe as the inhabitantes and merchauntes tolde vs but because I haue not seene it I wyll speake no more of it Of three sortes of the tree of Aloes Cap. 20. FOrasmuch as varietie delighteth and the wel disposed mind can neuer be satiate with contemplation of the marueylous and sundry woorkes of God in nature therfore that the reader may take the more pleasure or at the least feele lesse tediousnesse in the reading of these thyngs I haue thought good to wryte somewhat more of suche thynges as I haue seene You shall therefore vnderstande that there is no great plentie of true Aloes or Laserpitium brought to vs because it is brought hyther from the furthest partes of the worlde Understande furthermore that there are three kyndes or sortes of Aloes greatly differyng in goodnesse The perfectest they call Calampat whiche the aforesaide Ilande bryngeth not forth But it is brought from the citie of Sarnau not farre from the place where the sayde Aloes Calampat is engendred as the Christian merchauntes or companions tolde vs. There is an other kynde of Aloes named Iuba or Luba brought hyther by this ryuer
knowledge thereof But nowe intendyng to speake of the whole worlde I wyll not be long in my preface but begyn my narration as foloweth ¶ A briefe declaration of the viage or nauigation made about the worlde Geathered out of a large booke written hereof by master Antoni Pigafetta Vincentine knyght of the Rhodes and one of the companie of that vyage in the which Ferdinando Magalianes a Portugale whom some call Magellanus was generall captayne of the nauie ALthough Sebastian Munster in his vniuersall Cosmographie in the fyfth booke of the landes of the greater Asia which I translated into Englyshe about .24 yeeres sence hath wrytten of the vyage of Magellanus declaryng therein how the Spanyardes by the West and the Portugales by the East sayling to the Ilandes of Molucca compassed the whole globe of the worlde betweene them yet haue I heere thought it good to make a breefe repeticion of this vyage addyng hereunto dyuers notable thynges which were not touched of Munster as I haue geathered them out of the bookes of Antoni Pigafetta and Transiluanus wrytyng of the same vyage For albeit in deede it was a strange and woonderfull thyng that the Spanyardes and Portugales compassed the whole circumference of the worlde betweene them yet is it more marueylous that the same was done with one ship one companie of men as did the Spanyardes in this viage who keeping their continual course by the west returned into Spaine by the east a thing doubtlesse so much more woonderful and strange then if they had returned from the halfe circumference by the same way they went in how muche they were ignorant in the vyage neuer attempted before besyde the thousande daungers and perylles whiche they were daylye lyke to fal into aswell by wandryng in vnknowen coastes as also by fallyng into the handes of the Portugales by whose dominions in the East they shoulde needes passe of necessitie not trustyng to their gentlenesse for the controuersie whiche had been long betweene them for the Ilandes of Molucca I wyl therfore as I haue sayde make a briefe rehearsal of this viage from the begynnyng to the endyng omittyng neuerthelesse many notable thynges whiche are more largely described in the bookes of Maximilianus Transiluanus and Antonius Pigafetta The tenth day of August in the yeere of our Lord .1519 Ferdinando Magalianes ▪ departed from the port of Siuile in Spayne with a nauie of fyue shippes and 237. men wel furnished with all thynges necessary And saylyng first downe by the ryuer of Guadalchiber which runneth from the sayd port into the sea they came first to a place named Giouan Dulpharaz where are many villages of the Moores and from thence arryued at a castle of the duke of Medina Sidonia where is the port from whiche they enter into the sea to the cape saint Vincent beyng distant from the Equinoctial .37 degrees and from the sayd port .10 leagues and is from thence to Siuile betweene 17. and 20. leagues Heere they remayned certayne dayes to make newe prouision of such thinges as they lacked Departyng from hence the 20. day of September they arryued the 26. day of the same moneth at one of the Ilandes of Canarie called Tenerife beyng 25. degrees aboue the Equinostial In one of these Ilandes is none other water but that is continually engendred of a cloude which appeareth dayly at noone tyde as though it descended from heauen and compasseth about a certayne great tree from whose branches distylleth great aboundaunce of water and falleth in streames from the roote of the same into certaine trenches and cesternes made and placed to receyue it This water serueth sufficiently all the inhabitauntes and cattayle of the Iland The lyke thyng is also seene in the Ilande of saint Thomas lying directly vnder the Equinoctial line The thirde day of October about mydnyght the captayne commaunded them to lyght fyre brandes and to hoyse vp theyr sayles directyng theyr course towarde the South saylyng saylyng betwene Capo Verde of Affrike and the Ilandes lying about the same beyng from the Equinoctial fourteene degrees a halfe They sayled thus many dayes in the syght of the coast of Guinea of Ethiope where is the mountayne called Serra Liona being eyght degrees aboue the Equinoctial In this coast they had no maner of contrary wynde but a great calme