the Patriarch sends two Bottles to all the Covents of Asia Europe and Africa without which they cannot baptize The Ceremony of Baptism being over the God-father goes out of the Church with the Infant in his arms and a Taper of white Wax in each hand According to the quality of the person when the Child is carry'd out of the Church the Trumpets Drums Hautboys and other Instruments of the Country make a hideous noise and go before the Infant to the Parents House where being arriv'd the God-father delivers the Child to the Mother She prostrates her self at the same time before the God-father kissing his feet and while she continues in that posture the God-father kisses her head Neither the Father nor God-father names the Child but he that baptizes gives him the Name of the Saint whose Festival falls upon the Sunday on which the Child is baptiz'd If there be no Saint's day that Sunday in the Almanack they take the next Name whose Festival succeeds the Sunday of Baptism so that they have no affected Names among them Upon the return of the God-father with the Child home there is a Feast prepar'd for all the Kindred and Friends and him that baptiz'd the Infant with whom all the Priests and Monks of the Covent at least of the Parish go along The poor people were wont to be so prodigal at these Feasts as also upon their Marriages and Burials that the next day they had not wherewithal to to buy Victuals much less to pay what they have borrow'd for so needless an expence But now the poor Armenians are grown so cunning to avoid the Bastinado's which are giv'n to Debtors upon the soles of the Feet when they cannot pay according to the custom of Persia that they carry the Child to Church upon the week-days without any Ceremony with tears in their eyes pretending it to be sickly and like to dye and so make no Feasts at all If the Women lye in fifteen or twenty days or two months before Christmas they defer the baptizing the Infant 'till the Festival provided the Infant be healthy Then in all the Cities and Villages where the Armenians live if there be any River or Pond they make ready two or three flat-bottom'd Boats spread with Carpets to walk upon in one of which upon Christmas-day they set up a kind of an Altar In the morning by Sun-rising all the Armenian Clergy as well of that place as of the parts adjoyning get into the Boats in their Habits with the Cross and Banner Then they dip the Cross in the Water three times and every time they drop the Holy Oyl upon it After that they use the ordinary form of Baptism which being done the Arch-bishop or the Minister plunges the Infant in the River or Pond three times saying the usual words I Baptise c. and the same anointings as before though it seems a wonder to me that the extremity of the weather does not kill the Child The King of Persia is many times present at this ceremony when it is perform'd at Ispahan riding on Horse-back to the side of the River with all his Nobility The Ceremony being over he goes to Zulpha to the Kelonter's House where there is an entertainment prepar'd for him Neither is there any place in the World where a King may be entertain'd with less charge than in Persia. For if any private person invite the King and that His Majesty pleases to do him that Honour 't is but for the inviter to go to the chief of the Officers and to carry him twenty Tomans or three hundred Crowns and to tell him withall that the King has promis'd to accept of a small Collation with his Slave For then the Governour is oblig'd to send to the House of him that treats the King all things necessary for the entertainment Else it were impossible to be done in regard the King eats in nothing but in Gold Plate At the end of the Feast the King is always presented with some European Rarity not less worth than four or five thousand Crowns Or if the person have no Rarity to present it suffices to offer in a Bason the value in Venetian Ducats of Gold with all the submission imaginable Besides all this some Presents must be giv'n to some of the Lords and principal Eunuchs of his train and others sent to the Queen Mother if living and to the Sultaness his Wives and Sisters Thus though the entertainment may be made with little trouble yet otherwise it proves somewhat expensive though the Armenians of Zulpha are well enough able to bear the charge I was twice at this Ceremony upon Christmas day in Ispahan The first time I saw Sha-Sefi and the second time Sha-Abas the second who drank both so hard that in their Drink they committed those crimes that very much stain'd their memories For Sha-Sefi returning home stab'd his Wife the Mother of Sha-Abas Sha-Abas another time returning home in drink would needs drink on and force three women to drink with him who finding he would not give over stole out of his Company The King perceiving them gone without taking leave in a mad humour sent his Eunuchs for them and caus'd them to be thrown into the Fire where the poor womâ—â— were burnt for there is no resisting nor examining the Kings command CHAP. XII Of the Marriages of the Armenians THE Armenians Marry their Children before either party have seen each other nay before the Fathers or Brothers know any thing of it And they whom they intend to Marry must agree to what their Fathers or Parents command them When the Mothers have agreed among themselves they tell their Husbands who approve what they have done Upon this Approbation the Mother of the Boy with two old Women and a Priest come to the House where the Mother of the Daughter lives and present her a Ring from him whom they intend to betroth The Boy appears afterwards and the Priest reads something out of the Gospel as a blessing upon both parties after which they give him a sum of Money according to the quality of the Father of the Girl That done they present the company with drink and this is call'd a betrothing or affiancing Sometimes they agree a Marriage when the Children are not above two or three years old sometimes two women that are friends being both with Child at one time together will make a match between the two Children before they are born if the one be a Boy and the other a Girl So soon as they are born the Contract is made and when once the Boy has giv'n the Ring thought it be twenty years after before they are Marry'd he is bound every year upon Easter-day to send his Mistris a new Habit with all the trimming belonging to it according to her quality Three days before the Celebration of Marriage the Father and Mother of the Boy prepare a Feast which is carry'd to the house of the Father and
disorder the senses which takes from her all apprehension of her preparations for death 'T is for the Bramins interest that the poor miserable creatures should continue in their resolutions for all their Bracelets as well about their legs as their arms the Pendents in their ears their Rings sometimes of Gold sometimes of Silver for the poor wear only Copper and Tin all these belong to the Bramins who rake for them among the ashes when the party is burn'd I have seen Women burnt after three several manners according to the differrence of the Countrey In the Kingdom of Guzerat as far as Agra and Dehli they set up a little Hut about twelve foot square upon the bank of a Pond or River 'T is made of Reeds and all sorts of small Wood with which they mingle certain pots of Oil and other Drugs to make it burn more vehemently The Woman is plac'd in the middle of the Hut in a half-lying-down posture leaning her head upon a kind of a wooden Bolster and resting her back against a Pillar to which the Bramin tyes her about the middle for fear she should run away when she feels the fire In this posture she holds the body of her deceas'd Husband upon her knees chewing Betlé all the while and when she has continu'd in this posture about half an hour the Bramin goes out and the Woman bids them set fire to the Hut which is immediately done by the Bramins and the kindred and friends of the Woman who also cast several pots of Oil into the fire to put the Woman the sooner out of her pain After the Woman is burnt the Bramins search the ashes for all her Bracelets Pendants and Rings whether Gold Silver Copper or Tin which is all free booty to themselves In Bengala they burn the Women after another fashion In that Countrey a Woman must be very poor that does not accompany the Body of her deceas'd Husband to the Ganges to wash his Body and to be wash'd her self before she is burnt I have seen dead Carkasses brought to the Ganges above twenty days journey off from the place and smelt 'em to boot for the scent of them has been intollerably noysom There was one that came from the Northern Mountains neer the Frontiers of the Kingdom of Boutan with the body of her Husband carri'd in a Waggon she travell'd twenty days a-foot and neither eat nor drank for 15 or 16 days together till she came to the Ganges where after she had wash'd the body that stank abominably and had afterwards wash'd her self she was burnt with him with an admirable constancy Before the Woman that is to be burnt goes the Musick consisting of Drums Flutes and Hautboys whom the Woman in her best Accoutrements follows dancing up to the very Funeral-pile upon which she gets up and places her self as if she were sitting up in her Bed and then they lay a-cross her the body of her Husband When that is done her kindred and friends some bring her a Letter some a piece of Callcut another pieces of Silver or Copper and desire her to deliver them to their Mother or Brother or some other Kinsman or Friend When the Woman sees they have all done she asks the Standers-by three times if they have nothing more of service to command her if they make no answer she ties up all she has got in a piece of Taffata which she puts between her own belly and the body of her Husband bidding them to set fire to the Pile which is presently done by the Bramins and her Kindred I have observ'd because there is scarcity of Wood in Bengala that when these poor Creatures are half griddl'd they cast their bodies into the Ganges where the remains are devour'd by the Crocodiles I must not forget a wicked custom practis'd by the Idolaters of Bengala When a Woman is brought to bed and the Child will not take to the Teat they carry it out of the Village and putting it into a Linnen Cloth which they fast'n by the four Corners to the Boughs of a Tree they there leave it from morning till evening By this means the poor Infant is expos'd to be tormented by the Crows insomuch that there are some who have their eyes pickt out of their heads which is the reason that in Bengala you shall see many of these Idolaters that have but one eye and some that have lost both In the evening they fetch the child away to try whether he will suck the next night and if he still refuse the teat they carry him again to the same place next morning which they do for three days together after which if the Infant after that refuses to suck they believe him to be a Devil and throw him into Ganges or any the next Pond or River In the places where the Apes breed these poor Infants are not so expos'd to the Crows for where the Ape discovers a Nest of those Birds he climbs the Tree and throws the Nest one way and the Eggs another Sometimes some charitable people among the English Hollanders and Portugals compassionating the misfortune of those Children will take them away from the Tree and give them good education All along the Coast of Coromandel when the Women are to be burnt with their Husbands they make a great hole in the ground nine or ten foot deep and twenty-five or thirty foot square into which they throw a great quantity of Wood and Drugs to make the fire burn more fiercely When the fire is kindled they set the body of the man upon the brink and then presently up comes the Woman dancing and chewing Betlé accompany'd by her Friends and Kindred with Drums beating and Flutes sounding Then the Woman takes three turns round the hole and every time she has gone the round she kisses her Friends and Kindred After the third time the Bramins cast the Carcass of her Husband into the flame and the Woman standing with her back to the fire is pusht in by the Bramins also and tumbles backward Then her Kindred and Friends cast Oil and other combustible Drugs upon the fire to make it burn more vehemently that the Bodies may be the sooner consum'd In most places upon the Coast of Coromandel the Women are not burnt with their deceas'd Husbands but they are buried alive with them in holes which the Bramins make a foot deeper than the tallness of the man and woman Usually they chuse a Sandy place so that when the man and woman are both let down together all the Company with Baskets of Sand fill up the hole above half a foot higher than the surface of the ground after which they jump and dance upon it till they believe the woman to be stifl'd When some of the Idolaters upon the Coast of Coromandel are upon the point of death their Friends do not carry them to the side of a River or Lake to cleanse their Souls but they carry them to the
