bit they are oft taken and serve for nothing but to manure the Ground There are many Sturgious but the most are caught at Cape Cod and in the River of Meramack whence they are brought to England they are twelve fourteen and some eighteen foot long The Salmon is as good as ours and in great plenty in some places The Hollibut is like our Plaice or Turbut some being two yards long and one broad and a food thick Thornback and Scate is given to the Doggs being so common in many places The Bass is one of the best Fishes being a Delicate and fat Fish He hath a bone in his head that contain a Saucerful of Marrow sweet and good pleasant and wholesome they are three or four foot long they take them with a Hook and Line and in three hours a man may catch a dozen or twenty of them The Herrings are much like ours Alewives are much like Herrings which in the end of April come into the fresh Rivers to spawn in such multitudes as is incredible pressing up in such shallow waters where they can scarce swim and they are so eager that no beating with poles can keep them back till they have spawned Their Shads are far bigger than ours The Makarels be of two sorts In the beginning of the year the great ones are upon the Coast some 18. inches long In Sommer come the smaller kind they are taken with Hooks and Lines baited with a piece of Red Cloth There be many Eels in the salt water especially where grass grows they are caught in Weels baited with pieces of Lobsters Sometimes a man thus takes a busnel in a night they are wholesome and pleasant meat Lamprons and Lampries are little esteemed Lobsters are in plenty in most places very large and some being twenty pound weight they are taken at low water amongst the Rocks the smaller are the better but because of their plenty they are little esteemed The Oysters be great in form of a shoo-horn some of a foot long they breed in certain banks which are bare after every Spring-tide each makes two good mouthfuls The Periwig lies in the Oase like a head of hair which being touched draws back it self leaving nothing to be seen but a small round hole Muscles are in such plenty that they give them their Hoggs Clams are not much unlike to Cockles lying under the Sand every six or seven of them having a round hole at which they take in Air and Water they are in great plenty and help much to feed their Swine both Winter and Sommer for the Swine being used to them will constantly repair every ebb to the places where they root them up and eat them Some are as big as a Penny Loaf which the Indians count great dainties A Description of the Plantations in New-England as they were Anno Christi 1633. The outmost Plantation to the Southward which by the Indians is called Wichaguscusset is but a small Village yet pleasant and healthful having good ground store of good Timber and of Meddow ground there is a spacious Harbor for shipping before the Town they have store of Fish of all sorts and of Swine which they feed with Acrons and Clams and an Alewife River Three miles to the North is Mount Wolleston a fertile soil very convenient for Farmers houses there being great store of plain ground without Trees Near this place are Maschusets Fields where the greatest Sagamore in the Country lived before the Plague cleared all Their greatest inconvenience is that there are not so many Springs as in other places nor can Boats come in at low water nor Ships ride near the Shore Six miles further to the North lieth Dorchester the greatest Town in New-England well Wooded and Watered with good Arrable and Hay ground fair comfortable Fields and pleasant Gardens Here are many Cattel as Kine Goats and Swine It hath a good Harbor for ships there is begun the fishing in the Bay which proved so profitable that many since have followed them there A mile from thence lies Roxberry a fair and handsome Country Town the Inhabitants are rich It lies in the Mains and yet is well Wooded and watered having a clear Brook running through the Town where are great store of Smelts whence it s called Smelt-River A quarter of a mile on the North of it is another River called Stony River upon which is built a water Mill. Here is good store of Corn and Meddow Ground Westward from the Town it s somewhat Rocky whence it s called Roxberry the Inhabitants have fair houses store of Cattel Come-fields paled in and fruitful Gardens Their goods are brought in Boats from Boston which is the nearest Harbor Boston is two miles North-East from Roxberry It s Situation is very pleasant being a Peninsula hemmed on the South with the Bay of Roxberry On the North with Charles River the Marshes on the back side being not half a quarter of a mile over so that a little fencing secures their cattel from the Wolves Their greatest want is of Wood and Meddow ground which they supply from the adjacent Islands both for Timber Fire-wood and Hay they are not troubled with Wolves Rattlesnakes nor Musketoes being bare of Wood to shelter them It s the chief place for shipping and Merchandize This neck of Land is about four miles in compass almost square Having on the South at one corner a great broad Hill whereon is built a Fort which commands all Ships in any Harbour in the Hill Bay On the North side is another Hill of the same bigness whereon stands a Windmil To the North-West is an high Mountain with three little Hills on the top whence it is called Tremount From hence you may see all the Islands that lie before the Bay and such Ships as are upon the Sea Coast. Here are rich Corn Fields and fruitful Gardens The Inhabitants grow rich they have sweet and pleasant Springs and for their enlargement they have taken to themselves Farm-Houses in a place called Muddy River two miles off where is good Timber Ground Marsh-Land and Meddows and there they keep their Swine or other Cattel in the Summer and bring them to Boston in the Winter On the North side of Charles River is Charles Town which is another neck of Land on whose Northern side runs Mistick River This Town may well be paralled with Boston being upon a bare neck and therefore forced to borrow conveniencies from the Main and to get Farmes in the Country Here is a Ferry-boat to carry Passengers over Charles River which is a deep Channel and a quarter of a mile over Here may ride fourty ships at a time Up higher is a broad Bay that is two miles over into which run Stony River and Muddy River In the middle of this Bay is an Oyster bank Medfod Village is scituated towards the North-West of this Bay in a Creek A very fertile and pleasant place It s a mile and a half from
Harbours are New-Plimouth Cape Anu Salem and Marvil-Head all which afford good ground for Anchorage being Land-lockt from Wind and Seas The chief and usual Harbour is the still Bay of Massechusets which is also aboard the Plantations it s a safe and pleasant Harbour within having but one secure entrance and that no broader than for three Ships to enter abreast but within there is Anchorage for five hundred Ships This Harbour is made by many Islands whose high Clifts shoulder out the boisterous Seas yet may easily deceive the unskilful Pilot presenting many fair openings and broad sownds whose Waters are too shallow for ships though Navigable for Boats and small Pinnases The entrance into the great Haven is called Nantâ—scot which is two Leagues from Boston From hence they may sail to the River of Wessaguscus Naponset Charles River and Mistick River on all which are seated many towns Here also they may have fresh supplies of Wood and water from the adjacent Islands with good Timber to repair their Weather-beaten Ships As also Masts or Yards there being store of such Trees as are useful for the purpose The places which are inhabited by the English are the best ground and sweetest Climate in all those parts bearing the name of New England the Air agreeing well with our English bodies being High Land and a sharp Air and though they border upon the Sea-Coast yet are they seldom obscured with Mists or unwholesome Foggs or cold Weather from the Sea which lies East and South from the Land And in the extremity of Winter the North-East and South-winds comming from the Sea produce warm weather and bringing in the Seas loosen the frozen Bayes carrying away the Ice with their Tides Melting the Snow and thawing the ground Only the North-west Winds coming over the Land cause extream cold weather accompanied with deep Snows and bitter Frosts so that in two or three dayes the Rivers will bear Man or Horse But these Winds seldom blow above three dayes together after which the Weather is more tollerable And though the cold be sometimes great yet is there good store of wood for housing and fires which makes the Winter less tedious And this very cold Weather lasts but eight or ten weeks beginning with December and ending about the tenth of February Neither doth the piercing colds of Winter produce so many ill effects as the raw Winters here with us in England But these hard Winters are commonly the forerunners of a pleasant Spring and fertile Summer being judged also to make much for the health of our English bodies The Summers are hotter than here with us because of their more Southerly Latitude yet are they tollerable being oft cooled with fresh Winds The Summers are commonly hot and dry there being seldom any Rain yet are the Harvests good the Indian Corn requiring more heat than wet to ripen it And for the English corn the nightly Dews refresh it till it grows up to shade its Roots with its own substance from the parching Sun The times of most Rain are in April and about Michaelmas The early Spring and long Summers make the Autumns and Winters to be but short In the Springs when the Grass begins to put forth it grows apace so that whereas it was black by reason of Winters blasts in a fortnights space there will be grass a foot high New England being nearer the Aequinoctial than Old England the days and nights be more equally divided In Summer the dayes be two hours shorter and in Winter two hours longer than with us Virginia having no Winter to speak of but extream hot Summers hath dried up much English blood and by the pestiferous Diseases hath swept away many lusty persons changing their complexions not into swarthiness but into Paleness which comes not from any want of food the Soil being fertile and pleasant and they having plenty of Corn and Cattel but rather from the Climate which indeed is found to be too Hot for our English Constitutions which New England is not In New England Men and Women keep their natural Complexions in so much as Seamen wonder when they arive in those parts to see their Countrey men look so Fresh and Ruddy neither are they much troubled with Inflammations or such Diseases as are increased by too much heat The two chief Messengers of Death are Feavours and Callentures but they are easily cured if taken in time and as easily prevented if men take care of their bodies As for our common Diseases they be Strangers in New England Few ever have the small Pox Measels Green-sickness Headach Stone Consumption c. yea many that have carried Coughs and Consumptions thither have been perfectly cured of them There are as sweet lusty Children born there as in any other Nation and more double births than with us here The Women likewise recover more speedily and gather strength after child-birth sooner than in Old England The Soil for the