in any place whatsoever even in their Mosqueyes There grows abundance of it near Bagdat and in Kurdesthan but they have not the art to Cure it as it ought to be thinking it enough to let it dry as they do other leaves and Medicinal herbs There are whole shops full of it at Ispahan being put up in Baggs where it is reduc'd in a manner to powder and is at least as small as Sena They highly esteem that which is brought them out of Europe and call it Inglis Tambaku because the English are they who bring most of it thither They are so great lovers of it that when I gave a piece thereof to a Master who taught me the Arabian Language at Scamachie he took it for an extraordinary kindness To take it with any delight they make use of a Glass Flaggon an Earthen Pitcher a Cocos or Indian Nut-shell or a Kaback which is the rind of a certain sort of Citralls or Cucumbers which they fill half full of water or little more and sometimes put a little perfum'd Waters into it Into this water they put a little hollow Reed having at the end of it a Bole wherein they put the Tobacco with a little Coal and with another Pipe about an Ell long which they have in their Mouths they draw through the water the smoke of the Tobacco which leaving in the water all its soot and blackness is incomparably more pleasant this way than as we take it Those who have not all these conveniences are glad to take it our way but their Pipes which have Boles or Heads of Earth or Stone are of Wood and much longer than ours They Drink with their Tobacco a certain black water which they call Cahwa made of a Fruit brought out of Egypt and which is in colour like ordinary Wheat and in tast like Turkish Wheat and is of the bigness of a little Bean. They fry or rather burn it in an Iron pan without any Liquor beat it to powder and boyling it with fair water they make this Drink thereof which hath as it were the tast of a burnt Crust and is not pleasant to the Palate It hath a Cooling quality and the Persians think it allays the Natural heat Whence it comes that they often drink of it inasmuch as they would avoid the charge of having many Children nay they are so far from dissembling the fear they have thereof that some of them have come to our Physician for remedies of that kind But he being a merry dispos'd Person made answer that he would rather help them to get Children than give them ought to prevent the getting of them I say the Persians are perswaded this water is able absolutely to smother all Natural heat and to take away the power of engendring and to this purpose they tell a story of one of their Kings named Sulthan Mahomet Caswin who Reign'd in Persia before Tamerlane's time that he was so accustom'd to the Drinking of Cahwa that he had an inconceivable aversion for Women and that the Queen standing one day at her Chamber Window and perceiving they had got down a Horse upon the ground in order to the Gelding of him ask'd some that stood by why they treated so handsome a Creature in that manner whereupon answer being made her that he was too Fiery and Metalsome and that the business of those that were about him was with the taking away of the excess of Metal which Stone-Horses are guilty of to deprive him of all generative Vertue the Queen reply'd that that trouble might have been spar'd since the Cahwa would have wrought the same effect and that if they would keep the Stone-Horse with that Drink he would in a short time be as cold as the King her Husband They affirm further that the Son of that King whom they also after his Father call Mahomet being come to the Crown Commanded that great Poet Hakim Fardausi to give him a piece of his Writing and promis'd by way of reward to give him a Ducat for every Verse The Poet in a short time made sixty thousand which are at this day accounted the best that ever were made in Persia but the King who expected not he should have made such haste sent him to those who had the over-sight of his Revenue who judging this to be too great a summ for a Poet told him he must content himself with a less recompence Accordingly they brought it so low that Fardausi made other Verses wherein he reproach'd the King with his avarice and told him the present he had made him might be rather thoughâ— to come from a Porter than a Prince Whereto he added that Shooe-makers and Bakers were wont to do so and that he could not be perswaded that the King was of Royal Extraction but must rather be descended from some Shooe-maker or Baker The King was so nettled at these reproaches that he made his Complaints thereof to his Mother who presently imagining that the Poet had made some Discoveries of her ingenuously acknowledg'd to her Son that the King her Husband being become impotent through his excessive Drinking of Cahwa she fancied a Baker belonging to the Court and that this Baker was his Father That she chose rather to take that course than leave the Kingdom destitute of Heirs That he was now to consider that had it not been for that Baker he had not been at all and that he would do well to recompence the Poet so as that the business might take no further wind lest the people should deprive him of a Crown which belong'd not to him The Son made his advantage of the advice and remonstrances of his Mother and ordered the Poet should have what he had promised him We said before that the Persians are great frequenters of the Taverns or Tipling-Houses which they call Tzai Chattai Chane in regard there they may have The or Cha which the Vsbeques Tartars bring thither from Chattai It is an Herb which hath long and narrow leaves about an inch in length and half an inch in breadth In order to the keeping and transportation of it they dry it so as that it turns to a dark grey Colour inclining to black and so shrivell'd up that it seems not to be what it really is but as soon as it is put into warm water it spreads and reassumes its former green Colour The Persians boyl it till the water hath got a bitterish taste and a blackish colour and add thereto Fâ—nnel Anniseed or Cloves and Sugar But the Indians only put it into seething water and have for that purpose either Brass or Earthen pots very handsomely made which are put to no other use They drink it so hot that they are not able to hold their Dishes which are of Porcelane or Silver in their hands whence it comes that they have found out a way of making them of Wood or Canes done over with a Plate of Copper or Silver Gilt
of Litter or Sedans carried by two men upon their Shoulders with a bar They bring up their Elephants with much care and are at great charge about them They delight much in Hawking and Hunting Their Greyhounds are somewhat less then ours but they tame Tigers and Leopards whereof they make use in hunting and these surprise their prey at a sudden leap but they never pursue it They are particularly industrious at the catching of River-fowl by means of the Skin of a tame Duck which being fill'd with Hay they swim even with the Water and drawing the Decoy-duck after them they insensibly get among the others and take them by the feet without ever frighting them They are very expert at the Bow which they make of a wild Oxes horn and the Arrows of a very light kind of Cane nay they are so excellent at it that sometimes they will take a Bird flying They delight much in Chess and have also a kind of Game at Cards They are lovers of Musick though there be no great Harmony in their own But above all things they are besoâ—â—ed with judiciary Astrology in so much that they never undertake any business of consequence but they first consult the Minatzim They have some of Aristotle's Works translated into the Arabian tongue which they call Aplis as also some Treatises of Avicennas for whom they have a very high respect because he was born at Smarcanda under the jurisdiction of Tamerlam Their Writings are not ill and their Productions are not void of Eloquence They keep a Register of all the remarkable Actions that are done among them and have such an exact account thereof as might serve to write a History of the Countrey Of their Language there are many Dialects but it is easie enough to be learnt and they write as we do from the left hand to the right Most of any quality about the Mogul's Court speak the Persian tongue nay some but very few speak also the Arabian The most common Diseases of those parts are the bloudy Flux and burning Feavers and the Remedy they ordinarily make use of against them is Abstinence They have good store of Physitians but no Surgeons Barbers of which Profession there is a great number are they who let bloud and apply Leeches In the Kingdom of Guzuratta Winter begins towards the end of Iune and lasts till September but there are not such continual Rains there as at Goa for it rains only in certain Intervals and particularly at new and full Moon The North-wind blows constantly for six moneths together and the South-wind for as many The hottest moneths in the year are April May and the beginning of Iune during which the sultriness of the weather is such that it were insupportable were it not that some Winds rise ever and anon which moderate the excessive heats but with that convenience they bring along with them an inconvenience which is their raising such an extraordinary Dust that it deprives a Man of the sight of the Sun There is a vast Trade driven in many Commodities all over the Kingdom of Guzuratta but particularly in Cotton and Linnen Cloaths which are in fairness and fineness equal to those of Holland as also in several Silk-stuffes as Contoms which are of several colours Satins Taffatas Petolas Commerbands Ornis of Gold and Silk which Women commonly make use of to cover their Faces withall Brocadoes Tapistry or Alcatifs Chitrenges or streaked Carpets to lay