time 146 Chap. XIX Observations upon the fairest and largest Diamonds and Rubies which the Author has seen in Europe and Asia represented according to the Figures in the Plates as also upon those which the Author sold to the King upon his last return from the Indies with the Figure of a large Topaz and the fairest Pearls in the World 148 Chap. XX. The forms of twenty Rubies which the Author sold to the King upon his last return from the Indies The first part of the Plate shews the weight extent and thickness of every Stone 149 Chap. XXI Of the Coral and yellow Ember and the places where 't is found 151 Chap. XXII Of Musk and Bezoar and some other Medicinal Stones 153 Chap. XXIII Of the places where they find their Gold both in Asia and America 156 Chap. XXIV The Relation of a notable piece of Treachery whereby the Author was abus'd when he Embark'd at Gomrom for Surat 157 The Third BOOK of the INDIAN Travels Chap. I. OF the particular Religion of the Mahometans in the East-Indies Pag. 159 Chap. II. Of the Faquirs or poor Mahometan Volunteers in the East-Indies 160 Chap. III. Of the Religion of the Gentiles or Idolatrous Indians 161 Chap. IV. Of the Kings and Idolatrous Princes of Asia 163 Chap. V. What the Idolaters believe touching a Divinity 164 Chap. VI. Of the Faquirs or poor Volunteers among the Indians and of their Penances 165 Chap. VII Of the Idolaters Belief touching the State of the Soul after Death 167 Chap. VIII Of the Custom among the Idolaters to Burn the Bodies of their Dead 168 Chap. IX How the Wives are Burnt in India with the Bodies of their deceas'd Husbands 169 Chap. X. Remarkable Stories of Women that have been Burnt after their Husbands decease 171 Chap. XI Of the most Celebrated Pagods of the Idolaters in India 173 Chap. XII A Continuation of the Description of the principal Pagods of the Indian Idolaters 177 Chap. XIII Of the Pilgrimages of the Idolaters to their Pagods 179 Chap. XIV Of divers Customs of the Indian Idolaters Ibid. Chap. XV. Of the Kingdom of Boutan whence comes the Musk the Good Rhubarb and some Furs 182 Chap. XVI Of the Kingdom of Eipra 186 Chap. XVII Of the Kingdom of Asem 187 Chap. XVIII Of the Kingdom of Siam 189 Chap. XIX Of the Kingdom of Macassar and the Ambassadors which the Hollanders sent into China 191 Chap. XX. The Author pursues his Travels into the East and Embarks at Mengrelia for Batavia The danger he was in upon the Sea and his arrival in the Island of Ceylan 194 Chap. XXI The Authors departure from Ceylan and his arrival at Batavia 195 Chap. XXII The Author goes to visit the King of Bantam and relates several Adventures upon that Occasion 196 Chap. XXIII The Author's return to Batavia His Revisiting the King of Bantam And a Relation of several extravigancies of certain Faquirs in their return from Mecca 199 Chap. XXIV Of the War of the Hollanders with the Emperour of Java 202 Chap. XXV The Author Buries his Brother and is again quarrell'd withall by the General and his Council 203 Chap. XXVI The Author Embarks in a Dutch Vessel to return into Europe 204 Chap. XXVII The Holland Fleet arrives at St. Helens The Description of the Island 207 THE FIRST BOOK OF MONSIEUR TAVERNIER's Persian Travels Containing the several ROADS From PARIS to ISPAHAN the Chief City of PERSIA Through the Northern Provinces of TURKY CHAP. I. Of the Roads from France to the hither parts of Asia and the Places from whence they usually set out for Ispahan A Man cannot travel in Asia as they do in Europe nor at the same Hours nor with the same ease There are no weekly Coaches or Wagons from Town to Town besides that the Soil of the Countries is of several natures In Asia you shall meet with several Regions untill'd and unpeopl'd either through the badness of the Climate and Soil or the sloth of the Inhabitants who rather choose to live miserably than to work There are vast Deserts to cross and very dangerous both for want of Water and the Robberies that the Arabs daily commit therein There are no certain Stages or Inns to entertain Travellers The best Inns especially in Turkie are the Tents which you carry along with you and your Hosts are your Servants that get ready those Victuals which you have bought in good Towns You set up your Tent in the open Field or in any Town where there is no Inn and a good shift too in temperate weather when the Sun is not too hot or that it does not rain In the Carvansera's or Inns which are more frequent in Persia than in Turkie there are persons that furnish you with Provisions and the first come are best served As for Turkie it is full of Thieves that keep in Troops together and way-lay the Merchants upon the Roads and if they be not very well guarded will certainly rob them nay many times murder them A mischief prevented in Persia by the well order'd convenience which is provided for Travellers To avoid these dangers and inconveniences you are oblig'd to stay for the Caravans that go for Persia or the Indies which never set out but at certain times and from certain places These Caravans set out from Constantinople Smyrna and Aleppo And it is from one of these Cities that a Traveller must set out that intends for Persia whether he keeps company with the Caravan or will hazard himself alone with a Guide as once I did I will begin with Constantinople from whence you may go either by Land or Sea and either by Land or Sea there are two ways to go The first of these by Land is that which I took with Monsieur Chapes and Monsieur St. Liebau By the way take notice that Vienna is the half-way near upon between Paris and Constantinople The second Read is less frequented but is less inconvenient and less dangerous for there are no need of the Emperour's Pasports which he does not grant very freely besides that here is no fear of the Pirates of Tunis or Argier as when you embarque from Marseilles of Ligorn If you intend this way you must go to Venice from Venice to Ancona from whence several Barques are bound every Week for Ragusa From Ragusa you sail along by the Shore to Durazzo a Sea-Port of Albania from whence you travel the rest of the way by Land From Durazzo to Albanopolis distant three days journey from thence to Monestier just as far from Monestier you may either take the left hand through Sophia and Philippopolis or the right through Inguischer three days journey from Monestier and ten from Adrianople from whence in five days you reach Constantinople through Selivrea This last way is part by Sea and part by Land but there are two other ways altogether by Land above and below Italy according to the distinction which Antiquity made of the two Seas that
Husband is oblig'd to lye with his lawful Wife upon Thursday-night or Fryday-night upon Wednesday-morning the Women go to the â—â—ths where they perfume their Heads and Bodies with a sweet Water They may go abroad sometimes at other seasons when their Husbands give them leave to visit their Kindred but then they are to be wrapt up from Head to Foot that it is impossible for their Husbands themselves to know them if they meet 'em i' the Streets By the way take notice that the Persian Women unless they be such as are very poor would rather stay within all the days of their Lives than go abroad without a Horse And it is a certain sign to know a Curtisan from an honest Woman for that the Curtisans put their Feet in the Stirup and the honest Women only in the Stirup-leathers The Women of Bagdat are very richly habited after their fashions but they are not contented to wear their Jewels about their Necks and Wrists for they hang them like Bracelets about their Faces and will bore holes in their Ears to put in a Ring The Arabian Women only bore the separation between the two Nostrils where they wear hollow Rings as well to spare cost as for lightness for some are so big that you may almost thrust your Fist through them Beyond all this the more to beautifie themselves they make a round Ring about their Eyes with a certain sort of Blacking And as well Men as Women in the Desert put the same near their Eyes to preserve them as they say from the heat of the Sun Of Christians there are three sorts Nestorians who have a Church Armenians and Jacobites who have none but go to the Capuchins who administer the Sacraments to them The Christians go in Devotion to a Chappel about a short quarter of a League from the City dedicated to a Saint whom they call Keder-Elias paying a small Fee for admission to the Turks who keep the Keys Two days journey from the City stands another ruin'd Church in a pitiful Village where they say that St. Simon and St. Jude were both Martyr'd and Buried If a Christian dyes all the rest come to his Burial and returning home find a Supper prepar'd to welcom them the next day they return to the Grave and pray for the deceas'd and the third day there is a Dinner for all comers and goers Sometimes there will be a hundred and fifty persons at a Burial They repeat the same Ceremonies for the seventh fifteenth thirtieth and fortieth days afterwards having a great veneration for the Dead for whom they pray too often This custom of Feasting is very inconvenient for the Poor for they being desirous to imitate the Rich run themselves sometimes so far in Debt that they are forc'd to sell their Children to the Turks to discharge themselves There are several Jews also in Bagdat but more that come every year in Devotion to visit the Sepulcher of the Prophet Ezekiel which is a day and a halfs journey from the City In short since the taking of Bagdat by Sultan Amurat the number of Inhabitants cannot be less than fifteen thousand Souls which shews that the City is not peopl'd according to its bigness About a day and a halfs journey from the Point of Mesopotamia at distance almost equal between Tigris and Euphrates there appears a vast Heap of Earth which the people call to this day Nemrod It stands in the midst of a wide Plain and may be discover'd a great way off The vulgar sort believe it to be the Remains of the Tower of Babel but there is more probability of the Arabians Opinion who call it Agartouf and believe it to have been built by an Arabian Prince who always kept a Beacon at the top to assemble his Subjects together in time of War This Heap of Earth was about three hundred Paces in circuit but it is not easie to guess at the ancient height the rest being fal'n to ruine but only eighteen or twenty Fathom It is built of Brick dry'd in the Sun every Brick being ten Inches square and three thick The Building is thus rais'd Upon every row of Canes or Reeds bruis'd to pieces and mix'd with Wheat-straw and spred an Inch and a half thick lye seven orders of these Bricks with a little Straw between each then another Bed of Reeds and six rows of Bricks then a third with five rows decreasing in that manner 'till you come to the top The form of it seems to have been rather square than round and in the highest part of that which remains there appears a Hole like a Window if it were not rather an Out-let for Water or a Hole for the Scaffolding In short according to the Description of Moses there is no likelihood that this should be the Remains of the ancient Tower of Babel The Plane of the City of Bagdat which is to be compass'd as well by Land as by Water in two Hours A. The Ground-Plot B. The Fortress C. The Gate call'd Maazan-capl D. The New Bulwark E. The Port where the Grand Signor erected his first Batt'ry Anno 1638. F. The Old Bulwark G. The Gate in the Wall H. The Old Bulwark I. The Place where Amurat rais'd his second Batt'ry when he made the Breach and took the City K. The Gate in the Wall L. The Old Bulwark M. The Old Bulwark N. Cara capi or the Black Gate O. The Old Bulwark P. Sou-capi or the Water-Gate CHAP. VIII A Continuation of the Road from Bagdat to Balsara and of the Religion of the Christians of St. John THE fifteenth of March we hir'd a Bark from Bagdat to Balsara And we observ'd that a little beyond Bagdat the River Tigris divides it self into two Arms the one which runs through the ancient Chaldea the other keeps its course toward the Point of Mesopotamia these two Arms making a large Iland cross'd by several small Channels When we came to the place where Tigris divides it self we beheld as it were the compass of a City that might have formerly been a large League in circuit There are some of the Walls yet standing upon which six Coaches may go a-brest They are made of burnt Brick every Brick being ten Foot square and three thick The Chronicles of the Country say that these were the Ruines of the ancient Babylon We follow'd that Arm of Tigris that runs along the Coast of Chaldea for fear of falling into the hands of the Arabs who were then at War with the Basha of Babylon denying to pay the ordinary Tribute to the Grand Signor We were ten days upon the Water in our passage from Bagdat to Balsara and lay every night upon the Water dressing our Victuals in the Bark For when we came to any Villages we sent our Servants a-shoar to buy Provisions which we had very cheap Now the Towns we met with upon the Shoar were these Amurat where there stood a Fort of Brick bak'd in the Sun Mansoury a