general is a warm kind of Earth there being little cold spewing Land no Moorish Fens nor Quagmires The lowest Grounds be the Marshes which are ovrflown by the Spring-Tides They are Rich Ground and yield plenty of Hay which feeds their Cattel as well as the best Upland Hay with us And yet they have plenty of Upland Hay also which grows commonly between the Marshes and the Woods And in many places where the Trees grow thin they get good Hay also And near the Plantations there are many Meddows never overflowed and free from all Wood where they have as much Grass as can be turned over with a Sithe and as high as a mans middle and some higher so that a good Workman will Mow three Loads in a day Indeed this Grass is courser than with us yet is it not sower but the Cattel eat and thrive very well with it and are generally larger and give more Milk than with us and bring forth young as well and are freer from diseases than the Cattel here There is so much Hay Ground in the Country that none need fear want though their Cattel should encrease to thousands there being some thousands of Acres that were yet never medled with and the more their Grass is Mowed the thicker it grows and where Cattel use to graze in the Woods the Ground is much improved growing more grassy and less full of Weeds and there is such plenty of Grass in the Woods that the Beasts need not Fodder till December at which time men begin to house their milch beasts and Calves In the Upland Grounds the Soil varies in some places Clay in others Gravel and some are of a Red Sand all which are covered with a black Mould usually a foot or little less deep The English Manure their ground with Fish whereof they have such plenty that they know not how otherwise to dispose of them yet the Indians being too lazy to catch Fish plant Corn eight or ten years in one place without any such help where they have yet a
Charles Town At the bottom of this Bay the River is very narrow By the side of this River stands New-Town three miles from Charles Town It s a neat and well compacted Town having many fair buildings and at first was intended for a City The Inhabitants are mostly rich and have many Cattel of all sorts and many hundred Acres of Ground paled in On the other side of the River lies their Meddow and Marsh Ground for Hay Half a mile thence is Water Town nothing inferiour for Land Wood Meddows and Water Within half a mile of it is a great Pond which is divided between those two Towns And a mile and a half from this Town is a fall of fresh waters which through Charles River fall into the Ocean A little below this fall they have made weires where they catch great store of Shads and Alewives an hundred thousand of them in two Tides Mastick is three miles from Charles Town seated pleasantly by the waters side At the head of this River are very spacious Ponds to which the Alewives press to cast their Spawn where multitudes are taken On the West side of this River the Governour hath a Farm where he keeps most of his Cattel On the East side is Mr. Craddocks Plantation who impailed in a Park for Deer and some ships have been built there Winnisimet is a very pleasant place for situation and stands commodiously It s but a mile from Charles Town the River only parting them It s the lasts Town in the Bay The chief Islands that secure the Harbor from Winds and Waves are first Deere Island within a flight shot from Bullin Point It s so called because the Deer often swim thither to escape the Woolves where sixteen of them have been killed in a day The next is Long Island so called from its length Other Islands are Nodless Isle Round Isle the Governours Garden having in it an Orchard Garden and other conveniencies Also Slate Island Glass Island Bird Island c. they all abound with Wood Water and Meddows In these they put their Cattel for safety whil'st their Corn is on the Ground The Towns without the Bay are nearer the Main and reap a greater benefit from the Sea in regard of the plenty of Fish and Fowl and so live more plentifully than those that are more remoat from the Sea in the Island Plantations Six miles North-East from Winnisimet is Sagus is pleasant for situation seated at the bottom of a Bay which is made on the one side with a surrounding Shore and on the other side with a long Sandy Beach It s in the circumference six miles well Woodded with Oakes Pines and Cedars It s also well watered with fresh Springs and a great Pond in the middle before which is a spacious Marsh. One Black William an Indian Duke out of his generosity gave this place to the Plantation of Sagus so that none else can claim it when a storm hath been or is like to be there will be a roaring like thunder which may be heard six miles off On the North side of this Bay are two great Marshes divided by a pleasant River that runs between them The Marsh is crossed with divers Creeks where are store of Geese and Ducks and convenient Ponds wherein to make Decoys There are also fruitful Meddows and four great Ponds like little Lakes wherein is store of fresh Fish out of which within a mile of the Town runs a curious fresh Brook which is rarely frozen by reason of its warmness and upon it is built a Water Mill. For Wood there is store as Oake Walnut Cedar Elme and Aspe Here was sown much English Corn. Here the Bass continues from the midst of April till Michaelmas and not above half that time in the Bay There is also much Rock-Cod and Macharil so that shoals of Bass have driven shoals of Macharil to the end of the sandy bank which the Inhabitants have gathered up in Wheel barrows Here are many Muscle banks and Clam-banks and Lobsters amongst the Rocks and grassy holes Four miles from Saugus stands Salem on the middle of a neck of Land very pleasantly between two Rivers on the North and South The place is but barren sandy Land yet for seven years together it brought forth excellent Corn being manured with Fish every third year Yet there is good ground and good Timber by the Sea side and divers fresh Springs Beyond the River is a very good soil where they have Farms Here also they have store of Fish as Basses Eels Lobsters Clams c. They cross the River in Canows made of whole Pine Trees two foot and an half wide and twenty foot long in which also they go a Fowling sometimes two Leagues into the Sea It hath two good Harbours which lie within Derbins Fort. Marvil Head lies four miles South from Salem a very good place for a Plantation especially for such as will set up a Trade of Fishing There are good Harbours for Boats and good riding for ships Agowomen is nine miles to the North from Salem near the Sea and another good place for a Plantation It abounds with Fish and Flesh of Fowls and Beasts hath great Meddows and Marshes and Arable grounds many good Rivers and Harbours and no Rattle Snakes Merrimack lies eight miles beyond that where is a River Navigable for twenty miles and all along the side of it fresh Marshes in some places three miles broad In the River is Sturgion Salmon Bass and divers other kinds of Fish Three miles beyond this River is the out side of Massecusets Patent wherein these are the Towns that were begun in the year 1633. Of the Evils and Hurtful things in the Plantation Those that bring the greatest prejudice to the Planters are the ravenous Woolves which destroy the weaker Cattel of which we heard before Then the Rattle Snake which is usually a yard and a half long as thick in the middle as the small of a mans Legg with a yellow belly Her back is spotted with black russet and green placed like scales At her taile is a rattle with which she makes a noise when she is molested or when any come near to her Her neck seems no bigger than a mans thumb yet can she swallow a Squirrel having a wide mouth with teeth as sharp as needles wherein her poyson lies for she hath no sting when a man is bitten by her the poyson spreads so suddenly through the veins to the heart that in an hour it causes death unless he hath the Antidote to expel the poyson which is a Root called Snake-weed which must be champed the spittle swallowed and the Root applyed to the sore this is a certain cure This Weed is rank poyson if it be taken by any man that is not bitten unless it be Phisically compounded with other things He that is bitten by these Snakes his fresh becomes as spotted as a Lepers till he be perfectly cured She is naturally the most
a little hollowed in the mid'st with three feet like a Pot above six inches high that they may keep fire under They heat this Pone as they call it so hot as that it may bake but not burn Then the Indians who are best acquainted with the making of it cast the Meal upon the Pone the whole breadth of it and put it down with their hands and it will presently stick together and when they think that that side is enough they turn it with a thing like a Battle-dore and so turn and re-turn it till it be enough which is presently done Then laying it upon a flat boord they make others till they have made enough for the whole family They make it as thin as a Wafer and yet purely white and crisp Salt they never use in it though probably it would give it a better relish They can hardly make Py-crust of it For as they knead or roul it it will crack or chop so that it will not hold any Liquor neither with nor without Butter or Eggs. There is another sort of Bread which is mixed being made of the flower of Maise and Cussary For the Maise of its self will make no Bread it is so extream heavy But these two being mixed they make it into large Cakes two inches thick which tastes most like to our English Bread Yet the Negroes use the Maise another way For they tost the ears of it at the fire and so eat it warm off the fire The Christian Servants are fed with this Maise who pound it in a large Morter and boil it in water to the thickness of Frumentry and then put it into a Tray and so eat it they give it them cold and scarce afford them salt to it This they call Lob-lolly The third sort of Bread which they use is only Potatoes which are the dryest and largest which they can choose and this is the most common sort of Bread used at the Planters Tables Of their Drink Their Drink is of sundry sorts The first and that which is most used in the Island is Mobby a Drink made of Potatoes thus They put the Potatoes into a Tub of water and with a Broom wash them clean Then taking them out they put them into a large Brass or Iron Pot and put to them so much water as will only cover a third part of them then covering the Pot close with a thick double cloth that no steam can get out they stew them over a gentle fire and when they are enough take them out and with their hands squeeze and break them very small in fair water letting them stand till the water hath drawn all the spirits out of the Roots which will be done in an hour or two Then they put the Liquor and Roots into a large linnen Bag and let it run through that into a Jar and within two hours it will begin to work and the next day it's fit to be drunk And as they will have it stronger or weaker they put in a greater or a less quantity of Roots This Drink being temperately made doth not at all fly up into the head but is sprightly thirst-cooling drink If it be put up into Runlets it will last four or five dayes and drink the quicker It is much like Renish Wine on the Must. There are two several layers wherein these Roots grow The one makes