over Chests and Cabinets quilted Coverlets of Silk or Cotton which they call Geodris or Nalis Tents Perintos or Neuhar which they make use of instead of Couches Cadels or Bed-steads Cabinets of Lacque Chess-boards of Tortoise-shell Seals Beads Chains Buttons and Rings of Ivory Amber Rock-Crystal and Agat The best Indico in the world comes from about Amadabath from a Village call'd Chrichees whence it derives the name The Herb of which they make it is like that of yellow Parsnip but shorter and more bitter sprouting forth into branches like a Reed and growing in kind years six or seven foot high the Flower is like that of a Thistle and the Seed like that of Fenu-greek It is sown in Iune and cut in November and December It is sown but once in three years and the first year the leaves are cut off within a foot of the ground The stalks are taken away and the leaves are set a drying in the Sun and that done they are set a soaking for four or five dayes in a Stonesâ—trough containing about six or seven foot water which is ever and anon stirred till such time as the Water hath suckt out the colour and vertue of the Herb. That done they let out the Water into another Trough where they suffer it to settle for one night The next day all the Water is taken away and what is left in the bottom of the Trough is strain'd through a course Cloath and is set a drying in the Sun And this is the best Indico but the Countrey people adulterate it by mixing therewith a certain Earth of the same colour And whereas the goodness of this Drug is discovered by its lightness they have the cunning to put a little Oyl into it to make it swim upon the water The second year the stalk which was left the year before shoots forth other leaves but they are not so good as those of the first Yet is this preferr'd before Gyngey that is wild â—udico It is also the second year that they suffer some part of it to grow up to seed That of the third year is not good and consequently not sought after by forraign Merchants but is imploy'd by the Inhabitants of the Countrey in the dying of their Cloaths The best Indico is almost of a violet colour and hath somewhat of its smell when it 's burned The Indâ—sthans call it Anil and after it hath been in the ground three years they suffer the Land to lye fallow for one year ere they sow it again Most of the Saltpeter which is sold in Guzuratta comes from Asmer sixty Leagues from Agra and they get it out of Land that hath lain long fallow The blackest and fattest ground yields most of it though other Lands afford some and it is made thus They make certain Trenches which they fill with their Saltpetrous Earth and let into them small Rivulets as much water as will serve for its soaking which may 〈◊〉 the more effectually done they make use of their feet treading it till it become a Broath When the Water hath drawn out all the Saltpeter which was in the Earth they take the clearest part of it and dispose it into another Trench where it grows thick and then they boil it like Salt continually scumming it and then they put it into earthen pots wherein the remainder of the Dregs goes to the bottom and when the Water begins to thicken they take it out of these pots to set it
better conveniences Another employment of the women is to transplant the Rice when it grows thicker in one place then another which work takes up much of their time as does also their cutting of it when it is ripe For instead of reaping it by handfulls with a Hook they cut it Corn by Corn some four or five fingers below the Ear so put it up in the house and never beat it but when there is occasion in order to their subsistance that is every day The woman of the house sets over-night two or three little bundles of it a-drying in the Chimney-corner and rising the next morning two hours before day she beats it in a Morter and makes as much clean Rice as is requisite for the Family that day and no more And thus they live all the year long They sow also two or three sort of Fruit which they call Ptingh Quach and Taraun which are somewhat like Millet as also a kind of Pulse much like the French Bean. They 〈◊〉 also several sorts of Roots which they may use instead of Bread and which in effect 〈◊〉 able to sustain them though they had no Rice nor any other kind of Fruit or Corn. They have Ginger Cinamon Sugar-canes Bannanan's Lemmons abundance of Areea and several other sorts of Fruits Simples and Pulse not known in Europe such as it would be no easie matter to describe Though they have no Cocos-wine nor any other natural drink yet have they found out a way to make a kind of Beverage which is as strong and intoxicates a mans brains assoon as the best Sack Their way of ordering it is thus They set a soaking in warm water a certain quantity of Rice which they afterwards beat in a Morter till it be reduced to a Paste Then they chew some Rice-meal in their mouths which they spet into a Pot till such time as they have got a Quart of Liquor which they put to the Pasâ—e instead of Leaven and after they have kneaded all well together till they have brought it to Dough such as that of the Bakers they put it into a great Earthen Pot which they fill up with water and so let it remain there for two months and by this means they make one of the best and most pleasant Liquors that a man need drink This is their Wine which is stronger or weaker according to the time it remains in the Pot and the older it is the better and sweeter it is insomuch that sometimes they keep it five and twenty or thirty years VVhat is towards the mouth of the Pot is as clear as Rock-water but at â—he bottom there are only dregs such as were able to turn a weak stomack and yet the Islanders make it one of their delicacies and eat it with Spoons having first stirr'd at about with a little water put to it When they go into the Countrey they carry along with them a Pot of this stuff and a Gourd-bottle full of water and so they are furnish'd as to 〈◊〉 and drink They make use of the upper part of this Beverage as of Aqua-viâ—ae to comfort the heart and they eat what 's in the bottom ordered as we said before whence it comes that they spend most part of their Rice in this composition When the women have no work to do about their Grounds and particularly to get Oysters which the Islanders prefer before all meat whatsoever They have a way of salting the Fish slightly assoon as it is taken with the shell and whatsoever is within it and they eat them with all the filth nay with the worms which sometimes are bred within them for want of Salt The men especially the younger sort to the age of twenty four or twenty five years do nothing at all but when they are come to forty they help to do somewhat about the grounds where they continue night and day with their Wives in little Huts and return not to the Village till some necessity or divertisement calls them thither They have several kinds of Hunting and use in their sport Snares slender Pikes or Bows and Arrows They spread their Snares or Nets in the Woods cross those Paths which the Deers and wild Boars are wont to make and force those Creatures into them or haply they spread them in the open fields with the convenience of a great Cane one end whereof they plant in the ground and the other is bowed down and fastened to certain little sticks upon which they lay a Suare cover'd with a little earth which assoon as the wild Beast touches the Carie is suddenly as it were unbent and hath him by one of the feet The Hunting with that kind of Pikes is thus There met together at a certain place appointed the Inhabitants of two or three Villages arm'd every one with two or three Pikes and having divided themselves into several parties they send their Dogs into the Woods and they force out the Game into the Fields where they meet and make a great Ring a League or more in compass within which when they have once gotten the Deer and wild Boars it seldom happens that any of them escape without being kill'd or hurt The Pike it self is of Cane six or seven foot in length having an Iron at the top with several Hooks so as that being entred into the beast it is beyond any mans strength to get it out but the Iron is not made so fast to the Wood but that it comes off at the first bush the beast runs into and to the end it may still annoy the Deer there is a Cord fastened thereto which holds both and at the top of the Iron there is a little Bell whereby the Beast is discover'd where-ever it goes They destroy so great a number of Deer by these kinds of Hunting that being not able to spend all they take themselves they sell the flesh of them to the Chineses for little Garments Sweet Wood and other Commodities eating themselves only the Umbles and Paunch which they salt with the filth in them and indeed care not much for them till when they are thus corrupted Sometimes while they are hunting they cut off a piece and eat it immediately so as that the bloud runs about their mouths and if they find any young ones in the belly of the Female whether come into any form or not they eat them with the skin and hair as a thing very delicate Their Military engagements are as followeth They begin not any War till they have first declared it against the Village by which they conceive themselves injured and then they go by small parties of five and twenty or thirty men and hide themselves near the place they are to assault till it be night and then they run about the Fields and if they find any in the Huts where aged persons are wont to keep as we said before they kill them cut off their heads and if they