the Justice of the Countrey neither the King himself nor the Mahometans have any thing to do with it A thief is acquitted paying seven-fold what he has stole two parts whereof go to the Party robb'd one part to the Judges and four parts to the King If the Thief has not wherewithal to make restitution he is sold If the Product do not yet equal the Sum if he have a Wife and Children they first sell the Wife and if that will not do then they sell the Children But if the Party robb'd be so merciful as to forgive the Thief his share then neither the King nor the Judges can demand any thing for their share If a man commit a Murder they condemn him to die and deliver him up into the hands of the Kindred of the Party slain to do Execution as they please themselves However it is in their power to pardon him if he be able to give sixty Cows or more to the next a-kin to the Party kill'd In matter of Debt a Creditor has power to seize upon all the Estate of the Debtor and if that will not satisfie he may sell his Wife and Children The Christians of Georgia are very ignorant especially in Matters of Religion They learn that little they know in the Monasteries as also to write and read and generally the Women and Maids are more knowing than the Men not only because there are more Religious Houses for Women than for Men but also because the Boys are bred up to labour or sent to the Wars For if a Virgin grows up and happens to be handsom some one or other presently endeavors to steal her on purpose to sell her into Turky Persia or the Territories of the great Mogul So that to prevent their being stoln their Fathers and Mothers put them very young into Nunneries where they apply themselves to study wherein if they attain to any proficiency they usually stay as long as they live After that they profess and when they come to a certain Age they are permitted to Baptize and to apply the holy Oyles as well as any Bishop or Arch-Bishop can do The Georgians are very great Drinkers and Nature has fitted them a Countrey that produces good store of Wine They love the strongest Drinks best for which reason at their Feasts both men and women drink more Aquavitae than Wine The women never eat in publick with their Husbands but when the man has invited his Friends the next day the Woman invites her She-companions And it is observable that at the Womens Festivals there is more Wine and Aquavitae drank than at the mens The Guest is no sooner enter'd into the Dining-room but he is presented with 2 or 3 Dishes of Sweet-meats and a Glass of half a pint of Aquavitae to excite his Appetite They are great Feeders upon Onions and Herbs which they eat raw out of the Garden The Georgians are also great Travellers and very much addicted to Trade they are very dext'rous in shooting with Bow and Arrows and are accounted the best Souldiers in all Asia They compose a great part of the King of Persia's Cavalry who keeps them in his Court at peculiar pay and relies very much upon their fidelity and courage There are several also in the Service of the Great Mogul The Men are very well complexion'd and very well shap'd and for the Women they are accounted the fairest and most beautiful of all Asia and therefore out of this Countrey it is that the King of Persia chooses all his Wives being not permitted to marry a Stranger Teflis where the Women have more liberty than in any part of Asia is the Capital City of Georgia well situated large and well built where there likewise is a great Trade in Silk CHAP. X. A RELATION of the present State of Mengrelia MEngrelia extends from a Chain of Mountains that separates it from Georgia to the Black-Sea and is now divided into three Provinces every one of which has their King The first is call'd the Province of Imareté or Bassa-Shiouk the king whereof pretends to a superiority over both the other which is the reason they are often at War and that with so much cruelty that when they have tak'n any Prisoners of either side they fell them into Turkie They are so accustom'd to sell one another in this Country that if a man or his wife have any occasion for money they will go and sell one of their Children and many times they will exchange a Child for Ribands or other Toyes at the Mercers Shops The second Province is that of Mengrelia and the King of this Province is call'd the King of Dadian The third is the Province of Guriel the King of which Province is call'd the King of Guriel The Province of Mengrelia was formerly subject to the King of Bassa-Shiouk who sent thither a Governour which is call'd in their language Dadian One of those Governours being a person of wit and courage gain'd so far upon the affection of the People that they chose him for their King The chief of the Province of Guriel seeing how the Dadian had obtain'd the Kingdom following the Example of Mengrelia shook off the Yoke of the King of Bassa-Shiouk and chose another King among themselves who keeps his Soveraignty to this day by the support of the Grand Signor For when the Dadian rebell'd he enter'd into an Alliance with the Grand Signor and oblig'd himself to furnish him every year with such a certain quantity of Iron upon condition that if the King of Bassa-Shiouk should war upon him he should furnish him with twenty thousand Horse Of which the Turk was very glad finding thereby the Country of Mengrelia divided which being united was able at any time to have disturb'd him with an Army of fifty thousand Men. The King of Bassa-Shiouk coynes money of the same bigness and weight with that of the King of Persia. But in regard it is not so fine metal as that of the King of Persia he would have much a doe to make it pass in the trade between his Subjects and the Persians which is very great had he not found an expedient by putting the King of Persia's name upon the Coyn as well as his own which makes it pass without any difficulty He would also put the Grand Signor's Name upon his Coyn but that the Turk coynes none but small money or Aspers excepting only some Ducatts which he coines at Cairo The King of Bassa-Shiouk as well as the King of Teflis coynes all sort of forreign money These three Kings of Bassa-Shiouk Mengrelia and Guriel are Christians also And when they go to war all the Ecclesiastical Persons attend them Arch-bishops and Bishops Priests and Monks not so much to fight as to encourage the Souldiers Being at Constantinople the first time I travell'd into Persia I saw there an Embassador from the King of Mengrelia whose behaviour gave all the Franks occasion of laughter The Present
bury that person honourably believing him to be a Saint Besides that they send over all the Countrey for a white Goat which they breed up and keep in the Village where it happen'd to thunder having it in great veneration till thundring in another place the people send for it thither also If the Thunder fall upon any of their Houses though it kill neither Man Woman Child nor Beast all that Family shall be kept upon the publick stock all that year without being ty'd to any Labour but of Singing and Dancing These people during that time go from Village to Village Dancing and Singing at peoples Doors but never going into their Houses for which the Inhabitants are bound to bring them out something to eat There is a day in the Spring when all that have been struck'n with Thunder meet together in the Village where the white Goat is kept who has always a Cheese hanging about his Neck as big as a Parma-Cheese This Goat they take and carry to the Village of the chief Lord of the Countrey They never go in but the Lord with all the rest of the Village coming out they all together prostrate themselves before the Goat Having said some Prayers they take away his Cheese and immediately put another in its place The Cheese which was taken away is at the same time cut into little pieces and distributed among the people After that they give the Strangers to eat and bestow their Alms upon them so that by this wandring from Village to Village they get good store of Money They have among them but only one Book and it is as big as one of our largest Folio's and it lies in the hands of an old man who has only the priviledge to touch it When that old man is dead they choose another old man to keep the Book whose Duty it is to go from Village to Village where he hears of any sick people He carries the Book with him and after he has lighted up a Wax-Candle and put the people out of the Room he lays the Book upon the Stomach of the sick person opens it and reads in it then blows over it sev'ral times so that the Breath passes toward the mouth of the Party Then he causes the party diseas'd to kiss the Book several times and as often lays it upon his head which is a Ceremony of half an hour When the old man goes away one gives him a Beef or a Heifer another gives him a Goat every one according to their Quality and Estate They have also Old Women that take upon them to cure the Sick These Women feel the body of the sick party all over but more particularly they handle and grope that part where the distemper lies during which time they let go several belches out of their mouthes and the more sick the party is the louder and thicker they fetch their belches The standers by hearing them belch in that manner and fetch such vilanous sighs from their stomacks believe their friend to be dangerously ill and that the louder the Women belch the more ease and comfort they receive but whether they do or no the women are well payd for their pains When any one feels a pain in the Head they send for the Barber who gives two cutts upon the Head across with the rasor and then poures Oyl into the wound For they believe the Head-ache proceeds only from a wind beeween the flesh and the bone for which the Incision opens a paslage to let it out At their Funerals they that are the near Relations or Friends of the dead some cut their faces and other parts of their Bodies with sharp flints others prostrate themselves upon the ground and tear their hair so that when they return from the Burial they are all of a gore blood However notwithstanding all this affliction they never pray for the Dead As to their Marriages When a young man has seen a Virgin which he has a liking to he sends one of his friends to agree with her Parents or her Tutor what he will give for her Commonly the guist consists in Horses Cows or some other sort of Cattel When the agreement is made the Parents and Kindred of the party thereby contracted together with the Lord of the place go to the House where the Virgin lives and bring her to the Bridegrooms House where there is a Feast ready prepar'd and after they have made merry and sung and danc'd for a while the Bridegroom and Bride go and lye together without any other Ceremony If the Man and Maid are of two Parishes the Lord of the Village where the Man lives accompany him and his Kindred to the next Village altogether to fetch the Bride from thence If a Man and the Wife have no Children he is permitted to take several Wives one after another till he have Issue If a marri'd Woman have a Gallant and that the Husband should come and find his Wise a bed with him he goes away again without saying a word and never takes any further notice of it The Woman also in the same case does the like by the man Nay the more Gallants a Woman has the more she is respected And it is a common custom when they fall out to taunt one another that if they were not ugly or ill natur'd or diseas'd they would have more Admirers than they have The People are of an excellent Complexion especially the Women who are extreamly fair and finely shap'd and keep their beauty till five and forty or fifty years They are very laborious and work themselves in the Iron Mines which they melt afterwards and forge into several Tooles and Implements They make abundance of Embroidery of Gold and Silver for their Saddles their Quivers and their Pumps as also upon the Calicut of which they make their Handkerchiefs If the man and the woman happen to quarrel often together so that they cannot be reconcil'd the Husband complaining first to the Lord of the Place He sends for the Woman and having giv'n order to sell her gives the Man another But if the Woman complain first the Man is serv'd the same sawce If a Man or Woman be a disturber of their Neighbours if the Neighbours complain to the Lord he presently causes the party to be apprehended and sold to the Merchants that buy Slaves for they are resolv'd they will live in quiet They that take upon them the quality of Gentlemen sit still do nothing and speak very little In an evening they ride out and meet some twenty or thirty together to go a stealing Nor do they rob only their Enemies but their Neighbours from whom the chief prey which they take are Cattle and Slaves All the Country-people are Slaves to the Lord of the Village where they live whom he imploys to till his Land and cut Wood for him upon occasion of which they spend vast quantities For not being very warm clad they keep fire all night
