the chiefest profit and that which draws men to those desolate and comfortless places is the Whale-fishing Of Whales there are several sorts some unprofitable to the Fishers Whales as the Jubarta of a black colour sixty foot long with a fin upon his back his fins are nothing worth his back yeilds some not much Oyl his belly none at all Sedeva is of a white colour bigger then the rest his fins not above a foot long scarce any Oyl Sedeva Negra is of a black colour with a great tumor upon his back yields neither Oyl Fins nor Teeth Sewria white as Snow of the bigness of a Wherry yeilds little Oyl no fins but is good to eat Those which are more sought after and profitable are the Bearded or Grand-Bay because first killed in Grand-bay in Newfoundland black with a smooth skin and a thin shining membrane over it white under the chaps this is the best for Oyl and Fins yielding an hundred Hogsheads of Oyl and five hundred Fins he is commonly about eighty foot long Sarda is like the other but lesser so yeilds lesser Oyl and Fins hath growing things like Barnacles upon his back Trumpa as long but thicker then the former of a grey colour with one spout in his head the others have two and teeth about a span long but no Fins in his mouth In his head he hath a hole like a Well wherein lies that they call Spermaceti they also sometimes find Amber-grise in his guts like Cow-dung his Oyl coagulates and will be solid and white as Tallow he will yeild forty Hogsheads of Oyl Otta-Sotta gray having white fins in his mouth not above a yard long he yeilds the best Oil but not above thirty Hogsheads These Fins are that we call the Whale-bone and groweth in the upper jaw on either side of his mouth about three hundred of a side but the short ones are not regarded The Ancients thought that he lived upon the froth of the Sea which he raised and as it were churned by violent beating upon the water with these Fins and afterwards sucked it up and that because many times they found his stomach quite empty Others say that he feeds upon such plants and weeds as he finds in the Sea for they have found great quantity of such in his stomack but it is most likely that his chiefest meat are a certain sort of small Crabs some call them Sea-Beetles and Sea-Spiders whereof the Bays of that Sea are so cover'd that they seem black with them of which sometimes his Fins hang full which afterwards he sucks in These he pursues continually for they have both found the Crabs themselves and also sometimes great quantities in some a Bushel of those little Stones called Oculi-Cancrorum in his stomach That they devour not great Fishes it is manifest because their throat is so very strait not above half a foot wide The Female hath her natural part seven or eight foot wide the young one being bigger than an Hogshead when first brought forth and the Male's is equal to a little Pillar seven or eight foot long she brings forth her Foetus alive and nourisheth it with Milk which is white and sweet but tasting somewhat fishy her Teats two in number are as it were sheath'd in her breasts that they appear not till the young one comes to suck Their skins the ancients used instead of Ropes as also for covering their Houses and defence against the cold under the skin is that they call the Blubber or Adeps out of which being cut into thin slices and put into hot Coppers the Oyl is melted the flesh is thrown away the ribs are employ'd to make the houses of the Laps Fins Samoieds and the like the other bones they burn The Tail serves for a chopping block whereupon to cut their blubber For the manner of catching and ordering the Whale Whale-fishing it is this When they have discovered him which is by his spouting water which they can discern at a great distance though where they see plenty of those small Crabs they have good hopes of finding the Whales seldom fewer then two Shallops well man'd make towards him and row to him so near that the Harponer hath opportunity to lance out his Harping-iron which he doth with all his force but strikes not at adventure for some parts of him his head particularly are not vulnerable but either upon a soft piece of flesh which he hath near his spout or under a Fin. The Beast as soon as wounded hasts down to the bottom of the Sea they still giving him more Rope whereof one end is fastened to the Harping-iron then they diligently watch his rising again when with their lances they wound him in the belly and such places as are softest and deep as they can taking heed always that he strike not them or their boat with his tail When they see him spout up blood they know he draws towards his death and that shortly after he turns up his white belly which as soon as they spy they hale him close to the Ship and with great Knives slice his sides raising the blubber from the flesh which they do by fixing in it strong Iron Hooks made fast to a Ship rope which by a pully they lift up still as they cut and loosen the blubber many of these great flakes they put upon a rope and so drag them to the Shore where they are heaved up by a Crane and laid upon the Tail of the Fish chopt into small pieces afterwards sliced thin like Trenchers so put into the Cauldrons or Coppers which becoming brown with the fire are called Frittures are taken out and cast away as having yeilded their Oyl The Liquor then is laded out into a Boat half full of water both to cool and cleanse it by suffering all the filth to sink to the bottom and thence by long Troughs that it may be more cooled conveyed into the Hogsheads or other like