and in his Shirt but meeting a friend by the way going to the Tipling-house he went back with him and came not out again till he had left his shirt behind him I call'd to him and ask'd him what he had done with his shirt and whether he had been robb'd He answer'd with the ordinary civility of the Muscovites Iabut fui matir Mind thy own business Good Wine hath put me into this posture but since the shirt hath stayd behind the Drawers shall go and keep them company which he had no sooner said but he returns to the house whence I saw him come presently afterward naked as an Adamite covering his privy parts with a handful of flowers which he had taken up at the door and so went very â—â—cundly to his own house Being in the same City of Novogorod at the time of our second Embassy I saw a Priest coming out of the Tipling-house who coming by our Lodging would needs give the benediction to the Strclits who stood Sentinel at the door but as he lifted up his hands going to make the inclination used in that Ceremony the head fraught with the vapours of the Wine was so heavy that weighing down the whole body the Pope fell down in the dirt Our Strclits took him up with much respect and receiv'd his daggled benediction it being it seems a thing very ordinary among them The Great Duke Michael Federouits who was a sober person and hated drunkenness considering with himself that it was impossible absolutely to prevent those excesses made in his time several orders for the moderating of them causing the Tipling-houses to be shut up and prohibiting the selling of strong-strong-water or Hydromel without his permission and that those places where they were sold should sell only by the Quart and Pint and not by Cups This had some effect in that there was no more Adamites seen in the streets but hindred not their being strew'd with Drunkards the Neighbours and such of their friends as had a design to be merry sending to the Tavern for several Pottles of Strong-water which they would be sure to turn off ere they parted The women are no less given to drink than the men I saw a pleasant example of it at Narva in the house where I lodg'd whither many Muscovian women came one day to their husbands sate down with them and took off their Cups as smartly as they did The men being got drunk would have gone home but the women thought it not yet time to draw off though invited thereto by a good number of boxes o'th'ear and got their husbands to sit down again and to drink roundly as before till such time as that the men being fall'n down asleep upon the ground the women sate upon them as upon benches and drunk on till they also were forc'd to lye down by them Iames de Cologne at whose house I lodg'd at Narva told me he had seen such another Comedy at his Wedding at which the Muscovites having given their Wives good banging sate down and drunk with them till that being lay'd on the ground the Women sate upon them and grew so drunk till at last they lay down among them Tobacco was heretofore so common there that it was generally taken both in smoak and powder To prevent the mischiefs occasion'd by the use of it which were not only that the poorer sort of people ruin'd themselves thereby in as much as if they had but a penny they would rather bestow it in Tobacco than bread but also because many times it set houses on fire and those that took it presented themselves with their stinking and infectious breaths before their Images the Great Duke and the Patriarch thought fit in the year 1634. absolutely to forbid the sale and use of it Those who are convicted of having either taken or sold any are very rigorously punish'd They have their Nostrils slit or are whipp'd as we have often seen done of the manner of which punishment we shall speak when we come to treat of the administration of Justice in that Countrey The perverse disposition of the Muscovites the baseness of their education and the slavery they seem born to cause them to be treated like beasts rather than people endued with reason They are naturally so much inclin'd to â—â—leness that it were impossible to bring them to take any pains but by the Whip and the Cudgel which yet they are not much troubled at as being hardened to blows by the custom which the younger sort have to meet on Holy-dayes and to divert themselves by cuffing or fighting with staves never being angry at what happens Those who are free-born but poor do so little value that advantage that they sell themselves with their family for a small matter nay they are so mindless of their liberty that they will sell themselves a second time after they had recovered it by the death of their Master or some other occasion Their submissions to their Superiours discover the lowness of their spirits and their slavery They never come before persons of quality but they bow down to the ground which they touch and smite with their forehead nay there are some will cast themselves at their Lords feet to give them thanks after they had been sufficiently beaten by them No Muscovite what quality soever he be of but makes it his brag to be the Great Duke's Golop or Slave and to express their humility or adjection even in the least things they put their names into diminutives and neither speak nor write to him but instead of Iwan or Iohn they say Iwantske that is the diminutive and sign thus Petrusketwoy Golop Petrillo your slave The Great Duke speaking to them uses the same expression treating them in all things like slaves as far as Whips and Cudgels can do it which is but consonant to their own acknowledgement That their persons and estates are God's and the Great Duke's Those strangers who settle in Muscovy or are entertain'd into the Czaar's service must resolve to do the same submissions and be content with the same treatment For what kindness soever he may have for them it requires so small a matter to deserve the Whip that there is hardly any can brag he hath not had it Heretofore there were none more subject to the Lash than the Physicians it being the perswasion of the Muscovites that that art was infallible and that the success of it depended on their wills who profess'd the curing of diseases Hence was it that in the year 160â— Iohn Duke of Holstein brother to Christian the fourth King of Denmark who had married the Great Duke Boris Gudenous daughter falling sick the Czaar sent word to the Physicians that if they recovered him not their lives should answer for the Prince's so that they seeing the remedies apply'd were fruitless and that it was impossible to save the Prince kept out of the way and durst not come into the Great
their favour she invited them to Dinner and press'd them to drink of her Wine which was the best the Country could afford The Angels at first would have excus'd themselves alleging the Prohibitions which God had made them to that purpose but at last she prevail'd with them and they drunk so liberally of her Wine that they began to be very familiar with their fair Hostess and to desire of her the greatest kindnesse it is in a Woman's power to do a Man The Woman was content they should have their desires but made this condition before hand that one of them should shew her the way by which people come down from Heaven and the other that by which they go up into it but as soon as the Angels had shown her the way the Woman slunk away from them and went stright to Heaven God finding her Cloath'd as she was ask'd her how she could get up to Heaven without Dying She made answer that it was by the information of the Angels and for the preservation of her Honour Which oblig'd God to Crown her Chastity with an extraordinary Glory and whereas she was one the most Beautifull Women in the World it was accordingly his Pleasure that she should have more light than any of the other Stars and so he made her that Star or Planet which is called Venus Afterwards having called the Angels before him he told them that in requital of the good they had done he was content they should condemn themselves to some punishment which they thought proportionable to their Sin whereupon they went into the Cave of Bebil between Babylon and Betreh where thy were hung up by the Feet to a great Iron Chain in which posture they were to continue till the day of Judgment The Persians in obedience to Mahomet's command make no Wine but in regard they are great lovers of it they do not only permit the Christians to make thereof but indeed the chief reason why they permit the Armenians to live among them is that they may buy thereof of them They do not make it so well as it is done in Europe and have not the Ingenuity to put it into Buts but keep it in great Earthen Pitchars each of which contains near half a Barrel as we said elsewhere The Seder that is the chief of the Religion of the Persians to expresse his zeal did sometimes order the Pitchars of the Armenians to be broken The Persians are permitted to make a siâ—rrup of sweet Wine which they boyl till it be reduc'd to a sixth part and be grown as thick as Oyl They call this Drugg Duschab and when they would take of it they dissolve it with water and add thereto a little Vineger all which together make a very pleasant Drink The Minatzim or Astrologer of Scamachie gave me of it at a treatment he made for me at his own House In the more Northerly Provinces of Persia where the Wine is not very good the Inhabitants dissolve the Duschab in the Country Wine whereto they by that means give both the Colour and Tast of Sack Sometimes they boyl the Duschab so long that they reduce it into a Paste for the convenience of Travellers who cut it with a Knife and dissolve it in water At Tabris they make a certain Conserve of it which they call Helwa mixing therewith beaten Almonds Flower and peel'd Filbeards or small Nuts They put this mixture into a long and narrow Bag and having set in under the press they make of it a Paste which grows so hard that a man must have a Hatchet to cut it They make also a