Mother of the Girl where the kindred of both parties meet The Men are in one place by themselves and the Women in another for they never eat together at publick Feasts The Evening before the Nuptials the Bridegroom sends a Habit to the Bride and some time after he comes to receive what the Mother of the Bride has provided for him on her part If the Bride has no Mother some ancient Woman next a-kin dresses the Bride At length the Bride gets upon one Horse and the Bridegroom upon another each Horse being sumptuously harness'd with Bridles and Saddles of Gold and Silver if the persons be rich those that are poor and have not Horses of their own repair to the Great men who willingly lend theirs upon such an occasion As they set out from the Virgins habitation the Bridegroom goes before with a Veil of Carnation-Tiffany upon his Head or else of Gold and Silver Net-work the Meshes whereof are very close that reaches below the Stomach He holds in his Hand one end of a Girdle some three or four Ells long and the Bride that rides behind holds the other She is also cover'd with a large white Veil from head to foot that spreads also a good way over the Horse Under which Veil that rather seems a large white Sheet the Bride is hid in such a manner that there is nothing to be seen of her but her Eyes Two Men walk on either side of each Horse and if they be Children of three or four years old for so young they marry there are three or four Men to hold them in the Saddle according to the quality of their Parents A great Train of young Men the kindred and acquaintance of both parties follow after some a-horseback some a-foot with Tapers in their hands as if they were going in Procession and besides all these the Drums Trumpets Hautboys and other Instruments of the Country all attending to the Church-door When they are alighted every one makes way for the Bridegroom and Bride who advance up to the foot of the Altar still holding the Girdle in their hands Then the Bridegroom and the Bride meet and lean forehead to forehead Then comes the Priest and turning his back to the Altar lays his Bible upon their Heads instead of a Desk a weight sufficiently heavy as being a thick ponderous Folio There he lets it lye while he reads the Form of Matrimony which Office is most usually perform'd by a Bishop or an Archbishop The Form is very much like ours The Bishop demands the Bridegroom Wilt thou have such a one to thy Wife then to the Bride he says Wilt thou have such a one for thy Husband to which they both answer with a nod of the Head The Matrimonial Benediction being giv'n they hear Mass which being ended they return both together to the Daughters habitation in the same order as they set out These Nuptials last three days where the Women drink more than the Men. The Man goes to Bed first the Woman pulling off the man's Breeches though she does not lay aside her Veil 'till the Candle be put out Let it be what time in the year it will the Woman rises before day So that there be some Armenians that in ten years after they are marry'd never saw their Wives faces nor ever heard them speak For though her Husband may speak to her and all the rest of her kindred yet she never answers but with a Nod. The Women never eat with their Husbands but if the Men feast their Frinds to day the Women feast theirs the next day CHAP. XIII How the Armenians Bury their Dead SO soon as any person dyes one appointed for the Services of the Dead runs immediately to the Church to fetch a Pot of Holy-water which he presently pours into a great Vessel full of Water into which they put the dead Corps This man is call'd Mordichou or the person that washes the Dead which Mordichou's are so much detested among the people that it is an ignominy to eat or drink with those sort of people Whatever the party deceas'd has about him at the time of his death belongs to them though it be any excellent Jewel for it is the custom of the East to lye in their Breeches Shirt and Wastcoat in regard they never make use of Bed-cloaths So soon as the Corps is wash'd they dress it with a clean white Shirt a pair of Breeches a Wastcoat and a Bonnet all new never having been worn before Then they put the Body in a linnen Sack and sow up the mouth of it That being done the Priests come and take up the Body to carry it to Church which is attended by all the kindred and friends of the deceas'd with every one a Taper in his hand Being come to Church they set down the Corps before the Altar where the Priest says certain Prayers and then setting up lighted Tapers round about the Corps they leave it so all night The next day in the morning a Bishop or an ordinary Priest says Mass at the end whereof they carry the Body before the door of the Bishop's house attended as before at what time the Bishop comes forth and says a Prayer for the Soul of the deceas'd Then eight or ten of the poorer sort that are next at hand carry the Body to the Church-yard All the way they sing certain Dirges which the Priests continue while the Body is let down into the Grave Then the Bishop takes three handfuls of Earth and throws them one after another into the Grave pronouncing these words From Earth thou cam'st to Earth thou shalt return and stay there 'till our Lord comes These words being said they fill up the Grave Those of the kindred and friends that will go back find a Collation ready and if any other persons will go along they are not refus'd For seven days also they allow Dinners and Suppers to certain Priests and poor people if they are persons of ability believing no Soul departed can be sav'd unless the survivors are at that expence Whence it comes to pass that so many of the poor people are so miserable and Slaves to the Mahometans by borrowing Money to desray those expences which they are not able to pay again When an Archbishop or a Bishop dyes they add this farther Ceremony that an Archbishop or a Bishop writes a little Note and cutting op'n the Sack puts the Note into the Hand of the deceas'd wherein are these words Remember thy self that from Earth thou cam'st and to Earth thou shalt return If a Slave dye before enfranchiz'd when the Body is brought into the Church the Master writes a Note wherein are these words Let him not grieve I make him free and give him his liberty For they believe that he would be reproach'd in the other World for being a Slave for which his Soul might suffer tribulation If the Master be dead the Mistress does the same If an Armenian
that were at Casbin were call'd The three Sons of Iman-Kouli-Kan were of the number but the Father excus'd himself as well by reason of his age as also representing to his Majesty that it better befitted him to employ his time in taking care of his affaires and in praying for his Majesty however if it were his Majesties express command he would not fail to obey to which the King return'd for answer that the Kan of Schiras was at his liberty to do as he thought fit The third day of the Feast the King rose from his Seat and going out of the Hall without speaking a word to any person went into a Room hard by Half an hour after three sturdy resolute Fellows with some other Ragamuffin attendants entring the Hall with their Scimeters drawn seiz'd upon the Kans three Sons and cut off their heads They were put into a Gold Bason and presented to the King who commanded the Fellows to carry them to their Father and as soon as he had seen them to take off his head to make the fourth The Assassinates found him at his prayers but being interrupted to see the heads of his three Sons he desir'd leave only to conclude which having done with a countenance undisturb'd and without any other words or expressions in his mouth than what is usually said among the Persians Let the Kings will be done he submitted to a death which he might have easily avoided The four heads were brought back to the King to be sent into the Haram to his Mother So soon as he had taken off the heads of the Father and the three Sons the King dispatch'd away certain Chappars or Courriers with order to the Lieutenant of the Kan to put to death all the rest of the Children The command was obey'd and they were all put to death but only two that were at Nurse whom their Nurses so well conceal'd that never any tidings could be heard either of the Nurses or of the Children After the death of Iman-Kouli-Kan the Province of Schiras with its dependances has been govern'd by a Vizir who agrees with the King what Rent to pay him yearly In the years 1665 and 1666 the Vizir gave him fifty thousand Tomans a year But in the year 1667 the King abated him eight thousand Tomans in regard he had taken from him a small part of his Government to pleasure a Favourite Besides what the Governour of Schiras pays to the King in ready Money he is oblig'd every year to send him a present of all the rarities that grow on are bred in the Province These Presents consist in Horses of which there is the best breed of any Province of Persia. In Granates Oranges and Lemons sweet Oils and Waters of several sorts especially Oil of Roses with which the women rub their bodies and heads and the water of a certain Flower that grows upon a tree not much unlike our Willows which water is call'd Arak-Bilmitshe which is a great refreshment to those that use it besides other Oils and Essences which the Governour is oblig'd to present Yet were he only oblig'd to present the King the expence might be born well enough but for fear of being displac'd by any other Favourite he is constrain'd to make Friends of all the other great Lords and Favourites at Court which there is no way to do but by continual presents Whereas the ancient Kans who were a kind of petty Soveraigns in their Governments were only wont to send a few Baskets of new Fruits in their season for the service of the Kings Table To defray this expence the Governours are forc'd to tyrannize over the people who when they come as many times they do two or three Villages together to complain to the King are forc'd after long waiting to return with empty Purses home again by reason that they who should give them admission are the only persons that debar them from it and patiently to submit to the Extortions of the Vizir which is a piece of policy practis'd likewise by all the other Kans and Governours of the Persian Provinces As for Sha-Sefi himself he was very severe and one whose punishments oft'n amounted to acts of cruelty One day being a hunting a poor Countryman appear'd from behind a Rock with a paper in his hand being deputed by the Village to make some complaint to the King But while the poor man cry'd for justice the King without making any answer shot two arrows into his body and slew him That which mov'd Sha-Sefi to this act of cruelty was because he had some of his Wives with him in company For then there is no mercy to those poor people that happ'n to be in the way where the King chances to pass by no not for them that are in the Country round about where the Eunuchs have order to kill all men they meet When the King gives notice of his intention to carry his Wives into the Country this is call'd Courouk and there is nothing more troublesome nor more inconvenient in the world to the poor people that live in the Villages through which these women are to pass for upon notice giv'n them they must leave their Houses for a League or two of either side When there is a Courouk at Ispahan let the weather be never so bad the people must leave their Houses and if they have no Friends in some distant quarter to retire to they have no way but to repair to the Mountains Such is the excess of the jealousie of the Kings of Persia which indeed derives it self to all his Subjects who will not permit their women to be seen by any but their own Husbands The Persians both men and women are so addicted to take Tobacco that to take their Tobacco from them is to take away their lives So that if the King should prohibit Tobacco for any time he would lose a good part of his revenue However Sha-Sefi in a humor having once forbidd'n Tobacco to be taken in any part of his Dominion his Spies that are in every City found in the Indian Inn two rich Merchants of that Nation smoaking their noses Immediately they were seiz'd bound and carry'd to the King who commanded forthwith that Justice should be done upon them in the Meidan which was that they should pour melted lead down their throates till they were dead The people thought the King had only intended to have scar'd them and would have repriev'd them upon the place Insomuch that four Banians went to the Athemadoulet and offer'd to pay two thousand Tomans into the Kings Treasury so that he would be pleas'd to spare the two Merchants lives The chief Minister made the proposal but the King falling into a passion and asking the Atbemadoulet whether those Indian Dogs thought that a King of Persia would sell justice sent a second order for the execution of the Merchants without delay The same Sha-Sefi having giv'n command that the Eyes of a young