the Skins of the Potatoes white the other Red and the Red Roots make the Drink Red like Claret Wine the other white This is the most general Drink used in the Island but it breeds Hydropick Humours Another drink they have which is much wholsomer though not altogether so pleasant which they call Perino much used by the Indians which is made of the Cussavy Root This they cause their old toothless women to chaw in their mouthes and so spit into water which in three or four hours will work and purge it self of the poisonous quality This Drink will keep a moneth or two and drink somewhat like our English Beer Grippo is a third sort of Drink but few make it well and it 's rarely used Punch is a fourth sort which is made of Water and Sugar mixt together which in ten dayes standing will be very strong and fit for Labourers A fifth is made of wild Plumbs which they have in great abundance upon very large Trees These they press and strain and they have a very sharp and fine Flavour But this being troublesome in making is seldom used But the Drink made of the Plantane is far beyond all these These they gather when they are full ripe and in the heighth of their sweetness and peeling off the Skin they wash them in water well boiled and after they have stood a night they strain it and bottle it up and at a weeks end drink it It s a very strong and pleasant Drink as strong as Sack and will fly up into the head and therefore must be used moderately The seventh sort of Drink they make of the Skimmings of their Sugar which is exceeding strong but not very pleasant This is commonly and indeed too much used many being made drunk by it This they call Kill-Devil The eighth sort of Drink they call Beveridge made of Spring-water White-Sugar and Juice of Oringes And this is not only pleasant but wholesome The last and best sort of Drink which the World affords is the incomparable Wine of Pines And this is made of the pure juice of the fruit it self without mixture of Water or any thing else having in it self a natural compound of all the most excellent tasts that the world can yield I'ts too pure to keep long It will be fine within three or four dayes They make it by pressing the Fruit and straining the Liquor and keep it in Bottles Three sorts of Meat They have several sorts of Meat there whereof the Hoggs-flesh is the most general and indeed the best which the Island affords For the Swine feeding daily upon Fruit the Nuts of Locust Pompianes the bodies of the Plantanes Bonanas Sugar-Canes and Maise make their flesh to be exceeding sweet At the first coming of the English thither they found Hoggs of four hundred pound weight the Intrals taken out and their Heads cut off Beef they seldome have any that feeds upon that Island except it die of it self Only such a Planter as was Sir James Drax who lived there like a Prince may now and then kill one Turkies they have large fat and full of gravy Also our English Pullen and Muscovy Ducks which being larded with the fat of their Pork and seasoned with Pepper and Salt is an excellent Bak'd Meat Turtle Doves they have of two sorts and very good meat There are also Pidgeons which come from the Lee-ward Islands in September and stay till Christmas to feed upon Fruits Many of these they kill upon the Trees and they
his hand if it stir not it produceth no effect but if it move it self never so little it so torments the body of him that holds it that his arteries joints sinews all his members feel exceeding great pain with a certain numness and as soon as he layeth it out of his hand all that pain and numness is gone also P. Pil. v. 2. p. 1183. See more of it afterwards 9. In Sofala are many River-horses as big as two of our horses with thick and short hinder legs having five clawes on each fore-foot and four on the hinder the mouth is wide and full of teeth four of which are above two spans long a peece the two lower stand upright the two upper are turned like a Boars tush they live in the water but feed on the land upon grass they have teats wherewith they nourish their young ones Their Hides are thicker than an Oxes they are all of an ash-colour Gray with white strakes on their faces or white Stars in their foreheads Idem p. 1544. 10. In the mouth of the River of Goa there was taken a fish of the bigness of a Cur-Dog with a snout like an Hog small eyes no ears but two holes in-stead thereof It had four feet like an Elephant the tail was flat but at the end round and somewhat sharp It snorted like a Hog the Body Head Tail and Legs were covered with broad Scals as hard as Iron so that no weapon could peirce them when he was beaten he would rowle himself round like an Urchin and could by no strength be opened till he opened of his own accord Idem p. 1774. 11. There are also Toad-Fishes of about a span long painted having fair Eyes when they are taken out of the water they snort and swell much their poison lies only in the skin and that being flaid off the Indians eat them Idem p. 1314. 12. The Cuttle-Fish hath a hood alwayes full of black water like Ink which when she is pursued by other fishes that would devour her she casts it forth which so darkens and foileth the water that she thereby escapeth Idem 13. There are a sort of fishes whose wonderful making magnifieth their Creator who for their safety hath given them fins which serve in-stead of wings they are of such a delicate skin interlaced with fine bones as may cause admiration in the beholder These fishes are like to Pilcherds only a little rounder and bigger they flye best with a side wind but longer than their wings are wet they cannot flye so that their longest flight is about a quarter of a mile The Dolphins and Bonitos do continually hunt after them to prey upon them whereupon for safety they take the air but then there is a Fowle called an Alcatrace much like a Hern which hovers in the air to seize upon them Incidit in Scyllam qui vult vitare Caribdim Out of the frying Pan into the fire as our Proverb hath it 14. There is often a strang fight in the Sea between the Whale and his enemies viz. The Swordfish and the Thresher The Swordfish is not great but strongly made and between his neck and shoulders he hath a bone like a Sword of about five inches broad and above three foot long full of prickles on either side The Thresher is a bigger fish whose tail is broad and thick and very weighty The fight is in this manner the Swordfish placeth himself under the belly of the Whale and the Thresher above with his tail thresheth upon the head of the Whale till he forceth him to give way which the Swordfish perceiving wounds him in the belly with the Sword and so forceth him to rise up again In this manner they torment him that the fight is sometimes heard above three leagues off the Whales roaring being heard much further his onely remedy in this case is to get to the shore which he laboureth to do as soon as he sees his enemies for then there can fight but one with him and for either of them hand to hand he is too good Pur. Pil. v. 4. p. 1377. 15. Mr. Herbert in his East-Indy voyage relates of a Shark taken by one of their men that was nine foot and an half in length and they found in her paunch fifty and five young ones each of them a foot in length all which go out and in at their pleasures She is armed with a double row of venemous teeth and is guided to her prey by a little Musculus or Pilot-fish that scuds to and fro to bring intelligence the Shark for his kindnesse suffering it to suck when it pleaseth 16. The Sea Tortoise is not much differing from those at land only her shell is flatter by overturning them they are easily taken being hereby dis-enabled either to sink or help themselves they taste waterish and cause Fluxes they superabound in eggs one of them having in her neer two thousand which eggs are pale and round and will never be made hard with boiling Herberts Travels p. 26. 17. In the Indian Sea is an Eagle-fish whose eyes are five quarters asunder from the end of one fin to the end of the other are above four yards Its mouth and teeth resemble a Portcullis it hath a long small tail and it is rather to be wondered at then to be eaten 18. In Le-Maires voyage about the world a certain fish or Sea monster with an horn struck against the ship with such violence that shook it whereupon the Master looking overboard saw the Sea all bloody but knew not what should be the cause till coming into Port-Desire where they cleansed and trimmed their ship they found seven foot under water a Horn sticking in the ship for bignesse and fashion like an Elephants tooth yet not hollow but all solid of hard bone which had pierced through three double planks and was entred into a rib of the ship it stuck about half a foot deep in the ship and by great force was broken off which caused that great monster to bleed so much as discoloured the water Pur. Pil. v. 1. p. 90. 19. The Mannaty is a strange fish resembling a Cow Her face is like a Buffalo's her eyes small and round having hard gums instead of teeth they feed much on the shore which makes them taste like flesh of veal their intrails differ little from a Cows their bodies are commonly three yards long and one broad they swim slowly wanting fins in the place whereof they have two things like paps which are their stilts when they creep on the shore to graze where they sleep long sucking in the cool aire they cannot keep under water above half an hour The stone generated in their head is most esteemed being soveraign against choller adust the stone collick and dissenteryes if beaten small infused in wine and drunk fasting Herb. Trav. p. 26. See more afterwards 20. The Carvel comes of the foam of the sea every where floating upon the surface of the
