the Cittie is nothing but the vale of Iosaphat and that is not very large and vpon that hill stoode our Lord when hée went into heauen and yet séemeth there the step of his lefte foote in the stone and there is an abbey of black Chanons that was great sometime but now is there but a Church And a little thence xviij paces is a Chappell and there is the stone on the which our Lord God sate when hée preached and said thus Beati pauperes spiritu quoniam ipsorum est regnum coelorum that is to say in English Blessed bée they that are poore in spirit for theirs is the kingdome of heauen and there hée taught his Disciples their Pater noster There also is a Church of that blessed woman Mary Egyptian and there is shée buryed And vpon the other side toward the East thrée bow shootes from thence standeth Bethphage where our Lord Iesus Christ sent Saint Peter and Saint Iames for to fetch an Asse on Palme Sunday Of the Castle of Bethania Chap. xxviij THere toward the East is a castle that men call Bethania and there dwelled Simon the Leper that harboured our Lord and them that were baptised of his disciples and hée was called Iulian and was made Bishop and that is hée that men call on for good Harboure In that same place our Lord forgaue Mary Magdalene her sins and there shée washed his féete with teares and wiped them with her heire and there was Lazarus raised when hée was foure dayes dead Of Iericho and other things Chap. xxix IN the retourning to mount Olyuet is the place where our Lord wept vpon Hierusalem and therby our Lady appeared to Saint Thomas after her assumption and gaue him her girdle and thereby is the stone on the which our Lord sate often and preached and thereon hée shall sit at the day of iudgement as himselfe sayd And there is mount Galile where the Apostles were gathered when Mary Magdalene told them of Christs rising Betwéene mount Oliuet and mount Galile is a Church where the Angell told our Lady when shée should dye And from Bethany to Iericho is fiue myle Iericho was sometime a little cittie but it was wasted and now it is but a little towne that towne tooke Iosua through the miracle of God and bidding of the Angell and destroyed it and cursed all those that builded it againe Of that cittie was Rahab that common woman that receiued messengers of Israell and kept them from many perils of death and therfore shée had a good reward as holy writ saith Quando accipis Prophetam in nomine meo mercedem Prophetae c. That is to say hée that taketh a Prophet in my name hée shall receiue the reward of a Prophet Of the holy place betweene Bethany and the riuer Iordane and other things Chap. xxx ALso from Bethany men goe to the riuer of Iordane through the wildernesse and it is néere a daies iourney betwéene Toward the East is a great hill where our Lord fasted xl daies and vpon this hill was Christ tempted of the Diuel when he said to him Dic vt lapides isti panes fiunt That is to say Commaund that these stones be made bread and there is an hermitage where dwelled a manner of Christians called Georgiens for saint George conuerted them and vpon that hill dwelled Abraham a great while and as men goe to Iericho sate many sicke men crying Iesu fili Dauid miserere nobis that is to say Iesu the Sonne of Dauid haue mercy vpon vs. And two mile from Iericho is the riuer Iordane yée shal vnderstand that the dead sea parteth the land of Inde Araby the water of that sea is right bitter and it casteth out a thing that men call Aspatum as great péeces as an horse and Hierusalem is two hundred fourlongs from the sea and it is called the dead sea because it runneth not neither may any man or beast liue therein and that hath beene proued many times for they haue cast therein men that were iudged to death nor no man may drinck of that water and if men cast yron therein it commeth vp againe but if a man cast a feather therein it sinketh which is against kinde And thereabout grow Trées that beare fruite of faire coulour and séeme ripe but when a man breaketh or cutteth them hée findeth naught in them but coales or ashes in token that through the vengeance of God these Citties were burnt with the fire of hell And some men call that lake the lake of the Alphited and some call it the poole of the diuell and some call it the stinking poole for the water thereof stinketh There sancke these fiue citties through the wrath of God that is to say Sodome Gomor Aldema Solome and Segor for the sin of Sodome that reigned in them but Segor through the prayer of Lot was saued a great while for it stood vpon an hill and yet appeareth much thereof aboue the water and men may sée the wals in cléere weather and in this cittie of Segor Lot dwelled a great while and there he was made dronk by his daughters and lay by them and they thought that God would haue destroyed all the world as hée did with Noes floud and therefore they lay by their father that men might be borne of them into the world but if he had not béene dronken he had not lyen by them And at the right side of this sea standeth Lots