and fayre weather for the space of threescore and ten dayes in the whiche they came vnder the Equinoctial line In this viage they sawe many strange Fyshes monsters of the Sea besyde another strange thyng whiche appeared vnto them For there appeared in their shippes certayne flames of fyre burnyng very cleare whiche they cal saint Helen saint Nicholas these appeared as though they had been vpon the mast of the shippes in suche clearenesse that they tooke away theyr syght for the space of a quarter of an houre by reason wherof they so wandred out of theyr course and were dispearsed in sunder that they in maner dispayred to meete agayne but as God would the sea and tempest beyng quieted they came safely to their determined course And before I speake any further of the viage I haue heere thought good to say somewhat of these strange fyers whiche some ignorant folke thynke to be spirites or suche other phantasies wheras they are but naturall thynges proceedyng of naturall causes and engendred of certayne exhalations Of these therfore the great Philosopher of our tyme Hieronimus Cardanus in his second booke De Subtilitate wryteth in this maner There are two maner of fyers engendred of exhalations wherof the one is hurtful the other without hurt That which is hurtfull is fyre in deede engendred of malicious and venemous vapours whiche in successe of tyme take fyre as apt matters to be kyndled The other kynde is no true fyre but lyke the matter that is in such olde putrified wood as geueth the shynyng of fyre without the substaunce or qualitie therof Of the kynde of true fyre is the Fyreball or Starre commonly called saint Helen which is sometyme seene about the mastes of shippes beyng of such fyerie nature that it sometyme melteth brasen vessels and is a token of drownyng forasmuch as this chaunceth only in great tempestes for the vapour or exhalation wherof this fyre is engendred can not be dryuen togeather or compact in fourme of fyre but of a grosse vapour and by a great power of wynde and is therefore a token of imminent perill As on the contrary parte the lyke fyres called in olde tyme Castor and Pollux and nowe named the two lightes of Sainct Peter and Sainct Nicolas which for the most parte fall on the cables of the shyppes leapyng from one to an other with a certayne flutteryng noyse lyke byrdes are a token of securitie and of the tempest ouerpassed For they are but vapours cleauyng to the cables which in successe of tyme the fyre
thousande pounde of our money The starres about the south pole A similitude declaryng Antipodes The maner of of fyshyng for pearles Petrus Arias Wanton and superfluous pleasures The fyshyng place of kyng Chiapes Gold in maner in euery house The rych treasury of nature The golde mynes of Dariena King Teaocha enterteyneth Vaschus frendly Twenty pound weyght of wrought gold Desartes ful of wylde beastes Dryed fyshe Kyng Pacra a tyraunt Great heate in the moneth of Nouember Hurt by wylde beastes A Tyger Calidonia is a forrest in Scotlande Nemea is a wood in Greece Tigers whelpes Thus the Egiptians take Crocodiles The dogge tyger taken The roryng of the tyger Tigers flesh eaten The biâ—the tyger Tigers whelpes A straunge thyng Kyng Pacra Natural hatred of vice Foure Kynges deuoured of dogges The vse of dogges in warre against naked men The Canibales are expert archers Swoordes of wood Fiftie pound weight of gold Kyng Bononiama frend to the christians Wrought gold The oration of kyng Bononiama The sparke of the lawe of nature is the lawe written in the hartes of men Great plenty of golde A symilitude for the profe of plentye of golde Chaunge of dyet is daungerous Old souldiers A long lent Comogrus Two poore kynges Desartes Vessels of golde kyng Chiorisus sendeth Vaschus xxx dyshes of pure golde Axes of Iron more esteemed then any golde Plenty of gold and scarcenesse of meate A good policie The cause of vehement windes neere the Equinocciall Vaschus his Wordes to King Tumanama Oderuut quem metuunt Xxx. pounde weight of wrought gold Threescore poundes weight of gold They abhorrce labour The coloure of the golden earth and a triall of the same Tokens of great plentle of gold Feeblenesse of hunger and watching The riuer Comogrus Vaschus returneth to Dariena The good fortune of Vaschus O flatteryng fortune looke his death in the booke of the Iland lately found The earth is our generall mother The cout of infernal Pluto Manhuntees The fyersnessâ— of the Canibales Our duty to god and naturall loue to mankinde The office of Christian princes The haruest is great The fourth nauigation of Colonus the Admiral From Spaine to Hispaniola a thousande and two hundred leagues Simple people A great marchaunt Gentle people The regions of Tuia Maia Seuen kyndes of date trees Wilde vines Mirobalanes Byrdes and foules People of goodly stature They poynt theyr bodyes The swyft course of the sea from the East to the West Freshe water in the sea Fayre ryuers Great reedes Great Tortoyses Quatuor tempora The region of Quicuri The hauen of Cariai or Mirobalanus Ciuile and humane people Trees growing in the sea after a strange sort Plinie A strange kynd of Monkeys A Monkey fyghteth with a man A conflyct betwene a Monkey and a wyld Bore The bodyes of kynges dryed and reserued Crownes of beastes clawes Spytefull people Guns make peace Seuen golden ryuers Note wher the plentie of gold endeth Crocodiles of