the sake of Honour and Bootie They have a Language peculiar to themselves and different from all the rest of the Habessinian Dialects which argues their Original both forrain and common to all their Tribes they admit of Circumcision among themselves whether it be by any ancient Custom observed by many of the Neighbouring Ethnics or for that they find the Arabians and Abessines to do the same They have no Idols and but very little Divine Worship If you ask them concerning God or any Supreme Numen or who it is that Governs the Earth with so much Order and Constancy they answer Heaven which embraces in their view all the rest however they adore that Heaven with no Solemn Worship more barbarous than the Barbarians themselves nor yet are they altogether void of Humanity for they aspire to a large share of Ingenuity and in aptness to learn equalize the smartest of the Habessines From whence we may observe that there is no sort of Human-kind so fierce and savage which may not be civiliz'd by Education and Learning Many have submitted to the Instructions of Christianity and persisted constant in the Faith Tellezius testifies and Gregory farther witnessed That several Thousands of the Gallans were Converted to the Christian Religion and submitted to Baptism under King Basilides Now let me tell you this is that formidable Nation which has ruin'd the Power and Dominion of the Abessines insomuch that they have torn from the Abessine King above the half of those Territories which his Ancestors enjoy'd for after their Irruption out of Bali they made themselves Masters of the Provinces of Gedmam Angota Dawara Wed Fatagar Ifat Guragea Ganza Conta Damota Waleka Bizama part of Shewa and many intermix'd Kingdoms Nor had they stopp'd there had they not being rent into Divisions among themselves turn'd their Arms one against another and given the Habessines a little breathing time for Concord among Equals rarely long attends Prosperity At this time they are divided into certain Tribes Seventy or more and as it were into Two Nations of which the more Westerly are by the Habessines call'd Bertuma Galla those that lye to the East Boren Galla those Easterly and Southerly in a manner encircle Habassia and harrase it with frequent Incursions They have also separated Cambata and Enarea from the rest of the Body as having subdu'd the Kingdoms that lye between which makes it very difficult for the Abessine Prince to convoy home the Tribute of those Kingdoms Thus there is a necessity for the Habessines to be always in War with these People nor is there any hopes of regaining their ancient and pristine Glory unless that Nation be first reduc'd into order The King has prudently made use of their Intestine Discords for he has plac'd the Revolters in Dembea and Gojam and successfully makes use of their Arms against their Country-men for as they are the most excellent Antidotes which are compos'd of the most Venomous Animals themselves so the Barbarians themselves are the most prevalent Force against the Barbarians Now let us take a view of the Kingdom of Zandero till lately undiscovered although contiguous to Habessinia as being not above four or five days from it The Inhabitants are but little more civil than the Gallans only that they acknowledge a King and have an awful respect for something whether it be God or Devil The King being dead the next of Kin retire into the Wood and there modestly wait the Election of the Nobility who in quest of their King newly Elected among themselves enter the Wood guided by a certain Bird of the Eagle-kind which by the Noise it makes discovers the Conceal'd Person presently they find him surrounded with a Guard of Lyons Dragons and Panthers d assembled together by a sort of Incantation to the Ancients unknown At first he makes a resistance against the Electors and wounds those that he can that he may seem to be Constrained to take the Government upon him soon after as they are going along another Gang to whom it belongs of ancient Custom endeavour to Rescue their King from the other Party claiming to themselves the Honour of being the Persons that set the Crown upon the King's Head and purchasing the hopes of Royal Favour by means of a seeming Sport which oft-times proves very Bloody Thus instead of Inauguration the African Gentiles think it Lawful to attone the Devil with human Blood The King proud in the height of Poverty not contented with the few steps to his Throne gets upon the Beam of his House from whence he looks down as from a Gallery and gives Answers to Embassadors Antony Fernandez Travelling with the Habessinian Ambassador into that Kingdom having viewed this same Lybian Soveraign compares him for colour and gesture to a Rampant Monkey Nor does the word Zendero which is the Name of the Kingdom intimate much less in regard that Zendero signifies an Ape Tellezius adds That it is the Custom of those Barbarians if their King be wounded to kill him which is conformable to the Nature of Monkeys who having receiv'd a wound tear and scratch it so long till their Entrails drop out or that they lose all their Blood The next Kingdom is Alaba conterminous Easterly to Cambat the Governour of which in the Sixteenth Year of this Century was call'd Alico To the East Habessinia is bounded by vast Deserts and open Solitary level Wildernesses and therefore altogether unknown Southward it joyns to the Kingdom of Sennar or Fund Govern'd by its peculiar King formerly a Tributary to the Abessines but now Absolute He Possest a part of the ancient Nubia near to which adjoyn'd the Kingdom of Balou whose Inhabitants are by the Portugueses call'd Balous their King was formerly Lord of Suaqena and in friendship with the Abessines now he only receives the half of the Maritine Tribute from the Turks From what we have said it may be easily gathered with how many Adversaries and Enemies Ethiopia is surrounded so that the Abersines may not improperly compare their Country to the Flower of Saffron Denguelat set about with Thorns For being perpetually struggling with their Foes they rather apply themselves to the Arts of War then Peace which seldom thrive amidst the Noise of War and public Contention An Addition It remains to speak of the Portugals in Habessinia who are neither Africans nor Forreiners for that some time since they have submitted themselves to the Habessine Jurisdiction For of the Four hundred which Christopher Gamez brought to the succour of the Abissines in the Adelan War about One hundred and seventy superviving in the space of one Age multiply'd so fast that when the Fathers of the Society came thither they were able to Muster Fourteen hundred Fighting men a small handful but very considerable to the Party to which they adhere as retaining their ancient Courage and dexterity in handling their Arms for the use of Fire-arms superiour to the Habessines or any of the Barbarians