which they call The risen or Awaken Bird because it sleeps six months and awakes the other six It hath a Cap on its head of no one colour but on what side soever you look it sheweth Red Green Black and other colours all very fine and shining the Breast also shews great variety of colours especially Yellow more fine then Gold the Body is Grey and it hath a very long small Bill and yet the tongue is twice as long as the Bill it flyes very swiftly and makes a humming like a Bee It always feeds flying Pur. Pil. 8. In Socotera there are Bats whose bodies are almost as big as a Conies their Heads are like Foxes with an hairy Furr upon them In other things they are like our Bats One of them being killed by some English his wings when they were extended were an ell in length their Cry is shril and loud Idem 9. In Italy are the Flies Cantharides which by day are of a Green shining colour but in the night they shine in the Air like flying Glow-Worms with Fire in their Tailes Raimunds Mercu. Ital. 10. In China there is a Fowl of a prodigious shape and bignesse It is three foot high the body being exceeding great more than a man can fathom their feathers are all white like a Swans their feet broad like Fowls that swim their neck half a fathom long and their beak half an ell the upper part of it being crooked From the nether part of the beak there hangs a very great and capable bag of a yellow golden colour resembling Parchment With these Fowls the Natives use to fish as we do in England with Cormorants They will catch fish with great dexterity and when they have filled their great bag which will hold divers fishes of two foot long a peece they will bring them to their Masters Pur. Pil. v. 2. 1643. 11. In the African Desarts is a certain Fowle called a Nesir some call it a Vultur It s bigger than a Crane In flying it mounts very high yet at the sight of a dead carkass it descends immediatly She lives long and in extream old age looseth her feathers and then returning to her nest is there fed by the young ones of the same kind Idem 12. Near unto the Streights of Magellane there is an Island called Penguin Island wherein are abundance of Fowls called Penguins that go upright their wings in stead of feathers are only covered with down which hang down like sleeves faced with white They flye not but walk in paths of their own making and keep their divisions and quarters orderly They are a strange Fowle or rather a miscellaneous creature of Beast Bird and Fish but most of Bird. Pur. Pil. v. 1. p. 536. 13. In the Isle of Man there is a sort of Sea-Fowles called Puffins they are of a very unctious constitution and breed in Cony-holes the Conies leaving their burrows for that time they are never seen with their young but very early in the morning and late in the evening they nourish their young as it is conceived with Oil drawn from their own bodyes and dropped into their mouths for that being opened there is found in their crops no other sustenance save a single Sorrel-leaf which the old give their young as is conjectured for digestions-sake the flesh of them whilst raw not savoury but powdered it may be ranked with Anchoves and Caviare profitable they are in their feathers and oil which they use much about their Wooll 14. the Isle of Mauritius is a Fowle called a Dodo Her body is round and extream fat which makes her pace slow few of them weigh less than fifty pound Her Wings are so small that they cannot lift her above the ground Her head is variously dressed the one half-hooded with downy black feathers the other wholly naked of a whitish colour as if a transparent Lawn had covered it her bill is very hooked bending downwards the breathing place being in the midst of it from which part to the end the colour is light green mixt with a pale yellow Her eyes are round and small and bright as Diamonds her cloathing is of the finest down her train is of three or four short-feathers her legs thick and black her tallons sharp her stomach so hot that she digests stones or Iron as doth the Ostrich 15. In Lincolnshire there is a Bird called a Dotterel so named of his doltish foolishness It s a bird of an apish kinde ready to imitate what it sees done they are caught by Candle-light by the Fowlers gestures for if he put forth and arm they stretch forth a wing if he sets forward a leg or hold up his head they likewise do the same In brief whatsoever the Fowler doth the same also doth this foolish bird until it be caught within the net Camb. Brit. p. 543. 16. There is an Island called Bas bordering upon Lathaien in Scotland unto which there resort a multitude of Sea fowls especially of Soland Geese which bring with them such abundance of Fish that as it is reported an hundred souldiers that lay there in Garrison for defence of the place fed upon no other meat but the fish that was thus brought to them And the said Fowls also bring such a number of sticks and twigs wherewith to build their nests that thereby the inhabitants are also abundantly provided of fewel for the fire and such a mighty gain is made of their feathers and oil that no man would scarcely beleeve it but he that hath seen it Camb. Brit. of Scotland p. 12 13. 17. In Magallanes voyage about the world the King of the Island of Bacchian sent the King of Spain two dead birds of a strange shape they were as big as Turtle-Doves with little heads and long bills long small legs and no wings but in-stead thereof certain long feathers of divers colours and tails like Turtle-Doves all their other feathers were of a tawny colour they flye not but when the wind blows and they call them Birds of God Pur. Pil v. 1. p. 44. 18. In Sofala in the East-Indies is a kinde of Bird called Minga green and yellow very fair about the bigness of a Pigeon which never treads on the ground their feet being so short that they can scarce be discerned they settle on trees of the fruit whereof they live when they drink they flye on the tops of the water and if they fall on the ground they cannot rise again their flesh is fat and savoury Idem p. 1546. CHAP. VI. The wonderful works of God in the Creatures Of strange Beasts and Serpents 1. WHilst Sir Thomas Row our English Ambassador was at the great Moguls Court he saw many stately Elephants brought before the Emperour some of which being Lord-Elephants as they called them had their chain bells and furniture of gold and silver each of them having eight or ten other Elephants waiting on him they were some twelve companies in all and as they
have Base Tenor Countertenor Mean and Trebble If any great person come to the Habitation of a Werowanee they spread a Mat for him to sit upon setting themselves just opposite to him then all the company with a tunable voice of shouting bid him welcome Then some of the chiefest make an Oration to him which they do with such vehemency that they sweat till they drop again Such victuals as they have they spend freely upon him and where his Lodging is prepared they set a woman finely painted with Red to be his bedfellow Their trading with the English is for Copper Beads c. for which they give Skins Fowl Fish Flesh Mais c. They have a Religion amongst them All things that were able to hurt them beyond their prevention they adore with Divine Worship As fire water thunder lightning The great Guns of the English Muskets Horses c. But their chief God is the Devil whom they call Oke and serve him more for fear than love In their Temples they have his image in an ilfavoured shape and adorned with Chains Copper and Beads and covered with a skin By him is commonly the Sepulchres of their Kings Their bodies are first bowelled then dried upon Hurdles About their neck and most of their joynts they hang Bracelets Chains of Copper Pearl and then they wrap them up in white Skins and roule them in Mats for their Winding-sheets laying them orderly in their Tombs which are Arches made of Mats the rest of their Wealth they set at their feet in Baskets For their ordinary Burials they dig a deep hole in the Earth and the Corps being wrapped in Skins and Mats with their Jewels they lay them upon sticks in the ground and then covet them with Earth The Burial being ended the Women having their faces painted with black sit twenty four hours in their houses mourning and lamenting by turns with such yellings and howlings as may express their great sorrow In the Woods they have some great houses filled with the Images of their Kings and Devils and Tombs of their predecessors which they count so holy that none but their Priests and Kings dare come into them They have a chief Priest differenced from the inferiour by the Ornaments of his head which are twelve sixteen or more Snake-skins stuffed with Moss the Skins of Weesels and other Vermin all which they tye by the Tails so as the Tails meet on the top of their head like a Tassel about which a Crown of Feathers the Skins hang down about him and almost cover his face The Priests faces are painted as ugly as they can devise and they carry Rattles in their hands Their Devotion is most in Songs which the chief Priests begins and the rest follow Their Solemn Meetings are upon great distress of want fear of Enemies times of Triumph and of gathering their Fruits at which time all both men women and children meet together The people are very Barbarous yet have they Government amongst them and their Governours are well obeyed by their subjects The form of their Government is Monarchical One of their Chief Rulers is called Powhatan from the place of his Habitation Some part of the Countrey came to him by Inheritance the rest by Conquest In several parts of his Dominion he hath Houses built like Arbors some thirty or fourty yards long and in each house provision for his entertainment according to the times About the Kings person is ordinarily attending a Guard of fourty or fifty of his tallest men every night upon the four quarters of his House stand four Sentinels and every half hour one from the Corps dugard doth hollow unto which each of the Sentinels doth answer If any fail he is extreamly beaten One House he hath wherein he keepeth his treasure of Skins Copper Pearl and Beads which he stores up against his burial none comes to this House but the Priest At the four corners stand as Sentinels four Images of a Dragon a Bear a Leopard and Giant-like man all ilfavouredly made according to their best workmanship Their King hath as many women as he will whereof when he lies on his bed one sitteth at his Head and another at his Feet But when he sits one sits on his Right Hand another on his Left When he is weary of any of them he bestows them upon those that deserves best at his Hands When he Dines or Sups one of his Women before and after Meat brings him Water in a Wooden platter to wash his Hands Another waits with a bunch of Feathers to wipe upon instead of a Towel and the Feathers were dried again His Kingdom descends not to his Sons but first to his brethren and after their decease to his sisters and to the heirs of his eldest sister They have no letters whereby to write or read the only Law whereby he Rules is Custome or else his Will is his Law which must be obeyed His inferiour Kings whom they call Werowances are tied to Rule by Customes yet have they power of Life and Death they all know their several Lands and Habitations and Limit to Fish Fowl and Hunt in but they hold all of their great King to whom they pay tribute of Skins Beads Copper Pearl Deer Turkies wild Beasts and Corn with great fear and adoration they all obey him At his feet they present whatsoever he commands at his frown their greatest spirit will tremble Offenders he causeth to be broyled to death or their brains to be beaten out their ordinary correction is to beat them with Cudgels for which yet they will never cry nor complain Anno Christi 1611. the L. de La Ware upon his return from Virginia gave this account of it That the number of men which he left there was above two hundred the most in health and provided of ten moneths victuals in the Store house besides other quantities of Corn and shew much friendship For the securing of the Colony he built three Fronts two of them being seated near Point Comfort had adjoyning to them a large circuit of ground open and fit for Corn. The third Fort was at the Falls upon an Island environed with Corn ground The Country is wonderful fertile and rich The English Cattel were much encreased and did thrive excellent well The kine in a hard Winter when the ground was covered with Snow lived with one anothers help upon the Grass which they found and prospered well the Swine encreased much That year Captain Argoll went with his Ship up Pembroke River where he met with the King of Pastancy and procured of him and his Subjects Eleven hundred bushes of Corn besides three hundred for his own Company with which he returned to James's Town and delivered it into the Store Then did he return and discover Pembroke River to the head of it which was about Sixty five Leagues within Land and Navigable for any Ship then marching into the
