about the Pillar which hides the jointing so that they which look upon it from the Ground perceive no jointing at all That Pillar hath been so often shaken by Earthquakes and so battered by Fires happening near it that it is cleft in many places and they are forced to bind it about with Iron-hoops that it may not fall to pieces They say That the Statue of Apollo once stood upon that Pillar and that afterwards the Statues of Constantine and of Theodosius the Elder were erected there but they are all thrown down either by the force of the Winds or by Earthquakes The Greeks tell this Story concerning the Obelisk in the Hippodrome which I mentioned before viz. That it fell off from its Basis and lay for many Ages upon the Ground but in the tiâ—e of the later Emperors there was an Architect found who undertook to raise it up to its Place but he demanded a vast Reward for his Pains after the price was agreed on he prepar'd abundance of Ropes Pullies and other Instruments and by that means he lift'd up that vast Stone within one Inch of the Place where it was to stand but his present Apparatus being able to raise it no higher the People who in great numbers were his Spectators were of Opinion that all his former Cost and Pains was lost and he must begin anew to try to do the Feat some-other way to his vast Expence and Charge But he himself was not discourag'd but being skilful in Mechanick Philosophy he caused abundance of Water to be brought up to him which for many hours he cast upon the Ropes at which the Obelisk hung and those Ropes being often wet and dry according to their Nature shrunk a little and by that means lift'd up the weight to it s design'd Station to the great Admiration and Applause of the Vulgar At Constantinople I saw several sorts of wild Beasts such as Lynxes Catta-Mountains Panthers Leopards and Lyons but they were so gentle and tame that I saw one of the Keepers pull a Sheep out of a Lions Mouth so that he only moistned his Jaws with the Blood without devouring him I saw also a young Elephant so wanton that he could dance and play at Ball. Sure you cannot chuse but laugh when I tell you of an Elephant's dancing and playing at Ball but if I should say no more why may you not believe me as well as Seneca who tells us of One that could dance upon the Rope Or as Pliny who speaks of Another that understood Greek But that you may not think me an egregious Forger give me leave to explain my self When this Elephant was bid to dance he did so caper or quaver with his whole Body and interchangeably move his Feet that he seem'd to represent a kind of a Jig and as for playing at Ball he very prettily took up the Ball in his Trunk and sent it packing therewith as we do with the Palm of the Hand And if this be not to dance and play at Ball I know not what is Among those wild Beasts there had been a Camelopardalis but she died a little before I came to Constantinople however I caus'd her Bones which had been buried in the Earth to be digg'd up that I might inspect the make of this Creature It is an Animal a great deal taller in the forepart than in the hinder and for that Reason it is unfit to carry a Man or any other Burthen It hath an Head and a Neck like a Camel but a spotted Skin like a Lizard and therefore it is called by a Name deriv'd from both i. e. Camelopardalis It might have been imputed as a piece of great neglect in me not to have visited the Euxin especially having opportunity to sale thither seeing the Ancients us'd to account it as great a piece of Curiosity to see Pontus as to visit Corinth Thither therefore I sail'd with a prosperous Gale and had the Privilege to be admitted into some of the Pleasure-houses of the Grand Seignior In the Valves of one of them I beheld the famous Fight of Selimus with Ishmael King of the Persians excellently described in Checker-work I had also the view of many of the Orchards and Groves of the Turkish Emperor which were seated in most pleasant Vallies this I may say of them That they ow'd little to Art but almost all to Nature So that I could not chuse but entertain such Epiphonema's as these in my Thoughts O most pleasant Houses for Nymphs O choice Seats for the Muses O Retirements fit for the Learned To deal plainly with you as I told you before they seem'd to me as it were sensibly to bewail their present Posture and to cry aloud to Christians for their better cultivation and not they only but much more Constantinople it self yea and all Greece too which being heretofore the most flourishing Country in the World is now wofully inslaved by Barbarians heretofore it was the Mother and Nurse of all good Arts and liberal Sciences but now alas it seems to call for that Culture and Humanity which once it deliver'd down to us and by way of requital claims the Redemption of our Common Religion from that Scythian Barbarism under which it groans and