the Countrey being so stony that it cannot be Cultivated Raimbe About mid way you find a Han built of black stones and called Raimbe over the Gate whereof there is a square Tower with four Windows after the manner of our Steeples Saxa is a pretty Han having a Mosque in the middle and a Fountain by the side of it Without it you see a little Castle near to which runs a River that divides itself into four and thirty Branches and there you find three Bridges where there is a Caffare to be paid The day following you come to Damascus seven hours traveling from Saxa but first about an hour and a halfs journey from Saxa you cross over a Bridge upon the River that comes from Saxa For the four first hours the way is stony after that betwixt two little Hills and on the right hand of a ruined Village called Caucab that is to say Star Caucab the place of St. Pauls Conversion is the place where our Lord said to St. Paul Saul Saul why Persecutest thou me The rest of the way is over most fertile Plains CHAP. LVIII Of the City of Damascus and the places that are to be seen about it THE first thing that may be seen at Damascus is the Bezestein Damascus which is Beautiful enough and hath three Gates from whence you go to the Castle which is all built of Stones cut in Diamond cut but it is not easie for Franks to enter it At first you come to a Court of Guard with several Arms hanging upon the Wall and two pieces of Ordnance each sixteen spans long About fifteen steps further is the Mint where the Jews Work. A little beyond that there is a Dome of no great Workmanship but supported by four so great Pillars that three men can hardly fathom one of them round Fifty paces from thence you enter through a large Arched Hall into the Divan where the Council is held painted with Gold and Azure after the Mosaick way and in it there are three Basons full of excellent water When you come out of the Castle you see the Ditches half a Pikes depth and twenty paces over wherein on the side of the Town a little Canal of water runs which waters the Gardens about that are full of Orange Limon Pomgranet and several other Trees Through the middle of the Castle runs a branch of the River with which they can fill the Ditches when there is occasion On the outside of the Walls of the same Castle hang two Chains of Stone one of which contains sixteen Links and the other fourteen cut one within another by matchless Art each Link being about two fathom long and one and a half wide and the two Chains are of one entire Stone a piece From thence you come to a fair Mosque about twenty Paces Square painted all over with Mosaick work in Gold and Azure and paved with Marble Melec Daer in the middle of it is the Sepulchre of Melec Daer Sultan of Aegypt After that you must see the House of the Tefterdar wherein there is a little Marble Mosque of most lovely Architecture and painted with Gold and Azure There are several lovely Rooms in it of the same fashion at each Window whereof you have a little Fountain of most clear Water which is artificially brought thither in Pipes In this House there is a door and several great Windows with copper-Lettices which look into the great Mosque and thence one may see without molestation but Christians are forbidden to enter it upon pain of Death or turning Turk From that door and the Windows one may perceive a great part of the Mosque which may be about three hundred paces long and threescore wide The Court is paved with lovely Stones most part of Marble shining like Lookin-glasses Round about this Court there are several Pillars of Marble porphyrie and Jasper incomparably well wrought which support an Arch that ranges all round painted with several pieces in Mosaick work The Porch of the Mosque faces this Court and the entry into it is by twelve large Copper-Doors embossed with Figures with several Pillars most part of Porphyrie whose Capitals are gilt The walls are painted with lovely figures in Gold and Azure The Turks themselves have so great a veneration for this place that they dare not pass through the Court without taking off their Pabouches and certainly 't is one of the loveliest Mosques in all the Turkish Empire It was heretofore a Christian Church built by the Emperour Heraclius in Honour of St. Zacharias the Father of St. John Baptist and they say there is a Sepulchre in it where the Bones of that holy Prophet rest You must also see the Fountain where St. Paul recovered his sight and was Baptized by Ananias which is in the Streight-street so called in the Acts of the Apostles under a Vault in the Bazar near to a thick Pillar called the Ancient Pillar then you go up to the House of that same Judas with whom St. Paul Sojourned to be instructed in the Christian Religion and Baptized there you see a great door armed with Iron and huge Nails within which is the Chamber where the said Saint Fasted three Days and three Nights After that you go out of the Town by a Gate called Bab cherki Bab Cherki That is to say East Gate near to which in former times there was a great Church built in honour of St. Paul but at present the Turks have made a Han of it the Steeple remains still and is very ancient Work. Continuing your way along the Town-Ditches and about fifty paces Southward from the said gate you see a great square Tower joining to the walls in the middle of which there are two Flowers de luce cut in Relief and well shaped and at the side of each of them a Lyon cut in the same manner Betwixt these Flowers de Luce there is a great Stone with an Inscription upon it in Turkish Characters About three hundred paces further you come to the Gate called Bab Kssa Bab Kssa that is walled up under which is the place where St. Paul was let down in a Basket to avoid the persecution of the Jews Sixty paces from thence over against the Gate The Porter St. George is the Sepulchre of St. George the Porter who had his Head struck off upon pretence that he was a Christian and had made St. Pauls escape The Christians of the Countrey reckon him a Saint and have commonly a Lamp burning upon his Tomb. Returning the same way back to the Town The House of Ananias you pass by the House of Ananias which is betwixt the East Gate and St. Thomas Gate and there you find fourteen steps down to a Grott which is the place where Ananias instructed St. Paul and taught him the Christian Doctrine And on the left hand is the hole but now stopp'd up by which Ananias went under ground to St. Paul
other paints are stamped upon them with a mould besmeared with Colours CHAP. X. The Continuation of the Observations of Ispahan Chiefly of Eating A Persian Chimney ALL over Persia they seldom warm themselves by a Fire in the Chimney which is taken out of the wall but so little that it is hardly to be seen They have an Engine in their Rooms which they call the Coursi Coursi which is more convenient for use and renders a milder heat than that of a Chimney In the Floor of the Room they have a great square hole The way of warming a foot deep and about three foot broad into that they put clear burning Coals and over them a little wooden Table much of the same bigness and a large foot high which hath four feet that rest upon Stones purposely set at the four Corners of the hole They cover this Table with a large pinked Carpet which on all sides trails on the ground so that they see no fire and yet receive a gentle heat through the Carpet Now if they have a mind to have a greater heat to warm them all over of a sudden they sit down on Cushions round the Table and put their feet a-cross the frame of it and then cover themselves with the Carpet up to the Neck so that their whole body is under it and nothing out but the Head which warms them all over without burning their Face or breathing too hot an Air. Neither do they make use of Candle but the most part even the King himself The Persians use Lamps use Lamps whereinto they put tallow by bits for they employ not the Oil of Naphta which is got in a place near the Caspian Sea but onely in varnishing of Pictures As to their feeding the Persians are no greater husbands Their eating than in their Cloaths and Attendants Nevertheless they eat boiled meat but once a day which is commonly at Night and they wonder that the Franks eat twice In the King's House they boil Victuals twice a day though they eat of them but once The Persians eat boiled meat but once a day but every one is left to their humour to eat in the Morning or Evening according to their Appetite though most commonly they eat in the Evening and the King observes usually that rule As for the women they ask them every Morning if they have a mind to boiled meat which they call the Hazir in the Morning or at Night and they who have it in the Morning have none at Night Their other meal is of Fruit Cheese and Sweet-meats Their boiled meat consists in Pilao or Schilao Schilao which is boiled Rice without Butter but onely Water and Salt till it be as thick as Pilao which is instead of a Pottage to the Turks as the Schilao is in Persia and all over the Indies I have spoken of Pilao in my former travels When they serve in the Schilao at the same time they set upon the Table another dish of meat or fish with a great deal of broth of which they take several spoonfulls that they put upon their Plates with the Schilao And that with Salt-fish makes their most delicious Food They make also another kind of broth with Rice which they call Cangi Cangi When the Rice is boiled they strain it and take the water and mingle it with a little Flower as if they were to make broth and if it be the Flower of Barley it is the wholsomer they