wife in a piller of salt because shée looked back when the cittie sanck downe Of Abraham and his generation Chap. xxxj AND yée shall vnderstand that Lot was Aarons sonne Abrahams brother and Sara Abrahams wife was Lots sister and Sara was xc yéere olde when she bare Isaac and Abraham had an other sonne named Ismaell that hée had gotten of his mayden Agar and hée was xiiij yéeres of age when Isaac was borne and when Isaac was viij dayes old hée was circumcised and his other sonne Ismael was Circumcised the same day and was xiiij yéeres of age therefore the Sarasins that be of the generation of Ismael doe circumcise them at xiiij yéeres of age and the Iewes that bée of the generation of Isaac doe circumcise them the eight daye of their age And into that dead Sea aforesaid runneth the riuer Iordane and maketh there an end and this is within a mile of Saint Iohns Church and a little beneath that same Church Westward were the Christians wont to bath them and a mile thence is the riuer Loth through which Iacob went when hée came from Mesopotamia Of the riuer Iordane Chap. xxxij THis riuer Iordane is no great nor no déepe riuer but there is much good fish therein and there commeth from Mount Lybany two Wels that men call Ior and Dane and of them it taketh the name and vpon the one side of that riuer is mount Gelboe and there is a fayre plaine And on that other side men goe by Mount Libany
in forme of a Dragon hée had so great dread that hée fled to the ship and she followed him when she saw that hée tourned not againe shée began to crye as a thing that had much sorrow and turned againe soone after the knight dyed and sithen hetherto might no knight sée her but hée dyed anone But when a knight commeth that is so hardy to kisse her hée shall not dye but shall tourne that Damsell into her right shape and shall bée Lord of the country aforesaid And from thence men goe to the I le of Rodes the which the Hospitallers held and gouerned and that they tooke sometime from the Emperour and it was wont to bée called Colles and so yet the Turks call it Colles and Saint Paul in his Epistles writeth to them of the I le Collosenses This I le is néere C.lxxx myle from Constantinople And from the I le of Rodes men goe into Cipres where are many vines the first is red and after a yéere they waxe all white and those vines that are most white are most cléere and best smelling and as men passe that way by a place where was wont to be a great cittie that men call Sathalay for all that country was lost through the folly of a young man who had a faire Damsell that hée loued well and shée dyed sodainely and was buryed in a graue of Marble and for the great loue hée had to her hée went in a night to her tombe and opened it and went and lay by her and a while afterward returned home againe and when it came to the end of ix monethes a voice came to him and said in this manner as in the next Chapter followeth Of a young man and his lemman Chap. v. GOE vnto the tombe of the same woman that thou hast lyen by and open it béehold well that which thou hast béegotten on her and if thou let it goe thou shalt haue a great harme and hée went and opened the Tombe and there flew out a monster right hidious for to sée the whiche monster flew about the cittie and country and soone after the cittie and the country sanck downe and there are many perillous passages From Rodes to Cipres is fiue hundred myle and more but men may goe to Cipres and come not to Rodes Cipres is a good Ile and a great there are many good citties there is an Archbishop at Nichosy and foure other Bishops in the land And at Famagost is one of the best hauens on the sea that is in the world and there are Christian men and Sarazins and men of all nations In Cipres is the hill of the holy crosse and there is the crosse of the good théefe Dismas as I said before and some thinke that there is halfe of the crosse of our Lord but it is not so and they doe wrong that make men to beléeue so In Cipres lyeth Saint Simeon for whom the men of the country make great solempnitie and in the castell of Amours lyeth the body of Saint Hillarion and men kéepe it worshipfully and beside Famagost was Saint Bernarde borne Of the manner of hunting in Cipres Chap. vi IN Cipres men hunt with Pampeons that bée like to Leopardes and they hunt wilde beasts right well and they are somwhat bigger then Lions and they take more quickly wilde beastes then hounds In Cipres is a custome that Lords and other men eat vpon the earth for they make ditches within the earth all about the hall déepe to the knée and they paue them and when they will eat they goe therein and sit there this they doe to be more fresh for that land is hotter then it is here and at great feasts and for strange men they set formes and boords as they do in this country but they had leauer sit on the earth From Cipres men goe by Land and by Sea to Hierusalem and in a day and in a night he that hath good winde may come to the hauen of Tire that now is called Sur and it is also at the entry of Surry