vessels The Whale-bone The head which is at least one third of the whole Fish is cut off and tug'd as near the Shore as they can bring it then hoised up by a crane and the Fins Bronchiae Pinnae or whatever you please to call them their substance is like horn but we call them Whale-bone are cut out dressed and bound up by fifties and the rest of the head which yeilds Oyl cut as the rest of the body The tongue particularly which being very great of the figure of a Wool-sack is also fastened at both ends and lifted up only in the midst with which he spouteth up the water and about eight tuns weight veildeth from six to eleven Hogsheads One Housson a Diep-man in 1634 got twenty six Hogsheads Cados out of one tongue and a hundred and twenty out of the body of one Whale The Whale hath many enemies The Whales enemies 1. A kind of lowse or insect that eats through his skin to devour the fat he hath on
all the Beasts of Lapland the Bear is chief Beasts stil'd by the Inhabitants the King of the woods next to the Bear the Elk is remarkable call'd by the Swedes Aelg or Aelgar and by the Germans Ellend It differs much from the Rain-deer both in height being as high as any horse and in the make of it horns they being shorter then those of the Rain-deer above two handfuls in breadth upon the Palm shooting out not many lesser branches see a discription of this Creature among the beasts of Poland There is no great breed of them in Lapland but they have them from other places especially Lithvania and Russia whence twice a year they swim in great herds over the river Niva in the spring to go into Carelia and those parts and in Autumn to return into Russia Here are likewise besides these and the Rain-deer great plenty of Stags Wolves Gluttons Beavers and more sorts of Furs As for the Stags there are but few and little such as are call'd Damicervi or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which since they have nothing peculiar from those of other Nations let it suffice that they are named Wolves are here in great number distinguished from those of other Countries only by their colour which is commonly white a great enemy to the Rain-deer but are observ'd never to assault them if bound to a stake the Wolf being a jealous Creature and suspects every rope he sees to be a snare to catch him The next are the Gluttons so named from their rapaciousness an amphilbious Creature with a round head strong and sharp teeth like a Wolf a plump body and feet shorter then the Otters their skin is of a very dark colour some of them resemble Sables only they have a softer and finer hair Beavers also are very numerous here and generally by reason of the quietness of the waters which are never or seldomer troubled with Ships and Boats then the Rhine and Danow are all creatures that live in Rivers and feed upon Fish abound in this Country Beasts also that live wholly upon Land are in great number and variety as Foxes of several sorts and colours as the black brown ash-colour'd white and those that are mark'd with a cross all along the back and down the shoulders call'd Crucigerae Martrons or Martins a little beast not unlike a Ferret feeding upon Mice Birds and such like Ermins which are white Weesels with black tails feeding also upon Mice and the like little Animals Sables a kind of Martron the white are very rare and of extraordinary price of the rest the black are the better with some others whose skins are highly priz'd and reckon'd the chief commodity of Lapland There are also on the mountains of Lapland vast numbers of Mice which because they appear commonly after rain have I suppose given occasion to some Authors to think them generated in the Clouds and so rain'd down of these Mice are reported several incredible things as their waging war and drawing themseves in bodies like armies their oeconomy also and such like stories they are meat for their Foxes Rain-deer and their Dogs which eat only the fore part of them Cattel common to other Nations as Horses Oxen Sheep c. are not to be met with in Lapland the beasts proper to this and the Northern Countries are the Rain-deer an ancient name call'd by King Aelfred in his Saxon Periplus Hynas and the Latine name Rangifer seems to be derived from it they differ much from the Tarandus of Pliny and also from our common Stags they have three horns two branching out backward like our Stags horns sometimes five cubits in length and adorn'd with five and twenty branches the third spouting down their forehead by which they defend themselves against wild beasts The Doe has but two horns somewhat shorter one whereof is fix'd in her forehead Their feet are thick like Bulls feet of an ash-colour except under their belly and haunches which is white resembling more an Ass then a Stag. This beast when it walks or runs makes a noise with its joints like the clashing of Flints which is peculiar to these creatures Though their hoofs be cleft they do not chew the cud they are naturally wild but not difficultly tamed and made serviceable to men The males they imploy in drawing their Sleds and the Does they keep for their milk of which they make Cheese but not any Butter for they have none in the whole Country but make use of a kind of Tallow instead of it The Inhabitants both in figure and manners are not unlike the Samoieds of Muscovy The â—â—tureâ—â— inhabitants and the Description there given of that people may in several respects be said to agree to them They are generally short of stature and for the most part very lean and perhaps both by reason of