kind of Conserve of it much like a Pudding which they call Zutzuch thrusting through the middle of it a small Cotton thread to keep the Paste together There are some Chymists who maintain that by the same reason to prevent the charges arising upon the transportation of Wine it were possible to reduce five Tuns to one by causing sweet Wine to be boyl'd away to the fifth part For as they say there is no likelyhood the Wine should lose ought of its Spirits before it hath wrought and is dispos'd into Vessels and that afterwards adding thereto as much fair water out of which the superfluous humour hath been evaporated it might be restor'd to the same quantity and reduc'd to the same degree of goodness it had been of before But I am of opinion that if this were feasible the experiment had been long since try'd especially in France instead of turning Wine into Aquavitae There are two sorts of Grapes in Persia but the best and sweetest are at Schiras and Tabris whence they bestow on the most delicate of them the name of Tabersch This Grape is long and hath no stone and it may be kept all Winter Those which they call Keseki are yellowish and sweet and grow in Tarum at Tabris and at Ordebath but of these a man must eat sparingly for fear of a Bloody-Flux The small Grapes which we call Currens are there yellowish and bigger than those which grow in the Isle of Zanthe They call them Kischmisch and the best of them grow at Bawanat near Herat. Besides these there are yet several other sorts of Grapes not known in Europe among the rest those which they call Hallague The Grape it self is above an inch and a half thick but the meat of it is hard juyce-less and without stones and they are kept all the year long as also the Enkuri Alideresi the bunch whereof is above a foot long and the Grapes are about the bigness of a Damasin of a dark red Colour full of juyce and very sweet but they will not keep There does not grow any of these save at one place in the Province of Iran between Ordabath and Choddaserin They derive their name from their great Prophet Aly who being one day in Winter at that place desired a Vinedresser whom he met to give him some Grapes whereto the other making answer that it were impossible to satisfie his desire in that season Aly bid him go into the next Vineyard and he should find some He went and according as he had said found the fairest Grapes he had ever seen upon which occasion they are called Enkuri Aly deresi that is the Grapes of the little Valley of Aly. There is no Fruit-Tree in Europe but is to be found in Persia but besides those they have many not known to us as a sort of Pears which they call Melletze which grow near the City of Ordebath about the bigness and much of the colour of Citrons The scent of them is very sweet and pleasant and they are very juicy but not delighfull to the tast Pomegranate-Trees Almond-Trees and Fig-Trees grow there without any ordering or cultivation especially in the Province of Kilan where you have whole Forests of them The wild Pomegranates which you find almost every where especially at Karabag are sharp or sowrish They take
it so To do that they make use of the herb and seed of Wesme which is brought from Bagdat and is somewhat like that which the Herbarists call Securidaca which they beat very small with the rinds of Pomegranates and mix therewith Soap and Arsenick they boyl this composition in spring-Spring-water and rub their Hair therewith which they afterwards wash with a strong lye made with unslak'd Lime They make use also of the water which issues out of the Vines in the Spring-time the Men rub their Mustachoes therewith and Maids their Hair which fall down over their shoulders ty'd up in several tresses out of an opinion they all are of that this makes them grow They have also a custom of Painting their Hands and above all their Nails with a Red Colour inclining to Yellowish or Orenge much near the colour that our Tanners nails are of There are those who also Paint their Feet This is so necessary an ornament in their Married Women that this kind of Paint is brought up and distributed among those that are invited to their Wedding Dinners They therewith Paint also the Bodies of such as dye Maids that when they appear before the Angels Examinants they may be found more neat and handsome This Colour is made of the herb which they call Chinne which hath leaves like those of Liquorice or rather those of Myrele It grows in the Province of Erak and it is dry'd and beaten small as Flower and there is put thereto a little of the juyce of sowr Pomegranate or Citron or sometimes only fair Water and therewith they Colour their hands And if they would have them to be of a darker Colour they rub them afterwards with Wall-nut leaves This colour will not be got off in fifteen dayes though they wash their hands several times a day Their Cloaths have no proportion to their Limbs Their Coats and upper Garments are large and hang loose not unlike the Garments of Women They express a certain Effeminacy in their gate They go as it were Jetting and Wadling and with very little Gravity I am of opinion that this scurvy Habit is deriv'd from their manner of sitting which is as our Taylors do whereto being accustomed from their infancy they are not so strong in the Hamms as they would otherwise be Diodorus Siculus ascribes the invention of this kind of Garments to Semiramis and tells the occasion of it as do also most of the other antient Authors The Coeffure of the men which they call Mendils and the Turks Tulbans or Turbants is made of Cotton cloath or some Silk stuff that is very fine and of several Coloâ—rs and being about eight or nine Ells in length comes many times about their Heads having the folds slightly sow'd or drawn with a Gold thread Those of their Priests and particularly of the Hasis is white as are also all their Garments There are some put to their Mendils a tassel of Silk which hangs down their backs or over their shoulders a quarter of an Ell or better in length The Seid that is those who pretend to be of the Posterity of Mahomet and assume the title of his Successors have their Mendils of green silk Some Persians even of the greatest of the Kingdome wear furr'd Caps the inside and outside being of Buchar Sheep skin so as that the Wool hangs down from the edges the length of a man's finger and is as soft as Silk These Caps are esteem'd in Persia as the Castors are in Europe and are sold at ten or twelve Crowns a piece They wear these about their Heads in Summer as well as VVinter though a man might think that by reason of the extreme sultriness of the weather they should be very troublesome and incommodious This custom of keeping their Heads alwayes very hot brings them to that tenderness that they dare not expose them to the Cold no not in calm weather To this purpose I conceive I may allege what Herodotus sayes to wit that after a fight between the Persians and the Egyptians where there fell a great number of men on both sides care was taken that the Bodies of both parties were dispos'd into several places and it was found some time after that the Skuls of the Persians were so thin and delicate that a man might thrust his finger into them and that on the contrary those of the Egyptians were so hard that they could not be broken with stones The reason he gives for it is that he sayes the Egyptians who were accustomed from their infancy to go bare-headed in the Sun were by that means grown hard whereas the Persians having their Heads alwayes wrapp'd about were very tender in their Skuls And indeed they never uncover them neither at their Devotions nor when they Salute other men no not when they speak to their King but when they salute any they do it by a low inclination of the Head and putting of their hand to their Breast Many of the Persians wear Red Caps whence the Turks take occasion to call them by way of derision Kisilbaschs that is to say Red-Heads Most Authors who treat of the affairs of Persia write this word Cuselbas Queselbach or Querselbach but the right name is Kisilbasch as being compounded of the word Kisil which hath two different significations to wit that of Red and of Gold and Basch which signifies a Head Paulus Iovius in the 13. Book of his Histories and after him F. Bizarro in the 10. Book of his History of Persia affirm that Tefellis Disciple of Harduellis otherwise named Eider who as they say liv'd about the beginning of the sixteenth age was the first who brought the Persians to wear Red Caps to distinguish them from the Turks at their separation from them in the business of Religion But they are both mistaken for the truth is that the Persians when they broke Communion with the Turks and made a particular Sect of the Mahumetane Religion by the advice of Schich-Sefi the Author of their new Opinions immediately held that the first Successors of Mahomet Omar Osman and Ababeker had usurp'd the Succession to the prejudice of Aaly's right and would have this last to be accounted the Propher and that his twelve Successors whom we shall name hereafter when we come to speak of the Religion of the Persians were Canoniz'd and put into the number of their Imans or Saints that they were look'd upon as having that quality and that their Ecclesiasticks or Religious men wore Red Caps made with twelve foldings in form much like the Bottles used in Languedoc and Provence which have great and flat Bellies and very long and narrow Necks This difference in matter of Religion occasion'd a great War between the two Nations wherein the Turks making advantage of their Arms were very cruel towards the Persians but especially the Ecclesiasticks by reason of the aversion which they had for that new Religion And in regard their Coiffure or