there was sometime a faire cittie of Christian men but the Sarasins haue destroyed the most part thereof and they kéepe the hauen right well for dread that they haue of Christian men Men might goe right to that hauen come not to Cipres but they go gladly to Cipres to rest them on the land or els to buy things that they haue néed of to their voiage Vpon the sea side men may find many rubies and there is the well that holy writ speaketh of Fons hortorum puteus aquarum viuentiū That is to say The well of gardens and ditch of waters liuing In the cittie of Tyre sayd the woman to our Lord Beatus venter qui te portauit vbera quae succisti That is as much to say Blessed be the body that bare thée and the pap of which thou suckest and there our Lord Iesus Christ forgaue the woman of Canaan her sins and there also in that place was the stone on the which our Lord sat preached on the same stone was founded the church of saint Sauiour And vpon that sea is the cittie of Saphen Sarep or Sodome and there was the dwelling of Elias the Prophet and there was raised by Ionas the Prophet the widdowes son And fiue mile from Saphen is the cittie of Sydon of the which Cittie Dido that was Aeneas wife after the destruction of Troy was Quéene she founded the citie of Carthage in Affricke now is called Didonsart And in the cittie of Tyre rayned Achilles the father of Dido and a mile from Sidon is Beruth and from Beruth to Sardena is thrée dayes iourney and from Sardena is fiue mile to Damas. Of the hauen called Iaffe Chap. vij WHo so will go longer on the sea and come néerer to Hierusalem you shall goe from Cipres by sea to the port called Iaffe for that is the next hauen to Hierusalem for from that Hauen is but a dayes iourney and a halfe to Hierusalem and that Hauen is called Iaffe and the towne Affe after one of Noes sonnes that men call Iapheth that founded it and now it is called Iops and ye shall vnderstand that it is the eldest towne of the world for it was made before Noes floud and there be the bones of a Giaunts side that bée xl foote long Of the Hauen of Tyre Chap. viij ANd who ariueth at the first hauen of Tyre or of Surrey before said may go by land if hée will to Hierusalem and hée goeth to the Cittie of Acon in a day that was called Tholomoda and it was a cittie of Christian men sometime but it is now destroyed and it is in the sea And it is from Venice to Acon by the sea two thousand and lxx mile of Lumbardy and from Calabre or from Cicil it is to Acon a thousand thrée hundred miles of Lumbardy Of the hill Carme Chap. ix ANd the I le
halfe our faith and halfe the faith of the Gréekes and they haue long beards as the Gréekes haue For to returne againe on this side of Galile Chap. xl NOw séeing I haue told you of many manners of men that dwell in the countries aforesaid Now will I turne againe to my way for to turne vpon this side for hée that will turne from the land of Galile that I spake of to come on this side hée may go through Damas that is a faire cittie and full of good marchandises it is thrée daies iourney from the sea fiue from Hierusalem but they carry marchandise vpon Cammels Mules Horses Dromedaries and other manner of Beasts This cittie of Damas founded Helizeus that was Abrahams seruant before Isaac was borne and he should haue béene Abrahams heire and there he named that cittie Damas in that place slew Caine his Brother Abel and beside Damas is the mount of Syry in this cittie be many Phisitions and that holy man Saint Paul was a Phisition to saue mens bodies before that hée was conuerted and after he was a Phisition of soules And from Damas men goe to a place called our Lady of Sardmarch that is fiue mile from Damas it is on a rock and there is a faire Church and there dwell Christian Monks and Nuns in that Church Betwéene the cittie of Darke the cittie of Raphane is a Riuer called Sabatory for on the Satterday it runneth fast and all the wéeke else it standeth still and runneth not or but a little And there is another riuer that on the night fréeseth fast and vpon the day no frost is séene And so men goe by a cittie that men call Berugh and ther those that will go to Cipres take ships and they ariue at a hauen of Sur or of Tyry and then goe men to Cipres also men may goe right from the hauen of Tyry and come not at Cipres but ariue at some hauen of Gréece and by these wayes men come into the countries before spoken of How a man may goe furthest and longest in the countries that are here rehearsed Chap. xli NOw haue I told you of wayes by the which men go furdest and longest as by Babylon and mount Sinay and other places many through the which men turne againe to the land of promise Now will I tell you the shortest way to Hierusalem for many will not goe the long way some for want of company and many other reasonable causes and therefore I shall tell you shortly how a man may goe with little cost and in short time A man that commeth from the land of the West hée goeth through Fraunce Burgoyn Lumbardy and to Venice or to Gene or some other hauen