call it may long enough for with Grief may we speak it Christian Princes now a days are otherwise imploy'd so that the Turks do not more domineer over the poor Greeks than Vices such as Luxury Gluttony Sloth Lust Pride Ambition Avarice Hatred Envy and Emulation do reign over Christians which do so clog enervate and depress our Minds that we can hardly look up Heaven-ward nor can we so unmanacle our selves as to aspire to any thing that is truly Great or Excellent Methinks Duty and Piety should have been sufficient Motives to us to help our afflicted Brethren but if we had been proof against those Incentives so that neither brave nor praise-worthy Actions could unthaw our frozen Courage yet Profit and Advantage which are now the great Byas of the World might have set us a Gog to recover such opulent and commodious Countries from Infidels and to possess them our selves But on the contrary forsooth we plow the Ocean even as far as the Indies and the very Antipodes because there we get rich Prey and Spoil at a cheap rate even without Bloodshed by imposing on the simple and uncrafty Indians 'T is true we pretend the Conversion of the Heathens but if we go to the Root of the Matter to our shame be it spoken 't is their Gold not their Godliness is the Gain we seek for Our Ancestors carried it quite and clean at another rate who did not like Huckstring Merchants seek after those Places where there was most Wealth but where there was greater opportunity for Noble and Vertuous Atchievments So that it was not Profit but Honour which put them upon hazardous and remote Expeditions And when they came home they were more laden with Glory than with
the shallowness of that River for want of Water For tho' it be a great and famous River yet in most Places it is fordable For I remember in my return from Constantinople we forded over the same Hebrus near Philippopolis to an Island on the other side where we lay in our Tents all Night but so it hapned that the Waters swelled that Night by reason of Rain so that the next Morning we could not repass the River to come into the Road without a great deal of trouble The City of Philippopolis is situate on one of the three little Hills disjoyned and as it were rent from the rest of the Mountains and is as the grace of those little Hillocks While we were at Philippopolis we saw Rice growing like Wheat in the watry and marshy Grounds The whole Plain about the Town is full of little round Hills of Earth which the Turks say were raised on purpose as Monuments of the frequent Battles fought in those Fields and the Graves of such as were slain there From hence leaving the River Hebrus something on the Right and Mount Hoemus which runs forth into Pontus on the left at last we passed over the Hebrus on a famous Bridge made by Mustapha and so came to Hadrianople which the Turks call Endrene This City was formerly called Orestia before the Emperor Hadrian inlarged it and called it by his own Name It is seated at the confluence of the River Mariza or Hebrus and the two small Currents of Thinsa and Harda which there meeting in a joint Stream run into the Egean Sea This City is not very large within the Walls but if you take in the Suburbs aâ—d the Buildings which the Turks have added without it is very capacious We staid but one day at Hadrianople and then went forward on the last Stage of our Journy towards Constantinople to which we drew nearer day by day In my way thither there grew abundance of Narcissus's Hyacinths and as the Turks call them Tulips which we beheld not without admiration that in the midst of Winter which is not favourable to such Flowers in other Countries the Ground should be so garnished by them As for Narcissus's and Hyacinths's all Greece abound with them and they are so odoriferous that by reason of their multitude they are offensive to those Heads that are unaccustomed to such kind of Smels But the Tulip hath little or no Smell but its gaudiness and party-colouredness is its greatest commendation The Turks are great Admirers of Flowers so that tho' they are parsimonious enough in other cases yet for a stately Flower they will not scruple to give some Aspers And the truth is these kind of Flowers tho' they were presented to me as a Gift yet they cost me a great deal of Mony for some Aspers were always expected in requital Neither is there any other way of treating with a Turk but by opening the Purse-strings as soon as any Christian comes among them neither must he think to shut them again till he go out of their Country While he is there he must scatter his Coin and if he get no other advantage by it yet it makes them more tractaâ—leâ— For the Turks are so ill-natured and such undervaluers of all Nations but their own that without this Open-handedness there were no more living among them for Strangers than in the most desolate and uninhabited Places by reason