we should do but hearing that Sulthan Mahmud liv'd otherwise than his Father had done who having dishonour'd his Country by continual robberies had reform'd his life and to expiate his sins went on pilgrimage to Meca and to Mahomet's Sepulchre we accepted of his proffers and that the more willingly in that the 6. following we receiv'd Letters from Derbent wherein the Persian Ambassador sent us word that being oblig'd to continue there till he had receiv'd his dispatches and the Interpreter he expected from the Court and thinking it would be a moneth longer ere he came to Tarku he left it to our choice whether we would expect him or prosecute our journey Upon this we press'd Surchou-Chan to give order for our departure which he did after the receipt of another Present which he had the boldness to beg himself and security given for the return of the Horses and Oxen which carried our Baggage by two of the Schemkal's hostages whom we left with him taking the third along with us May 12. we left Tarku upon the dangerous word of Sulthan Mahmud We had agreed 15. dayes before with the Waggoners of Tarku but when the Baggage came to be loaden they fell from the former agreement and made us pay much more than we had promis'd them They would have done the same for the Saddle-Naggs but the Ambassadors would not condescend which occasion'd some of our people nay of the chiefest to foot it the two first dayes not without abuses and jeers from their enemies We travell'd that day two leagues through a plain and even Country but desert to a Rivulet which serves for a common Frontier between Sulthan Mahmud and the Prince of Tarku We met by the way certain Tartar Lords who intreated the Ambassadors to lend them our Physician to visit one of their friends who was sick not far thence The Physician seeming unwilling to go out of a fear he should never return they left two of their Company as hostages with us and brought him back after mid-night All our Supper that night was only Bread and troubled Water May 13. being Whitsunday we travell'd four leagues through a very woody Country We thought that day we should have been left by the way for the Muscovian Ambassador having cudgell'd one of the Waggoners all the rest would unteam and return homewards but with much intreaty and fair words we got them to stay We pass'd over the night in the Wood and those who were desirous to sleep lay down supperless The 14. we got but one league to the River Koisu which in my opinion must be that which Ptolomy calls Albanus It rises out of mount Caucasus It s Water is thick and troubled and its course very swift It is at least as broad as the Elbe in that place it was above twenty foot deep The Town or Village of Andre where Sulthan Mahmud liv'd stands upon a hill on this side of the River Near the Village there is a Spring of seething Water which falls into a Pool and makes the water thereof very fit for bathing The Inhabitants of it are for the most part Fisher-men and we saw them in great numbers upon the River-side about their employment They thrust a sharp hook baited which is fasten'd to a long pole to the bottom of the River and by that means take abundance of Sturgeons and such like fish I heard they had an odd custom at their Weddings which is that all the men bidden thereto shoot each of them an Arrow into the floor and leavâ— them there till they either rot or fall of themselves whereof I could never learn any reason As soon as they perceiv'd us they came to the River-side and proffer'd to help us over and to facilitate the getting over of the Baggage they joyn'd two Boats together over which they laid a hurdle strong enough to bear a Wagon They demanded two Crowns for the passage of every Wagon and we had about seventy and perceiving we made some difficulty to give it them and that we chose rather to make a bargain with them for all together they pass'd over to the other side where they fell a jeering and laughing at us We saw there also the Schemkal standing at the entrance of the Wood accompany'd by a great number of persons on hors-back so that we knew not what case we were in We made hurts of boughs of Trees upon the River side and had several private Assemblies in regard there was not any publick in relation to the holy time of Whitsuntide Such as profess'd Letters met at the Ambassador Crusius's where we dined having no other drink than Oxicrat that is a beveridge of Vinegar and Water which was increas'd by the tears we shed reflecting on the difference there was between our present condition and that we should be in at our return into our dear Country The 15. we intreated the Muscovian Ambassador to cross the River which he did and spoke to the Schemkal according to the instructions we had given him and prevail'd so far that the Tartars were content to take two Tumains which amount not to above forty Crowns for the passage of all the Company and the Baggage VVe cross'd the River the same day and the Ambassadors immediately caus'd their Tents to be pitch'd and fortify'd the Quarter with the Baggage which was defended by the Artillery Soon after the Schemkal accompany'd by two of his Brethren and a retinue of 50. persons on horse-back gave them the first visit He was about 36. years of age strong bulky and of a good countenance He had on a Garment of green Satin over a Coat of mail and over that a Cloak of extreme coarse cloath His Arms as also those of the rest of the Company were the Cymitar Bows and Arrows Besides a Present of certain Sheep and Lambs he caus'd some of his people to bring thither a great Chauldron full of Sturgeon cut into little pieces and boil'd in water and Salt whereto there was a sawce of fresh Butter and Sorrel I may truly say I never made a better meal and that all the delicates of Persia were not comparable to that dish The Ambassadors treated him with Aquavitae and Musick during which our brass Guns were several times discharg'd He diverted himself in that manner for the space of two hours till that being got half drunk he withdrew but return'd again within a white after We presented him with a pair of gold Bracelets a silver Goblet a Scarlet Cloak lin'd with Furr a case of Pistols a Sword a barrel of Powder certain Persia silk stuffs and some Goats-skins dress'd into leather He immediately put on the Cloak and gave his own to the Ambassador Brugman who had the prudence to humour him and assure himself of his kindness and friendship by putting him in hopes of extraordinary advantages likely to accrue to him by settlement of the Commerce for which he had travell'd so far He told him that
Feasting and Women for their Law allowing them to take all pleasures imaginable provided they do not injure their Neighbours they are willing enough to make their advantage of that permission and so pursue all the delight their hearts can wish When they eat they sit upon Tapistry and are served by a Carver They have no Napkin nor need any for they never touch the Meat with their hands They keep as many Servants as they can maintain assigning every person his particular Employment wherein the others are so exact that they who are appointed to do one thing will not do the least service for another For a Selvidar whose place it is to look to the Horses will not meddle with an Oxe or do any thing about the Cart because that is the duty of the Belluwan The Serriewan hath the oversight of the Camels and the Mahout that of the Elephants The Frassy looks to the Tents and Tapistry and the Santeles are Lacqueys These have a great Plume of Feathers on their Heads and two little Bells upon their Breasts and will easily travel fifteen or sixteen Leagues a day They are not kept in the House but have their Wages on which they live though it amounts not to above three or four Ropias a Moneth But they have withall certain Vails calied Testury yet with all the Advantages they can make of their services it is as much as they can do to subsist Their greatest expence is that which they are at about their Wives For being permitted to have three or four if they please they are oblig'd to maintain them with their Eunuchs and Slaves according to their quality by allowing them a certain sum monethly as also by finding them Cloaths Pearls and Houshold-stuffe Their Polygamy hath this convenience in it that there is no Woman but uses all Industry and Artifice imaginable to gain her Husbands affection and defeat her Rivals All the caresses all the kindnesses she can think of she makes use of to ingratiate her self There is no Drug eminent for its veneral Vertues but she will find out some means or other to give him to excite him to Voluptuousness and she thinks no complyance too great to purchase his more frequent enjoyments They have also a great kindness for the Eunuchs in whose custody they are to engage them to afford them more liberty in their restraint which they brook so ill that in those parts a man would think Polygamy should rather be permitted the Women then the Men. But of all Tradesmen are in the saddest condition in as much as the Children cannot be put to any other Trades then what their Fathers are of and there is this incouvenience withall that a piece of work must pass through three or four hands before it be finished so that all they can do is to get five or six pence a day They must accordingly fare very poorly their ordinary Diet being only Kitsery which they make of Beans pounded and Rice which they boyl together in water till the water be consumed Then they put thereto a little Butter melted and this is their Supper for all day they eat only Rice and Wheat in the grain Their Houses are low the Walls of Earth and covered with green Turfs They make no fire in their Houses for having nothing that is combustible but Cow-dung the stink of that would