put to it also two Yelks of an Egg with Sugar and boil all like a thin broth when it is almost fully boiled they put Rose-water into it This is very good food especially for the sick to whom they commonly give it being of easie digestion nourishing and pleasant and in that Countrey they are allowed no other food A great many who are in health take a mess of broth every Morning but it is made after another way They put into a Skillet two or three handfulls of Rice and boil that with a good deal of water untill the substance of the Rice be incorporated into the water then they strain it and drink it fasting which is very refreshing Much after this manner they give it commonly to the sick both in Persia and the Indies nor indeed do they take so much pains about it but onely bruise a handfull of Rice and boil it very clear with Water and Salt The meat most commonly used in Persia is Mutton and Lamb as also Pullets and Capons when they are in season And indeed it is but of late that they have had the use of Capons they usually have them boiled for it is not their custom to roast meat on the Spit The Persians Roast-meat and if sometimes they do it it is onely by little pieces but they bake in the Oven whole Sheep and Lambs in this manner After they have well heated the Oven which hath the Mouth in the top they put into it the meat and hang it there with an Earthen Dripping-pan underneath to receive the fat It roasts alike on all sides and when it is enough they cut it into pieces There are many shops where they sell all sorts of it and in what quantity one pleases and to say the truth they dress it very well The Armenians way of roasting a Lamb. The Armenians have another way of roasting a whole Sheep for having flead it they cover it again with the skin and put it into an Oven upon the quick Coals covering it also with a good many of the same Coals that it may have fire under and over to roast it well on all sides and the skin keeps it from being burnt The Persians have also a great many Ragoes which though singly they cost but little yet by the number of them are very expensive wherein they differ much from the Turks who spend little on their Belly The frugality of the Turks as in other things to wit their women and servants of whom they keep no more than they can conveniently entertain Above all things the Persians are immoderate in the excessive eating of fruits and I have been assured that some of them in a frolick will eat three nay four Man 's of Melons to eat a Man is a very usual thing The Persians eat too much fruit and nevertheless the Man of Ispahan is no less than twelve pound Weight as I have said already And indeed many of them die through their excessive eating of fruit Persian Bread. Their bread is commonly sprinkled over with Poppy-seed and for the rest is very good They make it into large Cakes half a finger thick some they make also so thin that it looks like fine Paper and they are obliged to lay twelve or fifteen of them together which they fold into two or four pleats and some of that fashion is very good But in some places it is but half baked very brown and all full of
At two a Clock we had a breeze from North-West and we bore away South-East and by East About six a Clock the Wind slackened much About seven a Clock our Ships Head stood South-East Friday the five and twentieth of December at six a Clock in the morning it blew a West North-West Wind and we steered on our Course still South-East About seven a Clock the Sky was overcast with Clouds which brought Rain with them and we saw some more Spouts at a pretty good distance and a Weather-Gall this Weather-Gall was like a Segment of a Rain-Bow rising from the Horizon about three degrees or if you will it seemed to be three Foot high Sometimes they appear over a Ship and that is commonly a presage of a Tempest and the Portuguese call this Phenomenon an Oxes Eye About eight a Clock it blew a pretty fresh Gale from North but immediately it veered about to North-East and became very weak At noon we were by our Observations in three and twenty degrees two and fifty minutes Latitude and had made from noon to noon thirteen Leagues Then the Captain and Mate made account that we were eight or ten Leagues off of the Land of Sindy and about five and twenty Leagues from Jaquelte for my part by what I could make out by my Map we were twenty Leagues off Malan and to the Southward of Malan and forty Leagues from Sindy and near threescore Leagues from Jaquelte and this agreed with the Gunners Observation but he durst not say any thing for fear of quarelling with the Captain who thought every body ignorant in respect of himself and nevertheless it was found afterwards that he and the Mate were in the mistake About four a Clock the Wind turned East South-East and we Steered North-East About five a Clock we had a great shower of Rain from a thick Cloud over head which being past we had the Wind at South-East and bore away North-East Half an hour after six we had Rain again with Lightning but we were becalmed and turned the Ships Head North-East At seven a Clock the Wind turned South and by East and we bore away East and by South Half an hour after ten we were becalmed but about eleven a Clock had a great flurry which made much noise at first and this made us furl all our Sails but a great shower of Rain soon carried it off and the Sea being smooth we Steered away South-East and by South At midnight we cast the Lead but though they veered out sixty Fathom of Rope yet we had no ground which was like to have made the Captain mad for shame for he believed us to be very near Land and he fell into a Passion with the Mate saying that he had not left importuning him for two days to heave out the Lead We were all night becalmed though at times we had several showers of Rain Saturday the six and twentieth of December about seven a Clock there blew a gentle Gale from East North-East which made us Steer away South-East and by South About half an hour after nine the Wind being all Easterly we stood away South-East then master Manuel Mendez who perceived very well that no body knew where we were advised the Captain to stand in to Land and gratifie the Pilot which highly offended him saying that since they took him for an ignorant blockhead for the future he would only sleep and take his rest and let the Ship go which way she pleased and that to content us he would put back and make the Land at Jasques however this went no farther About ten a Clock the Wind turned East North-East and we stood away South-East At noon the Gunner found by his Observations that we were in twenty three degrees forty five minutes the Captain in twenty three degrees five minutes and the Mate in twenty three fifteen minutes and in four and twenty hours we had only made about six Leagues That day we began to see of those Birds which the Portuguese call Rabo de Junco Rabo de Junco a Fowl. and are a kind of Sea-Mews only they are bigger and have the Tail all of a piece and pointed like a Rush wherefore they are called Rush Tails and they keep upon the water as the Sea-Mews do At one a Clock the Wind slackened and chopped into the East and we Steered South and by East About four a Clock we tackt and stood away North. About half an hour after five the Wind having veered about to East North-East we Steered South-East About half an hour after seven the Wind turned North-East and by East About ten a Clock it was full North-East and we bore away East South-East Sunday morning the seven and twentieth of December at five of the Clock the Wind turned East and by North and we Steered our Course South-East and by South About nine a Clock we bore away South-East because the Wind was at East North-East and blew pretty fresh Our Officers took an Observation at noon and were again of different opinions the Captain had two and twenty degrees fifty two minutes the Mate twenty three and the Gunner three and twenty degrees and two minutes and in twenty four hours we had made fourteen Leagues In the Evening a flying Fish leaped into our Ship. The Wind freshened so much in the night-time that we were obliged to furl our Top Sails Monday noon the twenty eighth of December the Captain found out by his Observation that we were in the Latitude of twenty two degrees eight minutes and the Gunner in twenty two degrees eighteen minutes in four and twenty hours we had made fourteen Leagues That day we saw a great many Weeds or Herbs floating upon the water which the Portuguese call Sargaso Herb Sargaso and that is one sign of being near the Land of the Indies many such are also to be seen towards Brasil The stalk of that Herb is small blackish and as supple as a hair the Leaves of it are long and narrow and a little jagged besides the Leaves it hath a great many small clear and transparent Berries as soft as little Goosberries that stick to the stalk This Herb grows upon the Rocks in the Sea and being torn off by storm it floats upon the water till it be cast a shoar About two in the afternoon the Wind slackened much and therefore we spread our Main-Top and Fore-Top-Sails the Sea which had been very high before growing calm and smooth within a few hours Tuesday morning the nine and twentieth of December about seven a Clock the Wind was at North North-East and we Steered our Course East At noon the Gunner found that we were in one and twenty degrees forty four minutes Latitude and that in the space of twenty four hours we had made thirteen Leagues and a half at midnight we Steered East and by South that we might keep off of the Banks that are towards Diu our Company thinking themselves nearer to