which extends it self from the Ocean toward the Province of Kerman and in several places is inaccessible It is possess'd by three petty Princes the one a Mahumetan the other two toward the East both Idolaters The first is the most potent of the three and nearest to the Province of Ormus He also assumes the title of Prince of Jasque as his Ancestors did before him Now after Sha-Abbas the first had conquer'd Ormus he went about to have made himself master of all the coast that extends it self beyond Cape Jasque but meeting with resistance he only obtain'd that the Prince of the Country should acknowledge the King of Persia for his Lord and that as his Vassal he should pay him an annual tribute And indeed during the raign of Sha-Abbas who knew how to make himself fear'd the Prince of Jasque pay'd his tribute very orderly But Sha-Sefi succeeding his Grandfather very young this tributary Prince shook off his yoak and refus'd to pay Which not being regarded in the raign of Sha Sefi the Prince of Jasque thought to do the same in the raign of Sha Abbas the second But at length after he had refus'd to pay for some years the Kan of Ormus pretending the Country to be under his Jurisdiction and that the Kings honour was concern'd in the Princes refusal incited Sha Abbas to send forces against him to reduce him to obedience The King granted the Commission to him that had undertaken the business who presently gathering together an Army of 20000 men the most part Horse thought to have surpriz'd his Enemy To which purpose that he might take the nearest way he march'd directly toward Cape Jasque But as it was the shortest cut it was the most dangerous insomuch that the Kan who hunted all the way he march'd according to the custom of Persia had the misfortune to fall into a bogg where he was stifl'd together with 20 or 30 horsemen more The death of the Kan being divulg'd the Army retreated back again but as soon as the King receiv'd the news he sent the Brother of the deceas'd Kan to succeed him In the mean while the Rebel Prince believing within himself that he was not to be thus at quiet and expecting to be attack'd by the new Kan stood upon his guard And indeed the new Kan march'd with all the speed he could and enter'd the territories of the rebellious Prince but being beat'n was forc'd to make more haste back again to Ormus with the loss of an abundance of men The Prince of Jasque puft up with this success did not believe that the Persians would be so hasty to come again and thereupon he resolv'd upon a Voyage for Mecca to give the Prophet thanks for his Victory To which end he embarqu'd at the nearest place he could to Cape Jasque thence to make fail toward Arabia But the Governor of Kan understanding his design by his spies way-laid him by Sea took him and brought him to Ormus At that time the heats being excessive the Governour was retir'd according to custome to the Mountains some ten or twelve Leagues from the City whither the Prince was carry'd and brought to the Kans tent But while the Kan was expecting the return of the Messenger which he had sent to the King for orders what to do with the Prisner the Princes wife hearing of her husbands misfortune and being a woman of a manlike courage taking along with her about five or six hundred horse with little noise and by long marches she at length fell unawares upon the Kan about midnight kill'd him with her own hand cut in pieces the greatest part of his men whom she found asleep carry'd away ten or twelve of his wives and set her husband at liberty in spite of the Persians who had not time to rally themselves The news of this defeat coming to Court the King being highly incens'd sent away the third Brother to be governour of Ormus with special command to the Governours of Schiras Lar and Kerman forthwith to raise 30000 horse to revenge affront and reduce the Rebel The Kan of Ormus march'd at the head of that Army and gave Battel but the Prince being succour'd by the other two Idolatrous Princes his neighbours the Persians were again beaten Only the Prince of Jasque lost his Lieutenant General a valiant Captain and a very good Souldier The King understanding that the Lieutenant General was the Kans Prisner gave him leave to do with him what he would in revenge of his Brothers death who thereupon devis'd the most cruel torments that ever were heard of For he first caus'd the body of the Lieutenant General to be larded with lighted Candles and then setting him upon a Camel order'd him to be led softly about the streets every day in the very heat of noon A torment almost insufferable which the heroic Indian nevertheless endur'd with an invincible courage After the Kan had tormented him in this manner three days together the chief of the Holland Company and other strange Merchants abhorring so much cruelty begg'd of the Kan to surcease his rigour who readily granted them their request CHAP. VIII Observations upon the raigne of Sha Soliman the present King ALi-Couli-Kan had bin three or four times exil'd from the Court for speaking with two much liberty For he was bold and could not keep his tongue between his teeth For which reason he was call'd the Kings Lyon who was wont to chain him up when he had no occasion for him and to let him loose when he had any business for him to do The last time he was exil'd he was kept five or six years in a Fortress out of which he had never stirr'd but one day having a smooth tongue he overperswaded the Commander to give him leave to go a hunting with him When he return'd with the help of some of his servants he fell upon the Commander and gave him so many Bastinadoe's upon the feet that he had like to have kill'd him telling him withall that it was to teach him his duty not to let a man go that the King had committed to his charge Sha Sephi though very young hearing of this and desirous to see Ali-Couli-Kan notwithstanding all the endeavours of the Grandees to hinder his return commanded him to be set at liberty and that he should have a better allowance to live upon Two or three days after the King sitting in Council the whole Assembly was amaz'd to see Ali-Couli-Kan enter who approaching his Majesty with a profound reverence told him that the Lyon being now let loose was humbly come to kiss his hands Thereupon the King fell a laughing and casting a favourable glance upon him told him he had done well Nor was it long ere the King finding him no less pleasant in conversation then a valiant and expert Captain made him Generalissimo of his Armies as he had bin in the raigne of Sha Abbas When the Court saw Ali-Couli-Kan so well
with pretious Stones according to their Quality from which Bonnet falls a veil behind which is very graceful They wear Breeches like the men and their Shooes are almost like theirs The Women of Ormus wear only a single pair of Breeches with a shift over them The Armenian Women wear besides a little Justicoar without sleeves and upon their heads a fine Linnen-Coif ty'd under their chins Their hair is gather'd into a long tress to which they sometimes add more which is false to make a long lock that is done up in a Velvet or Sattin-Case embroider'd and hangs behind down to the wast Handsome Women are very plentiful in Persia as well the tawny as the white For the Merchants that bring both from all parts choose the handsomest they can pick out The white Women are brought from Muscovia Poland Cirassia Mengrelia Georgia and the Frontiers of Tartary The black from the coast of Melinda and the Red-Sea The Persian Women are seen by none but their own Husbands They are very idle in their Houses not so much as looking after any thing of Housewifery Indeed every thing is at the Husband's disposal so that the Women are rather Slaves then Wives They spend their time in taking Tobacco after several fashions When they go to the Baths she 's the Woman that wears the best Clothes and brings the best Collation They that have Slaves cause 'em to rub their arms their legs and their thighs till they fall asleep having no other divertisement in their voluptuous Prison The higher a-man is in dignity the more he glories in having a great number of Wives and Slaves and his absolute power keeps them in order either willingly or by constraint There are two sorts of Eunuchs for the guard of the Sultanesses and the Wives of the Nobility Some are white but they never come neer the Women but are order'd to guard the first doors of the Haram The others are black frightful to look upon and flat-nos'd who attend only upon the Women If there be a necessity for a Woman of Quality to go abroad the Eunuchs go before and behind with Battoons in their hands to make the Corrouk and drive all the people out of the way When the King goes into the Countrey if any one be asleep in the high-way and be perceiv'd before he wakens he is immediately cut to pieces as he lies In the time of Sha-Abbas the Second one of the Fellows that help'd to set up the Womens Tents being weary fell asleep in one of them upon the ground When the Women came they seeing a man asleep set up a shrieking upon which the Eunuchs coming in wrapt up the Fellow in the Carpet as he lay and carrying him into the Fields buried him alive Carpet and all CHAP. XV. Of the Diseases of Persia and the manner of curing them THE Persian Children are seldom sick of the small-Pox but in lieu of that they are very subject to Scald-pates till ten or twelve years old Which it may be proceeds from their shaving so young and so often for they shave at five or six months old and two or three times a week As to the Pox the Persians would be more troubl'd with it but that the dry Air of the Countrey is an enemy to it besides they never lye twice with the fame Woman without going to the Bath to sweat out the venom of that distemper As for the Gout or Gravel the Persians know not what it means But the Armenians are troubl'd with the latter especially those that in their youth accustom'd themselves to drink more Wine then Water To those that are troubl'd with the Cholick they usually prescribe the eating of Horse-flesh and I have seen many cur'd by that means Generally the Persians especially the rich or those that have wherewithal to live handsomely are much less subject to Sickness then the people of Europe Some take the reason to be because of their China-drink which they drink every Spring boyling an ounce in three pints of water and so continuing the Dose for ten or twelve days one after the other all which time they keep a very moderate diet and eat no fruit for a month together This drink causes the Patient to sweat and the sweat being wip'd off dyes the Linnen nay the very walls of the Chamber of a yellow colour As for any method of Physick they have none in Persia. For the Dysentery they take sower Curdl'd-milk with Rice unbruis'd boyl'd in water to which they add a little Rhubarb powder'd At the beginning of a Disease they forbid Bread and instead thereof prescribe Rice boyl'd in Hen-broath or sometimes in fair water For diet is the chief Remedy which the Physitians prescribe in all Diseases and account most soveraign Indeed the remedy is well prescrib'd in many distempers however it is by them never prescrib'd according to reason or method but only according to custom whereby it often comes to pass that they forbid that which is good and prescribe that which is bad If the Patient be so poor as not to be able to send for a Physitian two or three men set him upon an Ass with a Scarf about his neck which denotes him to be a sick person and so lead him to the Physitian who presently seels his Pulse lets him Blood and by and by taking his Pen in his hand in a small piece of Paper prescribes more Hog-wash at one stroke then three mens bellys are able to contain When a Physitian is call'd to a Consultation he pretends not to take any Money But his Atar or Apothecary finds a way to have the Doctor satisfi'd for his pains They never permit the Sick to change their Linnen how nasty soever it be When they come home to the Patient though they find him ready to expire they tell the Servants that he will certainly recover but then on the other side they go to the Parents or Kindred of the Patient and tell them that the Patient is in a desperate condition and cannot live By this means they save their credit for happen what will they have told truth either of the one side or the other CHAP. XVI Of the division of Time among the Persians THE Persians divide the natural day into four parts The first is from Sun-rising to Noon the Second from Noon to Sun-set The third from Sun-set till Midnight and the fourth from Midnight till Sun-rise At Midnight Morning and Sunset they make a most horrible din in every great City of Kettle-Drums Haut-boys Latten-Basons and other Instruments upon which there are certain men hir'd to play for a quarter of an hour together in some place where they may be heard all over the City They have also great Cornets about seven foot long with deep mouths which may be heard above half a league But these Cornets are never us'd but in Cities where the Kans or Governours reside These Instruments are also always employ'd at their great Solemnities as