pronounced for Ksoa Shoa for Goyam Gojam and so onward But he laughed outright when I question'd him concerning the Kingdoms of Barnagassus Tigremahon (k) In the vulgar Tables also you shall find Tigre and Tigray as if they were two distinct Kingdoms Which error B. Telles severely reprehends L. 1. Ch. 4. and Ambiancantiva For after a short hesitation he understood them to be compound words in which the Titles of the Vice-Roys were conjoyned with the Names of the Regions over which they were made Governors and besides that very much corrupted by the Portugal pronunciation and spelling For Barnagasso in the Amharic Language extends it self to Bahr-Nagash a compound word of Bahr which signifies the Sea and Nagash a Governour as much as to say a Commander or Admiral at Sea Tigremahon corruptly for Tigre-macuonen that is to say Judge or President of Tigre Ambian-cantiva for Dembea-cantiba that is Governour or President of Dembea The same inference happens to the most noble City and Court of Royal Residence Axuma which never appears in the Mapps by reason that the Portugals pronounce Axum Acassum for they cast away the A as an Article of declension and adding their own termination O made it Cassumo Upon which City we stood pausing a long time before we could tell what to make of it I pass by an innumerable company of other mistakes which rendred the Mapp altogether useless to me Nor is it to be doubted but the same thing often falls out in other Exotic Tables So that unless a Man can divine the Language of the Author or where he was born it is impossible but he must read the Names of the plaes most extravagantly For we find that because the Modern Europeans have no Letters of their own but onely have accommodated the Latin Letters to their own sounds it comes to pass that one and the same Letter is variously pronounced by various Nations which frequently appears in Consonants conjoyned As for Example Ch among the Germans Belgians and Polonians is a rough Aspiration like the Hebrew ח or the Greek Χ. Among the Italians Ch is pronounced like a k among the French like an Hebrew ש But among the English Spaniards and Portugueses who alone genuinely pronounce the word China there is a kind of hissing compos'd between the Letter Z. and sch which the Italians express by a C before e or i the Polonians by Ch the Hebrews more lively in their ש the Germans Sch the English by Sh the French Ch the Italians Sc before e and i and which the Portugueses would do by their Letter X but that they are unwilling to have it a superfluous Letter in their Alphabet For which reason it would be very requisite that the Publishers of Foraign Mapps should also Publish their Instructions and tell the World according to what Pronounciation the Names of Countries and Cities ought to be read Or else that in the compiling of some universal Geographical Work care might be taken to add such an Index as should be the standard of Pronunciation in every Country to prevent the common mistakes We must acknowledge that our Chorographick Table is not without its defects For though Gregorie were sufficiently skill'd in the Names and Situation of places yet he was ignorant of the Degrees of the Sphere and Elevation of the Pole Therefore in the first Mapps of Habessinia which I made I follow'd the Longitude and Latitude of the vulgar Tables but because I found them false in that too we thought it more prudence not to Publish any at all I must confess being in company with certain Persons of Learning and Quality upon a (l) There not makes mention of that which I gave to the Elector of Ments in his Remarks upon the History of Ethiopia I presented one also to Frederick 3d. King of Danemark another to Charles Lewis the Elector Palatine and some others I could not refuse the same satisfaction of their curiosity discourse that happen'd concerning Ethiopia after I had made my Apology I produc'd a Manuscript exemplar of both sorts But such they were that should they ever come to light by any misfortune I dare not be responsible for their Credit But at length having happen'd upon the Chorographick Table of Tellezius delineated by the Fathers of the Society with the help of the Astrolabe I made no scruple to retain the Degrees as by them set down and then to make them common together with a new Mapp for universal information I have added the Midland Regions tho without any adventure of justification in regard those Regions by reason of their vast distance being so seldom visited by Travellers afford little of certainty CHAP. V. Of the Nature of the Soil Temper of the Air Tempests Winds and such like Meteors The Air uncertain Wonderful effects of heat The Torrid Zone is nevertheless habitable The high places cold No Snow The temper and wholesomness of the Air. Horrid Thunders A dirty Winter describ'd by Gregory Diversity of Tempests in the same situation The four seasons of the year different from the Europeans The beginning of the Spring the 25th of Septemb. They have only three seasons of the year the days and nights almost always equal Their dawnings and evenings very short The most impetuous wind call'd a Snake The two sorts of Whirl-winds Prestor and Typhon most raging and pernicious IN so many and such various Regions the Constitution of the Air is as various In low and open places which the Abessines call Kolla the heat of the Sun is intolerable such as Seneca describes in these words The stones burn as if neal'd in the fire not onely in the middle of the day but also toward the evening the Silver unsoders the footsteps of men are impatient of the scorching sand The fastening of the standard melts No exterior covering of outward Ornament remains In which respect both coasts of the Red Sea have but a bad report as also the Islands especially Suaquena whose heat Gregorie many times us'd to call Infernal For said he it excoriates the Skin melts hard Indian wax in a Cabinet and sears your shoos like a red hot Iron But these Persons consider'd not the nature of those People that inhabit that Country much less have they weighed with themselves the strange Patience of those that covet rule and dominion who can endure the parching beams of the Sun and willingly too though unus'd to those immoderate violences of raging heat However the ancient Philosophers were in a very great error that believ'd the (m) Aristot Meteorotog L. 2. c. 11. and his followers Torrid Zone unhabitable or that the middle parts of the Earth where the Sun continually moves should be parch'd up with flames and tosted with the raging fire (n) The Spaniards have a Proverb he that is intent upon his own Interest minds not in conveniences Assuredly there are some Philosophers who deliver things uncertain and unprov'd for real and assured