Orange-Water two Baskets full of Pomegranates two of Limons two of Water-Melons two of Mezingianes or Violet-Naveurs one of Grapes one of Grass half a dozen of Pidgeons a dozen of Pullets and three Sheep Next day his Kiaya or Lieutenant had likewise the usual Present brought to him which was but one half of the abovementioned Provisions They expected two Bashas more within a short time and these Bashas caused People to be often Bastonadoed as they went along the Streets when they were out of Humour but for all that no sooner were they Lodged but the whole Trouble was over CHAP. LXV Of the Isle of Patino HAving said enough of Chio Patino I shall here make a little digression from my Travels and relate what I have learned of some Islles of the Archipelago where I have not been as well by what has been told me as by a memoire that hath come to my hands And in the first place I shall speak of the Isle of Pathmos which though small is nevertheless Illustrious Pathmos as being the place to which St. John the Evangelist was Banished and where he wrote the Revelation This Isle called anciently Pathmos and at present Patino and Palmosa is eighteen miles in circuit Palmosa and has in it but one well Built little Town with a Castle in the middle of it called the Monastery of St. John where two hundred Greek Monks live who carefully keep in their Church a Body shut up in a case which they say is the Body of St. John what ever they think who doubt whether he be as yet Dead or not There are about three thousand Souls in this Isle who have much ado to live Three thousand Souls in Pathmos The Grott where the Apocalypse was written called Theoskeposti the Land being very dry and all Rockie In it is the Grotto where St. John wrote the Apocalypse which Grotto by the Greeks is called Theoskeposti that is to say in vulgar Greek covered by God. The Inhabitants of this place relate a pretty ridiculous story of St. John and that is that the Devil went to Tempt St. John in that Grotto which is but half a mile from the Sea and as far from the Town bidding him go and swim and that St. John made answer to the Devil do thou first throw thy self into the Sea and I 'll follow thee which the Devil did and was immediately changed into a Stone The figure of a Devil at Pathmos of the same Figure that he had when he threw himself into the Sea And that Stone is to be seen to this day being but one step from the Land. No Turk lives in this Island they are Christians that bear rule there yet they pay Tribute to the Grand Signior And the Corsars put into this Island to careen and take fresh Water CHAP. LXVI Of the Isle of Nixia THE Isle of Nixia heretofore called Naxus is sixscore miles in circuit Nixia In latter times before it was possessed by the Turks it carried the title of a Dutchy The Families of Sanudi and Somarigi Venetians in Nixia and at present it has among its Inhabitants several noble Families descended of the said Dukes who were the Sanudi Somarigi Venetians and others The Fields of this Isle are most fruitful in all things and chiefly a certain Valley called Darmilla wherein are eighteen Villages The Inhabitants of this Isle make plenty of Wine which they send to Alexandria Smyrna and Chio as likewise very good Cheese for they have many Cows Sheep and Goats Not far from the Town near the Sea are the Salt-pits and a Pond which the Town letts out to farme they Fish in it but two Months in the Year to wit August and September There are great quantities of Eels taken also in a Valley called Plichi that is full of Marshes which are always supplied with Water from greaâ— Springs that run into it There are very thick Woods also in it with Rocks and solitary Dens where there are a great many tall Stags Catching of Partridges with an Ass and there the Gentlemen go a Hunting with the Cady who governs the Island the Peasants catch Partridges with an Ass in this manner Late in the Evening the Peasant goes and joggs the Partridges to know where they Sleep then he pitches a Net where he thinks convenient and afterwards puts himself under the belly of his Ass which is trained to the sport and thus both stalking along together the Peasant with a switch drives the Partridges into the Net where they are caught and this sport is the better because Partridges are very Plentiful there There are besides other Valleys with Water-springs in them that turn Mills for the use of the People There are several Monasteries in this Island one of which ought to be very Ancient for it is built in form of a Tower upon a Hill. There is another called Fanaromeni Fanaromeni dedicated to the Virgin because a Picture of the Virgin was found in that Place which is held in great Veneration and called Faneromeni it is not long since that Monastery was built and contains threescore and ten Rooms or Chambers besides those that are under Ground the Church is small but well built and beautified It is served by ten Monks all Countrey Clowns who have no Learning and not only there but over all the Isles of the Archipelago they are so ignorant that it may be said of them Ignoto Deo and it is impossible but that Vice must reign where People are so ignorant of the commands of God and where there is so much Idleness and Drunkenness Threscore miles from the Town there is a Tower and another Church also dedicated to the Virgin named Tagia in that place there is a Spring of as good Water as can be desired and a Monk and some Shepherds live there the people of the Island often go thither out of Devotion and not without much Pain because of the troublesome Hills and Valleys that are in the way About six miles from thence near the Sea overagainst the Isle of Nicaria there is to be seen upon a very steep and rugged Mountain The Castle of Apollo some ruines of the Castle of Apollo and it is a wonder how they could carry up Stones to Build it The wall is eight hand breadth thick it is not carried on to the Sea on the East-side because there is no going up to it on that side but by a very dangerous place but on the South East and South-side it is built of Stone and Bitumen down to the Sea. In that Castle there are several Houses and Cisterns for Water In the neighbourhood of it are four little Towns very well Inhabited In these Quarters there are also many Goat-heards that keep Goats and the Hills are full of an Herb which Mathiolus calls Ledum The Ledum of Mathiolus Kissaros an Herb. Laudanum a Gum. Darmilla Strongyle Palace of Bacchus and
herself being present and throw themselves into the water where he that stays longest under obtains the Maid in Marriage These are a sort of People that seem to be Fish rather than Men. They pay the Grand Signior their Tribute in Sponges and from them all Turkie is furnished This Isle hath no Haven for great Vessels but only for small Barks wherein they go to Chio and sell Honey Wax White-wine as clear as water which comes away by Urine as soon at it is drank and such like Commodities Their Vineyards are here and there among the Rocks But the World is turned topsie-turvie in this Island for the Women are the Mistresses there So soon as the Husband is arrived from any place the Wife goes to the Sea-side and takes the Oars and other implements and carries them home after which the Husband disposes of nothing without her leave In the time of the Emperours of Constantinople Persons of Quality that deserved Banishment were sent to this Island the Inhabitants whereof are well-shaped and strong But to return to Sea again we did what lay in our power to pass that Island and take Harbour at Stanchio but a South-east wind blowing soon after hindred us from that and though we beat and tack'd to and agen till the evening we gained no ground so that we resolved to turn back again and did so an hour before night finding that the South-east wind began to blow fresher and fresher In the Night-time we had much Lightning However while I was attentively considering Samos I saw a light on shore A Light which no body kindles which seem'd to me to be a Candle and having ask'd an honest Roman Catholick of Chio with whom I had made friendship what it was He made me answer That that Light was seen every night in the same place that having past that way ten or twelve times in the night-time he had always seen it that nevertheless there was neither House nor Tree there that many had gone oftentimes in search of it but could never find it seeing it very well at a distance but losing sight of it assoon as they came near and that about the place where the Light is seen there is an ancient Christian Church all ruinous which makes people think that there is some Mystery in it I thought the man had jeer'd me when he told me all these things and therefore I went to the Captain 's Cabin where having asked him the same question though he was a Turk he told me the same things the honest Chiot did who was Patron of the Saique and a Greek which made me more attentively consider that Light I ey'd it for the space of an hour and it seemed to me to be about two hundred paces from the Sea-side on that part of the Island which looks Westward opposite to the Isle of Nacaria or Nicaria I saw it rise and fall like a Candle and I remember that the Monks of Niamoni of the Isle of Chio told me just such another thing concerning the Foundation of their Church Having well considered that Light I went to sleep about eleven of the clock and the wind blew fresher about midnight with so thick a darkness that one could not see six steps on head and in the mean time we were in a dangerous place betwixt Samos and