of the excessiveness either of Cold or Heat but with the bait of Liberality you may catch a Turk at any time About the mid-way between Hadrianople and Constantinople there is a little Town called Chiurli memorable for the overthrow which Selimus received in a Battel against his Father Bajazet out of which he escaped by the swiftness of his Horse called Carabonluch i. e. a Black Cloud and so fled to the Cham or the Precopeian Tartar who was his Father-in-Law Before we came to Selimbria which is a Town standing on the Sea-side in our way we saw the Ruins of an old Wall and Ditch which were made by the later Emperors of Greece which reached from that Sea to the Danow to secure all that was contain'd within that Fortification to the Constantinopolitans against the Incursions of the Barbarians and there goes a Story that when that Wall was a Building a certain old Man delivered his Opinion to his Wife viz. That that Wall would not so much secure what was within it from the hands of the Infidels as it would expose and subject it to their rage and fury in regard it would add Courage to the Barbarians to assault it and weaken the Courage of the Grecians to defend it At Selimbria we had a most pleasant prospect of a calm Sea and 't was very pleasant to us to behold the smooth Water and to gather Cockles on the Shore yea to behold Sholes of Dolphins sporting in the Water which with the warmness of the Air was very delightful to us It can hardly be imagined how mild the Weather was in those Parts tho' sometimes it be a little more boistrous at Chiurli but here there is as I may call it a Thracian Gale and an incredible sweetness of Air. When we came near to Constantinople we passed over two pleasant Arms of the Sea upon a Bridge built over them I may safely say That if those Places were cultivated by Art as they are naturally Pleasant the Sun never shone on a better Country but alas they seem to mourn for the neglect put upon them by the insulting Barbarian Here we had our fill of choice Sea-fishes which were even taken in our sight When I lodged in those Inns the Turks call Imaret I usually observed that the cracks of the Walls were all full of pieces of Paper and thinking something was the matter but not knowing what I took out some of them and finding nothing writ therein of any consequence I was more earnest to know of the Turks the reason of their so doing especially seeing I had observed the same thing in other Places of Turky before At first they scrupled to tell me as thinking perhaps that I would not believe them or else not being willing to impart so great a Mystery of things to such an Alien as my self This made me the more inquisitive till at last some of them with whom I became more familiar told me That the Turks gave a great deal of deference to Paper because the name of God may be written in it And therefore they will not suffer the least bit of Paper to lye upon the Ground but presently they take it up and thrust it into some chink or hold or other that so it may not be trampled under foot and hitherto perhaps their Superstition may be tolerable but mark what follows In the day of Judgment say they when Mahomet shall call up his Followers from their Purgatory to which they were condemned for their Sins to Heaven to be there made Partakers of Eternal
transplanted into another This Town of Ancyra was our 9th Stage from Constantinople it is a Town of Galatia sometimes the Seat of the Gauls called by Pliny Tectosagum nor was it unknown to Strabo Tho' perhaps the present Town is but part of the old Town called in the Canons Anguira Here we saw a stately Superscription and a Sampler of those Tables wherein the Atchievments of Augustus were summarily comprehended I caused as much of it as we could read to be transcribed It is cut in the Marble Walls of that Structure which heretofore was the Town-hall but is now demolished so that one part of it is visible to those that enter on the right Hand and the other to those that enter upon the left The top Chapiters are almost entire the middle is full of Clefts and the lowermost part of it is so battered with Clubs and Hatches that it cannot be read which Loss cannot be sufficiently lamented by all Lovers of Learning and so much the more because the Commons of Asia dedicated this City to Augustus Here also we were Eye-witnesses of the dying of that Cloth I spake of before made of Goats-wool and how they Camlet it or give it its Water-colour 't is done thus They pour Water upon it and by means of a Cloth-press cause it to receive that Colour That is counted the best which is most variegated in every part and if in any piece the Water-colours do not deeply and uniformly appear that piece tho' of the same Colour and made of the same Wool is valued at some Gilders less than another because it is not so deeply tinctured The better sort of Turks in their old