sweet sauour Alcayr or Babylon in Egypt Shyppes eaten with wormes Alexandria in Egypt Howe the kyng of Beragua entertayned the Lieuetenant Their reuereÌ„ce to their kyng Slynges and dartes Libertie more esteemed then ryches The Spanyardes are dryuen to flyght A miserable case Necessitie hath no lawe Howe farre life is to be estemed Sanctus Dominicus Landes founde by Colonus Themperat regions and holsome ayre Expert miners A godly nature in golde Golden haruest High and great mountaynes Tirrhenum is nowe called Tuscane The mouÌ„tayns of Beragua higher then the cloudes Mountaynes of fiftie myles heyght Ianus otherwase called Iaphet the son of Noe. By this coniecture the way shoulde open to Cathai by the Hiperboreans Looke the nauigation of Cabote Deca iii. lib. vi The great riuer Maragnonus The great riuer Dabaiba or sancti Iohannes The riuers haue theyr increase from the sprynges of the mountaynes The ryuer of Nilus in Egypt Maryshes and desolate wayes A superstitious opinion of the originall of the mountaynes of Dabaiba Dragons and Crocodiles in the maryshes The hauen Cerabaro Twentie golden ryuers Precious stones A precious Diamond of exceeding bignes Topasis The nauigation of Petrus Arias The Ilande of Canarie Prouision of freshe water and fuel The sea of hearbes These mountaines are called Montes Niuales or Serra Neuata Decade .ii. lib. 1. and .ii. Mountaynes couered with snowe The stoutnes of the Barbarians The Canibales fight in the water The vse of gunnes The generation of thunder and lyghtning Plentie of fysh Cunning fyshers Tapistrie This is he whom Cardanus praiseth Precious stones The Smaradge is the true Hâ—merode Another kynde of Amber is founde in Whales Golde and Brasile Marchasites are flowres of mettals by the colours whereof the kyndes of mettals are knowen These Locustes burne the corne with touching and deuoure the residue They are in India of three foote length Gardens Insubres are nowe called Lumbardes and Hetruci Tuscans One myriade is ten thousande The manner of plantyng the roote Iucca Earth turned into rootes Howe bread is made of rootes Panicum is a grayne somewhat lyke mil The Italians cal it Melica He meaneth the equal length of day and nyght which is continualy in regions vnder the Equinoctiall line Holsome ayre Gossampine Cotton Fethers Bowes and arrowes Dead bodies reserued Gonzalus Ouiâ—dus sayeth that they gylt marueylously with the iuce of a certayne hearbe White marble The great riuer Maragnonus This ioyneth with the mighty riuer called Flumen Amazonum founde of late Clokes of fethers The swift course of the water Fourtie leagues in one nyght Sundry opinions why the sea runneth with so swyft course from the East into the West The Equinoctial line Why al waters moue towarde the south or Equinoctial read Cardanus ae subtilit liber ii de elementis Strayghtes As by the strayght of Magelanus The north landes The frosen sea Sebastian Cabot The voyage of Sebastian Cabot from Englande to the frosen sea Demogorgon is the spirite of the earth People couered with beastes skynnes The Ilandes of the Canybales The Ilande Fortis Salte A strange thing Howe Vaschus receiued the newe gouernour Habitable regions vnder the Equinoctiall line Where the new gouernour planteth his habitation A passinger shyp Decurians are officers deuided into tennes c. The gold mines of Dabaiba An errour The region of Saturma The Ilande of Dominica Difficult saylyng agaynst the course of the sea The daungerous straightes of Scylla and Charibdis The vehement course of the sea from the east to the west By what meanes the Sonne beames are cause of feruent heate The pernitious ayre of Dariena Toades and Flees engendred of drops of water Necessitie hath no lawe A house set on fyre with lightnyng A dogge deuoured of a Crocodile Tanquam canis de Nilo The bytyng of Battes Lions and Tygers Beastes waxe higher in theyr kynde Note Broma or Bissa are wormes which destroy shyppes A venemous tree Perhaps their venemous arrows are made of this wood A preseruatiue against poison The Ilandes of the
Hercules and Alexander The colonies of the Romans in regions subdued The great Ilande of Saynct Laurence or Madagascar The Ilands of Taprobana or Giaua Plinie The historie of Cornelius Nepos Shyps of India driuen into the sea of Germanie An enterprise wherby Princes may obtayne true fame and glory Cathay discouered by Marcus Paulus The citie of Lubyke The kyng of Polonie The Duke of Moscouia An ambassadour from the Duke of Moscouia The woordes of the Ambassadour of Moscouia The way from Moscouia to the North Ocean Cathay Volochda Vstiug Iug. Succana Duina Colmogor The North Ocean Great woods Gothlande The Moscouites haue knowledge of the great Cam of Cathay Permia Pescora Catena mundi Obdora Vecchiadoro Obo The lake Chethay The Tartars The citie of Cambalu Note this secrete Difficult traueylyng in Moscouia Commendation of the Spanyardes and Portugales The hystorie of Paulus Centurio 〈◊〉 his reade more at large in the booke of Paulus Iomus Malice may doe more with some then vertue The Caspian sea Riga The Tartars of Lordo Desartes The vyage by the North sea The woorthinesse of this vyage The vyages of the Frenchmen to the lande of Baccalaos Pleasaunt countreys New France Apostrophe to to the Christian Princes Great ryuers A thyng woorthy to be searched The way to Cathay and the Ilandes of Molucca by the Northwest A notable