Nicaria so that we had cause to fear the Saique might run foul of one of these two places There fell afterward a great deal of rain but such strong gusts of wind with it as gave the Sea-men enough to do and besides that we had great claps of Thunder which doubling horribly betwixt these Islands made with the beating of the waves a fearful noise In the mean time the Ship made much water which created no small trouble to the Sea-men who had already their hands full on 't Another danger threatned us besides for they had left the Caique in the Sea towed at the Saiques stern which being forced by the violence of the wind knock'd its head so hard against the Saique that it might have started a plank and sunk her down to rights many Vessels being lost so even in the Port nevertheless their was no hoisting of it up though it had strucken so often against the Saique that all the Head of it was broken and the Saique was so slippery that there was no holding on her so that at several times three Men fell into the Sea but Ropes being quickly thrown out to them they were drawn up again At length came day but with it so thick a Fog that it was more than three Hours after before we could see Land. We afterward discovered Chio about ten a Clock in the Morning and put into Harbour the same day being Friday the seventeenth of November a little after Noon Our Captain perceiving the Weather to be contrary to us Scala Nuova or Couschadasi proposed to go and Anchor in the Port of Scala Nuova which the Turks call Couschadasi and I earnestly desired it because then I might have gone to Ephesus which is but half a days Journey from it but some Chiots told him that it was dangerous entring into the Port of Scala Nuova at that time But indeed I think it was that they had rather wait for fair Weather at home in their own Town than in another place So soon as I was come to Chio I failed not to speak to our Vice-Consul of the Light I had seen in the Isle of Samos and he told me all the same that the rest did and that he himself with some others had gone in search thereof but that as they drew nigh they always lost sight of it CHAP. LXXI Of Stanchio and Bodrou WE waited with great Impatience for fair Weather at Chio nevertheless the South-East Wind continued blowing till Tuesday the Twenty eighth of November when with day a North-Wind arose we let not slip the occasion for being got on Board we put out the same day about Four a Clock in the Afternoon and Wednesday the Twenty ninth of November past by Samos about Midnight In the Morning the Wind abated a little and nevertheless about One of the Clock we arrived at Stanchio Stanchio or Isola Longa. otherwise called Isola Longa Fourscore and ten Miles from Samos and came to an Anchor to take in Fresh-Water We who were Christians went not a Shoar because there were Eight hundred Spahis lately arrived to defend that Island against the Venetians and seeing these Blades play'd the Devil and all putting their Horses into the Churches of the Greeks they would certainly have abused us being then extreamly Exasperated against all Franks This Island called heretofore Coos Coos Lango and named at present by the Turks Stanchio and by the Franks Lango or Isola Longa is Seventy Miles in Circuit and is very Fruitful especially in good Wine the Country seems to be pleasant enough and upon the Port by the Sea-side there is a Castle that
Castle called Tor. We travelled in the Plain till six a clock at night and then rested This Plain is in Holy Scripture called the Desart of Sin Desart of Sin. Acacia where the Israelites longing after the Onions of Aegypt God sent them Manna In this Plain we saw many Acacia-Trees from which they have the Gum that the Arabs call also Akakia It is to be observed that the Acacia-Trees which are now so common in France came at first from America and do not yield that Gum and that which in the Shops is called Acacia is the inspissated Juice of wild Plumb-Trees and comes from Germany these Trees are neither bigger nor higher than our ordinary Willows but the leaves of them are very thin and prickley The Arabs gather the Gum in Autumn without pricking the Trees for it runs of it self and then they sell it in the Town Next day Friday the first of February we set out about five a Clock in the Morning and entred among high Mountains where we rested near a Brook and putting on again about eleven a clock we travelled till about half an hour after four that we came into a little Plain where finding some Cottages of Arabs our Guides would go no farther that day Cottages of Arabs but feasted merrily on the Milk that we bought for them in these Cottages There we saw a great many Women and little Children most of them Sucking We parted from thence Saturday the second of February about two a clock in the Morning and travelled a Foot over other Hills where the way was very bad about eight a Clock in the morning we found little Houses pretty well built where Arabs live at present Raphidim This place is called Raphidim in holy Scripture A little further we saw several Gardens belonging to the Monks very well walled round and full of all sorts of fruit-Trees and Vines too kept in good order The Rock which Moses smote with his Rod. Then we found the Rock out of which Moses brought Water when he had smitten it twice with his Rod it is only a Stone of a prodigious height and thickness rising out of the Ground on the two sides of that stone we saw several holes by which the water hath run as may be easily known by the prints of the Water that hath much hollowed it but at present no water issues out of them This Stone in Holy Scripture is called the Stone of Strife About ten in the Morning we came to a Monastery of Greeks dedicated to the honour of the forty Martyrs from this to the great Monastery where the Body of St. Catherine lyes it is two hours travelling This Monastery of the forty Martyrs is pretty neat it hath a fair Church and a lovely large Garden wherein are Apple-Trees Pear-Trees Walnut-Tree Orange-Trees Limon-Trees Olive-Trees and all other Fruit-Trees that grow in this Country and indeed that little of good Fruit which is eat at Caire comes from Mount Sinai besides that there are fine Vineyards and very good water there A Greek Monk lives always in this Monastery and he whom we found there told us that he had been twenty years in it he takes care to see the Gardens dress'd and kept in order by some Arabs who willingly serve him We rested in this Monastery at the foot of the Mountain of St. Catherine CHAP. XXVII Of the Mountain of St. Catharine The Mountain of St. Catharine HAving reposed our selves in the Monastery of the Forty Martyrs we went out at One of the Clock and ascended the Mountain of St. Catharine that is before it taking with us a little Arab Boy who carryed a small Leather Bucket full of Water that we might drink when we were dry We were near three Hours in getting up that Mountain we stopt indeed several times by the way to drink Water but besides the Hill is full of sharp cutting Stones and many steep and slippery places to be climb'd up that hinder People from going fast There are many Stones to be found in ascending this Hill on which Trees are naturally represented that being broken retain the same Figure within of which Stones some are prodigiously big About the middle of the Mountain there is a lovely Spring of clear Water with a great Bason in the Rock This Spring was discovered by a Quail when the Monks having brought down the Body of St. Catharine so far were ready to die for Heat and Thirst and that Spring began at that time to run This water was so hard frozen in the Bason that we could not break the Ice with good blows of a Stick In many places of the Mountain we saw also a great deal of Snow and at length got up to the top of it where there is a Dome under which is the place whither the Body of St. Catharine was brought by Angels immediately after she was Beheaded in Alexandria that holy Body remained Three hundred Years there until a good Monk having had in the Night-time a Revelation that the Body was in the top of the Hill went next Morning with all the Religious who in Procession brought it down to the Monastery where it was put in a lovely Silver Shrine that is still there Under the Dome where this Body lay there is a great piece of Rock rising a little out of the Ground whereon they say the Angels placed it and it bears still the marks as if a Body had been laid on the Back upon it for the form of the Reins appear there The Greeks hold that this Cave was made by Miracle but there is some likelihood that it hath been done by the Hands of Men They made this little Dome about the Rock in form of a square Chappel Having in this place paid our Devotions we came down again with a great deal of trouble and were two long hours by the way so that we were tired enough when we arrived at the Monastery of the Forty Martyrs at six a clock at night CHAP. XXVIII Of the Mountain of Moses The Mountain of Moses WEE set out of our Lodging on Sunday the third of February about seven a clock in the morning that we might go see the Mountain of Moses which is not so high nor so hard to ascend as the former But there is much Snow upon it aswel as upon the other and many good Cisterns in several places especially near the top there is a fair and good Cistern After several rests we got to the top about nine a clock On it there are two Churches one for the Greeks and another for the Latins from the Greek Church you enter into that of the Latins which is dedicated to the Ascension of our Lord there we heard Mass said by the Capucin who was with us Near to that there is a little Mosque and by the side of it a Hole or little Cave where Moses fasted Forty Days There is a small Grott also at the side of the