Age are usually clothed with this sort of Cloth and Solyman himself used to wear Vests of it but Green is a Colour disused much by Christians and the rather because the Turks commend it upon a superstitious Account as being worn by their Prophet Mahomet in his older days A black Colour is counted unfortunate and is disâ—ik'd by them and when they see any Man so clad they look on it as an ill Omen so that when any of Ours did approach the Bassa's in a black Habit they look'd asquint on us and made sad Complaints and the truth is none of their own appear in black but either one that is desperately poor or else so overwhelm'd with some great calamity that he regards not what Cloths he wears A Purple Colour is a creditable Colour with them only it is an Omen of much Bloodshed in time of War But the ordinary approved Colours among them are the White the Yellow the Sea-green the Violet-colour and Mouse-colour c. The Turks ascribe very much to Augury and Omens Good or Bad so that it hath been known that some Bassa's have been remov'd from their Places and Offices by reason of a fall from their Horse as if that were an Omen of some ill luck which is averted from the Publick by falling on the Head of that private and particular Person who is thereupon degraded From Ancyra we came to a Village called Balygazar and from thence to Zarekneth from Zarckneth to Zetmetzii and to the Bank of the River Halys As we past through a Village called Algii we saw at some distance the neighbouring Mountains of Synopi which were red like Vermillion and from which red Lead is called Synopi ' This Halys is the famous River which was heretofore the Boundary of the two Kingdoms of the Medes and Lydians concerning which there was an ancient Oracle That when Crâ—sus pass'd it to make War on the Persians he should overthrow a great Empire which fell out to be his Own whereas he thought it would have been the Persians Near the Bank of this River there was a Wood which seem'd to us to bear an unknown Shrub but when we drew near we found it to be Liquorice and with the Juice of its Root we refresh'd our selves abundantly Near that River we met with a Country-man and asking him by an Interpreter Whether that River did abound with Fish And how they used to catch them He answered That there were Fishes enough but no Body could catch them When he saw we wondred at his Answer he proceeded For says he if a Man strive to take them up in his Hands away presently they swim and will not stay to be catched This Answer was the less surprizing to me because when we had lighted upon some unknown Birds and demanded of the Country-men how we might take them One or other of them told us That they could not be taken for if any Body endeavoured to lay Hands on them they would fly away But one of my Collegues Francis Hay having some Nets with him caused them to be cast for the catching of Fish we took a great Draught of them and especially the Silurus or Shetefish which are common in the Danow Besides there is in that River good store of Sea-crabs or else a sort of Fish very like them Whereupon the Turks who saw our Fishing wondred at the Industry and Ingenuity of Christians who would catch Fish at that rate Hereupon perhaps you will say What are there no Fishermen in Turky Which I grant there are but very few of them live in those Parts And I remember in another Place when the Turks saw us turn the Stream out of its course to catch Gudgeons at the bottom they laughed us to pieces What said they do you catch such small guddling Fish What are they good for This Ninny-Hammer did not understand that a great many of those Fishes would make a dainty Dish enough to suffice many Guests But the Turks are so parsimonious that they don't study their Bellies at all give them but Bread and Garlick or an Onion with a sort of Bonniclabber or four Milk known in Galen's time by the name of Syllabub but called by them Ingurthe they feed like Farmers and desire nothing more They make this Drink thus they dilute this Milk with cold Water and then cram Bread into it this they use in the hottest Weather and when they are more athirst and we ourselves found great Benefit by it in our greatest Droughts It is a Repast very grateful to the Palate and Stomach and it is of admirable Vertue in quenching the most vehement Thirst. There is abundance of it already made for Sale in all the Turkish Inns or Caravasaras as well as all other sorts of Soop As for hot Meat or Flesh the Turks don't much use them in their Travels their usual Dyet on the Road are Syllabubs Cheese dry'd Plums Pears Peaches Quinces Figs Raisins and Cornel-berries all those are exposed to Sale in great earthen Platters boyl'd in clean Water every one takes what he likes best Those Fruits with Bread is his Food and the Water which remains serves for Drink Thus their Meat and Drink stand them in very little so that I dare say one Christian spends more Mony on his Belly in one