be insupportable whence it comes that they burn it before their Doors They also rub the walls with the same dung out of an imagination that it keeps away Fleas and other Insects Merchants are infinitely more happy then Tradesmen but they also have this inconvenience that as soon as they have gotten any wealth together they are exposed to the envy of the Grandees who find out wayes to flecce them as soon as they make any shew of it And whereas they cannot do it with Justice they many times make use of such pretences as cost those their lives who have acquired excessive riches All the Mahumetans of these parts may be said to profess the same Religion but they have among them certain Superstitions and particular manners of life whereby they are distinguished into several Sects though it may be also alledged that they are to be accounted rather so many Nations then different Sects For when they are distinguished into Patans Moguls or Mogollies and Indosthans who are subdivided into many other more considerable Fractions as Sayet Seegh and Leet it must be confess'd that if there be any difference in their humours and manner of life they brought it out of the Countreys whence they came and that it is not to be attributed to their Religion For it is certain that the Patans are those who in the precedent Travels of the Embassadours are called Padars a sort of self-conceited insolent cruel and barbarous people They sleight others for no other reason then that they are not so rash as themselves in hazarding their lives without any necessity The Moguls on the contrary who came out of great Tartary are good natur'd mild discreet civil obliging and full of complyance whence it comes that they are more respected then the others The Indosthans or Hindusthans are the ancient Inhabitants of the Country and distinguish'd from the rest by their colour which is much blacker then that of the two former These are a Rustical sort of people and covetous and not so ingenious and crafty as the Patans and Moguls In the Province of Haca-chan there lives a certain people whom they call Blotious who are of a strong constitution and courageous as the Patans They are for the most part employed about the carriage of Merchandises they let out Camels and undertake the Conduct of the Caffilas and this they do with so much fidelity that they would rather lose their lives then endure the reproach of having lost any thing committed to their charge There are no common Inns in all the Kingdom of Guzuratta nor indeed in all the Mogul's Countrey but instead thereof in Cities as also in some Villages there are certain publick Buildings called Sarai built by some persons out of Charity for the convenience of Strangers and Travellers who were it not for those would be forc'd to lie in the open Air. These are the Caravanseras which have only the four walls and a covering over head so that to be accommodated therein a Man must bring along with him what is not to be had there In travelling through the Countrey they make use of Camels Mules Horses and Oxen. They have also a kind of Coaches for two or three persons which are drawn by Oxen whereto they are so accustomed that they easily go ten or twelve leagues a day The upper part or covering of these Coaches is of Cloath or Velvet but those which carry Women are close of all sides Persons of all quality make use also of Elephants and are sometimes carried in Palanquines which are a kind
quickness as an Ape there is no Stranger will venture to do it 'T is as common in the Indies as the Olive in Spain or Willows in Holland and though the wood be sappy yet it serves for such variety of things that there is no Tree of so general an use In the Maldives Isles they make Ships that cross the Sea without any thing but what the Cocoe affords Of the outer rind they make a kind of Hemp which they call Cayro whereof they make Cordage and Cables for their Ships Of the leaves they make Sails and cover Houses with them they make of them likewise Umbrelloes Fans Tents Mats and Hats which for their lightness are very commodious in Summer These Trees are planted either for the Fruit or the Terry which is got out of them The Fruit is of the bigness of an Estridge egg and the Husk that is green as of our ordinary Nuts being dried is converted into the Thread called Cayro which I spoke of before Sometimes they gather the Fruit before it comes to perfect maturity and then it is called Lanbo whence may be drawn two pints of refreshing Liquor pleasant to drink This Juyce by degrees turns to a little Nut in taste not much unlike our Hasel-nut but something sweeter The shell of this Nut while 't is green is good to eat but being dry they make Cups Spoons and other Utensils of it or make Coal for Goldsmiths The Indians peel this Nut and extract a Milk out of it as useful to all purposes as our Cows milk None but the poor eat the Fruit because ordinarily they dry it to extract the Oyl which is good to eat useful in medicine and to burn in Lamps The fruit being kept in the shell by degrees turns to a kind of Apple which in time grows yellow and is excellent to eat They extract Wine out of it thus pulling off the Flower they fasten to it a pot of Earth they call Collao well stop'd and luted with Potters earth that it may not dye nor sharpen They know in what time the pot will be filled with a certain Liquor which they call Sura that hath the taste and quality of Whey This Liquor boyl'd makes Terry which serves them for Wine and being set in the Sun makes excellent Vinegar and stilling it in a Limbeck makes good strong-Strong-water They make likewise Sugar of it which they call Iagra but esteem it not for that 't is brown having such plenty of white The Portuguez steeping Raisins of the Sun and some other Ingredients in Sura make a Drink that hath the taste and quality of Sack The Indians esteem most the inside of this Tree for the Pith is white and as fine as any Paper we have will hold in fifty or sixty folds or as many leaves They term it Olla and use it in stead of Paper so as Persons of Quality seek much after it only for this use of the Bark they make courser paper to make up Merchandizes in The second Species of Cocoes is the Tree that the Portuguez call Arrequeiro for the Areca that comes of it whereof we spoke in the precedent Book and of which we shall have further occasion to speak more hereafter as well as of the other two kinds called Tamor and Lantor in the description of the Isle of Iava to which we shall come immediately Bananas is not any where so common as in Sumatra 't is a kind of Indian Fig-tree which grows to a mans height and produces Leaves six foot long and a foot and half broad We call it with the Portuguez the Fig-tree in regard that though the Fruit be not altogether like other Figs yet hath it the shape and colour It may be called rather a Bush then a Tree because it hath no body The Leaves begin to break forth when the Sprout is but four foot high and as some come forth others wither and fall till the Plant be at full growth and the Fruit come to maturity The bole of it is not above ten or twelve inches think and so soft that it may with ease be cut with a Knife In the middle of the Leaf there comes out a Flower as big as an Estridge Egg inclining to a violet colour out of which comes a branch which is not wood but tender as a Cabbage-stalk loaden with Figs. At first they are no bigger then a Bean but in time they grow seven or eight inches long and as big as a Cowcumber not a sprig but shall have near a hundred Figs which joyn together like a bunch of Grapes They gather them before they are full ripe which they know by their colour which is of a yellowish green then they hang them on a Nail till they ripen which will be in four or five days No stalk hath more then one bunch they cut it close to the ground whence it springs again with such vigout that in a moneth it recovers its former condition and at that rate fructifies the year throughout which is a great Maâ—na to this Country where a little sufficeth and thus they live in a manner for nothing The Cods or Husks wherein the Figs are inclosed are no less delicious and useful then the Fruit it self and as nourishing as our finest Bread and in taste much like a Cake so as this Tree alone is sufficient to feed the whole Country The Pepper of Sumatra is without doubt the best in the Indies except that of Cochim Commonly they plant it at the root of another Tree underset it with Canes or Poles as Hop or French-beans The Leaves resemble Orange-leaves only they are a little less and more sharp it grows in little branches as red Goosberries or Juniper While it hangs on the tree it is green and turns not black till it be gathered and dry which they do in December and Ianuary The places which produce most of it are Malabar Onar Barselor Mangalor Calicut Cranganor Cochim Conhon Quida Dampin Dedir Campir and Andragir the Isles of Sumatra and Bantam and certain places in the Isle of Iava They bring forth likewise white Pepper but not in so great abundance The Malayans call Pepper Lauda the Inhabitants of Iava Sahargh and the Malabars Molanga Long Pepper is not gotten but in Bengala which is another sort of Fruit like the tag of a point but something thicker and gray containing a small white grain of the same taste and use as common Pepper In Malabar and Goa there grows another sort of Pepper which they call Canarius but used only by poor people 'T is something strange but very certain that they spend more Pepper in the Indies then is brought into Europe though in the Haven of Bantam only 't is known they have laded fourty eight thousand Bags in a year for the Indians dress not any meat without handfuls of it but they never beat it nor grind it Iava an Island commonly called Iava Major to distinguish it