Prayers of the Hermites who at that time lived by it and chiefly of St. Macharius because the Pirats of that Sea much infested them Bahr el Malame it is called Bahr el Malame that is to say Mare Convicii There you may find a great many petrifications of Wood and some Bones converted into Stone which are pretty curious On the side of that Sea to the West The Mountain of Eagles Stones Dgebel el Masque is the Mountain of Eagles Stones called Dgebel el Masque where digging in the Earth and especially in time of heat and drought they find several Eagles Stones of different bigness so called because the Eagles carry them to their Nests to preserve their young ones from Serpents they have many Vertues and the Monks say that there are commonly many Eagles to be seen there You must make as short a stay there as you can for fear of the Arabs From the Mountain of Eagles Stones you go making a Triangle to the fourth Monastery and all the Journey from Ambabichoye to this Monastery Dir el Saydet is performed in one day This Monastery is called Dir el Saydet that is to say the Monastery of our Lady it is very spacious but a little ruinous It hath a fair Church and Garden but the Water is brackish and nevertheless there are more Monks in this Monastery than in the other three because the Revenue of it is greater and they have some Relicks also From this Monastery you go to the Lake of Natron Birquet el Natroun called Birquet el Natroun only two Leagues distant from it this Lake is worth ones Curiosity to see and it looks like a large Pond frozen over upon the Ice whereof a little Snow had fallen It is divided into two the more Northern is made by a Spring that rises out of the Ground though the place of it cannot be observed and the Southern proceeds from a great bubbling Spring the Water being at least a Knee deep which immediately as it springs out of the Earth congeals and makes as it were great pieces of Ice and generally the Natron is made and perfected in a Year by that Water which is reddish There is a red Salt upon it six or seven Fingers thick Natron then a black Natron which is made use of in Aegypt for Lye and last is the Natron much like the first Salt but more solid Higher up there is a little Well of Fresh-water which is called Aain el Goz and a great many Camels come dayly to the Lake to be loaded with that Natron From this Lake you go to another where there is Salt at Whitsontide made in form of a Pyramide Pyramidal Salt. Melhel Mactaoum and therefore is called Pyramidal Salt and in Arabick Melh el Mactaoum From the said Lake you return and Lodge in one of the Monasteries and next day come back to the Nile where you must stay for a passage to Caire or Rossetto if you have not retained the Boat that brought you CHAP. LXXII Of Aegypt the Nile Crocodiles and Sea-Horses AEGypt called by the Hebrews Mis Raim Aegypt Masr and by the Arabs at present Masr and in Turkish Misr is bounded on the East by the Red Sea and the Desarts of Arabia on the South by the Kingdoms of Bugia and Nubia The borders of Aegypt on the West by the Desarts of Lybia and on the North by the Mediterranean Sea. This Country lies so low that the Land cannot be seen till one be just upon it and therefore those that sail to it ought to be upon their Guard. Aegypt has no Ports on the Mediteranean fit for Ships except Alexandria and the Bouquer which is rather a Road than a Port The course of the Nile in Aegypt The River of Nile runs through the length of it and having its Course from South to North discharges it self into the Mediterranean by two mouths upon the sides of which stand two fair Towns to wit Rossetto to the West and Damiette to the East two miles below which it mingles its Waters with the Sea and by that division makes a Triangular Isle in Aegypt This Triangular Island was by the ancient Greeks called Delta because in Figure it resembles the Character Δ. The Delta of Aegypt One side of that Triangle is beat by the Mediterranean Sea on the North and the other two are bounded by the two branches of the Nile which divide at the point of this Triangle so that the three points or angles of this Triangle are the first at the place where the Nile divides it self into two the second at Rossetto and the third at Damiette The first Angle is at an equal distance from the other two to wit from Rossetto and Damiette and from that Angle it is five or six Leagues to Caire so that the Nile has only those two mouths which are Navigable for great Vessels for though there be some others yet they are no more but Rivulets The breadth of the Nile This River is broader than the broadest part of the Seine but it is not very Rapid unless it be at its Cataracts where it falls from so great a height that as they say the noise of it is heard at a very great distance When it overflows it seems to be a little Sea. The water of it is very thick and muddy but they have an Invention to clarifie it For in that Country An invention for clarifying the water of the Nile they make use of great Vessels of white Earth holding about four Buckets full of Water when they are full of Water they rub the inside of the Vessels with three or four Almonds at most until they be dissolved and in the space of a quarter of an Hour the Water becomes very clear and for that end most of those who bring Water to Houses have a Paste of Almonds wherewith they rub the Vessels as I have said After all this Water is so wholesome that it never does any harm though one drink never so much of it because it comes a great way over Land to wit from Ethiopia So that in so long a course and through so hot a Country the Sun has time to Correct it and cleanse it from all Crudities and indeed it is sweated out as fast as one drinks it In short The number of Villages upon the Banks of the Nile they have no other Water to drink in Aegypt and therefore most of the Cities Towns and Villages are upon the sides of the River and there are so many Villages that you no sooner leave one but you find another and all the Houses in them are built of Earth This River abounds not much in Fish and we had but one good Fish of the Nile at Caire which they call Variole and that is rare too Variole Crocodiles but there are a vast number of Crocodiles in it which perhaps is the cause of the scarcity of the
Breast or at his Head or Shoulders they lift him up and plant this Stake very streight in the Ground upon which they leave him so exposed for a day One day I saw a Man upon the Pale who was Sentenced to continue so for three Hours alive and that he might not die too soon the Stake was not thrust up far enough to come out at any part of his Body and they also put a stay or rest upon the Pale to hinder the weight of his body from making him sink down upon it or the point of it from piercing him through which would have presently killed him In this manner he was left for some Hours during which time he spoke and turning from one side to another prayed those that passed by to kill him making a thousand wry Mouths and Faces because of the pain he suffered when he stirred himself but after Dinner the Basha sent one to dispatch him which was easily done by making the point of the Stake come out at his Breast and then he was left till next Morning when he was taken down because he stunk horridly Some have lived upon the Pale until the third day and have in the mean while smoaked Tobacco when it was given them This poor wretch carried the Scales and Weights of those who go about to visit the Weights to see if they be just and he had so combined with such as had false Weights that he brought false ones also with him so that the Searchers not perceiving the change of their own Weights thought the other to be just When Arabs or such other Robbers are carried to be Empaled they put them on a Camel their Hands tied behind their Backs and with a Knife make great gashes in their naked Arms thrusting into them Candles of Pitch and Rosin which they light to make the stuff run into their Flesh and yet some of these Rogues go chearfully to Death glorying as it were that they could deserve it and saying That if they had not been brave Men they would not have been so put to death This is a very common and ordinary Punishment in Aegypt but in Turkie it is but very rarely put into practice The Natives of the Country are punished in this manner but the Turks are strangled in Prison CHAP. LXXX Of the Inconveniencies and Ordinary Distempers at Caire Ordinary Inconveniencies that happen at Caire Heat in Egypt Drink in Egypt THE first Inconvenience to be felt at Caire is the excessive Heat which is so intolerable that one can scarcely do any thing and what is worse there is no sleeping hardly there in Summer For when you go to Bed you 'll find the Sheets full of Sand and so hot that I think they could not be more after long warming with a Warming-pan What you drink there is commonly as hot as your Blood for you must not think of Ice Snow or a Well there all that can be done is to put the Water into certain Pots of a white Earth that Transpires much and leave them abroad in the Night-time having done so the Water is indeed pretty cold in the Morning but in the Day-time they put those Pots in Windows which receive any little breeze and there the Water cools a little or at least loses somewhat of its heat and it is a great happiness in that Country to have a Window that lies well for a breeze and a Bardaque