day than a Turk doth in twelve yea their most solemn Feasts consist of Wafers Cakes and such like Junkets together with several Dishes of Rice with some Mutton and Pullet for Capons are not yet known in Turky but as for Pheasants Thrushes and Birds called Figcaters they never so much as heard of their Names But if Hony and Sugar be mix'd with the Water the Drink is like Ioves Nectar to them One sort of their Liquors I had almost forgot 't is this They take Raisins of the Sâ—n and bruise or grind them in a Mill and then put them into a wooden Vessel pouring a certain proportion of hot Water upon them This Mixture they stir about a little and then cover the Vessel close and suffer it to ferment a day or two if it doth work well then they add Lees of Wine to quicken the Operation When it first begins to ferment if you taste it 't is over-sweet and that makes it more unrelishable but afterwards it acquires something of an Acid Tast which mixt with the Sweet is very grateful to the Palate for about three or four days especially if it be mixed with Snow of which there is plenty at Constantinople at all times This Drink they call Arabsorbet i. e. the Arabian Potion but it will not keep long but grows sour in a very little time 'T will fly up in your Head and make you reel as bad as any Wine if you drink too much of it and therefore the Turks by the Rules of their Religion are for bidden to drink it For my part I liked it very well yea that sort of Grapes were very acceptable and refreshing in many Places they keep them all Summer long The way of preserving them they told me was this They take large Bunches of Grapes ston'd as the hot Sun quickly ripens them in those Countries these they put in a Wooden or Earthen Vessel in the bottom whereof they first lay a line of groun'd Mustard-seed then they spread a line of Grapes upon it thus with a lay of Grapes and a lay of grinded Mustard-seed they fill it up to the top and when the Vessel is full then they pour in new Must as much as will fill all the Interstice then they shut it close and so let it stand till the hot time of the next Year when Men stand most in need of Drink Then these Vessels are broach'd and the Grapes with its Liquor are set to sale The Turks like the Liquor as well as the Grapes but I did not so well like the Tast of the Mustard-seed and therefore I caused the Grapes to be washed and then when I was most thirsty they gave me great Relief I hope you will give me leave to commend a Food to you that did me so much good seeing the Egyptians though preposterously esteem'd their Herbs and Plants which were contributory to their Health as so many Deities But 't is time for a Wanderer to return back into the Way From the Bank of the River Halys which as I remember the Turks call Aitoczu we came to Gonknrthoy from thence to Choron and from thence to Theche Theoi where the Turks have a stately Monastry for their Priests and Monks call'd Dervises These Dervises told us a great Story of a certain Man called Chederles of an huge Stature and Graveness of Mind answerable thereto They suppose it was the same with our St. George and ascribe the same Exploits to him as the saving of a Virgin by the Slaughter of a huge and terrible Dragon To which they add many Fables and Imaginations of idle Brains as that he Travelled over several Countries far and near and at last came to a River whose Waters made those that drank them Immortal but in what part of the World this River is they cannot tell us in some Vtopia doubtless They say moreover that it lies somewhere in a great Cloud or Mist of Darkness and that never a Man saw it since Cherderles As for Cherderles himself he was made Immortal and so was his Horse or stately Prancer on which he rides by drinking the same Water who now both do invisibly travel over the World delighting in Wars and appearing therein to the most Valiant or to those who implore his Aid of what Religion soever they be Such ridiculous Fancies do they please themselves with To which we may add other things as absurd as those before mentioned That he was one of the Friends and Companions of Alexander the Great For the truth is the Turks keep no just Account either of Times or Ages but make a confus'd Hodg-podg of all History When they have a mind to it they scruple not to say That Job was Master of the Horse to King Solomon and that Alexander the Great was General of his Army with such-like Stuff In that Monastry or Mosch for so the Turks call their Temples and Churches there is a Fountain that bubbles forth very clear and limpid Water it is built about and clad with most excellent Marble and they ridiculously would have people believe that it had its Original from Chederle's Horse which he pissed in great plenty in that place They also told us many Rodâ—mantadâ—'s concerning