they put two other Canes much after the manner of a Lorrain-Cross whereto they fasten the Feet and the Hands and then the Executioner runs him through with a Pike from the right Side up to the left Shoulder and from the left Side to the right Shoulder so that being twice run through the heart he is soon dispatch'd Sometimes they only fasten the Malefactor with his Back to a Post and they make him stretch forth his Hands which are held out by two Men and then the Executioner standing behind him runs him in at the Neck and so into the Heart and dispatches him in a moment The Lords have such an absolute power over their menial Servants that there needs but a pretence to put them to death An example of this happened not long since a Servant had the insolence to address himself to a Gentleman to proffer his service to him but ask'd greater Wages then he knew the other was able to give purposely to abuse him The Gentleman perceiving the impudence of the Raskal was a little troubled at it but smother'd his indignation and only told him that his demands were very great but that he had so good an opinion of him that he must needs be a good Servant Accordingly he kept him a while but one day charging him with some neglect and reproaching him that when he should have been about his business he had been idling about the City he put him to death The Gentlemen and Souldiâ—rs are for the most part very poor and live miserably by being highly conceited of themselves most of them keep Servants though only to carry their Shoes after them which are indeed but as it were a pair of Soles made of Straw or Rushes having a hole towards the toe which keeps them on their feet The Crimes for which all of the Family or kindred are put to death are Extortion Coyning setting of Houses on fire ravithing of Women premeditated murther c. If a Mans Wife be guilty of any Crime her Husband is convicted of she dies with him but if she be innocent she is made a Slave Their punishments bear no proportion to the Crimes committed but are so cruel that it were not easie to express the barbarism thereof To consume with a gentle Fire or only with a Candle to crucifie with the Head downwards to boyl Men in seething Oyl or Water to quarter and draw with four Horses are very ordinary punishments among them One who had undertaken to find Timber and Stones for the building of a Palace for the King and had corrupted the Officers appointed by his Majesty to receive and register what he should send in was crucified with his head downwards The officers were condemn'd to rip up their bellies but the Merchant was put to the foresaid death He had the repute of an honest man and was one that had had occasion to obliege several Persons of Quality in so much that some resolved to petition the Emperour for his pardon though these intercessions for condemn'd persons be in some sort criminal and indeed the Emperour took it so ill that the Lords who had presented their Petition for him had no other answer thereto but the reproaches he made to them of their imprudence It happened in the year 1638. That a Gentleman on whom the King had bestowed the Government of a little Province near Iedo so oppressed the Country people that they were forc'd to make their complaints thereof to the Court where it was ordered that the said Gentleman and all his Relations should all have their bellies ripp'd up on the same day and as near as might be at the same hour He had a Brother who lived two hundred fourty and seven Leagues from Iedo in the service of the King of Fingo an Uncle who lived in Satsuma twenty Leagues further a Son who serv'd the King of Kinocuni a Grand-son who serv'd the King of Massamme a hundred and ten Leagues from Iedo and at three hundred and eighty Leagues from Satsuma another Son who serv'd the Governour of the Castle of Quanto two Brothers who were of the Regiment of the Emperours Guard and another Son who had married the only Daughter of a rich Merchant near Iedo yet were all these persons to be executed precisely at the same hour To do that they cast up what time were requisite to send the Order to the farthest place and having appointed the day for the execution there Orders were sent to the Princes of all the forementioned places that they should put to death all those persons upon the same day just at noon which was punctually done The Merchant who had bestowed his Daughter on that Gentlemans Son died of grief and the Widow starv'd her self Lying is also punished among them with death especially that which is said in the presence of the Judge The forementioned punishments are only for Gentlemen Souldiers Merchants and some other persons of mean quality but Kings Princes and great Lords are ordinarily punished more cruelly then if they were put to death For they are banished into a little Island named Faitsensima which lies fourteen Leagues from the Province of Iedo and is but a League about It hath neither Road nor Haven and it is so steepy all about that no doubt it was with the greatest danger imaginable that the first who got up to it made a shift to do it Those who first attempted to climb it up found means to fasten great Poles in certain places whereto they have tyed ropes with which they draw up those that are sent thither and make fast the boats which otherwise would split against the Rocks with the first Wind. There grows nothing in all the Island but a few Mulberry-trees so that they are obliged to send in provisions for the subsistance of the Prisoners They are relieved every moneth as is also the Garrison kept there but they are dieted very sparingly as being allow'd only a little Rice some roots and other wretched fare They hardly afford them a lodging over their heads and with all these miseries they oblige them to keep a certain number of Silk-worms and to make a certain quantity of Stuffs every year The expence which the Emperour of Iapan is at every year in his Court and what relates thereto to wit the sallaries and allowances of the Officers and Counsellours amounts yearly to four millions of Kockiens and the sallaries of Governours of places and Military persons together with the Pensions he gives amount to five millions of Kockiens They who speak of the Soveraign Prince of all Iapan give him the quality of Emperour in as much as all the other Lords of the Country on whom they bestow that of King depend on him and obey him not only as Vassals but as Subjects since it is in his power to condemn them to death to deprive them of their Dignities to dispossess them of their Territories to banish or send them
is not of any certain weight save only in gross or when it amounts to such a sum from the value of seven pence to six shillings or better There is also a great difference in the value of the Caxias for of some of them a thousand are worth but Crown whereas of others the same number may amount to three Crowns and a half Much about the time of our Travels the Emperour had ordered them to be caried down intending to have a new Money made of Brass and that the poorer sort might not be ruined thereby he caused the bad Money to be called in and made good the value of it to such as brought it in This Country wants not any kind of Cattel but is so much the more abundant therein out of this respect that they do not geld any Creature Thence it comes they are well stor'd with Houses Bulls Kine Swine Deer wild Boars Bears Dogs c. as also with all sorts of Fowl as Swans Geese Ducks Herns Cranes Eagles Falcons Pheasants Pidgeons Woodcoocks Quails and all the other sorts of small Birds that we have in these parts There are also in this Country several sorts of Mineral Waters very good against divers Diseases Some have the taste and qualities of Copper others that of Saltpeter Iron Tin Salt and there is among others a Source of hot water which hath the taste of Tin and issues out of a Caye which is about ten foot diameter at the mouth and hath both above and below several picked Stones like Elephants teeth so that it somewhat resembles that figure by which some would represent the Jaws of Hell The Water which comes out of it in great bubbles day and night constantly is not so hot but that it may be endured as soon as it is out of the Source so that there is no need of mixing any other water therewith There is in this Country in a spacious Plain at the foot of a Mountain not far from the Sea-side another Source which gives Water but twice in four and twenty hours and that during the space of an hour at each time unless it be when the East-wind blows for then it gives water four times a day This water comes out of a hole which Nature hath made in the ground and which they have cover'd with several great Stones but when the time of its floud as I may call it is come the water is forced out with such violence amidst the Stones that it shakes them all and makes a cast twenty or twenty four foot high with such noise as would drown that of a great Gun It is so hot that it is impossible fire should raise ordinary water to so high a degree of heat as the earth gives this for it immediately burns the stuffes on which it falls and keeps its heat much longer then the water that hath been boil'd over the fire The Well is inclosed with a high Wall having at the bottom thereof several holes through which the water runs into certain Channels and so is brought into the houses where they bath themselves reducing it to such a degree of warmth as may be endured Some affirm that their Physicians are so able that there is no Disease which they cannot discover by the Pulse They are perfectly well skill'd in the vertues of Simples and Drugs especially those of the Radix Chinat and Rhubarbe whereof they make use in their Recipe's which for