Ropes Formerly those miserable Ethiopic Princes were here cag'd up in wild places in low Cottages among Shrubs and wild Cedars starv'd from all things else but Air and Earth as if they who were descended from a high Parentage were to be confind in a high and lofty Exile In Gojam as (y) In Mulurgia sua Univers T. 3. l. 9. c. 6. where instead of Iches Fays read Petrus Pays Kercher tells us from the Relation of Peter Pays there is a certain Rock so curiously hollow'd by Nature that afar off it resembles a Looking-Glass and over against it another on the top of which there is nothing that can be so softly whisper'd but may be heard a great way off and the reverberation of the sound is like the encouraging Ho up of Mariners Between these Mountains are immense Gulphs and dreadful Profundities which because the Sight cannot fathom Fancy takes them for Abysses whose bottoms Tellezius will have to be the Center of the Earth Nor did Gregory describe them otherwise than as places most dreadful and formidable to the Eye Levels are very rare the largest Plain is that in Dembea near the Lake Tzanicus about twenty Portugal Leagues in length and four or five broad A Region so Mountainous and so like to Switzerland may be look'd upon justly by all people as a most rude and unhusbanded Country but they that consider the benefits which the Habessines receive thereby will from the same reasons be drawn to an admiring Contemplation of Divine Providence For that stupendious height of their Mountains contemns the scorching heat which renders their Country the more inhabitable in those high places where the people breath a more serene Air. In the next place Heaven has thereby provided for their security so many inaccessible Mountains being like so many Castles which afford them not only Habitation but a safe defence against their Enemies For had it not been for those Fortresses of Nature they had been ruin'd long e're this by the Adelenses and the Gallans Moreover thorough all those Mountains you shall find most pleasant Springs of Water which are wanting in the Levels of the torrid Zone The reason of which we shall give you in another place CHAP. VII Of Metals and Minerals Abassia abounds in Metals and Minerals especially Gold which is found in the Sand of the Rivers and in Damota and Enarrea upon the Superficies of the Earth Silver they have not and yet not without Lead They neither know nor care to know what belongs to Metals Salt plentifully digg'd out of the Earth Gems they want They more esteem black Lead with which they colour their Eye-brows THat so many and so vast Mountains afford plenty of Metals and Minerals the Fathers of the Society attest And certainly 't is a thing easily credible that that part of the Earth lying under the fiercest and most maturing heat of the Sun cannot be without Metals and more especially Gold which is found in the shallows of Rivers polish'd and pure in great quantities about the bigness of a Tare or Vetch Whence it is conjectur'd that the Gold is brought to perfection in the neighbouring Mountains and carry'd away together with the Sand by the forces of the Stream Pliny affirms that sort of Gold to be the finest and most perfect Damota but more especially Enarrea enjoy this advantage it being the chiefest Tribute which they pay They are destitute of Silver whether it be that Nature denies them that benefit or that they know not how to dig it out and refine it For they have Lead which is said to be the Mother of Silver But they are altogether ignorant of the Minery Trade For the digging of Wells boaring of Mountains supporting of Mines with massy Timber hewing of Stones or forcing Rocks with Gunpowder or Fire to live in the dark sometimes hours sometimes days together and to be half strangled with Smoke and Damps to (z) Thus Pliny discourses concerning Minerals search the Vains of the Earth and examin the Secrets of Rocks are things altogether unsuitable to the Genius of the Habessines Rather they count it a piece of folly to pine after Minerals and heap up Riches to encourage the Turk to make War upon them They think themselves far more safe in Iron as being that with which Gold may be won And for Iron they have no occasion to delve for it in regard they find it in great plenty upon the Superficies of the Earth as P. Antonio Fernandez testifies Moreover in the Confines of Tigra and Angora from a place call'd the Land of Salt there (a) Concerning such kind of Salt see Pliny l. 31. c. 7. are natural Mountains of Salt from whence they supply themselves with inexhaustible quantities cutting it out of the sides of the Mountains in great pieces of a white and solid Substance In the Mountain it is soft and sliver'd off with little labour but in the Air it hardens From thence it is fetch'd by great numbers of Merchants who conveigh it away in Caravans which are call'd Cafila and vended through all the neighbouring Nations and Countries where it is a scarce Commodity Alphonsus Mendez the Patriarch writes That there is in another place a Mountain of Red Salt very useful in Physic So propitiously has Heaven compensated their want of Money with plenty of Salt which by virtue whereof as with ready Coyn in other places they purchase other necessaries Thus they abound in Salt which the Life of Man cannot want but they are destitute of other things that less conduce to the happiness of Human Being Nor do they desire those things of whose dazling Beauties and glittering Colours they are ignorant I mean Gems and Jewels rarely yet seen in Ethiopia whatever that same Trifler Valentinian Romances The Royal Diadem it self glitters only with counterfeit Jewels thinking it not worth their while to send their Salt or Gold to foreign and barbarous Nations to purchase true ones and admiring at our imprudence for expending our Money so idly They much more esteem those Minerals that conduce to the health and preservation of the Body chiefly among the rest Stibium or Black Lead which they in their Language call (b) A word well known in all the Eastern Languages from the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies Stibium from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fucavit or besmear'd with Fucus and whence the Greek word Collyrium as it were Cohollyrium seems deriv'd The Arabic word Elcohol still remains in the Spanish Language wherein there is a Proverb Elpolve de las ovejas Elcohol es para el Lobo The Dust which the Sheep raise is a Collyrium to quicken the Wolf's sight Cuehel or Cohol and believe it to be a great preserver of the Sight nor do they less esteem it for Ornament and to beautifie their Faces with it For being powder'd they mix it with Soot moisten'd and with a small Pencil which they call Blen besmear their Eye-brows