the extream coldness of the Country They are observ'd to be very light of body which some perhaps not without reason attribute to their not eating any salt They have great heads prominent foreheads hollow and blear eyes short flat noses and wide mouths their hair is generally flaggy their breast broad slender wastes and though their legs be small yet are they nimble strong and swift of foot their usual exercises being running races and climbing high Rocks and Trees Though they are thus nimble and strong yet they never go upright but stooping which habit they get by frequent sitting in their Cottages on the ground or by bending their bodies as they slide along the snow in their scaits By reason of their living in woods among wild beasts and want of correspondence as well among themselves as with other Nations they are very superstitious fearful and mean spirited and above all things dreading war so that the Swedes seldom or never imploy any of them in their armies though it be falsly reported that Gustavus Adolphus made use of both them and their magick in his expeditions upon Germany but of late they begin to be more couragious and considerable and we are inform'd that this present King Charles the XIth in his wars with the King of Denmark had some Regiments of Lapps in his Army who for the good service they did him has given them better Lodgings then they had before and caus'd them to change quarters with some of the Inhabitants of Schonen who by reason of their treacherousness were not so deserving as they If they chance to be removed out of their own into a more Southern Country they frequently fall into deseases and dye being less able to endure a milder air and to feed upon Salt Bread and boil'd meat then other Nations are to live upon their raw Flesh and dryed Fish Formerly they were accounted plain-dealers and in bartering very honest but having been deceiv'd by strangers they took up cheating and cousening as well as others and are so far from being behind hand with them in it that they are notorious and infamous for deceiving
present Royal family but if this be extinct the Vlans have a right to return again to that honour The most promising of the Tartar youth attend upon the Chams person Most of the Courtiers and great persons are very rich with the booties got chiefly from the Christians are splendidly clothed keep good houses and live as well as the noblest Turks They wear no sort of arms in the Court They live in houses also and upon their lands which they husband by their slaves and their herds in the country which are govern'd by other Tartars their reteiners The Tartars rarely merchandise or exercise any manual art rather chusing to live miserably and poorly then not idly The revenues of the Cham are 1. The Donatives and Presents sent him yearly from all the neighbour-Princes by their own Ambassadors 2. Tribute of Christians Jews Tartars and in sum all except the Turks under his dominion 3. The Turk pays every day to the Cham twenty-five dollars to the Galga twelve and a half to the Sultan-hostage two and a half besides lands All the great persons also have salaries but uncertain 4. He hath the tenth of all the slaves taken and for every one besides of better quality three crowns and for others each one dollar 5. Every well pays him an horse 6. The richer and better sort of Tartars furnish him with provision and in case of necessity all the Nation contribute 7. He hath vast herds and flocks kept by his factors 8. He coins copper-money which is only current in his dominions and once in four or five years he calls it all in and coins a new sort The forces of the Chan are esteemed in all such as they be to amount to three hundred thousand horse foot he hath none but what he borrows from the Turk as he doth commonly a few Janizaries for the guard of his person when he goes to war The ordinary Tartars live miserably It is by most authors reported that it is some days after their birth that they first open their eyes Their mothers or nurses wash them every day in salt-water to harden and thicken their skins against cold which some in Poland use also and 't is no more then necessary for from seven years old that they leave their Cantares their walking habitations they never sleep in an house but in the open air tho frost and snow nor eat they any thing but what they shoot down with their arrows and at twelve or fifteen years old they go to wars with their fathers Their clothing at best is a short shirt with a pair of course drawers and a sheeps-skin with the wool upon it over their shoulders garments very insufficient against cold Their walking Cabans or houses are made of reeds osiers or the like woven like baskets twelve or fifteen foot wide cover'd either with a course hairy felt or cloth incommodious enough in every respect Their ordinary diet is flesh almost raw tho dead of sickness or putrified without bread or salt and sauc'd with the sweat and fome of their horses only garlick they eat in abundance which they think helps to digest their undress'd meat A life certainly not desirable nor to be embraced by any but such as know no better Which is the reason that many of them amongst the Muscovites leave their barbarism and apply themselves to the civility and religion of the Russes All of them intermarrying into their own Nation renders them all like to one another that is they are of mean stature yet square and big-limm'd thick shoulders short neck great head broad face large forehead large and black eyes which they open but half short nose which