the Companions of Chederles concerning his chief Groom and also concerning his Nephew by his Sister all which were buried near at hand and their Sepulchers there to be seen and when any Suppliants come to pay their Devotions to them they would have persuaded us that they received great Relief thereby yea they superstitiously affirm That the Fragments of the Stones and the very Earth it self on which Chederle's Feet stood when he staid for the Dragon if drank in any Liquor are very good against Fevers against the Head-ach and against the Diseases of the Eyes All the Country thereabouts is full of Dragons and Vipers so that in the hot Season of the Year they are so thick basking themselves in the Sun that the Ways are almost unpassable for Travellers I had almost forgot to tell you that whereas the Greeks do usually paint St. George on Horse-back in their Temples with his Squire behind him holding out to him a Cup of Wine as to his Master he being as they believe their Chederles they laugh heartily at that Spectacle At this Place we were near our Journies end for now we had but one Stage more to Amasia and that was Baglison from thence we reach'd Amasia April 7 and thirty days after we left Constantinople as we were comeing some Turks met us to gratulate our Arrival and to introduce us with Honour Amasia is in a manner the chief City of Cappadocia where the Turkish Governor of that Province usually had his Residence for the administration of Justice and where he usually forms his Camp But that Town ever since Bajazet's time seem'd to be very unlucky and of late the miserable case of Mustapha hath confirm'd it to be an unfortunate Seat Strabo writes that he was born
a Garter which was full of Amulets against Poyson which they are most afraid of and the Grooms that are to dress them are as indulgent as their Masters they frequently sleek them down with their Hands and never use any Cudgel to bang their Sides but in cases of great necessity This makes their Horses great Lovers of Mankind and they are so far from kicking winâ—ing or growing untractable by this gentle usage that you shall hardly find such a masterless Horse among them But alas our Christian-Grooms treat Horses at another-guess rate they never think them rightly curried till they thunder at them with their Voice and let their Club or Horse-whip as it were dwell on their Sides This makes some Horses even to tremble when their Keepers come into the Stable so that they hate them and fear them too But the Turks love to have their Horses very gentle that at a word of Command they may fall down on their Knees and in this posture receive their Riders They will take up a Staff or Club upon the Road which their Rider hath let fall with their Teeth and hold it up to him again and when they are perfect in this Lesson then for their Credit they have Rings of Silver hung on their Nostrils as a Badge of Honour and good Discipline I saw some Horses when their Master was fallen from the Saddle that would stand Stock-still without wagging a Foot till he got up again Another time I saw a Groom standing at a distance in the midst of a whole Ring of Horses about him and at a word of Command they would either go round or stand still Once upon a time I saw some Horses when their Master was at Dinner with me in an upper-Room did prick up their Ears to hear his Voice and when they did so they neighed for Joy And yet this is usual and common to all Turkish Horse that they run forward with a stiff and stretch'd-out Neck so that they cannot easily be stopp'd or hinder'd in their Course but by fetching a large compass about which in my Judgment is the fault of the Briâ—les they wear which all over Turky are of one Make and not contrived harsher or tenderer according to the Neashiness of the Horses Mouth I must also acquaint you That the Turks do not Shooe their Horses as we Christians do our Shooes are very open in the middle but theirs are broad-web'd Shooes that so their Feet may be less endangered in Travelling Their Horses do also live longer than Ours I have seen an Horse of theirs as lusty at 20 Years old as ours are at eight yea they say in the Stables of their Emperor there are Horses of 50 Years old and which for some great Merit are exempt from Labour and feed daily at the Seignior's Charge The Turks in Summer-nights when the Weather is hot do not keep their Horses in their Stables as we do but do cover their Backs with Horse-cloths and so bring them forth into the open Air as I told you before and for Litter they have only dry'd Horse-dung which they save all the Year long and spread under them for their Bedding As for Straw they make no use of it at all either for Littering or Feeding them Their usual Food is a little Hay and a small quantity of Barly with this Meat they grow not fat for their Masters love lean Horses as being fitter for Race and Burden