according to the frequent and ancient custom of the Orientals CHAP. VIII Of the Rivers of Habessinia more especially of Nile its Fountains and Course as also of the Lake Tzana Many Rivers there more precious than Metals The Fountains originally from Rain-water An Encomium of Nilus In Scripture it is call'd The River 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Schichor or Niger By some of the ancients Astapus and Astaboras In the Amharic Dialect call'd Abawi or the Patent of Rivers it flows not in Paradise as some of the Fathers thought Admiration caus'd the desire of knowing its Original that the Ancients plac'd in the Mountains of the Moon The Portugals discover'd the true Fountains their description from Peter Pays not different from Gregories It rises in Sicut it has five Heads It mixes with the Lake in Dembea It passes by the principal Kingdoms of Habassia encircles Gojam runs through Egypt and so into the Sea Gregories Ethiopic Description He alledges That all the Rivers of Africa fall into Nile He limits that assertion Some fall into the Sea The true causes of the overflowing of Nile Jovius blam'd A double Channel of Nile Niger the other Channel The old Relation in Herodotus explain'd Whether the King of Hebessynia can divert the Course of Nile Rivers suckt up in the Sand. Zebeus falls into the Indian Sea The Habessines unskill'd in Navigation The Tzanic Lake with its Islands BUT much more excelling and far more precious Gifts of Nature than those of Metals flow from the Mountains of Habessinia that is to say several remarkable Rivers more profitable to the Natives and the neighbouring Nations than Gold it self so much the Subject of human Avarice For the Rain-water soaking through the pores of the Earth and the clefts of the Rocks is receiv'd and as it were cistern'd up in the hidden Caverns of the Mountains where after it has pass'd through many secret conveyances of Nature at length it meets with some hollow place and breaks forth Sometimes oppress'd by its own weight it reascends and seeks for passage at the tops of the Mountains themselves which is the reason that in Countries where there is little or no Rain there are few or no Fountains but where there are frequent Rains the Rivers are large and swelling The Effect demonstrating the Cause (c) No truer opinion concerning the Original of Rivers Aristotle quotes it in his Meteorologies l. 1. s 4. c. 1. but without reason dissents Most Neoterics defend it See Isaac Vossius De Origine Nili Fluminum c. v. But Nilus owing to Habassia for its source for plenty of Water for sweetness wholsomness and fertility of the same excells all other Rivers of the World In sacred Writ by reason of its Excellency it is sometimes call'd Isa 23.3 The River absolutely and particularly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from its black Colour and by the Greeks for the same reason 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it runs with black a muddy Water Some of the Ancients tell us Plin. 5.9 7.3 that it was then by the Ethiopians call'd Astapus and that the left Channel of it about Meroe was nam'd Astabora which others have understood concerning other Rivers that flow into Nile But this we let pass as obscure and doubtful whether meant of Nilus and our Ethiopians or no for the Habessines in their vulgar Language have no other name for Nile than that of Abawi And that as some think from the word Ab which signifies a Parent as if Nilus were the Parent of all other Rivers But this derivation neither suits with Grammar neither does (d) It is in the form of an Adjective Heavenly Golden So Abawi signifies Paternal Abawi simply signifie a Parent neither if you rightly consider it is it agreeable to Sense for Nilus does not send forth from his own Bowels but receives the Tribute of all other Rivers So that he may be rather said to be their Captain and Prince than the Father of them And therefore the Egyptians out of a vain Superstition call'd him their Preserver their Sun and their God and sometimes Poetically Parent In our Ethiopic or the Language of the Books this River is call'd Gejon or Gewon by an ancient mistake from the (e) For in the time of the 70 Interpreters it was so called who render'd Shichor Jer 2.18 where the Prophet speaks positively of Nile 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gihon The same you shall find in the Book of Syras Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Geon and that from the Hebrew word Gihon because it seem'd to agree with the Description Gen. 2.13 which encompasses the Land of Ethiopia whereas it only encircles Gojam but only glides and passes by all the other Kingdoms of Ethiopia If you object That Gihon had its source in the Terrestrial Paradise 't is twenty to one but that they extol their own Country for Paradise For you must understand that many of the Fathers of the (f) Theodoret in c. 2. Gen. 9.19 Austin l. 8. de gen c. 7. Abulens in c. 2. Gen. 9.15 26.9.2 Church were of the same opinion which that they might defend they brought the River Nile under Ground and under the Sea into Egypt well knowing that no body would follow them thither leaving their Readers to find out the way Certainly the Ancients never inquir'd so curiously into the Nature or Source of any River as they did in that of Nile neither were they ever so deceiv'd for it was a thing altogether unusual for any other Rivers in the World to overflow in the most sultry Season of the year an Inundation so wholsom and profitable to Egypt So that the ignorance of the cause of it fill'd the minds of the Ancients with so much admiration that both Princes and private Persons desired nothing more than to know the Head of that River which was the Original of their Happiness in so much that there were some Emperours and Kings who sent great Armies in quest of the satisfaction of their Curiosity tho with all success (g) As Cambyses Alexander Ptol. Philadelph J. Caesar Nero c. Most of the ancient Geographers by meer conjecture plac'd the Fountains of this River beyond the Equinoctial Line in I know not what Mountains of the Moon to the end they might deduce the cause of its swelling from the Winter Rains of those Regions For they could not persuade themselves that the Sun being in the Northern Signs so much Winter or Rain could be so near to cause so great an increase of the Flood tho there were (h) So Pliny l. 17. c. 18. wherever Summer Rains are not as in India and Ethiopia some who made it out plainly enough but that Credit would not be given to them (i) Photin in Bibl. n. 249. in the Life of Pythag. Agatharchides Strabo and others See Vossius d. l. c. 20. But by the Travels of the Portugals into Habessinia and the sedulity of the Fathers