the most part consist in Pills with very good success They are also very fortunate in the curing of ordinary Diseases but Chirurgery is not as yet known among them The Mineral Waters we spoke of before are a sufficient demonstration that there are in Iapan Mines of all sorts of Metals Accordingly there is found Gold Silver Copper Tin Iron and Lead The Country brings forth also Cotton Flax and Hemp wherewith they make very fine Cloaths It produces also Silk and affords abundance of Goat and Deer skins the richest Works of Wood and Lacque of any in the World all sorts of Provisions and medicinal Drugs They have among others a particular Invention for the melting of Iron without the using of any fire casting it into a Tun done about on the inside with about half a foot of Earth where they keep it with continual blowing and take it out by Ladles full to give it what form they please much better and more artificially then the Inhabitants of Liege are able to do So that it may be said Iapan may live without its Neighbours as being well furnish'd with all things requisite to life The Portuguez came to the knowledge of Iapan by means of the Trade they drove in the Kingdom of Siam and Cambodia They found it no hard matter to settle themselves there in as much as the Iaponneses had not at first any aversion for their Ecclesiastical Ceremonies so that in a short time the Roman Catholick Religion got such footing there that they were permitted to build Churches in several places of the Kingdom and particularly at Nangasacky But the Spaniards too soon discover'd the Design they had to establish themselves there and had not the reservedness to smother that haughty homour which would reign all over the World which occasion'd the Iaponneses first to set upon and afterwards to burn their Ships in so much that in the year 1636. they banish'd them the Country with Prohibitions upon pain of Death not to return into it The Dutch have traded thither ever since the year 1611. and still continue it so much to their advantage that their Commerce to Iapan is worth what they carry on all over the rest of the Indies They affirm in the Relation of the Voyage they made thither in the year 1598. that the City of Meaco is one and twenty Leagues about but that it had been much ruined by the precedent Civil Wars That Ossacks and Boungo are Cities which for Wealth may be compared to any other in the Indies That the Emperours of Iapan were ordinarily interr'd in the City of Coyo of if they made choice of any other place for their Sepulture yet were some of their Bones carried thither though it were but a Tooth That the City of Piongo eighteen Leagues from Meaco was in some part ruined during the Civil Wars of Nobananga who was defeated by Faxiba the Predecessour of Taicko and that what remained of it was partly destroy'd by an Earthquake that happened in the year 1596. and partly by the fire which consumed the wretched remainders of it some time after The Cities of Sacay Voluquin Founay Tosam and several others are also very considerable ones The Air is good and healthy though more inclin'd to cold then heat and yet the Iaponneses sow their Corn at the beginning of May but cut not the Rice till September They have neither Butter nor Oyl and have an aversion against Milk out of an imagination that the Souls of Beasts
though some Cocos-trees and Date-trees only excepted all the other Trees are wild In the Vallies there are some Fruit-trees but such as bear no Fruit are not the less esteemed for that for these are they which yield the fairest Ebony in all the East Some oâ— it is as black as any Jet and as smooth as Marble but the yellow and red is of greater value then the other as being more rare There is as well in the Rivers of it as the Sea about it such abundance of Fish that at one casting of the Net as many may be taken as will fill two or three Tun falted The Hollanders in their Relations affirm that they took a Thornback which found all in the Ship two good Meals and that they saw there Tortoyses so big that four Sea-men sitting on the back of one of them it went as well as if it had had no burthen at all Whereto they add that they were so large that ten Men might sit upon ones Shell The Island is not inhabited whence it comes that the Birds are so tame that a man may take them with his hand and they are commonly killed with Cudgels especially the Turtles whereof there is such abundance that the Dutch in less then two hours took above a hundred and fifty and might have taken more if they could have carried them There is also great store of Herons and a kind of Birds of the bigness of a Swan which have neither Wings nor Tail but so hard a flesh that no heat can either boyl or roast it There is no four-footed Creature in all the Island but for other refreshments and particularly for the taking in of fresh water there is not a fitter place any way near it When the Dutch came thither in September 1601. they found there a French Souldier who had left his Country some three years before with three English Ships which were the first in those parts that attempted failing into the Indies upon the account of Pyracy Of these three Ships one was cast away near the Cape of Good hope and sickness having consumed most of the men they that remained set fire on the second in regard for want of men they were not able to govern it The third was wrack'd upon the Coasts of the Indies where all the men were lost seven only excepted to wit four English men two Negroes and a French Souldier who attempted to return with some booty which they disposed into a Cannow wherein they set to Sea and made a shift to get to Maurice Island The two Negroes had a design there to rid themselves of their Camerades but being discovered they cast themselves into the Sea and were drowned The four English men would prosecute their Voyage but the French Souldier chose rather to continue in the Isle then double the Cape and expose himself to the mercy of the Sea in so small a Vessel Accordingly of the English men there was no more news heard The French man had been twenty moneths in the Island when the Dutch came thither He was stark naked in regard that having been in a burning Feaver which heightned into a degree of madness he had torn his clothes so that having not had any thing about him ever since his sickness nor fed on any thing but the raw Tortoyses he took they were not a little surpriz'd at the sight of him and conceived it would be no easie matter to restore him to his Senses though he behaved himself well enough otherwise and was in very good health We got so near Maurice Island that we clearly saw it but in regard the wind continued fair the President called together the chief Officers and represented to them that if they put into the Island they should lose at least ten dayes time whereas if the wind continued fair as it then was we might in that time reach the Cape of Good hope and so avoid the inconveniences of wintering in the Island of Madagascar whereupon it was resolved we should prosecute our Voyage which we did and the same day got out of sight of Maurice Island March 29. After Sermon the President acquainted all the men with the reasons which had obliged him to change his resolution of taking in Water at Mourice Island and made it appear that if they had gone to refresh themselves in the Island they must have lost the convenience of the Wind and the fairest Season of the year and so the means of finishing their Voyage exhorting all to take courage and execute his Orders and to be content with their allowance which should be equal to what those had who sate at his own Table March 30. We passed the Tropick of Capricorn continuing our course towards West-South-West April 1. We were at 26. degrees three minutes The Wind began to abate and towards the night it rain'd and blew not at all yet ere we were so becalm'd we had made a shift to get forty Leagues in twenty four hours The next day we saw several Whales and night the Wind rose and in a short time grew into an absolute Tempest Our course was still to the West-south-west in order to our gaining the South which was to bring us to the Cape of Good hope The 3. We altered our course a little taking it more towards the West We were then at 28. degrees 30. minutes and in 24. hours we got 50. Leagues April 5. We had but little Wind and in regard the Compass still varied and declined we took our course towards the West instead of taking it to the South as we should otherwise have done In these two days we made 73. Leagues The next day we were at 30. degrees Latitude The 7. We began to perceive that we should not long enioy the good Wind had attended us some dayes before Accordingly the next day we had a great calm at 32. degrees Latitude The 9. The Wind rising again put us into some confidence that within a few dayes we should reach the Cape of Good hope from which we could not be above three hundred Leagues distant From that day to the 14. we still advanced somewhat That being Easter day the President made a great Entertainment whereof all in the Ship participated The 15. The North-west-wind grew to a great Tempest and our Sea-men assirm'd that they smelt Land being confirm'd in their perswasion by those Birds which the Portuguez call Pintados and which alwayes keep within the distance of fourty Leagues of the Land The Tempest ceased with the morning of the 16th and our Sea-men persisted in affirming we were near the Coast in regard many Birds were seen about the Ship The 17. Towards night there blew a fresh Gale of wind but the next day and the night following we had no wind at all yet was the Sea as rough as it proved to be afterwards in the Tempest which surpriz'd us the 19. at night with the South-west wind at