or Pot that is Transpirable Besides these Inconveniencies there is that of little Flies or Musketto's which I reckon the greatest of all No Man can believe but he who hath felt it by Experience how uneasie and troublesome these Insects are in Aegypt there are always swarms of them buzzing about People and continually pricking of them so that they make themselves fat and plump with Man's Blood. There is no other remedy against these Gnats but to have a very fine Cloth all round your Bed which shuts very close and for all that some always get in when you go to lie down A pain in the Stomach is very common in that Country and all New-comers are subject unto it who finding themselves in a hot Countrey leave their Breast and Stomach open and will not take Counsel Nevertheless the Air which is subtile and penetrating chills their Bowels and causes dangerous Fevers and Bloody-Fluxes especially in Autumn when the Nile overflows and therefore one must always keep the Stomach warm and well covered There is another Distemper that reigns there also and that is a swelling of the Scrotum and to some I may speak without Exaggerating their Cods swell bigger than their Head which is occasioned by the Water of the Nile and I my self was troubled a little with it for the space of eight days but then it went away of it self To cure this Distemper they make Incision with a Lancet in the swelled Scrotum and let out the Water that is got into it Sore Eyes are very common there and very dangerous in the Summer-time that is caused by the burning heat of the Sun which reflects from the Ground upon the Eyes and scorches them as also from the Dust which is very subtile and salt and is blown into the Eyes by the Wind which is the reason that there are many blind in that Country Whilst I was in Aegypt a French Merchant lost an Eye so and I have known other French troubled with that Distemper who for a fortnight or three Weeks could not sleep because of the sharp pain they felt which made them cry out and roar both Night and Day In the Summer-time you hardly see any abroad in the Streets but who are afflicted with that evil and carry pieces of blew Stuff before their Eyes and certainly you shall find nine of ten whom you meet with such defensives before their Eyes Every one threatned me with that Distemper and yet thanks be to God I never had the least touch of it perhaps I took care to prevent it because in that bad Season every Morning and Evening I washed my Eyes with fair Water and when I returned from Abroad I did the like to wash out any Sand that might have got into them Pains in the Legs are very bad at Caire and a great many have their Legs swollen to a prodigious bigness There is also another Distemper or rather inconvenience for it is more uneasie than dangerous which happens when the Water of the Nile begins to rise there is a kind of Inflammation or Wild-fire that runs over the whole Body which exceedingly torments People by its pricking and stinging and when you drink to ease and refresh your self whilst you are drinking and after you feel such sharp prickings that you would think there were an hundred Needles stuck into you all at once the Provencials call that Des Arelles and it is an Inconvenience that lasts almost three Months Arelles In March 1658. after some days of high Winds a certain Distemper broke out
who had long followed that course and had a Ship of his own in Alexandria That man who had seen a great many French men nay and had had several of them in his power would not believe that I was one but assured me that one would always take me for a Levantine rather than a French man I was not at all troubled to find that I was so well disguised for in travelling through Turky it is good to have so much of the Air of the Countrey that we may not be taken for strangers unless we please Next day about five of the clock in the morning we set out and about ten of the clock entred the Channel of Nile where we found a man in a Boat who put us in our way The Channel of Nile though there be Canes fixed at several distances to shew where the Shelves are yet there is need of such a man for a guide because the River bringing a great deal of sand with it the passages are daily choaked up which were navigable two hours before and on the contrary washing away Islands which it had made and which appeared to be out of reach of the Water it makes ways for Vessels in places where before one might have walked dry shod and this mans business is to sound every hour of the day that so he may be able to shew the right Channel and the Masters of the Germes pay him for his pains At noon we came to Rossetto where I saw manner the of making Sorbet Rossetto The way of making Sorbet whilst I staid there They made use of an hundred and fifty Rottes of Sugar broken into small pieces which they put into a great Kettle over a Fire with a little water to dissolve it when it was ready to boil they skimmed it and poured in five or six quarts more of water to make the skum rise better they put it in by spoonfulls and wet the sides of the Kettle to cool them Half an hour after they mingled a dozen whites of Eggs with four or five quarts of water and having beat them a little with the water all was poured into the Kettle at four or five times and then they began to skim again till a little after they strained it through a Cloath and that they call clarifying of the Sugar Afterwards they divided that Liquor into three parts of which they put a third into a great Kettle or Caldron over the fire and seeing that Sugar from time to time was like to boil over they made it settle by throwing in two or three Egg-shels full of Milk. When they knew it to be boiled enough after it had been an hour upon the fire they took it off it looked then very yellow and two men set a stirring of it with wooden peels so that the more they stirred it as it grew cold it became the thicker and whiter When it was a little thickened they put into it about two glass-fulls of the juice of Limon boiled as I shall tell you hereafter Then they stirred it again to mingle all well together and a little after they put into it about two spoonfulls of Rose-water in which some Musk had been dissolved several adding thereto Ambergreass Then again they stirred it till it became like a Paste and afterwards put it into Pots the same they did with the other two parts With an hundred and fifty of these Rottes they filled twenty nine Pots therein they spent a little Bottle of Rose-water with Musk which cost a Crown When they have a mind to make it of a violet-Colour after the juice of Limon they put of the Syrrup of Violets into it which is made by pounding Violets with Sugar which they clear from the dreggs To make the juice of Limons a great many Limons are pressed and the juice expressed boiled in a Kettle but the Kettle must be full and boil along while untill the juice be reduced to the quantity of six or seven quarts In the mean time they burn above an hundred weight of Wood and cannot boil above two Kettle-fulls a day that is above ten or twelve quarts it is of a blackish red colour sharp and bitter In the Desta over against Rossetto and as far as Damiette Desta there is plenty of fine Fowl which the people of the Countrey call Garden-Cocks Dic elgait Garden-Cocks that is in Arabick Dic elgait they are as big as ordinary Pullets having the Belly and Wings of a violet-colour above and black below the Head and Neck of a violet-colour the Back greenish brown a Tale like a Wood-Cock which is white underneath a long Beak like a Parrot and a little crooked but of a lovely red colour it reaches from the Crown of the Head where there is a kind of a flat Plate of the same stuff and all looks like Horn their feet are as big as Pullets feet but longer and are red but of a paler red than the Beak they keep in the Marshes At Rossetto I found a bark bound for Baruth but because there were Soldiers ready to go to Candia they suffered no Sail to put out least the Christians might have advice of it At length the Soldiers being gone for Alexandria our bark wherein the Aga of the Castle of Rossetto had a share Departure from Rossetto was suffered privately to depart So that Munday the nineteenth of March about nine of the Clock in the Morning we put out When we were almost at the mouth of the River we were forced to send out the Boat on head to drop an Anchor several times that so we might tow our selves till about Noon being got out of the River with a West-South-West Wind we made all the sail we could and bore away North-East Three hours after we steered an East and be South course the Wind having shifted about to South-West though it was so small that we were almost becalmed In the Night-time we saw a great deal of Lightning at a distance from us and then the Wind blowing fresher from South we stood away East-North-East It is uneasie to me to give a relation of this Voyage An Idle ship's Crew so much it vexed me our Crew consisted of fifteen men who did nothing but sleep till Noon and after they had quarrelled together at Dinner fell a singing and playing and would not vouchsafe to stir too look out aloft pump the ship or to do any other service All that I could get of them during the whole Voyage was once to pump the Vessel They had nothing to throw out the Water with but the Neck of a Bottle and if the Vessel made but the least Travel they thought themselves lost One Night wheh we had bad Weather the Vessel rowling to and again three or four times they were upon the point of launching the Boat and forsaking the Vessel which stood in need of nothing but a little Vigilance They had no Sea-Cart to set