view taken from the Saracenic History In those days that is in the days of Michael the Patriarch Nilus fail'd extreamly Mustansir therefore a Mahumetan Prince of Egypt sent him to the Country of the Habessines with costly Gifts and other things of high value Whereupon the King of the Country came forth to meet him whom the Patriarch reverenc'd publicly After that the King demanded of him the cause of his coming Then the Patriarch made known to the King how that the Waters of Nile fail'd in Egypt to the unspeakable detriment of the Land and Inhabitants Thereupon in favour of the Patriarch the King commanded the Channel to be open'd through which the Water ran into Egypt which was then stopp'd up Which being done Nilus encreas'd three yards in one night and the River was so fill'd that the Fields of Egypt were water'd and sown So that the Patriarch return'd with great Honour into Egypt I could wish to hear the opinions of those that deny this place The words are clear of themselves that the King commanded the Channel that was stopp'd to be open'd The Historian himself is accounted a credible Author bred and born in Egypt as also Secretary to the Mahometan Princes of that Country So that he could not possibly be ignorant of such an accident and besides he wrote his History above a hundred and twenty years after the thing happen'd And therefore had it been an untruth he durst not have mention'd it for fear of being contradicted which he might easily have been But it may be objected That the Historian does not mention by whom the Channel was obstructed or whether it happen'd as many times it does naturally when the course of a Stream is damm'd up by trunks of Trees Mud and Stones driven by force and heap'd together in the narrow passages of the Water But this Objection does not resolve the doubt for such remarkable stops rarely or never happen in such large or violent Rivers Or if Nature could effect so much what might not be accomplish'd by Art Athanasius Kircher a person not only generally vers'd in the Affair of Egypt but more particularly in what related to the River Nile in his Catalogue of the Patriarchs of Egypt relates That one (t) In Supplement Prod. and Lexic Capt. p. 524. c. 2. This Michael was the 68th Patriarch of the Jacobites and dy'd about the year 1110. Michael was sent into Ethiopia for the restoring of Nile to its Channel from whence the Ethiopians had directed the Course of its Waters tho it be the fault of that learned Man to write much rather than accurately nor does he always commend his Authors The Question being put to Gregory he did not remember the Story of Michael but that he had heard from persons of great Credit That not far from the Cataracts of Nile all the Land toward the East lies level and unless it were for one Mountain that stands in the way Nile would rather flow that way than into Egypt or the Northern Sea So that if that Mountain were digg'd through a thing to be done with pains and difficulty the Course of the River might be turn'd and carry'd into the Red-Sea which is well known to the Turks and many of the Portugals And for this reason have the Emperours of Ethiopia obtain'd those advantagious Conditions from the Saracens Nay it is said That once one of the Ethiopian Emperours had an intention to have done it and had commanded his Subjects to undertake the Work but that he was prevail'd upon to desist at the entreaty of the Egyptian Christians I must confess this thing has very much perplex'd my thoughts nor are the Reasons that are brought against it to be contemn'd For either to raise a Mole or Dam of Stones and then to remove it again are things requiring so much toyl and labour that the Task does no way agree with the nature of the Abessines And it seems somewhat unlikely that so vast a River so long accustom'd to a declining and headlong Course should be diverted and compell'd to change its Channel I consider'd also with my self that if the King of Habessinia had the River Nile so much in his Power he might have all Egypt easily at his Devotion and that the Turk could deny him nothing whatever he demanded Nor would he ever suffer the Christians of his own Religion and the Patriarch who is the Head of his Church to groan under such a miserable Bondage Lastly I did not a little wonder that the Jesuits did not insinuate it into the heads of the Abessines to make use of that Power which Nature had put into their hands and that they did not use Threats rather than Intreaties and Bribes to obtain those conveniencies which they enjoy by the favour of the Turkish Basha who commands the Ports of the Red-Sea But all things consider'd and rejecting the History of Elmacine we may answer Tellez from the Relation of Gregory which is That a new Channel may be carry'd on not from those parts of Abessinia which lie upon the Nile and are so many Leagues distant from the Sea but from that part which is near the Cataracts and formerly perhaps belong'd to Nubia My first Opinion was That the Channel of Nile could no where be so easily alter'd as in that place where it divides it self into two Channels for that there by the direction of Nature her self it seem'd that the whole might be more easily turn'd another way where a part turns naturally without compulsion For tho other Rivers empty themselves into Nile beyond this separation and flow into Egypt yet are they not enough to make the Inundation so great as necessity requires which would not only be the ruin of Egypt but a great diminution of the Turkish Power But however it be this I believe to be certain That the King of Habessinia is now no more Lord of those places where the River Nile ever was or ever can be diverted from Nile nor are the Princes of those places now at his Devotion neither are they indeed Christians but unhappily revolted to Paganism So that whatever formerly might have been done cannot now be brought to pass not that the nature of the place obstructs the design but that the Prince of the Country wants Power or else has no inclination to the Project Otherwise I should not think it either absurd or improbable that some Rivers that make their way through the high Fields of Habessinia might be convey'd another way by the descents of the Hill through the sandy Levels that lye below to a vast diminution of the Egyptian Stream provided that skilful Artists were employ'd to survey the declivities of the places and the places most proper to carry off the Water For though it be a difficult thing to alter the Course and Limits of Rivers which Nature has settl'd yet Examples are not wanting We read in Herodotus L. 1. call'd Clio. That Nitocres King of the Babylonians