than foul-bodied ones They cover them with Horse cloths both in the Winter and Summer only they are thinner in the One than in the Other This contributes much to the smoothness of their Hair and is also a good relief to their chilly Horses which cannot endure the Cold. In those Steeds as I lately told you I take a great deal of Delight when about Sun-set they are brought out of their Stables and placed in a row in the Yard where I call each Horse by his usual Name as Arahs Caramanian c. whereupon they fall a Neighing and give a Glance of their Eyes and stare at me Sometimes I go down among them and give to each of them a piece of Melon-rind out of my Hand which makes them know me so well Thus you see what Shifts I am put to to drive away my Melancholy I have also six She-camels which I keep by me ready to carry my Baggage as I pretend to the Turks but my true Design is to bring them to my Master the Emperor if peradventure he with other Chriâ—â—ian Princes may have a Fancy to them to breed them because of their great use There are two things of which the Turks make mighty Advantage of which are Rice among the Fruits of the Earth and Camels among the Beasts of the Field both of them very convenient in their several Kinds for long Expeditions as for Rice it is not easily spoil'd it affords very wholsome Nourishment and a little of it will serve a great many People And for Camels they'â— carry huge Burdens they will endure Hunger and Thirst to admiration and also they require little Attendance one Keeper will keep six or eight of them and no Creature in the World is more obsequious to his Owner than the Camel and for currying of them they do it not with a Curry-Comb as we do but with Brushes as we do our wearing Apparel they rather kneel than lie down on the naked Ground and in this Posture they offer themselves to be loaded if you lay too much on their Backs they'â— grumble a little and refuse to rise for their Backs will be easily broken under over-great Burdens especially in Ways that are slippery and dirty I was mightily taken to see them stand all round in a Ring and with their join'd Heads take Water or other Food out of the same Bason or other Vessel with such agreement among them and when Fodder is scarce they live upon tops of Brambles or Thorns and when their Chops are bloodied in gathering them then they eat them down most sweetly The Sâ—thians send a great many Camels to Constantinople but the most part come from China and Alsyria From those Countries there are whole Droves of them and they are so cheap that a Mare of a good Breed is worth an 100 Camels wherein perhaps they respect more the scarcity of Maâ—es than the cheapness of Camels for good Mares are so scarce in that Country that he that gets but one of that sort thinks himself a very Croesus for Wealth They try whether they are good or no if they can run down a steep Hill and not trip nor stumble When the Grand Seignior goes upon a military Expedition into the Field he carries above 40000 of these Camels with him and as many Mules for Burden and these he lades with all sorts of Victuals especially with Rice They also carry Tents Arms and other Utensils of War upon them especially when he marches into Persia. For you must know that the Countries over
Infection himself for he was guilty of that singularity of Opinion that there was more Fear than Danger for at the same time said he there are wont to arise other Diseases which Men are apt to think is the Pestilence so that Pestilential Remedies are usually applied to every common Sore or Boyl thus he flattered himself though he was deeply infected yet he did not suspect it to be the Plague till it was past Remedy and he was ready to dye under the Hands of his Attendance The Day before he died he sent me word he was better and desired to see me if I pleased to bestow a Visit upon him I did so and sat a great while by his Bed-side he related to me how ill he had been and that his Sight as well as his other Senses had been so weakened that he knew no Body but now said he my Senses are restored and if I could be freed from my Distillation that hinders my Breath I should be presently well and at my Departure I told him that I heard that he had a rising in his Breast I have so says he and thereupon he threw aside his Blanket and shewed me his Breast but there is no danger says he in it for it came from buttoning my Doublet which I put on too strait Towards the Evening according to custom I sent Two of my Servants to watch with him who while they were putting on him a clean Shirt he himself espied a Purple Spot in his Breast which they told him was but a Flea-bite and by and by he discovered more and greater ones No said he These are not Flea-bites but Tokens of approaching Death and therefore let us spend this Night in Prayer and holy Conference preparatory to my latter end which he