of those marches and taketh there a ship and goeth to the I le of Griffe so ariueth hée in Gréece or else in port Myroch or Valon or Duras or some other hauen of those marches and goe to land for to rest him and goeth againe to the sea and ariueth in Cipres and commeth not in the I le of Rodes but ariueth at Famagost that is the chiefe hauen of Cypres or else at Lamaton then enter ship againe and passe beside the hauen of Tyre and come not to land and so passeth by all the hauens of the coast till hée come to Iaffe that is the next hauen to Hierusalem for it is xxviij mile betwéen And from Iaffe men goe to the cittie of Ramos and that is but little thence and it is a fayre cittie and beside Ramos is a fayre Church of our Lady where our Lord shewed him selfe vnto her in thrée shadowes betokening the Trinitie and there néere is a Church of Saint George where his head was smitten off and then to the Castle of Emear and then to the mount Ioy and from thence pilgrimes sée Hierusalem then to mount Modyn and then goe to Hierusalem At mount Modin lyeth the Prophet Malache ouer Ramatha is the towne of Donke whereof Amos the Prophet was Of other wayes for to goe by land to Hierusalem Chap. xlij FOrasmuch as many men may not suffer the sauour of the sea and better it is to goe by land although it bée more paine and a man shall goe to one of the hauens of Lumberdy as Venice or an other and yée shall passe into Gréece to Port Myroch or an other and yée shall goe to Constantinople and shal passe the water that is called the brath of S. George that is an arme of the sea And from thence yée shall come to Puluerall and then to the castle of Synople and so to Capadocia which is a great Country wherein is many great hils and ye shall goe through Turkey and to the Cittie of Nike the which they wonne from the Emperour of Constantinople and it is a faire Cittie and well walled and there is a riuer that is called the Lay and then men go by the Alpes of Mormaunt and through the vales of Malebrynes and the vale of Ernax and so more easily to Antioche which standeth richly on the Riuer and therabout are many good hils and faire and many faire woods and wilde beasts And hée that will go an other way hée goeth by the Romaine coast the Romaine sea on that coast is a faire castle that is called Florage and when a man is out of the hils hée passeth through the cittie of Moryach and Artose where is a great bridge vpon the riuer of Ferne that men call Fassor and it is a great riuer bearing ships and beside the cittie of Damas is a riuer that commeth from the mount of Libany which is called Alban at the passing of this riuer Saint Eustage lost his two Sons when hée had lost his wife it runneth through the plaine of Archades and to the red sea and then men goe to the Cittie of Fermine and so to the Cittie of Ferne and then to Antioche and that is a faire cittie and well walled and it is two mile long and there is a bridge ouer the riuer and hath at each piller a good tower and is the best Cittie of the kingdome of Surrie From Antioche men goe to the cittie of Locuth and so to Geble and to Tortouse thereby is the land of Lambre and a stronge castle that men call Mambeke And from Tortouse men goe to Tripelle on the sea and by this sea men goe to Dacres and there is two wayes to Hierusalem by the way on the left hand men come first vnto Damas by the riuer Iordane and on the right side men go through the land of Flagme so to the Cittie Caiphas in which Cittie Caiphas was Lord some call it the castle Pellerins and from thence is foure dayes iourney to Hierusalem and they goe through Cesary Philyp and Iaffe and Ramas Eumaux and so forth to Hierusalem Yet an other way by land toward the land of Promise Chap. xliij NOW haue I told you some wayes by land by
long For when they choose their king they giue to him that Ruby to beare in his hand then they lead him riding about the cittie and then euer after are they subiect to him and therefore hée beareth that Ruby alway about his neck for if hée beare not the Ruby they would no longer hold him for King The great Caane of Cathay hath much coueted this Ruby but hée might neuer haue it neither for warre nor for other goods and this king is a full true and righteous man for men may goe safely surely through his land and beare all that hée will for there is no man so hardy to let them And from thence men goe to an I le that is called Silo this I le is more then an hundred mile about and therein be many Serpents which are great with yealow-stripes and they haue foure féete with short legs and great clawes some be fiue fadom of length and some of eight and some of tenne and some more some lesse and bée called Cocodrils and there are also many wilde beasts and Elephants Also in this I le and in many Iles thereabout are many wilde géese with two heads and there bée also in that country white Lions and many other diuers meruailous beasts and if I should tell all it would be to long Of a great Iland called Dodyn where are many men of euill conditions Chap. lxij