enterpryse The noble enterprise of Antonie di Mendoza viceroy of Mexico The discoueryng of the Northwest partes Shyppes saylyng from Cathay by the North Hyperboream sea to the coastes of the Northwest parte of the lande of Baccaleos Cathay The sea from newe Fraunce or Tarra Britonum to Cathay A notable booke A great and glorious enterprise Sebastian Cabote the grand pylot of the West Indies Commendation of Sebastian Cabote Sebastian Cabote tolde me that he was borne in Brystow â–ª that at .iiii yeeres olde he was carryed with his father to Venice and so returned agayne into England with his father after certayne yeeres whereby he was thought to haue ben borne in Venice The fyrst vyage of Sebastian Cabote The lande of Florida The seconde vyage of Cabote to the land of Brasile and Rio della Plata Cabote tolde me that in a region within this ryuer he sowed .50 graynes of wheate in September and geathered therof .50 thousande in December as writeth also Francisco Lopes The viage to Moscouia The hystory of Moscouia The dyuers names of Moscouia Roxolani Rosolanâ— Ruthem The ryuer Mosco The ryuer Boristhenes Themperour of Cathay The frosen sea Lacus Cromicus Saturnus Amaltheum The dominion of the Duke of Moscouia The citie of Moscouia The chiefe cities of Moscouia The Duke of Moscouia Emperour of Russia The duke of Moscouia his tytle Duke Basilius Theyr power Theyr obedience to theyr prynce Theyr warres conquestes Gunnes Only the Moscouites haue not felt the commodiâ—â—s of peace Theyr language Dalmatia Pannonia Hungarie Their original The Sclauion tongue reacheth farre Great woods white beares and blacke woolues Abundance of hony and waxe Rych furres Theyr maner of bargayning Rude wylde people Tartares Ciuile people in cities Theyr money They embrase the Christian faith which they receyued of the Apostles The counsayle of Nicene Basilius Magnus Chrisostomus Their constancie in theyr religion The bishops define controuersies in religion Theyr bishops The Archbishop The patriarke of constantinople A notable example of a Christian Prince Theyr religion A monasterie of ccc Munkes Priestes Masse A misterie The primatiue churche A strange custome Sarmatia Asiatica The Scythian Ocean The ryuer of Volga Lacus albus The Caspian sea Theyr chiefe cities The wylde Tartars Hordas The bygnes of the citie of Moscouia Syluer The region of Moscouia Beastes A fayre and stronge castel in the citie of Mosca The Dukes pallaice Theyr drynke They are geuen to drunkennesse Corne and grayne Stoues The famous ryuer of Tanais The marishes of Meotis Volga Ocha The sea Euxinum The forest of Hircania Vri. Alces They trauayle in winter on sleades Causeys of tymber Trees and fruites Corne and graynes Hony in wods and trees Lakes or pooles of Hony A man almost drowned in hony A merueylous chaunce Beares feede of hony bees Beares inuade Bulles The Beares byrth The Beares denne Beares lyue without meate xl dayes The sleape of Beares The religion of the Moscouites The Scythians subiect to the Duke of Moscouia It was then an opinion that all ryuers sprong out of mountaynes The fruitfull region of Colmogora The great ryuer Diuidna Wheate without plowing The ryuer of Iuga Vstiuga Furres The naturall cause of much hony in colde regions Gummes and spyces in hoote countreys Floures in colde regions Floures of trees Blossomes of trees An example of the degrees of heate The generation of floures by moderate heate Long dayes and shorce nyghtes Bramble and fearne Spyces The sauour of floures What Plinie wryteth of hony Sirius is otherwyse called Canicula that is the Dogge of whom the canicular dayes haue theyr name What is hony Howe hony is corrupted â—ony of great quantitie in North regions Hot nyghtes in colde regions A simiâ—itude Naturall heat doeth subtyle and digest all thinges Subtyle vapours digested by heate Colde regions Ziglerus Ziglerus The qualitie of sommer in colde regions The course of the Sunne Vapours Short and warme nyghts Gothlande One day of .vi. monethes Howe the sommer is increased in colde regions Rome Colde nyghtes in hot regions The Romane wynter Our night of vi monethes Obiections The twylightes The lyght of the Moone The nyght vnder the pole A demonstration The Moone Remedies of nature art The olde writers persuaded by coniecture A brasen potte broken with frost Fyshes of the North seas The North sea The qualitie of water The land The diuine prouidence in moderatyng the elementes The nature of the sea Salt Generatyue heate Outward colde is cause of inwarde heate Metals Vapoures and exhalations Whales Beastes Hereby may be considered the cause of the death of our men that sayle directly to Guinea No passage from our extremitie to an other but by a meane Caues and Dennes Valleis The best furres Sables Beastes that lye hyd in wynter All beasts haue the nature of the place where they are engendred What exercise may do Vse maketh masteries Scondia Scone is fayre in the duch tongue The fertilitie of Schondia He meaneth Diodorus Siculus Thinuasions of the Gothes Transiluania The Gothes Lumbardes Fruitfull pasture Religion neglecteâ— Inchaunteâ—â— The viage of Sebastian Cabot to the frosen sea Gronelande Wardhus Lapponia and Gronelande Schoeni Cabot tolde me that this I se is of fresh water not of the sea A commixtion of salt water fresh The sea between Norway and Island Terra Viridis Pigmei Baccallaos Islande called Thyle Schoene is lx furlonges Myracles of nature in Islande Three marueylous mountaynes Helga Hecla Straunge visions Ise. A straunge thyng Foure spryngs oâ— contrary nature Aboundaunce of brymstone Dryed fyshe Scarsenesse of corne Haukes White Rauens