Empty The People of the Country aver that they are not their Teeth but their Horns of which the Ivory is made and indeed their substance and situation demonstrate the same thing for they grow out of the Head and not out of the Jaws and besides that they only adorn the brows of the Males the Females like our Does have none at all The Elephant never offers to attempt upon any person unless provok'd if he be threatn'd with sticks or cudgels he hides his Probosces under his Belly and goes away braying for he is sensible it may be easily chop'd off the extream parts of it being very nervous and tender which cause him to be afraid of hard blows At the end of it three little sharp pointed Langets come forth by the help of which he can take up the smallest thing that is as men do with their fingers They never take care to tame them here where there is no use of them either in Peace or War among so many high Mountains The next is the Camelo-pardalis or Panther-Camel which is and bulkie as the Elephant but far exceeds him in tallness For this Beast is so very high that a man of a just Statue reaches but up to his knees so that it seems very credible what is reported That a Man on horseback sitting upright on his saddle may ride under his Belly He derives his Name from hence that he has a long Head and a long Neck like a Camel but a Skin spotted all over like a Panther The Romans when they first beheld this Beast called it a Wild-Sheep tho being more remarkable for its Aspect then its Wildness or Fierceness as we read in Pliny By the Abissines by reason of the smallness of his Tayl he is call'd Jeratakaein that is slender Tayl by the Italians Giraffa from the Arabian word Zucaffa But there is a Beast which is called Zecora which for beauty exceeds all the Four-footed Creatures in the World They of Congo give it the Name of Zebra This Creature is about the bigness of a Mule and is brought out of the Woods of Habessinia and the Countries possessed by the Galans and easily tam'd A present of great esteem and frequently given to the Kings of Habessinia Tellez briefly describes him thus A Circle of a black Colour encompasses his Loyns like a girdle adjoyning to which Nature has pencill'd out several others some broader some narrower some black and some of a bright shining Ash-Colour with so much Elegancy and Order as no Painters Art can equalize His Eares are the only thing that disfigures him being of a disproportionable length for which reason he is called by the Portugals Burro do Matto though improperly the wild Ass But you may guess at his beauty by his price For King Susneus having given one of these Beasts to the Turkish Basha of Suaqena he sold the same for Two thousand Venetian Pieces to a certain Indian that bought him for a Present to the great Mogul Book 1. Chap. 10. Page 57 A Description of the APES 1. Scrambling about the Mountains 2. Remoueing great huge Stones to come at the wormes 3. Sitting upon Ant Hills and devouring the little Creatures 4. Throwing sand or dust in the eyes of wild beast that came to sett upon them Tygers and Panthers are much more Cruel and Fierce than Lyons for they never spare Mankind yet they covet the Ethiopians before White-men as more accustomed to that sort of Dyet These two Beasts differ only in (e) Panthers and Tygers are the only Beasts remarkable for the variety of their Spots saith Pliny L. 8. c. 17. In which place the Panther is taken for the Leopard but when the Panther is oppos'd to the Leopard then it is to be taken for the Tygre For the Antients have not accurately enough distinguished these Beasts as being very much like to one another and very rarely or never seen together They knew there were two sorts of Beasts but to which to give the true name they either knew not or very much doubted Colour for the Panthers are brown spotted with black the Tigers gold-Coloured with fine black Spots like Five leav'd Grass they are Beasts of a dreadful celerity and boldness by Night they break into Villages and make doleful Massacres among the poor innocent Cattle yet Alvarez affirms That these Burcheries never happen in Midra-Bahrà As for their Wolves they are small and lazie such as Africa and Aegypt bred in former times as Pliny testifies L. 8. c. 22. But the Hyaena or the Crocuta neer akin to the Wolfe is the most Voracious of all the wild Beasts (f) Begot between a Hyena and a Lioness familiar to Ethiopia See Solinus c. 65. and Salmatius upon him for she not only by Night and by stealth but openly and in the day time Preys upon all she meets with Men or Cattle and rather than fail diggs down the walls of Houses and Stables Gregory describ'd her to be speckl'd with black and white spots Of Apes there are infinite Flocks up and down in the Mountains themselves a thousand and more together there they leave no stone unturn'd If they meet with one that two or three cannot lift they call for more Ayd and all for the sake of the Worms that lye under a sort of Dyet which they relish exceedingly They are very greedy after Emmets So that having found an Emmet-hill they presently surround it and laying their fore Paws with the hollow downward upon the Ant-heap as fast as the Emmets creep into their treacherous Palmes they lick 'em off with great comfort to their Stomachs and there they will lie till there is not an Emmet left They are also pernicious to fruit and Apples and will destroy whole Fields and Gardens unless they be carefully look'd after For they are very cunning and will never venture in till the return of their Spies which they send always before who giving Information that all things are safe in they rush with their whole Body and make a quick dispatch Therefore they go very quiet and silent to their Prey and if their young ones chance to make a noise they chastise them with their fists but if they find the Coast clear then every one hath a different noise to express his joy Nor could there be any way to hinder them from further Multiplying but that they fall sometimes into the ruder hands of the wild Beasts which they have no way to avoid but by a timely flight or creeping into the clefts of the Rocks If they find no safety in flight they make a vertue of necessity stand their ground and filling their Paws full of Dust or Sand fling it full in the Eyes of their Assailant and then to their Heels again But there is another sort of Creature very harmless and exceeding sportive call'd in the Ethiopic Language Fonkes in the Amharc Dialect Guereza which is a kind of Marmoset and in Latine Cercopitheculus Of which the