them to act ridiculously and to talk idly when it has done working they are as cold and stupid as before which obliges 'em to take it again For this reason they are short liv'd or if they do live till forty they complain heavily of the pains that proceed from the cold venome of the herb They that have a mind to kill themselves swallow a large piece and drink Vinegar after it to prevent the relief of any other Counterpoy on and so they dye smiling They have another sort of drink to make themselves merry which they call Kokomaar compos'd of boyld Poppy seed They take it in broth and there are particular houses call'd Kokomaars Krone where people meet to divertise those that see the ridiculous postures which that intoxicating drink causes them to shew Before it works they quarrel with one another and call one another all to naught but never fight When the drug begins to work they grow friends and some are for making complements others for telling a long tedious story which renders them very vain They have also another sort of liquor which is call'd Bongue very bitter being made of the leaves of Hemp and some other drug mix'd with it It makes those that use it shamefully foolish and ridiculous which is the reason the Law has forbid that and not the former The Usbecks have brought into Persia the Custome of taking in Pipes Tchouherse which is the flower or rather the woolly substance which is found in hemp-closes This fills the head with strange conceits sometimes pleasant and sometimes furious those that take it being quite besides their sences for two or three hours Their Feasts are thus order'd The guests come in the morning to the house whither they are invited and all the day long they spend their time in taking Tobacco and telling stories Between whiles they have Sweetmeats Coffee and Fruits set before them In the evening the Sofra is spread and the table serv'd with boil'd and roast If the person that treats be of any quality he has a kind of a Governour of his house that sits upon his heels with a Ladle or great wooden spoon in his hand Then the Inviter makes his complements to the chief of his guests assuring him that the entertainment is only provided for him only at his command he is ready to let the rest share with him The Complements being thus pass'd the Governour of the House with his great Spoon puts rice and meat upon the little plates which the servants present by equal portions to every one of the guests Then they fall too taking out the rice by handfuls and the meat with their fingers Sometimes they mix curdl'd milk with their rice and meat and making up a lump of all together as big as a Tennis ball put it all in their mouths at a time which is the reason they never sit long at Table one making room for another till they have all done for as soon as one has done another comes into his place without any farther Ceremony They have several Liquors in the room in Porcellain Vessels but at meals they only drink to drive down their meat and to prevent thirst When all is done they bring a Bason with an Ewre full of hot water to wash their hands and faces After which the Inviter complements his guests and every one returns home at which time the servants are very diligent to bring every man his shoes in hopes of some little piece of silver The Armenians entertain their friends in the same manner only that they begin their Feasts with a cup of strong water and some sweet-meats after which they give a couple of hard Eggs to every one of the guests The Persians also have soon done but the Armenians eat swift and a long time without drinking which they never do till the end of the meal After they have given thanks and taken away the cloth then they fall to drinking to excess He that gives the entertainment never thinks he has done well till his guests are not able to find the way out of the room and the more they tumble about the room the less he thinks he has spent his money in vain To conclude the Persian's are very Gentile and afford their victuals with a free-will to all that will come and eat with them at Supper time admiring at the custome of the Franks who shut their doors when they sit down to their meals CHAP. XVIII Of the Marriages of the Persians THe Persians betroth their Children very young that is at nine or ten years but among the Armenians there are some marry'd and lye together at five or six The Law of Mahomet allows them but four lawful Wives whom they call Nekha But there are others whom they call Amoutha or hir'd women and of whom they may have as many as they can keep and for so long time as they please which is ratifi'd by the allowance of the Judg. They may also enjoy the Slaves whom they purchase The Children both of the one and the other are accompted lawful and inherit all alike without the distinction of Elder or Younger but two Daughters can have but the share of one boy When the womans time that was hir'd is out the man dismisses her and she is oblig'd to stay forty days before she engage again that it may appear whither she be with Child or no. The man gives to the woman that he marries a Dowry assign'd upon his Estate and sends her money and silks to make her cloaths The maid also sends something to him but very little and all by the interposition and intercourse of the women For the two parties never see one another Upon the wedding day they send to the Bridegrooms house by the sound of Drums and Trumpets certain Horses and Men laden with the Brides goods which is many times done out of vain-glory and more for shew then substance The Bridegroom is led a foot attended by several women with Tapers in their hands and a noise of Drums and other Instruments marching before them Being come to the door of the Bridegrooms House if he have promis'd a larger Dowry to the woman then he is able or willing to give he keeps his door shut The Parents of the Maid knock and he declares he will not have her at that price But at length after some contests on both sides they agree and the Virgin enters with her Mother and all her Kindred Then the Moullah reads the conditions of Marriage which being done the women retire into the inner part of the House the men feasting by themselves and the women by themselves This is all that is done upon the Wedding-day but the following days are not always so pleasing and it often follows that both parties do not agree or that the husband misuses his wife Then the woman that requires separation requires the Dowry promis'd her by her husband which the man oft-times refuses and if she
the attempt which is accounted among them a most abominable sacriledg seiz'd upon the Merchant and all his Money to the value of 300000. Roupies and tying him to a Tree whipt him in so terrible a manner for three days together that the man dy'd From Cambaya you go to a little Village distant some three Costes where there is a Pagod to which all the Indian Curtisans come to make their Offerings This Pagod is full of a great number of naked Images among the rest there is a large Figure of one that seems to resemble Apollo with his privy parts all uncover'd When the old Curtisans have got together a good sum of Money in their youth they buy young Slaves whom they teach to Daunce and sing wanton Songs and instruct in all the mysteries of their infamous Art And when these young Girls are eleven or twelve years old their Mistresses send them to this Pagod believing it will bring them good fortune to offer and surrender up themselves to this Idol From this Pagod to Chiidabad you have six Costes This is one of the fairest Houses of the great Mogul with a wide Enclosure wherein he has vast Gardens and large Ponds with all the pleasures and curiosity whereof the Genius of the Indians is capable From Chiidabad to Amadabad you have but five Costes and so I return to Baroche and the common Road. From Baroche to Broudra Costes 22 Broudra is a great City standing in a fertil Soil wherein there is a vast Trade for Calicuts From Broudra to Neriade costes 18 From Neriade to Amadabat costes 20 Amadabat is one of the greatest Cities in India and where there is a mighty Trade for Silk-Stuffs Hangings of Gold and Silver and others mix'd with Silk for Saltpeter Sugar Ginger candid and raw Tamarins Mirobolans and flat Indigo which is made at a great Town not far from Amadabat called Sarquess There was in that place a Pagod which the Mahumetan's have pull'd down and built a Mosquee in the place Before you enter into it you must cross three large Courts pav'd with Marble and encompast with Galleries nor must you enter into the third Court till you have pull'd off your shooes The inside of the Mosquee is adorn'd with Mosaic-work the greatest part whereof is of Agats of divers colours which they fetch from the Mountains of Cambaya not above two days journey off There are several Sepulchres of the ancient Idolatrous Kings that look like little Chappels of Mosaic-work built upon a Vaut that is under the Sepulchre There runs a River from Amadabat toward the North-west which during the rainy-seasons that continue three or four Months together is very wide and rapid and does much mischief every year It is so with all the other Rivers in India and after the rains are fallen you must stay six weeks or two months before you can ford Amadabat-River where there is no Bridg. There are two or three Boats but they are of no use when the stream is so swift so that you must stay till the waters are fall'n But the people of the Countrey will not stay so long for to cross from one River to another they only make use of Goat-skins which they blow up and fill with wind and then tye them between their stomacks and their bellies Thus the poor men and women swim cross this River and when they would carry their children along with them they put them in certain round pots of Earth the mouth whereof is four-fingers wide and drive the Pots before them This puts me in mind of a Passage when I was at Amadabat in the year 1642 which is too remarkable to be omitted A Countrey-man and a Countrey-woman one day past the River as I have related and having a child about two years old they put it into one of these Pots so that there was nothing but the head appear'd Being about the middle of the River they met with a little bank of Sand where there lay an huge Tree which the stream had carri'd thither whereupon the Father shov'd the Pot toward that part to rest himself a-while When he came near the Tree the trunk whereof lay somewhat above the water a Serpent leapt out from among the roots into the Pot where the Infant was The Father and the Mother frighted at the accident and having almost lost their senses let the Pot go a-drift where the stream carri'd it and lay almost dead themselves at the bottom of the Tree About two leagues lower a Banian and his Wife with a little Infant were washing themselves in the River before they went