some of them break when they are children narrow mouth tann'd colour black and stiff hair Each one when he goes to the wars carries with him two or three horses at least a sword a bow and quiver with about twenty arrows a knife tinder-box an awl to mend his bridle c. a dial with a needle and a striag to bind his prisoners Their horses also which they call Baquemates are long raw-bon'd low and very ugly their mains and tails long and tufty yet incomparable for service usually marching twenty or thirty leagues without drawing bit But the Cham Myrza's and great persons among them have Turkish Persian and Arabian horses which they buy at very great rates as also good armour coats of mail excellent fire-arms c. The chiefest thing for which they are remarkable and what is least understood concerning them is their manner of warring which is not as most suppose by violence and open force but by cunning and artifice in this manner Suppose they would invade Poland if the Cham go in person he marcheth seldom fewer then eighty-thousand strong if a Mirza command seldom more than fifty thousand And they always chuse the winter when the rivers are frozen and the rather in a snow the hard slippery ways beating their horses feet which are not shod except some few which have pieces of oxes hoofs sowed to them They make very short marches ten or twelve miles a day and they contrive that their return may be before the rivers be thawed which they seldom are till March. They march as much as is possible thro valleys low and unfrequented places to conceal themselves from the scouts of the Cossacks nor do they at nights make any fires they continually send out scouts to catch some of the inhabitants and get notice of the enemy They march commonly an hundred i.e. three hundred horses each man having three horses in front which takes up near a thousand paces and in file when most close they reach three large leagues but when they march loosely ten leagues an army of eighty thousand having above two hundred thousand horses They make an halt every hour at a whistle and alight that themselves and horses may urine They divide their army into three tierces two whereof march in a body the other third is again divided into two which make the two wings The body marcheth slowly but without giving any more rest then an hour at a time till they arrive at the utmost whither they design to go nor do they much harm till they come thither But when they return which is by another way the wings divide themselves into small troops and ravage every way ten or twelve leagues and then pillage burn and kill all that resist those that yeild they bind and carry away prisoners all their cattel also they carry away only the hogs they gather into an house and set fire into the four corners and so burn them as unclean creatures As soon as these wings have ravaged so far they return to the body which is easily found by their track and as many more are sent out in like manner and after their return as many more So that they all plunder and the body never diminisheth nor ever marcheth more then a foot-pace in very good order to be
about three English miles containing not above six thousand inhabitants and encompassed with a silly trench of twenty-five foot broad The Roman Communion hath four Churches the Greek ten which they call Cerkuils and a kind of University called Bracha Cerkuils It hath a reasonable trading for corn furs wax honey tallow and salt-fish They have four jurisdictions that of the Bishop of the Palatine or Starost of the Wovit and of the Consuls of the City Half a league below Kiow 〈…〉 is a large Village called Piecharre where is a noble Monastery the habitation of the Metropolitan or Patriarch And under the mountain close by it are divers grots dug like mines wherein are conserved many bodies buried very many years ago amongst others there are saith Beauplan three heads in dishes which every day distill an oyl soveraign for several diseases the bodies are neither so black nor hard as Mummies the place is a sandy-stone but very dry it seems to be of the same nature of that called Roma subterranea Below Piecharre is Stayky Stayky an ancient Town on the top of a mountain as all those ancient Towns are even in Italy built so for strength and security There is also a Ferry to pass men over the river After that is Richow where is an easie passage over the river Lower is Tretemirof a Monastery amongst inaccessible rocks Here the Cosacks conserved the choicest of their wealth A league below that is Pereaslaw a strong Town of six thousand families Here the Cosacks have a Regiment as they have another and a Ferry at Kaniow a little lower but on the east bank of the Nieper On the same side is Cirkacse the center of all their retreats burnt by the Polanders ann 1637. On the same side is Krilow and below that Kremierczow the lowest Town upon the river all below it being desart A league from thence the river Pseczoll and a little lower on Russia side Omelnik fall into the Nieper as also on the Poland bank Worsko and Orel two rivers very full of fish Here are divers dwarf-Cherry and Almond-trees which one of our country-men I doubt mistakeingly hath placed far on the north of Volga Continuing down the river are many Isles most of them uninhabited because overflowed in the spring but much frequented by fishers Divers rivers also encrease the Niester at Romanow but chiefly Samar which supplies not only much fish but other commodities as honey wax venison and especially timber The Cosacks call it the holy river