good Crop Such is the rankness of the ground that it must be Planted the first year with Indian Corn before it will be fit for English Seed The ground in some places is of a soft mould in others so tough and hard that five Yoke of Oxen can scarce plow it but after the first breaking up it is so easie that one Yoak of Oxen and an Horse may plow it Our English Corn prospers well especially Rye Oats and Barly The ground affords very good Kitchin Gardens for Turnips Parsnips Carrots Radishes Pumpions Muskmellons Squashes Cucumbers Onions and all other English Roots and Hearbs prospers as well there as with us and usually are larger and fairer There are store of Herbs both for Meat and Medicine not only in Gardens but in Woods as sweet Marjoram Purslane Sorrel Penniroyal Saxifrage Bayes c. Also Strawberries in abundance very large some being two inches about There be also Goosberries Bilberries Rasberries Treackleberries Hurtleberries Currants which being dried in the Sun are not much inferiour to those we have from Zant. There is also Hemp and Flax some that grows naturally and some that is Planted by the English and Rape-seed There is Iron Stone and plenty of other stones both rough and smooth plenty of Slate to cover houses and Clay whereof they make Tiles and Bricks and probably other Minerals The Country is excellently watered and there are store of Springs which yield sweet water that is fatter than ours and of a more jetty colour and they that drink it are as healthy and lusty as those that drink Beer None hitherto have been constrained to digg deep for this Water or to fetch it far or to fetch it from several places the same water serving for washing brewing and all other uses There be also several spacious Ponds in many places out of which run many pleasant and sweet streams both Winter and Summer at which the Cattel quench their thirst and upon which may be built Water-Mills for necessary uses There is also great store of Wood not only for Fewel but for the building of Ships Houses and Mills The Timber grows strait and tall some Trees being twenty and others thirty foot high before they spread forth their branches They are not very thick yet many of them are are sufficient to make Mill-posts some being three foot and a half in the Diameter Neither do they grow so close but that in many places a man man may ride a hunting amongst them There is no underwood but in swamps and wet low grounds in which are Osiers Hazels and such like Of these Swamps some are ten some twenty some thirty miles For the Indians use to burn the under-wood in other places in November when the Grass and Leaves are withered and dry which otherwise would marr their beloved sport of Hunting But where the Indians died of the plague not many years ago there is much underwood between Wessaguscus and Plimouth because it hath not thus been burned The several sorts of Timber are thus expressed Trees both on Hills and Plains in plenty be The long-liv ' Oake and mournful Cypress Tree Sky-towring Pines and Chesnuts coated rough The lasting Cedar with the Walnut tough The Rosin-dropping Fir for Masts in use The Boatmen seek for Oars light neat grown Spruse The brittle Ash the ever trembling Aspes The broad spread Elme whose concave harbours Wasps The watry spungy Alder good for nought Small Elder by th' Indian Fletchers sought The knotty Maple pallid Birch Haw thorns The Horn-bound Tree that to be cloven scorns Which from the tender Vine oft takes his Spouse Who twines imbracing arms abut his Boughs Within this Indian Orchard Fruitr be some The ruddy Cherry and the jetty Plumb Snake murthering Hasel with sweet Saxafrage Whose spouts in Beer allayes hot Feavers rage The Diars Shumack with more Trees there be That are both good for use and and rare to see The chief and common Timber for ordinary use is Oake and Walnut Of Oakes there be three kinds Red White and Black whereof one kind is fittest for Clap-board others for sawn-board others for shipping and others for houses They yield also much Mast for Hoggs especially every third year the Acron being bigger than our English The Walnut-trees are tougher than ours and last time out of mind The hut is smaller than ours but not inferiour in sweetness and goodness having no bitter Pill In some places there is a Tree that bears a Nut as bigg as a small Pear The Cedars are not very big not being above eighteen inches in Diameter neither is it very high and its fitter for ornament than substance being of colour White and Red like Yew smells like Juniper they use it commonly for sieling of Houses for making of Chests Boxes and Staves The Fir and Pine-trees grow in many places shooting up exceeding high especially the Pine They afford good Masts Boards Rozin and Turpentine they grow in some places for ten miles together close by the Rivers sides where by ships they may easily be transported to any desired Ports Their Ash is blittle and therefore good for little so that the Walnut is used for it The Horn-bound tree is exceeding tough which makes it very difficult to be cleft yet it s very good for Bowls and Dishes not being subject to crack It grows with broad-spread Arms the Vines winding their curling branches about them which afford great store of Grapes very bigg both Grapes and Clusters sweet and good They are of two sorts Red and white there is also a smaller Grape growing in the Islands which is sooner ripe and more delicious doubtless as good wine might be made of them as at Burdeaux in France it lying under the same degree The Cherry Trees yield great store of Cherries which grow on Clusters like Grapes they are smaller than ours and not so good if not very ripe The Plumbs are somewhat better being black and yellow as big as Damasens and indifferently well tasted The White Thorn yields Hawes as big as our Cherries which are pleasant to the tast better than their Cherries The Beasts be as followeth The Kingly Lion and the strong-arm'd Bear The large-limb'd Moosis with the tripping â—ear Quil-darting Porcupines and Rackcames be Castled in the hollow of an aged Tree The skipping Squirrel Cony Purblind Hare Immured in the self same Castle are Lest red-eyed Ferrets wildly Foxes should Them undermine if Rampir'd but with mould The grim-fac't Ounce and ravenous howling Woolf Whose meager pauch sucks like a swallowing gulph Black-grittering Otters and rich coated Bever The Civet-sented Muscat smelling ever Lions there be some but seen very rarely Bears are common which be most fierce in Strawberry time when they have young ones they will go upright iike a man climb trees and swim to the Islands At which time if an Indian see him he will swim after him and overtaking him they go to Water-cuffs for bloody noses and scratched sides at last the
man prevails gets on his back and so rides him on those watry Plains till the Bear can bear him no longer In the Winter they retire to Cliffs of Rocks and thick Swamps to shelter them from the cold where they live by sleeping and sucking their Paws and with that will be as fat as they are in Sommer Yet the Woolves will devour them A kennel of them setting upon a single Bear will tear him in pieces They are good meat and seldom prey upon the English Cattel or offer to assault any man except they be vexed with a shot The Moose is somewhat like our Red Deer as big as an Ox slow of foot headed like a Buck some being two yards wide in the head his flesh is as good as Beef his Hide is good for clothing they bring forth three young ones at a time fourty miles to the North-East of Massechusets Bay there be great store of them they are oft devoured by the Woolves The Fallow Dear are much bigger than ours of a brighter colour more inclining to Red with spotted bellies They keep near to the Sea that that they may swim to the Islands when they are chased by the Woolves They have commonly three young ones at a time which they hide a mile from each other giving them suck by turns and this they do that if the Woolf should find one they may save the other their horns grow strait over-hanging their heads so that they cannot feed on things that grow low till they have mused their heads The Porcupine is small not much unlike to an Hedghog only somewhat bigger He stands upon his Guard against man or beast darting his quills into their Leggs or Hides if they approach too near him The Rackoon is a deep furred Beast not much unlike a Badger having a Tail like a Fox and is as good meat as a Lamb. In the day time they sleep in hollow Trees in the light nights they feed on Clams by the Sea side where they are taken with Doggs The Squirrels be of three sorts the great gray Squirrel almost as big as our Conies Another almost like our English Squirrels the third is a flying Squirrel which is not very big with a great deal of loose skin which she spreads square when she flies which with the help of the Wind wafts her Batlike body from place to place The Conies are much like ours in England The Hares are some of them white and a yard long both these creatures harbour themselves from the Foxes in hollow Trees having a hole at the entrance no bigger than they can creep into The hurtful Creatures are Squncks Ferrets Foxes whereof some be black and their Furrs of great esteem The Ounce or wild Cat is as big as a Mungrel It s by nature fierce and dangerous fearing neither Dogg nor Man He kills Deer which he effects thus Knowing the Deers tracts he lies lurking in long weeds and the Deer passing by he suddenly leaps upon his back from thence he gets to his neck and scratches out his throat He kills Geese also for being much of the same colour he places himself close by the water holding up his bob tail which is like a Gooses neck which the Geese approaching nigh to visit with a sudden jerk he apprehends his desired prey The English kill many of them and account them good meat Their Skins have a deep Fur Spotted White and Black on the belly The Woolves differ something from those in other Countries they never yet set upon any man or woman neither do they hurt Horses or Cows But Swine Goats and red Calves which they take for Deer are oft killed by them In Autumn and the Spring they most frequent our English Plantations following the Deer which at those times come down to those parts They are made like a Mongrel big-boned thin paunched deep breasted having a thick neck and head prick ears and a long snout with dangerous teeth long stairing hair and a great bush tail Many good Mastiffs have been spoiled by them Once a fair Grayhound ran at them and was torn in pieces before he could be rescued they have no Joynts from the Head to the Tail Some of them are black and one of their skins is worth five or six pound Of Beasts living in the Water Their Otters are most of them black and their skins are almost as good as Bevers Their Oyl is of rare use for many things Martins also have a good Fur for their bigness Musquashes are almost like Beavers but not so big the Males stones smells as sweet as Musk and being killed in Winter or the Spring they never loose their sweetness they are no bigger than Cony-skins and yet are sold for five shillings a piece One good Skin will perfume a whole house full of Clothes The Bevers wisdom and understanding makes him come nigh to a reasonable creature His body is thick and short with short leggs feet like a Mole before and behind like a Goose a broad