to eat They descry'd the Pot a-far-off with the half of the Infant's-head that appear'd above the hole The Banian immediately swims to the relief of the child and having stopp'd the Pot drives it to the shoar The Mother follow'd by her own comes presently to take the other child out of the Pot at what time the Serpent that had done no harm to the other child shoots out of the Pot and winding about hers stings it and infuses its venom into the Insant so that it dy'd immediately However the accident being so extraordinary did not trouble those poor people who rather believ'd it to have happen'd by the secret disposal of their Deity who had taken from them one child to give them another for it with which opinion they presently comforted themselves Some time after the report of this accident coming to the ears of the first Countrey-man he comes to the Banian to tell him how the mischance had happen'd and to demand his child of him the other Indian affirming that the child was his and that his God had sent it him in the place of that which was dead To be short the business made so loud a noise that it was at length brought before the King who order'd that the child should be restor'd to the Father At the same time there happen'd another very pleasant accident in the same City of Amadabat The Wife of a rich Merchant Banian nam'd Saintidas never having had a child and manifesting her eager desire to have one a servant of the House took her a-side one day and told her that if she would but eat that which he would give her she should be with child The woman desirous to know what she was to eat the servant told her it was a little fish and that she should eat but three or four Now the Religion of the Banians forbidding them to eat any thing that has life she could not resolve at first to yield to his proposal but the servant having promised her that he would so order the matter that she should not know whether it were fish or no that she eat she resolv'd to try his receit and went the next night to lie with her Husband according to the instruction which she had received from the servant Some time after the woman perceiving that she was big her Husband happen'd to die and the kindred
of the deceased would have his Estate The Widow opposed them and told them that it behov'd them to stay till they saw whether the child she went withal would live or no. Her kindred were surpriz'd to hear such news that they so little expected and tax'd her for one that either ly'd or jested with them knowing that the woman had liv'd fifteen or sixteen years with her Husband yet never had been with child Seeing therefore that her kindred still tormented her she went and threw her self at the Governour 's feet to whom she related all that had past who thereupon order'd that the kindred should stay till the woman was deliver'd Some days after she had lain-in the kindred of the deceas'd Merchant who were persons of Credit and gap'd after so fair an inheritance affirm'd that the child was not legitimate and that she had it not by her Husband The Governour to understand the truth of the matter calls for the Physitians who concluded that the Infant should be carri'd to the Bath saying that if the Receit which the Mother had made use of were real the sweat of the child would smell of fish which was done accordingly and the Experiment prov'd true Thereupon the Governour order'd that the child should have the Estate the Merchant being so proud to be his Father But the Kindred troubl'd that such a fat Morsel had escap'd their mouths appeal'd to the King Upon their relation of the story the King wrote to the Governour to send him the Mother and the Insant to the end the Experiment might be made in his presence which having the same success as before the kindred succeas'd their claim and the Estate remain'd to the Mother and the Infant I remember also another pleasant Story which was related to me at Amadabat where I have been ten or twelve times A Merchant with whom I often dealt and who was very well belov'd by Cha-Est-Kan Governour of the Province and the King's Unckle had the reputation never to have told a lye Cha-Est-Kan after the three years of his Government were expir'd according to the custom of the Great Mogul and that Aureng-zeb the King's Son was come into his place retir'd to Agra where the Court then was One day discoursing with the King he told him that he had seen many rare things in the Governments with which his Majesty had honour'd him but that one thing above all the rest had astonish'd him to have met with a Rich Merchant that had never told a lye and yet he was above threescore and ten years of age The King surpriz'd at a thing so extraordinary signified to Cha-Est-Kan his desire to see the person and commanded him to send for him to Agra which he did The Old-man was very much troubl'd as well in regard of the length of the way it being a journey of 25 or or 30 days as for that he was to make a Present to the King In short he provided one esteem'd at forty-thousand Roupies to carry Betlé in enchas'd with Diamonds Rubies and Emraulds When he had made his obeysance to the King and given him his Present the King ask'd him only what was his name to whom he replied that he was call'd the man that had never told a lye Then the King ask'd him who was his Father Sir said he I cannot tell his Majesty satisfi'd with that answer stopt there and unwilling to trouble him any farther commanded an Elephant to be given him which is a very great Honour and ten-thousand Roupies to bear his charges home The Banians have a great Veneration for Apes and there are some which they breed up in their Pagods to worship There are three or four Houses in Amadabat which they make use of for Hospitals for Cowes Oxen Apes and other fick or maim'd Beasts and they carry all they can find thither to preserve them This is also very remarkable that every Tuesday and Friday all the Apes in the places adjoyning to Amadabat of their own accord come to the City and get upon the tops of their Houses where they lye during the excessive heats And therefore upon those days the people never fail to set ready in their Terrasses Rice Millet Sugar-Canes in their seasons and other such-like things For if the Apes did not find their provision when they came they would break the Tiles where-with the rest of the House is cover'd and do a great deal of mischief And you must here take notice also that the Ape never eats any thing whïch he does not very well like the scent of before-hand and before he swallows any-thing he lays up his Magazin against future hunger filling his bags with provision which he keeps till next day I have said that the Banians have a particular Veneration for the Ape of which I will give you one Example among many that I could bring Being one day at Amadabat at the House belonging to the Hollanders a young man of that Nation newly arriv'd to serve in the Factory not knowing the custom of the Countrey and seeing a great Ape upon a Tree in the Court would needs shew a piece of activity or rather a trick of youth to kill the Ape with a small Gun I was at Table then with the Dutch-Commander and we no sooner heard the blow but we heard as soon a loud noise of Banians that wait upon the Holland-Company who came to complain bitterly of him that had kill'd the Ape They would all have been gone so that the Commander had much ado and made many excuses before he could appease them and oblige them to stay In the Neighbourhood about Amadabat there are a great number of Apes And this is observable that where there are a great number of those Animals there are very few Crows For as soon as they have built their Nests and laid their Eggs the Apes get upon the Trees and throw their Eggs to the Ground One day returning from Agra and departing out of Amadabat with the English President who came hither about some business and was returning to Surat we pass'd through a little Forrest of Trees call'd Mangues some four or five Leagues from Amadabat there we saw a vast number of great Monkeys male and female and many of the females holding their young ones in their Arms. We had each of us our Coach and the English President causing his to stop told me he had an excellent and very neat Harquebuss that was presented him by the Governour of Daman and knowing I could aim well he desir'd me to try it at one of those Apes One of my Servants who was born in the Country making me a sign not to venture I endeavoured to disswade the President from his design but it was impossible so that I took the Harquebuss and kill'd a female Monkey who lay stretch'd out upon the Boughs letting her little ones fall to the ground But it fell out as my Servant had forewarn'd me For immediately all the Monkeys
When they were brought to Goa they could never be brought to learn any thing of the Portugal Language So that they could gettout of them nothing of that further discovery at which they aim'd of a Country from whence they only brought away two pound of Gold three pound of Ambergreese and thirty-five or forty Elephants teeth One of the Cafres liv'd but six months the other fifteen but both languish'd and pin'd to death for grief to be so trapann'd From Goa I pass'd to Mingrela where there fell out an accident not to be forgotten An Idolater dying and the Fire being ready prepar'd for the burning of the Body his Wife who had no Children by the permission of the Governour came to the Fire and stood among the Priests and her Kindred to be burnt with the Body of her deceas'd Husband As they were taking three turns according to custom about the place where the Fire was kindl'd there fell of a sudden so violent a Shower that the Priests willing to get out of the rain thrust the Woman all along into the Fire But the Shower was so vehement and endur'd so long a while that the Fire was quench'd and the Woman was not burn'd About midnight she rose and went and knock'd at the door of one of her Kinsmens Houses where Father Zenon and many Hollanders saw her looking so ghastly and grimly that it was enough to have scar'd them however the pain that she endur'd did not so far terrifie her but that three days after accompany'd by her Kindred she went and was burn'd according to her first intention CHAP. XV. The Story of Father Ephraim and how he was put into the Inquisition at Goa by a surprisal THE Chek who had marri'd the Eldest of the Princesses of Golconda not being able to perswade Father Ephraim to stay at Bagnabar where he promis'd to build him an House and a Church gave him an Ox and two Men to carry him to Maslipatan where he staid to embark for Pegu according to the order of his Superiors But finding no Vessel ready to set sail the English drew him to Madrespatan where they have a Fort call'd St. George and a general Factory for every thing that concerns the Countreys of Golconda Pegu and Bengala They over-perswaded him that he might reap a fairer Harvest in this place than in any other part of the Indies to which end they presently built him a very neat House and a Church But in the conclusion the English sought not so much the interest of Father Ephraim as their own For Madrespatan is but half a league from St. Thomas a Sea-Town upon the Coast of Cormandel indifferently well-built as formerly belonging to the Portugals In that place there was a very great Trade especially for Calicuts and a very great number of Merchants and Workmen liv'd there the greatest part whereof desir'd to inhabit at Madrespatan with the English but that there was no place for them to exercise their Religion in that place But when the English had built a Church and perswaded Father Ephraim to stay many of the Portuguezes quitted St. Thomas by reason of the frequent Preaching of Father Ephraim and his great care as well of the Natives as of the Portugals Father Ephraim was born at Auxerre the Brother of Monsieur Chateau de Boys Counsellor of the Parliament of Paris who was very happy in learning Languages so that in a little time he spoke English and Portuguez perfectly well But now the Clergy of St. Thomas-Church seeing Father Ephraim in so high a reputation and that he drew the greatest part of their Congregation to Madrespatan were so enrag'd against him that they resolv'd to ruine him And thus they laid their plot The English and Portuguezes being neer-neighbours could not choose but have several quarrels one among another and still Father Ephraim was appli'd to for the composing their differences Now one day it happen'd that the Portuguezes quarrell'd on purpose with some English Mariners that were in St. Thomas-Road and the English came by the worst The English President resolving to have satisfaction for the injury a