and in the spring here are said to be caught sturgeons and herrings A little below that the Polonians built a fort in the year 1635 at Kudac which is the first of the Porohi Poroui or Porohi called anciently Catadupae Porouhi in the Russ-language signifies a rock of stone and of these there are thirteen chains or as it were causeys that cross the Boristhenes and render the navigation from the Vkrain to the Black Sea impossible so that tho the Vkrain be a very fruitful country in corn and all other commodity yet the inhabitants not being able to vend them suffer much of it to lye unhusbanded or at least not so well as it might be Of these rocks some are under some above water ten foot as big as houses and very near to one another so that stopping the course of the river they make very great falls some to fifteen foot when the water is low for in the spring when the river is swelled with the melted snow they are all except the seventh called Nienashtes which only there hindreth navigation covered with water Betwixt Budelou and Tawolzany which are the tenth and eleventh the Tartars do often swim the river the banks being shallow A little below the lowest Porouhi is an Island they call Kaczawanicze or boil-millet because here they make good cheer when they have passed the Porouhi Below that is a river a Promontory and the best passage for the Tartars the river not being above an hundred and fifty paces broad called Kuczkosow Below that is the Isle Tomahowka whither the Cosacks often resort and rendezvous But their chiefest retreat is below the river Czertomelik upon an Island where are some old ruines but which is compassed about with a vast number of small Islands some dry some overflowed in the spring some marshes but all cover'd with canes as big as pikes which hide the passages between the Islands and render it all a great labyrinth known only to the Cosacks who call it Scarbniza Woyskowa or the treasure of the army Here they lay up all their ordnance their money and whatever will not spoil by the water The Turks have lost many gallies so engaged amongst these Isles that they could neither go backward nor forward and were seized by the Cosacks Here also they make their Cholna of which more by and by From these Porouhi the Cosacks take their name of Zaporouski which are the great body in imitation whereof the Donski are lately set up None can be a Zaporouski Cosack who hath not passed in his little boat all the Porouhi's i.e. who hath not made a course or voyage upon the Black Sea no more then he can be a Knight of Malta that hath not made a Caravane We shall first shew the original and actions of the Cosacks and afterwards finish what concerns the Boristhenes and the countries adjacent The Cosacks Of the Cosacks so called saith a late author from Cosa which in the Slavonian language signifies a sythe their ordinary weapon began in the time of Sigismund I. King of Poland and were certain volontiers upon the frontiers of Russia Volhinia and Podolia that troop'd togegether partly to defend themselves from the Tartars which they did by fighting them at the passages over the Nieper as they returned with their prey partly to rob upon the Black Sea where they getting very rich booty drew more into their association At first they were about six thousand under Eustachius Daskovicius their General But their numbers quickly encreased their neighbours seeing the rich booties got by their pyracies part whereof they laid in their Skarbniza Woskowa the rest they brought home to their own houses agreeing upon a time of rendezvousing the next spring upon the Isles and Rocks of Nieper whence they again return to their pyracy Stephen Batory King of Poland considering the service which might be made of these thieves in defending the frontiers of his country from the inrodes of the Tartars Their Establishment to which they were too much exposed owned them and formed them into an orderly Militia giving them the Town and territory of Trethimirow about eighty miles in length in the Palatinate of Kiow upon the Boristhenes appointing them a General to whom he gave power to chuse his under-officers giving them many priviledges besides some pay he joined to them also two thousand horse to the maintainance of whom he assigned the fourth part of his demesne whence they
Pomeren with which Dukedom after the failure of that Line it should have been annex'd to the Marquisate of Brandenburg but as hath been before noted in consideration of the signal favours the King of Sweden had done the Protestant party in the Civil Wars of Germany the Princes concern'd in the Westphalian Treaty thought fit to annex the Lower Pomeren to the Dominions of that King and as a part of this Dukedom the Isle of Rugen was thrown into the bargain Afterwards the King of Denmark Frideric III. began to revive some ancient pretensions of some of his Ancestors to the Principality of Rugen but the ensuing wars betwixt him and the Crown of Sweden of which we have given the Reader some account in the Description of Denmark put an end as 't was thought to these pretensions For the said Frideric in the Treaty of Roschild made between the two Northern Crowns in the year 1658 disclaim'd all right and title to the Isle of Rugen However notwithstanding the promises and protestations made in that Treaty the present King of Denmark shew'd that Contracts made between great Princes and Commonwealths are no longer obligatory then consistent with the intrigues of State For hearing that the Elector of Brandenburg had besieged Stetin