tail like a shoo-sole very tough and strong His head is something like an Otters saving that his fore-teeth be like Conies two above and two beneath sharp and broad with which he cuts down Trees as big as a mans thigh or bigger which afterwards he divides into lengths according to the uses they are appointed for If one Beaver be too weak to carry the Log than another helps him If two be too weak three or four will assist being placed three to three which set their teeth in one anothers tough tails and laying the load on the hindermost they draw the Logg to the desired place they tow it in the water the youngest getting under it bearing it up that it may swim the lighter They build their houses of Wood and Clay close by a Ponds side and knowing their seasons they build their houses answerably three stories high that when the Land Floods come they may shift higher and when the waters fall they remove lower These houses are so strong that no Creature save an industrious man with his penetrating tools can pierce them their ingress and egress being under water They make very good Ponds for knowing where a stream runs from between two rising Hills they will pitch down Piles of Wood placing smaller Rubbish before it with clay and sods not leaving till by their Art and Industry they have made a firm and curious Dam-head which may cause admiration in wise men They keep themselves to their own Families never parting so long as they are able to keep house together Their wisdom secures them from the English who seldom kill any of them wanting time and patience to lay a long siege or to be often deceived by their cunning evasions So that all our Beavers come from the Indians whose time and experience fits them for that imployment Of the Birds and Fowls both of Land and Water They are expressed in these Verses The princely Eagle and the soaring Hawks Within
of the Sachems Councel without whom he will neither make War nor undertake any great matter In War the Sachems for their more safety go in the midst of them They are usually men of the greatest stature and strength and such as will endure most hardness and yet are discreet and courteous in their carriages scorning theft lying and base dealing and stand as much upon their Reputation as any men And to encrease the number of these they train up the likeliest Boyes from their Childhood unto great hardness and cause them to abstain from dainty meat and to observe divers other Rules to the end that the Devil may appear to them when they are of age They also cause them to drink the Juice of Centuary and other bitter Herbs till they vomit it into a platter which they must drink again till at length through extraordinary pressing of Nature it looke like blood And this the Boyes will do at first eagerly and so continue till by reason of faintness they can scarce stand on their leggs and then they must go forth into the cold Also they beat their shins with sticks and cause them to run through Bushes Stumps and Brambles to make them hardy and acceptable to the Devil that so in time he may appear unto them Their Sachems are not all Kings but only some few of them to whom the rest resort for protection and pay them Homage Neither may they make War without their knowledge and approbation Every Sachim takes care for the Widdows Fatherless Aged or maimed if their friends be dead or not able to provide for them A Sachim will not marry any but such as are equal in birth to him lest his Seed prove ignoble and though they have many other wives yet are they but Concubines or servants and yield obedience to the Queen who orders the Family and them in it The other Subjects do the same and will adhere to the first during their lives but put away the other at their pleasure Their Government is successive not elective If the Sachims child be young when his Father dies he is committed to the Protection and Tuition of some one amongst them who rules for him till he be of age Every Sachem knows the bounds and limits of his Kingdom out of which if any of his men desire Land wherein to set their Corn he gives them as much as they can use In these limits he that Hunts and kills any Venison gives the Sachim his Fee if it be killed on the Land he hath part of the flesh if in the water then the Skin only The great Sachems or Kings know not their bounds so well All Travellers or Strangers usually lie at the Sachims house and when they come they tell them how long they will stay and whither they are going during which time they are entertained according to their quality Once a year the Priests provoke the People to bestow much Corn on the Sachim and accordingly at a certain time and place the people bring many Baskets of Corn and make a great Stack thereof near to the Sachems house There the Priests stands ready to return them thanks in the name of the Sachim who fetches the same and is no less thankful bestowing many gifts upon them When any are visited with sickness their friends resort to them to comfort them and oft continue with them till death or recovery If they dye they stay to mourn for them which they perform night and morning for many dayes after their Burial But if they recover because their sickness was chargeable they send them Corn and other gifts whereupon they Feast and Dance When they bury their dead they sew the Corps up in a Mat and so bury it If a Sachim dyes they cover him with many curious Mats and bury all his Riches with him and inclose the Grave with a Pale If it be a child the Father will put all his own special Jewels and Ornaments into the grave with it Yea he will cut his Hair and disfigure himself in token of his great sorrow If it be the Master or Dame of the Family they will pull down the Mats and leave the Frame of the house standing and bury them in or near the same and either remove their Dwelling or give over house-keeping The younger sort reverence the Elder and do all mean Offices for them when they are together though they be strangers Boyes and Girls may not wear their hair like men and women but are distinguished thereby One is not accounted a man till he doth some notable act and shews his Courage and Resolution answerable to his place The men take much Tobacco but it s counted very odious in a Boy so to do All their Names are significant and variable For when they come to be men and women they alter them according to their deeds or dispositions When a Maid is given in Marriage she first cuts her hair and then wears a covering on her head till her hair is grown again Of their Women some are so modest that they will scarce talk together whilst men are by and are very chast Others are light lascivious and wanton If a Woman hath a bad Husband or affect him not If there be War between that and any other people she will run away from him to the contrary party where she never wants welcome for where there be most women there is most plenty When a Woman hath her Courses she retires her self from all other company and lives in a house apart After which she washes her self and all that she hath touched or used after which she is received into her Husbands Bed or Family The Husband will beat his Wife or put her away for Adultery Yet some common Strumpets there are but they are such as either were never married or are Widdows or that have been put away for Adultery For no man will take such an one to wife In matters of injustice or dishonest dealing the Sachim examines and punisheth the same In cases of theft For the first offence he is disgracefully rebuked For the second he is beaten by the Sachim with a Cudgle on the naked back For the third he is beaten with many stripes and hath his Nose slit that all men may both know and shun him If one kill another he certainly dies for it The Sachim not only sentenceth the Malefactor but executeth the same with his own hands if the party be present otherwise he sends his own Knife if he be sentenced to dye by the hands of another that executes the same But if the Offender be to receive any other punishment he will not receive it but from the Sachim himself before whom being naked he kneels and will not offer to run away though he beat him never so much it being a greater disparagement for a man to cry when he is corrected than was his offence and punishment They are a
tree and low having leaves like to our Bay-tree In the month of March or April when the sap goeth up to the top of the tree they cut the bark off the tree round about in length from knot to knot or from joynt to joynt above and below and then easily with their hands they take it away laying it in the Sun to dry and yet for all this the tree dyes not but against the next year it will have a new bark and that which is gathered every year is the best Cynamon that which grows longer is great and not so good P. Pil. v. 2. p. 1709. 6. In India is a tree called Arbore de Ray's or the Tree of roots it groweth first up like other trees and spreadeth the branches out of which there come strings which seem a far off to be cords of hemp which growing longer till they reach the ground there take root again so that in the end one tree will cover a great peece of ground one root crossing within another like a Maze each of these young trees will in time grow so big that it cannot be discerned which is the principal trunk or body of the tree 6. There is also a tree called Arbore-triste or the sorrowful-tree so called because it never beareth blossoms but in the night-time and so it doth and continueth all the year long So soon as the Sun sets there is not one blossom seen upon the tree but presently within half an hour after there are as many blossoms as the tree can bear pleasant to behold and smelling very sweet and as soon as the day comes and the Sun is rising they all presently fall off and not one is to be seen on the tree which seems as though it were dead till evening comes again and then it begins to blossom as it did before it s as big as a Plumb-tree it groweth up quickly and if you break but a branch of the tree and set it into the earth it presently takes root and grows and within a few days after it beareth blossoms which are like Orange-tree-blossoms the flower white and in the bottom somewhat yellow and redish P. Pil. v. 2. p. 1780. 8. There is also an herb in India called by the Portugals Herba sentida or feeling Herb which if a man touch or throw Sand or any other thing upon it presently it becomes as though it were withered closing the leaves together and it comes not to it self a gain as long as the man standeth by it but presently after he is gone it openeth the leaves again which become stiffe and fair as though they were newly grown and touching it again it shuts and becomes withered as before so that its a pleasure to behold the strange nature of it P. Pil. v. 2. p. 1781. 9. Pepper is planted at the root of some other tree and runs up it like Ivie the leaves are like the Orange-leaves but somewhat smaller green and sharpe at ends the Pepper groweth in bunches like Grapes but lesse and thinner they are always green till they begin to drye and ripen which is in December and January at which time it turns black and is gathered Pur. Pil. v. 2. p. 1782. 10. The best Ginger grows in Malabar it groweth like thin and young Netherland Reeds two or three spans high the root whereof is the Ginger which is gathered in December and January P. Pil. v. 2. p. 1782. 