Priuilegio Kyng of Portugale Algarbs Lorde of Guinea of the coÌ„quest nauigation and trafike into Ethiopia Arabia Persia India The first part the first Decadâ— The second Decade The third Decade The fourth Decade The seconde part The thyrde part The fourth part A harde begynyng The Pylot that fyrst founde the Indies Mina Colon was not much learned Colon conferred with learned men Kyng Henry the seuenth Barnarde knewe not all thynges The conquest of Granada The archbâ—shop of Toledo The colour of the East Indians The coloure of the west Indians Gods wysedome power is seene in his workes Thyle is Islande The largenesse of the Ocean vnknowen to this day Cardinal Ascanius The warres at Granatum agaynst the Moores Italy disquieted with warres The sequeles of warre Kyng Frederike Spayne subdued from the Moores The kyngdome of Naples The temperatnesse of the Equinoctiall vnknowen to the olde wryters Continent or fyrme lande as bygge as three Europes Riches are the instruments of conquestes The rewardâ— of vertue The Ilandes of the West Ocean Christophorus Colonus India The fyrst voyage of Colonus The Ilandes of Canarie Gades or Calsmals A league what it conteyneth by sea The fortunate Ilandes Capo Verde The .vii. Ilandes of Canarie Betanchor a Frenche man subdued the Ilandes of Canarie c. Alphonsus Lugo Colonus men rebel agaynst hym Fayre woordes and promises Hispaniola Iohanna Nightingales syng in Nouember The Ilande of Ophir The Ilandes of Antilia A shypwracke The people of the Ilande Naked people Expert swymmers Gold for earth and glasse Many kynges Religious and humane people Canoas Monoxyla They haue no iron Canibales or Caribes Anthâ—opophagi The crueltie of the Canibales Ages Rootes in the steede of meate Iucca Bread of rootes In hearbe of strange nature Maizium Golde in estimation Golde in the sandes of riuers Serpentes without venime Turtle doues Duckes Popiniayes Plini These Ilandes are part of India The Indians are Antipodes to the Spanyardes Aristotle Seneca India not farre from Spayne Mastyx Aloe Gossampine cotton or bombase Seres The language of these Indians Trees fruites vnknoweÌ„ to vs Fat and moyst grounde Heate continual temperate The fruitefulnesse of Hispaniola The seconde voyage of Colonus Corne seedes to sowe Tooles and artyllerie Water droppyng from a tree continuallye Methymna Campi Castella Vetus Gades The Ilandâ— of Ferrea Ilandes of the Canibales The Ilande of Dominica Lysartes The Ilande of Galanta The Iland of Guadalupea Villages of .xx. or .xxx. houses The buildyng of theyr houses Gossampine cotton Bombase Hangyng beddes Images Fine cookerie Arrowheades of bones The mount Guadalupus Carucueria Popiniayes bygger then Phesantes The Canibales driueÌ„ to flyght Matinino an Ilande of women The Ilandes of Mons Serratus Huntyng for men Sancta Maria Rotunda Sanctus Martinus Sancta Maria Antiqua Insula crucis an Ilande of the Canibales The Canibales are expert Archers Arrowes inâ—ected with â—enime A conflict with the Canibales The fiercenesse terrible countenance of the Canibales Methymna Campi Innumerable Ilandes The mynes of mettals precious stones The sea called Archipelagus Insula S. Iohannes or Buchena Death for death â—he mounâ—â—ynes are colâ—er then the â—â—aynes â—rom Domiâ—â—ca to Hispaâ—â—ola fiue hunâ—â—ed leagues â—he Spaniarâ—s left in the â—ande are â—yne â—yng Guaccaâ—â—rillus reâ—â—leth Two images of golde Libertie and idlenesse A happie kinde of lyfe Superfluitie Many haue to much and none yenough The golden worde Naked men troubled with ambition Geue place The Admirall sendeth for the kyng No horses in the Ilandes A tyme for all â—ynges A desperate aduenture of a woman Cloelia of Rome Guaccanarillus is sought Melchior Popyngiayes and byrdes Taini Haukes belles A large house Reedes of sundry colours Caccius Hoiedus and Gorualanus Gold in riuers â—allyng from mountaynes The manner of gathering gold Graynes of golde A masse of rude gold weyghing ix ounces Caunaboa â–ª kyng of the house of golde Holsome water and plentie of fyshe The day and nyght of equall length in December Byrdes breede in December The eleuation of the pole The starres are called guardens of the pole The Equinoctial line A chappell and priestes Marchantes Syrophenicians The Cinamome tree Xiloaloes or Lignum Aloes Hispaniola Ophir whither Solomons shyps sayled for Golde Isabella A token of marueilous fruitefulnesse Hearbes greene al the whole yeere Suger reedes Plantes and vines Corne grayne ripe twyse a yeere The region of Cipanga or Cibana Golde The golden region of Cibana The vale of Cibana Golde for haukes bels Graynes and pibble stones of golde They passe not for golde in that it is golde onely but. c. Stones of golde as big as the head of a childe Spices Wilde vines of plesaunte taste Fruitful mountaynes Golde in the lande of ryuers falling from the mountaynes Libertie and idlenes The mountaynes are colde The ilande of Cuba Least any other prince c. Discention betweene the Portiugales and Spaniardes The ilandes of cobouerde or Hesperides The Portugales vâ—ages The ende of the easte and weste Note India not far from Spaine Sainte Nicolas porte The iland of