did and in the Morning with full assurance of God's Mercy he departed this Life Thus was I bereaved of my special Bosom Friend and the common Wealth of Learning had also a great loss of him for he had made Observations in his Travels which he intended to publish and would have been very useful to the World if Death had not prevented his laudable Design His Skill and Faithfulness was so much prized by me that if the times had suffered me to return I knew none fitter to leave in my place at Constantinople than himself had he out-lived me After his Death my Cares seemed to be doubled nay if I should have left them behind I had returned but half my self as it were Well his Soul is at rest and I erected a Monument as a due testimony to his Vertue But to return to our Island I lived there very pleasantly for Three Months It was a private Place without any trouble or noise there were only a few Greeks with whom I diverted my self but never a Turk to interrupt my Mirth As for the Turks of my Houshold they created no trouble to me I might go whither I would and pass from one of these Islands to another at my pleasure without any molestation from them There grew there several sorts of Plants as Lavender Sharp-pointed Myrtle Cotton-weed and abundance more The Sea full of divers sorts of Fishes which I took sometimes with Net sometimes with Hook and Line Several Grecian Fishers with their Boats attended me and where we had hopes of the greatest sport thither we sailed and cast our Nets Sometimes we played above board and when we saw a Crab or a Lobster at the bottom where the Sea was very clear we would run him through with a Fish-spear and so hale him up into a Vessel But our best and most profitable sport was with a drag Net where we thought most Fish were there we cast it in a round it took up a great compass with the long Ropes tied to ends thereof which were to draw it to Land To those Ropes the Seamen tied green Boughs very thick that so the Fish might be Frightned and not seek to Escape Thus we brought great Sholes of trembling Fishes near the Shore And yet in this danger they were naturally instigated how to save themselves some would leap over the Net others would cover themselves in the Sand that they might not be taken others strove to bite the Meashes of the Net though made of course Flax or Hemp of which kind were the Synodontes Fish armed with strong Teeth and if one made way for himself all would follow him and so the whole Draught would escape and not a Fish left for the Fisher. To remedy this inconvenience for I was aware thereof I stood with a Pole in my Hand beating the Water that I might keep the Fish from biting the Net At which my Attendants could not choose but laugh yet for all this many of them escaped So sagacious are Fishes where they are in extream danger Yet notwithstanding the Fugitives we brought a great many Fishes ashore a Sea-Bream Scorpion-Fishes Dragon-Fishes Scare-Fish Jule-Fish Chane or Ruff-Fishes whose variety did delight my Eye and the enquiry into their Nature did hugely please my Fancy So that at Night I came with my triumphant Vessel laden with Prey The next day I presented Hali Bassa and his chief Steward with part of my Acquests who took it very kindly at my Hands Sometimes I took delight with an Iron Spear made on purpose to catch Shrimps or Cramps which are there so thick as if they grew in that Sea Where I observed the Master-Shrimps lying Two by Two the Male and the Female and sometimes more of them of which Cicero Plini and Athenaeus speak so muchâ— I confess I think some of these Relations concerning them are rather Fabulous than true For they say that this Shell-Fish doth gape in order to catch other small Fishes and when she hath got them yet she shuts not her Shell till the Pinnophylax bite it and by this warning she closes her Shell and with her Mouth the Pinnophylax divided her Prey The Figure of these Pinnae you have in Bellonius The sharp part of it sticks in the bottom of the Sea as if it grew there and by these sticking Fibres she draws in her Nourishment as appears by this that when she is loosed from her hold she dies for want of Sustenance as Herbs and Plants do And it is probable that the Pinnophylax chose this sort as a Defence against other ravenous Fishes where it may lye quiet even in stormy Weather and go in and out at her pleasure Yet I speak not this to detract from the Credit of those worthy Authors I mentioned before but only to leave the matter to more curious Enquirers We quickly laded our Boat with these Pinnae they are but a course Fare like Muscles of which you would be soon weary but the Fishermen advised me to keep the Pinnophylaxes apart for they would make a goodly wholsom and graceful Dish Amongst the rest of the Islands there is one untilled and uninhabited whither all sorts of Monsters do resort Star-Fish Saw-Fish Grape-Fish