11. The Clove-trees are like Bay-trees the blossoms at the first white then green and at last red and hard which are the Cloves these Cloves grow very thick together and in great numbers In the place where these trees grow there is neither grass nor green herbs but is wholly drye for that those trees draw all the moisture unto them P. Pil. v. 2. p. 1783. 12. The Nutmeg-tree is like a Pear-tree but that its lesse and with round leaves the fruit is like great round Peaches the inward part whereof is the Nutmeg this hath about it an hard shell like wood and the shell is covered over with Nutmeg-flowers which is the Mace and over it is the fruit which without is like the fruit of a Peach P. Pil. v. 2. p. 1783. 13. Gumme-Lac comes most from Pegu where are certain very great Pismires with wings which fly up the trees like Plumb-trees out of which trees comes a certain Gumme which the Pismires suck up and then they make the Lac round about the branches of the trees as Bees make Wax and when it is full the owners come and breaking off the branches lay them to dry and being dry the branches shrink out and the Lac remains P. Pil. v. 2. p. 1783. 14. Amber-greese is usually cast upon the Sea-shore which as some suppose is the dung of the Whale or as others the sperme or seed of the Whale consolidated by lying in the Sea P. Pil. v. 2. p. 772. 15 The Herb Addad is bitter and the root of it so venemous that one drop of the juice will kill a man within the space of one hour P. Pil. v. 2. p. 850. 16 Of Palm-trees which they keep with watering and cutting every year they make Velvets Satins Taffaties Damasks Sarcenets and such like all which are spun out of the leaves cleansed and drawn into long threads P. Pil. v. 2. p. 985. 17. Frankincense grows in Arabia and is the gumme that issueth out of trees Idem p. 1781. 18. In Mozambique Manna is procreated of the dew of Heaven falling on a certain tree on which it hardens like Sugar sticking to the wood like Rozen whence it s gathered and put into jars and is used much for purging in India Idem p. 1554. 19. Mastick-trees grow only in the Island of Sio the trees are low shrubs with little crooked boughs and leaves In the end of August they begin their Mastick-harvest men cutting the bark of the Tree with Iron instruments out of which the Gum distills uncessantly for almost three months together Idem p. 1812. 20. Spunges are gathered from the sides of Rocks fifteen fathom under water about the bottom of the Streights of Gibralter the people that get them being trained up in diving from their child-hood so that they can indure to stay very long under water as if it were their habitable Element 21. In Manica is a tree called the Resurrection-tree which for the greatest part of the year is without leaf or greenness but if one cut off a bough and put it into the water in the space of ten houres it springs and flourisheth with green leaves but draw it out of the water as soon as it is dry it remaineth as it was before Pur. Pil. v. 2. p. 1537. 22. There is in the Island of Teneriff which is one of the Canaries a Tree as big as an Oke of a middle size the bark white like Hornbeam six or seven yards high with ragged boughs the leaf like the Bay-leaf It beareth neither fruit nor flower it stands on
Plin. 18. The Fountain of Jupiter Hammon is cold in the day time and hot at midnight 19. The Fountain of the Sun hath its water extream cold and sweet at noon and boiling hot and bitter at midnight Plin. lib. 2. c. 103. Augustine 20. There is a River in Palestine called the Sabbatical River which runs with a violent and swift stream all the week but every Sabbath it remains dry Joseph de Bel. Jud. l. 7. c. 24. Some question the truth of this 21. In Idumaeâ— is a Fountain called the Fountain of Job which for one quarter of the year is troubled and muddy the next quarter bloody the third green and the fourth clear Isiod 22. The River Astaces in the Isle of Pontus uses sometimes to overflow the fields after which whatsoever sheep or milch-Cattle feed thereon give black milk Plin. l. 2. c. 103. 23. Furius Camillus being Censor in Rome the Lake Albanus being environed with Mountains on every side in the time of Autumn when other Lakes and Rivers were almost dry the waters of this Lake after a wondrous manner began to swell and rise upwards till at last they were equall with the tops of the Mountains and after a while they brake thorow one of those Mountains overflowing and bearing all down before them till they emptied themselves into the Sea Plut. 24. The River d ee in Merionneth-shire in Wales though it run through Pimble-Meer yet it remaineth intire and mingles not its streams with the waters of the Lake Cam. Brit. 25. Ana a River in Spain burieth it self in the earth and runneth under ground fifteen miles together whereupon the Spaniards brag that they have a bridg whereon ten thousand Catle feed dayly 26. Pliny tells us of a Fountain called Dodon which always decreaseth from midnight till noon and encreaseth from noon till midnight 27. He also tells us of certain Fountains in an Island neer Italy which always increase and decrease according to the ebbing and flowing of the Sea 28. Aristotle writeth of a Well in Sicilie whose water is so sharp that the Inhabitants use it instead of Vinegar 29. In Bohemia neer to the City of Bilen is a Well of such excellent water that the Inhabitants use to drink of it in a morning instead of burnt wine Dr. Fulk 30. In Paphlagonia is a Well which hath the taste of wine and it makes men drunk which drink of it whence Du-Bartas Salonian Fountain and thou Andrian Spring Out of what Cellars do you daily bring The oyl and wine that you abound with so O Earth do these within thine entrals grow c. 31. Aelian mentioneth a Fountain in Boeotia neer to Thebes which makes Horses run mad if they drink of it 32. Pliny mentioneth a water in Sclavonia which is extream cold and yet if a man throw his cloath cloak upon it it is presently set on fire 33. Other waters there are which discolour the fleeces of the sheep which drink of them whence Du-Bartas Cerona Xanth and Cephisus do make The thirsty flocks that of their waters take Black red and white And neer the crimson deep Th' Arabian Fountain maketh crimson sheep 34. And again What should I of th' Illyrian Fountain tell What shall I say of the Dodonean Well Whereof the first sets any cloathes on fire Th' other doth quench who but will this admire A burning Torch and when the same is quenched Lights it again if it again be drenched 35. In the Province of Dara in Lybia there is a certain River which sometimes so overfloweth the banks that it is like a sea yet in the Summer it is so shallow that any one may passe over it on foot If it overflow about the beginning of Aprill it brings great plenty to the whole region if not there follows great scarcity of Corn. Pur. Pil. v. 2. p. 823. 36. In the Kingdom of Tunis neer unto the City El-Hamma is a hot River which by diverse Channels is carried through the City the water of it being so hot that few can endure to go into it yet having set it to cool a whole day the people drink of it Idem p. 821. 37. In Africa there is a River called Margania and by it a salt spring which turns all the wood is thrown into it into hard stone Idem p. 1547. 38. The River Meander is famous for its six hundred windings and turnings in and out whence that of the Poet Quique recurvatis ludit Maeander in undis Maeander plays his watry pranks Within his crooked winding banks 39. Groenland in the Hyperborean Sea was discovered Anno Christi 1380. it hath in it the Monastery of St. Thomas situate in the North-East part thereof at the foot of a Mountain where there is a River so hot that they use to boil their meat in it and it serves for other such purposes as fire doth with us Isac Chron. p 275. 40 The river Hypanis in Scythia every day brings forth little bladders out of which come certain flies which are thus bred in the morning are fledge at noon and dye at night Fit Emblems of the vain and short life of Man 41 The famous River of Nilus in Egypt useth once in the year to overflow her banks whereby the whole Country is watered It usually beginneth to overflow upon the seventeenth of June and increaseth daily sometimes two sometimes three fingers and sometimes half a cubit high on a day The increase of it is known by a Pillar erected in a Cistern whereinto the water is conveyed by a Sluce which Pillar is divided into eighteen parts each a cubit higher than the other If the water reach no higher than to the fifteenth cubit they expect a fruitful year if it stay between the twelfth and fifteenth cubit the increase of that year will be but mean If it reach not to the twelfth it s a sign of scarcity If it rise to the eighteenth the scarcity will be greater in regard of too much moisture This River continueth forty dayes increasing and forty dayes decreasing Pur. Pil. v. 2. p. 838. 42. Another thing is wonderful which is this In the Grand Cairo which is the Metropolis of Egypt the Plague useth many times to be very violent till the River begins to overflow its banks at which time it doth instantly cease So that whereas five hundred a day dyed the day before not one doth die the day following Idem p. 897. 43. In the County of Devon not far from the Town of Lidford at a Bridg the River Lid is gathered into a strait and pent in between Rocks whereon it runneth down a main and the ground daily waxing deeper and deeper under it his water is not seen only a roaring noise is heard to the great wonder of those that pass by Camb. Brit. p. 199. 44. In Warwickshire at Nevenham Regis three fountains arise out of the ground strained through an Allom Mine the water whereof carrieth the colour and tast of Milk which