Iamaica Quicke witted people The compassing of the earth Aurea Chersonesus or Malaccha A secreate of Astronomie The riuer of Ganges Daungerous streightes by reason of many Ilandes A large hauen Rosted fishe and serpents of viii foote longe Crocodiles of Egipte The kinges fishers Serpentes esteemed for delicate meaâ—â— Blossomes fruites both at one time Trees which beare gourds A multitude of Ilandes Hotte water A straunge kinde of fisshing Abundance of Tortoyses Fisher men The fishe Guaicanum Humane people A mountayne fruitfull and well inhabited Dogges of strange shape and dumme white and thicke water Wooddes of â—ate trees Men appareâ—â—d like white â—â—yers â—pparelled â—en Natiue vines Trees bearyng spices sweete fruites Diuers languages in the Ilande of Cuba Pearles in shelfyshes The sea entangled with Ilandes A multitude of great Tortoyses A gulfe of white water The humanitie of a reuerende olde gouernour An oration of the naked gouernour Theyr opinion of the soule of man Desyre of gold founde that which religion coulde not â—ynde Virtus post nummos c. The lande as common as â–ª the sunne and water Simple dyet Hispaniola The Canibales Sickenesse of to much Watching Easte India The Spaniardes rebell in the Admirals absence The kinges of the ilande rebell The Spaniardes misbehauiour A iust reuenge Capitayne Hoieda Caunaboa conspireth the Admirals death Famine in the ilande of hispaniola The hunger of golde causeth greate famine The tower of conception Electrum is a metall naturally mixt of one portion of golde an other of siluer being of propertie to bewraye poyson and was therfore in olde time in greater estimation then golde The mine of Electrum An other kinde of amber is taken out of greate whale fishes Orpement oâ— oker Wooddes of brasile trees Licentiusnes of to much libertie And this only geathered and not dygged out of the bodye of the mine The nature of the region disposeth the maner of
the people Kyng Caunaboa in captiuitie Caunaboa his brother rebelleth A conflict betwene the Cibanians and the Spaniards A greate tempest in the moneth of Iune Whirle windes Furacanes The death of king Caunaboa and his brother The golde mines of Salomon Gold in the superficiall partes of the earth The golden tower Lacke of vitayles Vittualles brought from Spayne Saint Domiâ—ikes towre Isabella The Riuer of Naiba Wooddes of Brasile trees Mountaynes without golde The kinges wiues Well fauored women Driades A pretie pastyme Foure men slayne in sport Prouision for diseased men The castels or towers of hispaniola The golden mountaynes of Cibana The kinges rebell An army of xv thousand Barbarians The kinges are taken prisoners king Guarionexius is pardoned Lacke of vytayles xxxii kinges Serpentes eaten The dressing of serpentes to be eaten Serpentes egges eaten Gossopine cotton Queene Anacaona The treasurie of Queene Anacaona Hebene wood The Ilande of Guanabba Cunnyng Artificers A stone in the steede of Iron Gunnes Musical instrumentes Ignorance causeth admiration The intemperancie malice of a seruile wit aduaunced Ciguanians Licenciousnesse in libertie Hercules pyllers A violent perswasion The furie of Guarionexius The thyrd voyage of Colonus the Admiral Frenche men pyrates The iland of Madera Healing of the leper Contagious ayre and extreeme heate The iland of Puta People of comly corporature and long heare neere the Equinoctial The higher the colder Musical instrumentes The violent course of the water from the East to the West The gulfe called Os Draconis A sea of fresh water Marmasets Monkeyes The fayre and large region of Paria Humane people Chayers and stooles of Hebene Whyte men neere the Equinoctiall Shalownesse of the sea The vse of Carauels or Brigandines A riuer of marueylous deapth and breadth The eleuation of the Pole aâ— Paria Note a secrete as concernyng the Pole starre An experience A marueylous secrete Time reuealeth â—l thynges The Spaniardes rebell in the Admiralles absence The Spaniardes accuse the Admiral The Admiralâ— answere These had the custodies of the temples A cruel deuillyshe pastyme Heare made long blacke by arte Kyng Maiobanexius An army of eight thousand Ciguauians Kyng Guarionexius Naturall hatred of vyce The Lieuetenaunts gentelnesse toward Maiobanexius A rare faithfulnesse in a barbarous kyng The Lieuetenauntes messengers are slayne The Spaniardes are painfull in the warres A desperate aduenture with thirtie men A pollicie A beautifull woman The kynges submit them selues to the Lieuetenaunt A newe gouernour of the Ilande The Ocean sea heretofore vnknowen The nauigation of Petrus Alphonsus Pearles for tryfles Great plentie of pearles Shel fyshes in which pearles are engendred Theyr manner of bargayning The vse of pynnes Haukes belles in great estimation Roring of wild beastes Hartes and wylde bores Cunnyng artificers Base golde Tokens of the continent or firme lande The golden region of Canchieta The Equinoctial line Gossampine trees Canibales in the gulfes of Paria Death for death Howe the Canibales fortifie their campe Haraia Springes of salt water The bodyes of prynces dryed and reserued Orient pearles â—s bygge as â—asel nuts The Ilande of Margarita The nauigation of Vincentius and Aries Pinzonus The Ilandes of Canarie Cabouerde S. Iames Ilande The north pole out of sight Habitable regions vnder the Equinoctial lyne People of high stature A vagabounde kynde of men Giantes