Creatures So that Africa though it breed most pernicious Animals yet it affords most excellent Remedies against those Mischiefs And indeed some of those Birds seem to be granted to Man for the Extirpating the Enemies of their well being which because they cannot vanquish themselves they betray to them that they think more able For there is a little Bird by those of Tygra call'd from the Noise which it makes Pipi which strange to tell will lead the Hunters to the Places where the Wild Beasts lye hid never leaving their Note of Pipi till the Hunters follow them and kill the discover'd Prey Gregory related to me That as he was walking with one of his acquaintance an Inhabitant of Tygra this Bird cry'd Pipi over their heads thereupon understanding the meaning of it from his Friend he resolv'd to try the Truth of the Story The Bird conducted them to a shady Tree about the boughs of which a Monstrous huge Snake had Curl'd her self at the sight whereof he and his friend made more hast back again than they did coming to satisfie their Curiosity And indeed it is not safe to follow this Bird unless a man be provided with all his Hunting Instruments nevertheless the Bird has her own ends in her double diligence too for she is sure to have her share of the Slaughtered Carcase whate're it be Nor is this Bird to be found only in Habessinia but also in Guiny in the Kingdom of Quoja where they give it the Name of Fonton being about the bigness of a Larke where it is reported to betray not only wild Beasts but also Serpents and Bees They have no tame Geese and therefore Gregory observing a Flock of Geese once driven along by their Keeper pleasantly demanded of me Whether those Birds were obedient to their Keeper to whom when I reply'd yes he asked me a second Whether if they flew the Keeper flew too and Whether before or behind but when I told him what profitable Birds they were he extoll'd them for blessed Feather-bearing birds especially when he had layn upon their soft Down at the Castle of Gota for he had never layn upon a Feather-bed before he came into Germany So that he thought that the German beds swelling with light Down had been blown up with the Wind. But he Admir'd that the Germans were Arriv'd at that height of delicacy that Men should stoop to so much Effeminacy as to lay themselves where it was only fit for Children and Women in Child-bed to lye For he did not believe they would easily take the Field unless their soft beds followed them As for other European birds they have most of them and for their Water Fowl I have nothing to relate worth Remark By the way I have this further to add That there are neither Eagles nor Cuckows in all these Parts and therefore they tell Stories and Fables of their bigness and strength such as the Arabs recount of their (y) Of which Bochartus in Hieroz L. 6. c. 14. Ruch which as they say lays an Egg as bigg as a Mountain Not to mention the winged (z) P. Bolivar the Jesuite says that he saw one of the smaller Feathers of that Bird twenty Spans long and three broad and the Quill it self being three Spans long and as thick as an ordinary Mans Arme He is cited by the Most Noble Theuenot in his Remarks upon the relations of Ethiopia Horses of Monomotopa and of other Monsters half-birds half-beasts by the Ancients and Moderns either believ'd or heard to have been in Africa CHAP. XIII Of Serpents and Insects Dragons only mischievous by biting the biggest in India their Scales and Colour The Boa Salamander Snakes and water-Snakes most Venomous Gregories description Cure from Human Excrement which perhaps the Panther taught they are kill'd with a stick bent like a Bow Torrid places impassable by reason of Serpents The Oxen put to trample upon and break their Eggs. Locusts most pernicious but good to eat The Food of St. John Baptist Bees some unknown to us they have no Sting Emmets of several kinds FRom hence we pass to another sort of Creatures mischievous to Men and Beasts of which there are divers kinds In the first place Dragons of the largest size are in Habessinia to be found mischievous only in their voracity but not at all Venomous Nature providing that they should not be doubly hurtful to men However they grow to such a bigness that Gregory allow'd there were some in India so large as to swallow whole Insants Piggs Lambs and Kidds he further said that they were cover'd with Scales which in Colour very much resembl'd the bark of an old Tree and hard to be distinguish'd from the bigger boughs Of the Boa that devour'd Oxen he had never heard neither did he believe that ever any other person would Of the Salamander Gregory could tell me nothing which of all Venomous Creatures as Plinie reports is accounted the most Exquisitely Mischievous In Java the Greater it is called (b) See the Itinerarie of Volcard Iversen L. 1. c. 7. It is somewhat like an Est or Newt Consult Bochart Likewise Hieroz P. 1. l. 4. c. 4. Jeko as some think from the sound that it makes or as others believe from the most pernicious Effects of its Poyson However there are in Habessinia other Serpents whose Venome is of a most searching Nature Such are those sort of Snakes called Hydri inferiour to none for their Poyson they breed in Ponds and Marshy Puddles which are dry'd up in the Summer and then the Serpents appearing in the same places are by the Greeks call'd (c) As much as to say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aetius L. 13. c. 35. or Water-Snake upon the Land Chersydri at which time they are also far more Mischievous as being exasperated by Thirst and Heat and of these unless I deceive my self is the Description of Gregory to be understood There is said he a Serpent among us about as long and as bigg as a Mans Arm of a dark red or brownish Colour which lurks under Bushes and Weeds thither if any Person or Beast happen to come the Serpent breaths forth a Poysonous Breath (d) This circumstance induced me to believe that Gregory meant the Serpents call'd Hydrus and Chersydrus or Land-water-Snake by reason that Authors allow them a venemous noysom breath Virg. L. 3. Georg. Aelian Hist L. 8. c. 13. so Pestilent and of so noisom a smell that in a short time proves Mortal unless speedy Antidotes be applyed Which Nature has afforded ready at hand where the mischief requires so speedy a prevention For as he said it was to be cur'd by drinking Human Excrement in Water Which Remedy perhaps the Panther taught which Beast if at any time he hath devoured Flesh laid for him by the Hunters rub'd over with Henbane cures himself by eating Human ordures for many things which are beneficial to Beasts are in like manner advantageous to