cureth ulcers in the bladder or kidneys caused by the stone and provoketh urine abundantly Green wounds it cleanseth closeth up and quickly healeth being drunk with salt it looseth and with Sugar it bindeth the belly About fifty years ago these Wells were famous and in great request many resorting to them and the water by others was sent for far and near Idem p. 562. 45. In Herefordshire a little beneath Richards Castle Nature who never disports her self more in shewing wonders than in waters hath brought forth a pretty well which is alwayes full of little fish bones although they be drawn out from time to time whence it s commonly called Bone-Well Idem p. 619. 46. In Yorkshire upon the Sea-shore by Sken-grave when the winds are laid and the weather is most calm upon the Sea the water lying level and plain without any noise there is heard here many times on a sudden a great way off as it were an horrible and fearful groaning which affrights the Fishermen at those times so that they dare not launce forth into the Sea Idem p. 720. 47. Pliny tells us of the Fountain Chymaera that is set on fire with water and put out with earth or hey Plin. nat Hist. Lib. 2. c. 106 107. 48. The same Author also tells us that in the hot deserts of India grows a certain kind of Flax that lives in the fire and consumes not we have seen saith he table-cloathes made of it burning in fires at feasts by which they have been cleansed from their stains and spots and made whiter by the fire than they could be by water 49. At Belgrad in Hungary where Danubius and Sava two great Rivers meet their waters mingle no more than water and Oil not that either flote above other but joyn unmixed so that near the middle of the River I have gone in a boat saith Sir Henry Blunt in his voyage into the Levant and tasted of the Danow as clear and pure as a well then putting mine hand an inch further I have taken of the Sava as troubled as a street-channel tasting the gravel in my teeth Thus they ran sixty miles together and for a dayes journey I have been an eye-witness of it CHAP. IV. The wonderful works of God in the Creatures Of strange Fishes 1 ANno Christi 1204. at Oreford in Suffolk a fish was taken by the Fishermen at Sea in shape resembling a wild man and by them was presented to Sir Bartholomew de Glanvil Keeper of Oreford Castle In all his limbs and members he resembled a man had hair in all the usual parts of his body only his head was bald The Knight caused meat to be set before him which he greedily devoured and did eat fish raw or sod that which was raw he pressed with his hand till he had squeezed out all the moisture He uttered not any speech though to try him they hung him up by the heels and grievously tormented him He would get him to his Couch at the setting of the Sun and rise again at the Sun-rising One day they brought him to the haven and let him go into the Sea but to prevent his escape they set three rows of very strong nets before him to catch him again at their pleasure but he straitwayes diving to the bottom crept under all their nets and shewed himself again to them and so often diving he still came up and looked upon them that stood on the shore as it were mocking of them At length after he had sported himself a great while in the water and there was no hope of his return he came back to them of his own accord and remained with them two months after But finally when he was negligently looked to he went to the Sea and was never after seen or heard of Fabians Chron. 2. Anno Christi 1404. some women of Edam in the Low-Countries as they were going in their barks to their cattel in Purmer-Meer they often saw at the ebbing of the water a Sea-women playing up and down whereat at the first they were afraid but after a while incouraging one another they made with their boats towards her and the water by this time being not deep enough for her to dive in they took her by force and drew her into the boat and so carried her to Edam where in time she grew familiar and fed of ordinary meats and being sent from thence to Herlem she lived about fifteen years but never spake seeking often to get away into the water Belg. Common-Wealth p. 102. 3. In the Seas near unto Sofala are many Women-Fishes which from the belly to the neck are very like a woman The Females have breasts like womens with which also they nourish their young From the belly downward they have thick and long tails with fins like a Dolphin the skin on the belly is white on the back rougher than a Dolphins They have arms which from the elbows end in fins and so have no hands the face is plain round and bigger than a mans deformed and without humane semblance They have wide mouths thick hanging lips like a Hound four teeth hanging out almost a span long like the tusk of a Boar and their nostrils are like a Calves Pur. Pil. v. 2. p. 1546. 4. Upon the coasts of Brasile are often found Meer-Men which are like unto men of a good stature but that their eyes are very hollow 5. Captain Richard Whitburn in his description of Newfound-land writes that Anno Christi 1610. early in a morning as he was standing by the water side in the harbour of St Johns he espied a strong Creature swimming very swiftly towards him like a women looking chearfully upon him Her Face Eyes Nose Mouth Chin Ears Neck and Forehead were like a womans It was very beautiful and in those parts well proportioned having hair hanging down round about the head He seeing it come within a pikes length of him stepped back whereupon it dived under water swimming to another place whereby he beheld the shoulders and back down to the middle which was as square white and smooth as the back of a man from the middle to the hinder part it pointed in proportion like a broad-hooked Arrow Afterwards it came to a Boat wherein some of his men were attempting to come in to them till one of them struck it a full blow upon the head Others of them saw it afterwards also 6. About Brasile are many Meer-Men and Meer-Women that have long hair and are very beautiful They often catch the Indians as they are swimming imbracing them and kissing them and clasp them so hard that they crush them to death and when they perceive that they are dead they give some sighs as if they were sorry Pur. Pil. v. 4. p. 1315. 7. There are also another sort of them that resemble Children and are no bigger that are no ways hurtful Idem 8. The Torpedo is a strange kind of fish which a man holding in
passed by they all bowed down before the King very handsomely Pur. Pil. v. 1. p. 550. 2. Though these Elephants be the largest of all beasts yet are they very tractable unless at such times when they are mad through lust some of them are thirteen and some fifteen foot high their colour is usually black their skins thick and smooth without hair they delight much to bathe themselves in water and are excellent swimmers their pace is about three miles an hour of all Beasts they are most sure of foot so that they never stumble or fall to indanger their rider they lye down and rise again at pleasure as other beasts do they are most docible creatures doing almost whatsoever their Keeper commands them If he bid one of them affright a man he will make towards him as he would tread him in pieces and yet when he comes at him do him no hurt If he bid him abuse or disgrace a man he will take dirt or kennel-kennel-water in his trunk and dash it in his face c. Their trunks are long grissely snouts hanging down betwixt their teeth which as a hand they make use of upon all occasions Some Elephants the great Mogul keeps for execution of malefactors who being brought to suffer death by that mighty beast if the Keeper bid him dispatch the offender presently he will immediately with his foot pash him in peeces If he bid him torture him slowly he will break his joynts by degrees one after another as men are broken upon the wheel 2. An English Merchant of good credit being at Adsmeer a City where the great Mogul then was saw a great Elephant daily brought through the Market-place where an Hearb-woman used to give him an handful of hearbs as he passed by This Elephant afterwards being mad brake his chains and took his way through the Market-place the people being affrighted hasted to secure themselves amongst whom was this Hearb-woman who through fear and haste forgat her little childe The Elephant comming to the place where she usually sate stopt and seeing a child lye about her hearbs took it up gently with his Trunk and without harm laid it upon a stall hard by and then proceeded in his furious course Idem p. 1472. The Males Testicles lie about his forehead the Females teates are betwixt her fore-legs they carry their young two years in their wombs conceive but once in seven years they are thirty years before they come to their full growth and fulfil the accustomed age of a man before they die 3. As Pyrrus King of Epyrus was assaulting the City of Argos one of his Elephants called Nicon i. e. Conquering being entred the City perceiving that his governour was stricken down to the ground from his back with terrible blows ran upon them that came back upon him overthrowing friends and foes one in anothers neck till at length having found the body of his slain Master he lift him up from the ground with his trunk and carrying him upon his two tushes returned back with great fury treading all under feet whom he found in his way Plut. In vita Pyrri 4. The Lion hath the Jackall for his Usher which is a litle black shag-haired beast of the bigness of a Spaniel which when the evening comes hunts for his prey and comming on the foot follows the scent with open crye to which the Lion as chief Hunt gives diligent ear following for his advantage If the Jackall set up his chase before the Lion comes in he howles out mainly and then the Lion seizeth on it making a grumbling noise whilst his servant stands by barking and when the Lyon hath done the Jackal feeds on the relicks Idem p. 1575. See more afterwards Example seventeen 5. The Panther hath a very sweet smell so that other Beasts are much taken therewith but they are terrified with the ugly deformity of his face and therefore as he goes he hides that part between his legs and will not look towards them till he hath gotten them within his compasse which when he hath done he devours them without mercy so deals the Devil with wicked men strewing their way to Hell with variety of worldly delights and profits the thorns of affliction must not touch their flesh nor Hells terrors come within their thoughts till he hath made them past feeling then he devours them Plin. nat Hist. L. 8 C. 17. 6. The Rhynoceros is so called because of the horn in his nose he is a large beast as big as our fairest Oxe in England His skin lyeth plated and as it were in wrinkles upon his back Their Horn Teeth Claws yea flesh and blood are good against poyson which as is conceived proceeds from the Herbs which they feed on in Bengala where are most store of them 7. The Camelopardalus is the highest of Beasts so that a man on horseback may ride upright under his belly his neck is long so that he usually feedeth upon the leaves of trees his colour is white and speckled his hinder legs are shorter than his former so that he cannot graze but with difficulty P. Pil. p. 1381. He is also called a Jaraff 8. In India is a certain beast called a Buffelo which is very large hath a thick and smooth skin but without hair She gives good milk and her flesh is like Beefe Idem p. 1469. 9. In the same Country also are certain wild Goats whose Horns are good against poison Pur. Pil. p. 472. 10. In the Country of Indostan in the East-Indies are large white Apes as big as our Grey-hounds which will eat young Birds whereupon Nature hath taught their Dams this subtilty they build their Nests on the utmost bowes at the end of slender twigs where they hang them like Purse-nets to which the Apes cannot possibly come yet many times with their Hands they will shake those boughs till the nests break and fall down and then they will devour them Pur. Pilgrimage p. 1475. 11. The Camelion is of the shape and bigness of a Lizzard it is a deformed lean and crooked creature having a long and slender tail like a Mouse and is of a slow pace It lives only upon Flys It changeth colours according to the variety of places where it comes It is a great Enemy to venemous Serpents for when it sees any lie sleeping under a Tree it gets upon a bough just over the Serpents head voideth out of its mouth as it were a long thred of spittle with around drop hanging at the end which falling on the Serpents head immediately kills him P. Pil. p. 848. 12. There was lately found in Catalunia in the Mountains of Cerdania a certain Monster that had humane shape as far as the waste and downwards it was like a Satyre He had many heads Arms Eyes and a mouth of extraordinary bigness wherewith he made a noise like a Bull His picture was sent by Don John of Austria now Governour of the Low Countrys to the King