and that Count Koningsmarck the valiant Swedish Governor of Rugen had thereupon drawn the greatest part of his forces into Pomeren leaving the Island of Rugen to be defended by a small company of about fifty Horse he immediately ship'd six thousand Soldiers intending with them to surprize the deserted Island and regain it into his own possession But the weather not favouring this design the Danish Forces were kept off at Sea by contrary winds till that small Garrison which kept the Isle was alarm'd and had time to give notice to the General who nevertheless could not arrive with the rest of his Army before the enemy had made themselves Masters of Jasmund However after one brisk engagement with the Count 's left Wing the Danes were forc'd to fly in great disorder leaving six hundred of their Companions dead in the field and two thousand five hundred more taken prisoners The rest retreated confused into Wittow where they were beset with the Swedes who slew took prisoners and plunder'd as many of them as they pleased In this Victory the Swedes are said to have taken from the Danes besides an incredible number of prisoners six and twenty Standards sixteen Field-pieces five Mortar-pieces and thirty thousand Rixdollars in money Yet this unhappy overthrow was not sufficient to discourage the brave King Christian from a second adventure and the drawing back his Arm after this defeat seem'd only intended to fetch the greater blow For having doubled his Forces in the year following 1678 he fell upon the Rugians with that irresistable strength and courage which obliged them to resign up the whole Island upon his own terms And it might to this day have been at his devotion had not the French King struck in as Mediator betwixt the Northern Crowns in the alte Treaty signed by the Danish and Swedish Ministers at Lunden in Schonen Sept. 26. A. D. 1679 by the seventh Article of which Treaty 't was agreed because Lewis the Great was pleas'd to have it so that Rugen should be deliver'd up to the Swede on or before the sixth of December following Accordingly the King of Sweden is now repossess'd of that Island and has sent in new Garrisons to fortifie and defend it against all future assaults of its formidable neighbours the Danes and Brandenburgers The only Town of note in the whole Isle of Rugen is Bergen Towns situate about the middle of the Island It had the name of a City given it in the year 1190 but so little deserv'd that title that it had not the advantage of being fortified or wall'd round All the account which modern Travellers give of it is that 't is one of the better sort of Villages consisting of about four hundred Houses Stralsund indeed seems the Metropolis of Rugen and as it was formerly may still be so accounted if we consider the many and great priviledges which the Burgers of that City still pretend to in that Island For 1. The High Court of Admiralty in Stralsund determines all causes and contests arising in any of the Port-Towns in Rugen and therefore because the Stralsunders will not assign over this Jurisdiction to any Delegates residing in the Island the Rugians are obliged upon debate of all such quarrels to repair to Stralsund for judgment 2. Without the consent of the Senate and Citizens of Stralsund no definitive sentence can be given nor no Court of Equity or Judicature whatever erected in any part of the Isle 3. The Rugians may not without leave first obtain'd from the Common Council of Stralsund export any manner of Grain or other Commodities or brew Beer for sale In short this City is the Key of the Island and the only Fortress upon which depends its security or ruine So that had Rugen been kept by the King of Denmark and Stralsund by the Elector of Brandenburg according to the Rights of Conquest in the late Wars 't is probable that those new accessions would in a short time have occasion'd quarrels and animosities between the two Princes The Elector would questionless have been loth to have disclaim'd all Right and Title to the Priviledges which the City of Stralsund now challenges in Rugen and on the other hand His Majesty of Denmark would in all probability have been as unwilling to have suffered any Prince of the Empire to Lord it in his Dominions 'T is almost necessary considering the present State of Stralsund and the Isle of Rugen that both these places should be subject to the same Master though not impossible to make the Island at least independant upon if not a Terror to that City For since all the Merchant Ships which come from the Danish Sund to the City of Stralsund are obliged to sail round the Isle of Rugen 't would not possibly be so expensive as profitable to build three or four good Port-Towns in Wittow Jasmumd and other parts of the Island and thereby not only command all Ships that sailed this road but also divert the grand current of trade from Stralsund to Rugen the Store-house of that City But as long as the City of Stralsund wants Provision for its Inhabitants and the Isle of Rugen vent for its great abundance of Corn and other Commodities there seems to be such a mutual dependance between the two places that to subject them to different Masters manifestly threatens the destruction of their Common Interest Tho never poor Island has been more miserably mangled and afflicted with war witness the Civil wars in Germany and the late Northern Broils Nobility in both which Rugen was several times taken and retaken yet you shall meet with a great many noble Families that pretend to derive their pedigree from the true antient Rugii