Damascus Kfr. and is by others called Malhomar Some of it was sent in my time Malhomar from Aleppo to Venice for the same purpose it was sent for by a Merchant residing in Venice who had formerly lived at Aleppo I remember that I have read upon that Subject in the History of Stones written by Anselmus Boetius de Boot in the Chapter of the Lythanthrax or Pit-coal that the Boors of the Countrey of Liege make an Oyntment of Pit-coal wherewith they anoint the Eyes of the Stocks of their Vines least the insects should gnaw them Mixto oleo hic carbo emolliter eoque unguento Agricolae vites oblinunt ne earum oculi ab insectis erodantur I was told that in Cyprus and many other places of Turkey they use a little drug for the same ends At Aleppo when the Grapes are ripe they bring them to the Town Grapes in Sacks of Goats hair without breaking though sometimes they be brought eight French Leagues from that City These Grapes have a very thick Skin are all white and make a very strong Wine the best time to gather them is in the Month of May. All buy as many as they stand in need of for making of Wine for it is the Custom of the Inhabitants of Aleppo that every one makes his own Wine in his own house after this manner The way of making Wine at Aleppo They put the Grapes into a great square fat of wood where they press them with mens feet and then the Wine runs into a Pale or a shallow Tub through a hole and strainer at the bottom of the fat When it is all run out they put it with the Lees into very large Earthen Jarrs where it works for thirty or forty Days these Jarrs are covered onely with a Board and a Cloath over it without any fear of its taking vent In this manner they leave it as long as they please nay sometimes a whole Year carefully stirring it every day And when they have a mind to drink it they draw it off provided the time at least wherein it was to work be over and they put it with the lees again into the fat where they strain it a second time When it runs no more they put the lees into a bag and press them in the same press with mens Feet till no more come out and what comes out runs into the rest Then they spread the Stalks of the Grapes that have been so prest in the fat and pour upon them all the Wine again and so let it run through a third time This being done it is clear fit for drinking and hath no lees They then barrel it up and in that manner make Wine at Aleppo all the months of the year but as I have already said it is onely White-wine for there are no red nor black Grapes in all those Quarters The Christians in that City make very good Brandy but they who sell it are obliged to put about six Drachms of Alum into a Bucket full of Brandy to make it stronger for otherwise the Turks would not like it They drink very good Water at Aleppo observing a great deal of circumspection in the use of it It is indeed River-water but it is diverted from the River about three Leagues above Aleppo near a place called Ailan from whence it is brought into the City in open Aqueducts which coming near the Town are conveyed under ground to Fountains whence they take the Water These Aqueducts have been made for purifying the Water which is very muddy and also for supplying the City for the River being low in the Summer-time the Gardens drain all the Water almost with their Pousseragues The Francks have Cisterns also which they fill with the Water of these Aqueducts by opening a hole in the Cistern through which the Water comes and then stopping it again aswell as the mouth of the Cistern which they open not but in Summer and these Cisterns are made not onely to keep the Water very cool but also to make it pure and clear They have besides another excellent way of clarifying it that is they put the Water into great Jarrs of unburnt Clay through which it distills and falls into Vessels put underneath to receive it This River of Aleppo comes from Antab two days Journey from thence and loses it self under ground about half a league beyond Aleppo many think that it comes from Euphrates near to which it hides it self under ground and appears again at Antab Though commonly they eat but little Fish at Aleppo nevertheless they have sometimes great plenty but onely when they are brought from Euphrates The little River furnishes several Trouts which are not above a Fingers length and very small but exceeding good They take good Eeles in it which though they be but small are most delicious There are also a great many Crabs in that River which are broad and flat Crabs and pretty good They are at no pains to fish for them when the Mulberries are knit because these Crabs delighting in that Fruit fail not to ramble about and crawl up the Mulberry-trees to feed on the fruit and then it is no hard matter to catch them Cucumbers The Cucumbers are so good in Aleppo that not onely the Countrey-People but the Francks also eat them green skin and all and they do no hurt though they be eaten in great quantity it is the same all over Mesopotamia There is no salt used in this City but what is brought from a place a day and a halfs Journey of Caravan distant towards the North-East it is made of Rain-water which in the Winter falls into a spacious low place that makes a kind of a Pond and that Water having extracted the Salt out of the ground it covers congeals and is formed into Cubes of Salt like to Sea-Salt it is brought to Aleppo on Mules but is nothing near so good as Sea-Salt There is very good Turkey Leather made at Aleppo There also aswell as at Damascus they prepare the Sagri which is that we call Chagrine in France but much more of it is made in Persia They are so jealous of their secret in preparing of Turkey Leather that they suffer no body to enter their houses The Sagri is made of the crupper-piece Skin of an Ass The way of making Chagrin they shave that skin so long till it become smooth white and thin like Partchment but what they do with it afterwards is all mystery I did all I could to learn it but could not onely I was told by a Jew who trades in it and deals much with them that they put some very small grain upon the skin so prepared which being pressed makes at first little dents in it but these dents afterwards filling up again they make that grane which we see in Chagrin but he assured me that he knew not in the least what grain it was they made use of I came to
covering a great pent-house which was made of sticks or laths laid cross ways and two Stores over them upon which they spread a very thin lay of this lime smoothing it with the Trowel Then they put upon this lay three fingers thick of Earth mingled with Straw and wrought into a morter In this which I saw prepared there were four and twenty Ass loads and four men prepared it They were near eleven hours about it and made it up into five Wells or Heaps which remained so for two days before they were used The greatest use they make of this lime mingled with Ashes and Straw Lime for fish Ponds Basons and Fountains is for Fish-ponds Basons of Fountains and other things that are to hold water When that Stuff is well made it lasts above thirty years and is harder than Stone In whitening of their Walls they use no lime but make use of a white Earth which is in small pieces like plaister and immediately dissolves in water This Earth they call Ghilsefid Ghilsefid that 's to say white Earth they dig it out of certain Pits or Quarries of which there are many about Ispahan As to their morter it is usually made of plaister The making of Morter earth and chopped straw all well wrought and incorporated together At Schiras to spare the charges of Ghilsefid they sometimes make use of plaister for whitening their Walls but they have not that bright whiteness which Ghilsefid giveth They cast their Walls pretty often also with a mixture made of Plaister and Earth which they call Zerdghil Zerdghil that 's to say yellow Earth though in reality it be not yellow but rather of a Musk or Cinnamon colour they get it on the River-side and work it in a great Earthen Vessel but they put so little earth in proportion to water that it remains liquid like muddy water or at most like strained Juice and it is altogether of the Colour of that Earth they make use of it to work the Plaister in another Earthen Vessel where they mingle this water with plaister in such a quantity that it be reduced to the thickness of morter which retains the colour of that Earth With this mixture they cast their Walls which at first look all greyish but according as they dry they grow so white that when they are fully dry they seem almost as if they were plaistered over with pure plaister This mixture is used not onely for saving of plaister but also because it holds better than plaister alone and in my opinion looks as well For making of Terrasses they lay as I have said upon the Stores and reeds almost half a foot thick of Earth The way of making Terrasses but which sinks to far less being trampled and tread upon when it is well dried in the Air they lay on more Earth mingled with a like quantity of Straw which they work well together stirring it often that they may better incorporate the Straw with the Earth And when that is well mixt and reduced to the consistence of kennel-dirt they trample it a long while with their feet and spread it very even all over This second lay is commonly about half a foot thick also but being dry is hardly half so thick when it is dry they lay on a third lay like the former so that all being dry it may be about a foot thick All this is held up by a range of broad burnt