Desperate â—oldnesse A sea of freshe water Many fruitful Ilandes Humane people Regions of Paria Gold pearles The commodities of the regions Ilands about Paria Brasile Canibales Trees of Cassia fistula A monstrous beast Extreme remedie in a desperate case Cinamome and Ginger Topases Men of noble courage Another voyage Animae album The superstitions of Hispaniola The errours of the olde gentilitie Idolatrie and idolles Illusions of euil spirites Images of gossampine catton Young deuyls Fables muche lyke Ouide his transformations The Nyghtyngale The Ilande of Mathinino Children turned into Frogs A special grace Holy reliques A holy caue The original of the sunne and moone Walkyng spirites A remedie agayest walking spirites Priestes and diuines Phisitions Ignorance is norished with superstition A powder of marueylous effect A strange maner of curyng Angry gods They make the dead to speake Fayries or spirites of the gentiles much like to the papistes The pouder of the herbe Cohobba Secrete mysteries Reuelations The spirite of Apollo The Sibylles Children with two crownes Wandering images A woman Zemes of great power Mediatours A marueylous illusion of the deuyll The idolles abolyshed Millane in the handes of the french men The history folowyng conteyneth the actes of ten yeeres Paria part of the fyrme lande of East India Golde Frankencense The fiercenesse of the naked people A man deuoured of a monster of the sea Note the largenesse of the new Ilandes Antipodes The nature of the place altereth the formes and qualities of thynges Plentie of beastes and foule Cuba is an Ilande The 〈◊〉 of Cuba The Ilande of Burichema of S. Iohannis Golde mynes Tyllage They abhorre labour They are docible The kynges chyldren The two cheefe golde mynes of Hispaniola A costly shypwracke Pesus The fynyng and distributing of gold Three hundred thousaÌ„d weight of gold molten yeerely in Hispaniola The newe landes Enlargyng of the Christian religion The original of true nobilitie The Ilande of Guanassa The voyage of Iohannes Diaz West Antipodes The encrease of the Christian congregation Of landes distant from the Equinoctiall from fyue degrees to ten The death of Colonus A generall licence The nauigation of Alphonsus Fogeda The region of Caramairi Apples whiche turne into wormes A tree whose shadowe is hurtful Warlyke people Arrowes infected with poyson The nauigation of Diego Nicuesa The regions of Vraba and Beragua The Spanyardes reuenge the death of theyr companions A great slaughter Canibales The hunger of golde The Ilande Fortis Wrought gold Nicuesa The gulfe Coiba Barnardino de Calauera Fogeda returneth to Hispaniola Famine A Brigandine drowned with the stroke of a fyshe The region of Cuchibacoa Serra Neuata Os Draconis Riche in golde and poore in bread The vse of targets agaynst venemous arrowes The barbarians haue respect to iustice Salted fyshe Wine of fruites and seedes Artyllerie Ancisus shypwracke A groue of date trees Wylde bores Apples of a strange kyndâ— Cedars of Libanus Men of desperate boldenesse The gulfe of Vraba The great riuer of Darien The souldiers make an othe The barbarians are dryuen to flyght The riuer of Darien but vii degrees from the Equinoctial lyne Golde founde in a thycket of reedes Brest plates of golde The golden regions are for the most part barren Lupus Olanus Petrus de Vmbria The ryuer Lagartos The golden ryuer of Beragua The enterpryse death of Petrus de Vmbria The daungerous place of Scilla in the sea of Cicile The miserable case of Nicuesa The riuer of S. Matthei The rigocousnesse of Nicuesa Corne waxeth rype euerye fourth moneth The commendation of a young man brought vp with Colonus Portus Bellus
Houses of Whales bones The nauigation to Islande Whales One thyng seruyng for contrary vses A shypmans quadrant People of great agilitie A strange apparell The cause of an olde errour So doe the Tartars Plentie of wylde beastes No Serpents Great Gnats Aboundaunce of fyshe Shyps without nayles Science honoured Bargeâ—nâ— without woordes No horses A beast of marueylous strength and swyftnesse What Schoenus is looke in Gronlande The chaunge of the horizon The olde aucthours called all the North people Scythyans â—â—â—smus laâ—â—â—teth this 〈◊〉 fyrst 〈◊〉 de ratine contionan di â–ª where he speaketh of the people called Pilapii Idolatrie A mysterie of mariage in fyre and flynt Experte inchaunters Magicall dartes The canker One nyght of three moneths Riche furres Plentie of sea fyshe Wardhus Kyngdomes destroyed by factions The Danes The defant of princes An exemple of tyrannie The myserable state of Norway Stockfyshe The Lapones Shyppes in daunger by reason of whales Castoreum The roryng of whales whales salted and reserued The citie of Nidrosia A magnificiall churche Noysome beasts of vnknowen generation Wardhus The vnknowen land of the Lapons A serpent of huge bignesse God warneth vs by signes of thyngs to come The streightes or boyling sea Dangerous places in the sea Fruitfull Ilands about Norway Golde and syluer Wardhus castell The gulfe of Suecia The citie of Stokholme Golde in colde regions Fyshe The beaste called Vros or Elg. Vpsalia Copperdalia Oplandia Byrdes Egges reserued in salte Precious furres Fyshe Thinuasions of the Gothes The warre of the gothes agaynst the Romanes The boundes of gothland The citie of Visba Danes and Moscouites A librarie of two thousand bookes The gothes inuaded Europe