the King himself Tellez reports That it was stufft with places of Scripture but nothing to the purpose The King more incens'd by this Writing renew'd the Edict about the Sabbath and commanded the Husbandmen to Plough and Sow upon that Day adding as a Penalty upon the Offenders for the first Fault the Forfeiture of a weav'd Vestment to the value of a Portugal Patack for the second Confiscation of Goods and that the said Offence should not be prescribed to Seven years a certain form usually inserted in their more severe Decrees Certainly it must of necessity be true what Tellez reports of the Natural Piety of the Habessines since they were thus to be compell'd to the Neglect of the Sabbath by such Severe Laws when we can hardly be induc'd by stricter Penalties to observe the Lord's-Day Among the rest one Bucus a stout and famous Soldier felt the utmost rigour of this Decree for being accus'd to have observ'd the Sabbath he was made a most severe Example that others of less consequence might not think to expect any Mercy From thence Jonael Viceroy of Bagemdra took an occasion to Revolt alluring all to his Party who were displeased with the Edicts Upon which News many of the chiefest of the Court both Men and Women of which several were near allyed to the King with Tears in their Eyes besought him once more not to expose himself and the Kingdom to Calamity but to take Pity upon so many poor afflicted People offending out of meer Simplicity and Ignorance and not to disturb the Minds of his People with such unseasonable Changes The King far from being mov'd with their Tears but rather the more displeas'd to see so many all of one Mind that at once he might answer all confirm the wavering and terrifie the Headstrong having summon'd together the Chief Nobles and Commanders of his Army that attended the Court in a short but grave Oration put them in mind of past Transactions upbraiding them among the rest For that they had depriv'd Zadenghel both of his Life and Kingdom because he had forsaken the Alexandrian Religion to embrace the Roman Faith That for his part after his Victory obtain'd against Jacob he had bin severe to none but rather had pardon'd all nevertheless he was disturb'd with daily Seditions and Rebellions under pretence of changing his Religion when he only reform'd it For that he acknowledg'd as much and the same that others did That Christ was true God and true Man but because he could not be Perfect God unless he had the Perfect Divine Nature nor perfect Man without perfect Humane Nature it follow'd that there were two Natures in Christ united in one Substance of the Eternal Word Which was not to abandon but explain his Religion In the next place he had abrogated the Observation of the Sabbath Day because it became not Christians to observe the Jews Sabboth These things he did not believe in favour of the Portugueses but because it was the Truth it self determin'd in the Council of Chalcedon founded upon Scripture and ever since the time of the Apostles deliver'd as it were from hand to hand and if there were occasion he would lay down his life in defence of this Doctrine but they who deny'd it should first examine the Truth of it Having finished his Oration a Letter was brought him from Jonael containing many haughty Demands and among the rest the Expulsion of the Jesuits The King believing there would be no better way than to answer him in the Field Commanded the nimblest of his Armed Bands to March of which the Rebel having Intelligence and not willing to abide his Fury fled for shelter among those inaccessible Rocks whither it was in vain to pursue him Thereupon Susneus well-knowing that the Revolters would not be able long to endure the Inconveniencies and Famine that lodg'd among those inaccessible places blockt him up at a Distance So that Jonael at length weaken'd by daily desertions fled to the Gallans who being at variance among themselves kept their promis'd Faith but a short time for being underhand tempted with Rewards by the King they at length turn'd their Protection into Treachery and slew the Unfortunate Implorer of their Security This Bad Success however did not terrifie the Inhabitants of Damota inhabiting the Southern parts of Gojam who upon the News of the Prophanation of the Sabbath as they called it with their Hermites that sculk'd in the Deserts of that Province ran to their Arms. Ras-Seelax otherwise their Lord and Patron in vain Exhorting them to continue their Obedience whose kind Messages of Peace and Pardon they refus'd unless he would burn the Books Translated out of Latin into the Habessine Language by the Fathers and deliver up the Fathers themselves to be Hang'd upon the highest Trees they could find Thus despairing of Peace Ras-Seelax set forward tho deserted by the greatest part of his Forces who favoured the Cause of their Countrymen so that he had hardly Seven Thousand Men that stook close to him while the Enemies Body daily encreas'd However he resolv'd to Fight them knowing his Soldiers to be more Experienc'd and better Arm'd besides that he had about Forty Portuguese Musquetiers in his Camp When they came to blows the Victory fell to the King's Party tho it cost dear in regard that about Four hundred Monks that had as it were devoted themselves to die for their Religion fought most desperately of which a Hundred and fourscore were Slain Hitherto the King had not made Publick Profession of the Roman Religion partly out of fear of stirring up Popular Tumults against him partly being loath to dismiss his Supernumerary Wives and Concubines but at length encourag'd by so many Victories he lay'd all fear aside and publickly renounc'd the Alexandrian Worship and confessing his Sins after the Roman manner to Peter Pays dismiss'd all his Wives and Concubines only the first of those to which he had bin lawfully Marry'd His Example convinc'd many others who were not asham'd to keep many Mistresses but Adultresses also Not long after the King signify'd his Conversion to the Roman Religion to his whole Empire by a Publick Instrument not without the Severe reproof of the Alexandrian Patriarch The sum of his Manifesto was That having deserted the Alexandrinian he now reverenced only the Roman See and had yielded his Obedience to the Roman Pope as the Successor of Peter the Prince of the Apostles for that that See could never err either in Faith or good Manners and then he exhorted his Subjects to do as he had done He also discoursed at large concerning the two Natures in Christ and tax'd the Ethiopian Primates as guilty of many Errors But neither the King's Example nor his Exhortation wrought upon many For at the same time his Son Gabriel began to study new Contrivances tho with no better Success than they who had taught him the way For when he had intelligence that Ras-Seelax was marching