Bricks or Tiles which is laid all round the Terrass five or six high and level with the Earth in some places they make a little shelving that the rain-Water may run off into wooden Spouts which jet out for conveying it away In this manner I saw two Terrasses made which had in surface each about a fathom and a half square when they laid on the second lay two men wrought at each about an hours time stirring the Earth with shovels and incorporating it with the Straw whilst another man continually poured water upon it the last lay requires the same labour and pains At Schiras Lar and in other hot Countries they have upon the tops of their Houses an invention for catching the fresh Air An invention for having the fresh Air. It is a Wall one or two fathom high and about the same breadth to which at the intervals of about three foot other Walls about three foot broad and as high as the great Wall joyn in right Angles there are several of such on each side of the great Wall and all together support a Roof that covers them The effect of this is that from whatsoever corner the Wind blows it is straitned betwixt three Walls and the Roof over head and so easily descends into the house below by a hole that is made for it CHAP. VI. A Sequel of the Observations of Ispahan Of ARTS LET us go on in speaking of Arts and Trades Artists of Persia since we are insensibly engaged in it The Artists in Persia and all over the Levant use their Feet in working as much as their hands for their Feet serve them for a Loom hold fast and several other Instruments An imposition upon the companies of traydesmen Every Company of crafts men pays the King a certain Summ of Money which is raised upon all the Artists of the several Trades every one of them being assessed according to his incomes They have no Loom for turning as we have but put that which they have a mind to turn upon a Pivot or Spindle and wrap about it a thong of Leather leaving two ends A Boy holds the two ends of this strap and pulls towards him The way of turning wood sometimes the one and sometimes the other and in that fashion makes the piece to turn whilst the other labours whereas with us a single Person does all The use of the wimble Nor are the Wimbles of Carpenters and Joyners so convenient as with us neither They have a long Iron as thick as two of our Wimbles but square and flat at the end like a slice or Spatula yet drawing into a point with a side and edge which way soever they turn it This Iron is in a wooden handle about a foot long and above an inch thick with a weight of lead on the top with that they have a stick with a strap of Leather like a bow but very slack they turn the strap of this bow once about the handle of the Wimble and then leaning the left hand upon the head of the handle and pulling to and fro the bow with the right hand they turn the Wimble They have a most excellent Varnish for Painters Varnish it is made of Sandarack and lintseed Oyl which they mingle together and reduce all into the consistence of an Unguent when they would make use of it they dissolve it with the Oyl of Naphta but for want of the Oyl of Naphta one may use the Spirit of Wine many times
it than indeed they were Next morning we saw two Snakes upon the water Snakes upon the water are a sign of the nearness of Land. which occasioned great joy in the Ship for when they begin to see Snakes it is an infallible mark that they are not above forty Leagues off the Land of the Indies wherefore one may boldly come to sounding and indeed when at nine a Clock we heaved out the Lead we found fifty three Fathom water At noon by the Gunners Observation we were in one and twenty degrees thirty three minutes Latitude having in the last twenty four hours run five and twenty Leagues and a half we sounded a second time and had forty Fathom water whereupon we stood away South-East and by East that we might not run upon the Land of Diu where we had nothing to do and which is the Rendez-vous of the Malabar Corsairs and the Zinganes Half an hour after five in the evening we had but thirty five Fathom water and then we saw upon the water a great many little yellow Snakes a Foot long and as big as ones little Finger which made us know that we were near the Coast of Diu along which the Snakes are small for from thence forwards along the Coast of the Indies they are big That we might not then run within Land we stood away South-East About six a Clock we began to see some Excrements of the Sea which the Provensals call Carnasse the Italians Potta-Marina Carnasse or Potta Marina or Alfareca and the Portuguese call Alfareca I fancy that I have seen the figure and description of them by the name of Potta-Marina in a Treatise of Fabius Columna de Conchis which is at the end of the Treatise de Plantis of the same Author Our Ships Company told me it was like a frothy Flesh which the Fish eat and when it touches a Mans Flesh it sticks to it like Glew and puts him to hot stinging pains This puts me in mind that heretofore being at Calais a Gentleman of Honour told me that in the Sea of Calais there were some certain Sea-Excrements which stung and occasioned such burning pains when they touched a Mans Flesh that he had seen some Soldiers of the Garison run about the streets roaring and crying out like Mad-men through the violence of the pain they suffered by these Excrements which had touched their Flesh when they washed themselves in the Harbour and that this pain lasted two or three days In all probability those Excrements he spoke to me of were Carnasses If the Translatour be not mistaken the English call that Excrement a Carvel We saw so great a quantity of them all the evening that sometimes they made the Sea look all white and they lay as it were in veins so that to judge by the sight one would have taken them for great Banks of Sand but of a very white Sand or else for Rivers of Milk and certainly a Man that had never seen them nor been told what they were would think himself to be upon a Bank of Sand. No sooner was one of these veins past but we saw another a coming and each of them was above five hundred paces in length and proportionably broad Those that floated along the Ships side lookt like so many very clear Stars and at first I took them for sparks that are many times seen to flash out of the Sea when the water is very rough but having observed that they lost not their splendour as commonly that sort of sparks does which disappear as soon as they are seen I took notice of them to the Captain and the rest that were upon the Quarter Deck and asked them what they were they all told me they were Carnasses and they knew by that that we were near Land for these Excrements are not commonly seen but very near the shoar and are the fore runners of a Gale of Wind but when the Captain considered them and saw them coming in so great a quantity he acknowledged to me that he had never seen so many of them together and about eight a Clock the Lead being heaved out we found thirty Fathom water After eight a Clock we saw no more Carnasses A little after eight the Wind blew very fresh which made us take in the Main-Top-Sail At the same time we perceived to the Windward at East North-East a great light which all presently knew to be some great fire a shoar and we saw many such until midnight which confirmed us in the opinion that we were very near the Land of Diu. Wherefore we Steered on our Course South-East bearing rather to South than East About eleven a Clock the Wind slackened much Thursday the last day of the year one thousand six hundred sixty five about three a Clock in the morning the Wind turned North-East and we still Steered our Course South-East About break of day we made to the Leeward South of us a great Ship with all Sails abroad even their Top-Gallant-Sails though it was no good weather for carrying such Sails which made us conclude it was the Masulipatan which put out from Congo the same day that we did in the morning and which we thought had been at Comoron In all appearance he took our Ship for an English man for the Captain of the Masulipatan was a Hollander and therefore he had put out his Top-Gallant-Sails to run for it and the truth is he made so good way that in an hours time he was got almost out of fight Half an hour after six we cast out the Lead and had thirty five Fathom water According to the Gunners Observation at noon we were in twenty degrees forty minutes Latitude and in four and twenty hours time we had made seven and twenty Leagues and a half We were then becalmed and half an hour after five we had thirty three Fathom water At eight of the Clock at night we had a small Gale from North-East which made us Steer away East South-East At midnight having sounded we found still thirty three Fathom water Friday New-years-day one thousand six hundred sixty and six at five a Clock in the morning we had twenty six Fathom water At break of day we made to the Leeward South South-East of us the same Ship which we saw the day before but somewhat nearer to us We also made Land which was known to be the Point of main Land Point of Diu. The Isle of Diu belonging to the Portuguese Alambater called the Point of Diu and immediately after we made the Island which bears the same name and is near the main Land of the Country of Cambaya This Island was anciently called I think Alambater lyes in the Latitude of twenty degrees forty minutes or one and twenty degrees the Portuguese are masters of it and have a Town there of the same name with the Island and a Fort which is thought to be impregnable being surrounded with two Ditches filled with the