and destroyed Rome Pannonia falsly taken for Finnonia Eningia Spanishe wines Demetrius the ambassadour of Moscouia Paulus Centurio Spices brought from India to Moscouia The ryuer Indus Oxus or Hoxina a ryuer of Asia runneth through the desartes of Sythia The sea Hircanum is now called mare Abacuâ—ke or mare de Sala Citrachan or Astracan Sarmatia is that great countrey wherin is conteyned Russia Lâ—â—oma and Tartaria and the North and East parte of Polonia Agaynst the Portugales The trade of spices in olde tyme. Spices corrupted The Caspian sea Basilius wrot to Pope Adriane Warre betwene the Polones and Moscouites The seconde viage of Paulus to Moscouia The Pope pâ—rswâ—deth Basilius to acknowledge the Romane churche Demetrius intertaynement at Rome Demetrius is brought to the Popes presence Basilius letters to Pope Clement Cardinall Campegius The ruynes of Rome The description of Moscouia The Aultars of great Alexander Marishes in sommer The forest of Hercynia Wylde beastes The Scythian Ocean The beastes called Vri or Bisontes Helenes Of the Scythians and Tartars Amaxouii Horda The large dominion of the Tartars Cathay The Tartars of Europe The Tartars of Asia are subiecte to the Duke of Moscouia The Tartars beyonde the riuer of Volga Nogai Sigismundus calleth them Nogayâ—ri The noblest nation of the Tartars The ryuer Taxartes Ismael the Sophi kyng of Persia. The citie of Samarcanda Tanburlanes the myghtie Emperour of the Tartars The conquestes of Tamburlanes Baiasetes This apparell they haue of the Persians The Tartars trafficke with the Moscouites The Tartars of the South syde of Moscouia Gete and Roxolani Russia Moscouia called whyte Russia Lituania Prussia Liuonia Denmarke Norway Suecia The people of Laponia Armeline furres Bargaynyng without wordes The dark region by this dark region and pigmei is the way to Chathay by the North sea The Scythian Ocean The region of Colmogora The ryuer of diuidna The ryuer of Iuga or Iug. Vstiuga The riuer of Diuidna of Duina The riuer of Suchana The frosen sea Duina and Suchana Greonlande or Engreonland Vnderstande myles of Germany that is leagues Rych furres Lupi Ceruarii Sables The mountaynâ—s called Hiperborei Haukes of diuers kyndes The passage from Moscouia to Cathay Cathay Maister Eliot calleth Cathay the region of Sinarum The Gothes subuerted the romane Empire The north region conspired against the Romans Moscouia The citie of Mosca Richard Chaunceler told me that these masts are smoâ— what hollow on the one syde that the whole syde of the next entereth into y e same whereby they lye very close The castel of Mosca White Hares and Roe buckes The ryuer Ocha Volga Nouogradia Rha. The white Lakes The Riphean Hiperborcan mountaynes Tanais and Borysthenes The sea Euxinus The Caspian sea Astrachan Media Armenia Persia. Casan Sura Surcium Nouogrodia The Temple of Sancta Sophia The eleuation oâ— the pole at Nouogrodia Moscouia Heate by reason of shorte nyghtes The citie of Volodemaria The citie of Moscha Ottoferia Volga Riga The citie of Plescouia The citie of Lubecke From Rome to Moscouia Wynter trauayle by Ise and snow Maryshes in sommer Other writers deny this Rych furres The price of furres How many Sables skynnes for an Axe Flaxe Oxe hydes Waxe But truely They abhorre the Iewes Theyr bookes and religion The Slauon tongue spred further then any other Sainct Ierome was borne in Dalmatia now called Sclauonia Howe they number the yeeres Fewe and simple lawes The exercise of youth Shootyng The corporature of the Moscouites Theyr fare Fleshe preserued long by reason of colde Haukyng and huntyng Plentie of fyshe Fyshe long reserued in Ise. Wyne Maluasie All the North parte of the fyrme lande was called Scythia and the people Scythians Drynke cooled with Ise. Wyne of Cherryes Theyr women Thomas Paleologus The conquest of the Turkes in Grecia Howe the princes choose theyr wyues Duke Basilius War betweene the Polones and Moscouites War betweene the Moscouites and Tartars The Moscouites army Their banner Their horses and horsemen Theyr armure Hargabusiers Gunnes The Prince dyneth openly Sigismundus sayth that much of this is golde The custodie of of the citie The Dukes courte Souldyers wages of the common treasury Russia The browne coloure of the Russes Russeia The Slauon tongue spreadeth farre Vandales The princes of Russia The Duke of Moscouia Why the Duke of Moscouia was called an Emperour The great Turke The whyte kyng The Duke of Moscouia his tytle Russia baptised by Sainct Andrewe the Apostle The Moscouites warres Dyuers maners of dyuers people in the warres The Moscouites army Howe he maintayneth his army Instrumentes of warre The Moscouites and Tartars apparell The prouince of Moscouia Extreame colde Extreame heate in cold regions Litle beastes The citie of Moscouia or Mosca Holsome ayre A ryche spoyle The Iland of Solowki Bieloiesero The length of the day The trade from Moscouia to the Caspian sea Bieloiesero or the whyte lakes Diuersitie of temperameÌ„t in small distance A lake of brymstone Exchange of furres for other ware The dominion of the duke of Moscouia Volochda werste Vstiug Suchana Iug. So called of his swift and pleasant streame Pienega Nicolai Kuluio The regions by the North sea Pieza Piescoia Rubicho Czircho Czilma Petzora Pustoosero Vssa Cingulus mundi Stzuchogora Potzscheriema Camenipoias Samoged Foules and beastes Wylde people Poiassa Camen