THen is there another I le called Dodyn and it is a great I le In the same I le are many and diuers sorts of men who haue euill manners for the father eateth the son the son the father the husband his wife and the wife her husband And if it so be that the father bée sicke or the mother or any friend the Son goes soone to the priest of the law and praieth him that he wil aske of the Idoll if his father shall die of that sicknesse or not And then the priest and the son knéele downe béefore the Idoll deuoutly and aske him and hée answereth to them and if hée say that hée shall liue then they kéepe him well and if hée say that hée shall dye then commeth the Priest with the sonne or with the wife or any that is a friend vnto him that is sicke and they lay their hands ouer his mouth to stop his breath so they slay him and then they smite all the body into péeces and prayeth all his friends for to come and eate of him that is dead and they make a great feast therof and haue many minstrels there and eat him with great melody And so when they haue eaten all the flesh then they take the bones and bury them all singing with great worship and all those of his friends that were not there at the eating of him haue great shame and reproofe so that they shal neuer more bée taken as friends Of the kingdome of Mancy which is a large kingdome of the world Chap. lxiij TO goe from this I le toward the East after many daies a man shall come to a kingdome called Mancy and this is in great Inde and it is the most delectable and plentifull land in all the world In this land dwell Christians Sarasins for it is a great land and therein are two thousand great Citties and many other townes In this land no man goeth a begging for there is no poore man and there men haue beards as it were Cats In this I le are faire women and therefore some men call that land Albany for the white folke and there is a cittie that is called Latorim and it is bigger then Paris and in that land are Birds twise greater then they bée here and there is all manner of vittailes good cheape In this country are white hens and they beare no feathers but wooll as shéepe do in our Land and women of that Country that are wedded beare crownes vpon their heads that they may bée knowne by In this country they take a beast that is called a Loyre and they kéepe it to goe into waters or riuers straight way he bringeth out of the water great fishes and thus they take fish as much as them néedeth From this cittie men goe many dayes iourney to another Cittie called Cassay which is the fairest Cittie of the world and that cittie is fiftie mile about and there is in that Cittie aboue xij principal gates without From thence within thrée myle is another great Cittie and within this Cittie are more then twelue thousand bridges vpon each bridge is a strong tower where the kéepers dwell to kéepe it against the great Caane for it boundeth on his land and on each side of the cittie runneth a great riuer and there dwell Christians and other for it is a good and plenteous country and there groweth right good wine in this noble cittie the king of Mancy was wont to dwell and there dwell religious men as friers And men go vpon the riuer till they come to an Abbey of Monkes a little from the cittie and in that Abbey is a great garden and therein is many manner of trées of diuers fruites in that garden are diuers kindes of beasts as Baboynes Apes Marmozets and other and when the couent haue eaten a Monke taketh the reliefe and beareth it into the Garden and smiteth once with a bell of siluer which hée holdeth in his hand and anone come out these beasts that I spake of and many moe néere two or thrée thousand and hée giueth them meat in faire vessels of siluer and when they haue eaten hée smiteth the bell againe and they goe away and the Monke saith that those beasts are soules of men that are dead and those beasts that are faire are soules of Lords and other rich men and those that are foule beasts are soules of other commons and I asked them if it had not béene better to giue that reliefe to poore men and they said there is no poore men in that country but if there were yet were it more almes to giue it to those soules that suffer there their penance and may goe no farther to get their meat then to men that haue wit and may trauaile for their meat Then men come to a Cittie that is called Chibens and there was the first siege of the king of Mancy In this cittie are thrée score bridges of stone as faire as may bée made Of the Land of Pigme the people whereof are but three spans long Chap. lxiiij WHen men passe from that Cittie of Chibens they passe ouer a great riuer of fresh water and it is néere foure mile broad and then men enter into the land of the great Caane This riuer goeth through the land of Pigme and there men are of little stature for they are but thrée spans long and they are right faire both men and women though they be little and they are marryed when they are halfe a yéere old and they liue but eight yéere for hée that