War broke out between the two Nations which had ruin'd all the Trade of that Countrey had not the Merchants on both sides been very diligent to bring things to an accommodation not knowing any thing of the wicked contrivance of particular persons against Father Ephraim But all the interposition of the Merchants avail'd nothing the Friar must be concern'd in the affair he must be the Mediator to act between party and party which he readily accepted But he was no sooner enter'd into St. Thomas but he was seiz'd by ten or twelve Officers of the Inquisition who shipp'd him away in a Frigat that was bound at the same time for Goa They fetter'd and manacl'd him and kept him two and twenty days at Sea before they would let him once put his foot a-shoar though the best part of the Mariners lay a-shoar every night When they came to Goa they staid till night before they would land Father Ephraim to carry him to the Inquisition-House For they were afraid left if they should land him in the day the people should know of it and rise in the rescue of a person who was in an high veneration over all India The news was presently spread abroad in all parts that Father Ephraim was in the Inquisition which very much amaz'd all the French-men But he that was most surpriz'd and most troubl'd at it was Friar Zenon the Capuchin who had been formerly Father Ephraim's Companion who after he had consulted his friends resolv'd to go to Goa though he were put into the Inquisition himself For when a man is once shut up there if any one have the boldness to speak to the Inquisitor or to any of his Councel in his behalf he is presently put into the Inquisition also and accounted a greater Offender than the other Neither the Arch Bishop nor the Vice-Roy themselves dare interpose though they are the only two persons over whom the Inquisition has no power For if they do any thing to offend them they presently write to the Inquisitor and his Council in Portugal and as the King and the Inquisitor-General commands they either proceed against or send those two great persons into Portugal Notwithstanding all these considerations Father Zenon taking along with him the Sieur de la Boulay a decaid Gentleman goes to Goa where when he arriv'd he was visited by some friends who advise him to have a care not to open his mouth in the behalf of Father Ephraim unless he intended to bear him company in the Inquisition Father Zenon seeing he could do nothing at Goa advis'd the Sieur de Boulay to return to Surat and goes himself directly to Madrespatan more particularly to inform himself concerning the reason of Father Ephraim's being sent away But when he understood how he had been betraid at St. Thomas he resolv'd to have satisfaction and
his Tyranny and began to enjoy himself with more delight Soon after he receiv'd his Sister Begum-Saheb into favour restoring to her all her Governments and giving her the Name of Cha-Begum that is to say Princess Queen The truth is she is a Woman of prodigious parts and able to govern the whole Empire And had her Father and Brothers taken her counsel at the beginning of the War Aureng-zeb had never been King As for Rauchenara Begum his Sister she had always taken his side and when she heard he had taken Arms she sent him all the Gold and Silver she could procure In recompence whereof he promis'd her when he came to be King to give her the Title of Cha-Begum and that she should sit upon a Throne in all which he was as good as his word and they continu'd very loving together till I was last at Genanabat but then they were not so good friends upon this occasion The Princess having cunningly stoll'n into her Apartment a handsom young fellow could not so privately let him out again after she had quite tir'd him but the King was advertiz'd thereof Thereupon the Princess to prevent the shame and reproach ran to the King in a great pretended fright and told him that there was a man got into the Haram even to her very Chamber and that his intention was certainly either to have kill'd or robb'd her that such a thing was never seen that it concern'd the safety of his Royal Person and that he would do well to punish severely the Eunuchs that kept guard that night Presently the King ran in person with a great number of Eunuchs so that the poor young man had no way to escape but by leaping out of a window into the River that runs by the Palace-walls whereupon a world of people ran out to seize him the King commanding them to do him no harm but to carry him to the Officer of Justice However he has been not heard of ever since that time CHAP. VIII Of the Preparations against the Feast of the Great Mogul when he is weigh'd solemnly every year Of the richness of his Thrones and the Magnificence of his Court. THis great Feast begins the fourth of November and lasts five days They usually weigh the King at the time of his Birth and if he weighs more than he did the year before there is great rejoicing When he is weigh'd he seats himself upon the richest of his Thrones and then all the Grandees of the Kingdom come to congratulate and present him The Ladies of the Court send him their Presents also as likewise do the Governours of Provinces and others in great Employments The Presents consist of Jewels Tissues Carpetts and other Stuffs besides Camels Elephants Horses and indeed any thing that is rare and of value 'T is said he receives that day thirty Millions of Livres They begin to prepare for this Feast the seventh of September about two Months before it begins The first thing they do is to cover the two great Courts overhead from the middle of each Court to the Hall which is open upon three sides The Pavilions that cover these two void places are of Purple Velvet Embroider'd with Gold and so weighty that the Posts which sustain them are as big as the Mast of a Ship some thirty some forty foot high There are thirty-eight of these Posts to uphold the Tent in the first Court and those next the Hall are plated with Gold as thick as a Ducket The rest are plated with Silver of the same thickness The Cords are of Cotton of divers colours some of them as big as a good Cable The first Court is surrounded with Portico's and little Chambers where the Omrahs keep Guard For every eight days the Omrahs relieve the Guard and during those eight days the Omrah who is upon the Guard has a Dish of Meat out of the Kings Kitchin When he sees it coming afar off he makes three obeysances laying his hand three times upon the Ground and three times upon his Head crying out at the same time God preserve the Kings health give him long Life and Victory over his Enemies They take it for a great Honour to Guard the King and when they go upon the Guard they put on all their most sumptuous Apparel and their Horses Camels and Elephants are all richly adorn'd Some of the Camels carry a small Piece of Ordinance with a man behind to shoot it off The meanest of these Omrahs commands a thousand Horse but if he be a Prince of the Blood he commands six thousand The Great Mogul has seven Thrones some set all over with Diamonds others with Rubies Emraulds and Pearls The largest Throne which is set up in the Hall of the first Court is in form like one of our Field-Beds six foot long and four broad The Cushion at the back is round like a Bolster the Cushions on the sides are flat I counted about a hundred and eight pale Rubies in Collets about this Throne the least whereof weigh'd a hundred Carats but there are some that weigh two hundred Emraulds I counted about a hundred and sixty that weigh'd some threescore some thirty Carats The under-part of the Canopy is all embroider'd with Pearls and Diamonds with a Fringe of Pearls round about Upon the top of the Canopy which is made like an Arch with four Panes stands a Peacock with his Tail spread consisting all of Saphirs and other proper colour'd Stones the Body is of beaten Gold enchas'd with several Jewels and a great Ruby upon his breast at which hangs a Pearl that weighs fifty Carats On each side of the Peacock stand two Nose-gays as high as the Bird consisting of several sorts of Flowers all of beaten Gold enamel'd When the King seats himself upon the Throne there is a transparent Jewel with a Diamond Appendant of eighty or ninety Carats encompass'd with Rubies and Emraulds so hung that it is always in his Eye The twelve Pillars also that uphold the Canopy are set with rows of fair Pearl round and of an excellent Water that weigh from six to ten Carats apiece At the distance of four feet upon each side of the Throne are plac'd two Parasols or Umbrello's the handles whereof are about eight foot high cover'd with Diamonds the Parasols themselves are of crimson Velvet embroider'd and fring'd with Pearls This is the famous Throne which Tamerlane began and Cha-jehan finish'd which is really reported to have cost a hundred and sixty Millions and five hundred-thousand Livres of our Money Behind this stately and magnificent Throne there is another less in the form of a Tub where the King bathes himself it is an Oval seven foot long and five broad The outside whereof shines all over with Diamonds and Pearls but there is no Canopy over it Coming into the first Court on the right hand you see a particular Tent where during all the Feast the Morice-Dancers are appointed to make sport while
as Sha-jehan came to the Empire he sent to demand his Tribute of this Raja as well for the time past as to come who finding that his Revenues were not sufficient to pay him quitted his Country and retir'd into the Mountains with his Subjects Upon his refusal Sha-jehan believing he would stand it out sent a great Army against him perswading himself that he should find great store of Diamonds in his Country But he found neither Diamonds nor People nor Victuals the Raja having burnt all the Corn which his Subjects could not carry away so that the greatest part of Sha-jehans Army perish'd for hunger At length the Raja return'd into his Country upon condition to pay the Mogul some slight Tribute The Way from Agra to this Mine From Agra to Halabas costes 130 From Halabas to Banarous costes 33 From Banarous to Sasaron costes 4 From Agra to Saferon you travel Eastward but from Saferon to the Mine you must wind to the South coming first to a great Town costes 21 This Town belongs to the Raja I have spoke of From thence you go to a Fortress call'd Rodas costes 4 This is one of the strongest places in all Asia seated upon a Mountain fortifi'd with six Bastions and twenty-seven pieces of Cannon with three Moats full of Water wherein there are good Fish There is but one way to come to the top of the Mountain where there is a Plain half a League in compass wherein they sow Corn and Rice There is above twenty Springs that water that Plain but all the rest of that Mountain from top to bottom is nothing but a steep Precipice cover'd with over-grown Woods The Raja's formerly us'd to live in this Fort with a Garrison of seven or eight hundred men But the Great Mogul has it now having taken that Fort by the policy of the famous Mirgimola which all the Kings of India could never take before The Raja left three Sons who betray'd one another the eldest was poison'd the second went and serv'd the Great Mogul who gave him the command of four thousand Horse the third possesses his Fathers Territories paying the Mogul a small Tribute From the Fortress of Rodas to Soumelpour costes 30 Soumelpour is a great Town the Houses whereof are built of Earth and cover'd only with Branches of Coco-trees All these thirty Leagues you travel through Woods which is a very dangerous passage as being very much pester'd with Robbers The Raja lives half a League from the Town in Tents set upon a fair rising ground at the foot whereof runs the Gouel descending from the Southern Mountains and falling into Ganges In this River they find the Diamonds For after the great Rains are over which is usually in December they stay all January till the River be clear by reason that by that time in some places it is not above two foot deep and in several places the Sand lies above the water About the end of January or the beginning of February there flock together out of the great Town and some others adjoining above eight thousand persons men women and children that are able to work They that are skilful know by the sand whether there be any Diamonds or no when they find among the sand little Stones like to those which we call Thunder-Stones They begin to make search in the River from the Town of Soumelpour to the very Mountains from whence the River falls for fifty Leagues together Where they believe there are Diamonds they encompass the place with Stakes Faggots and Earth as when they go about to make the Arch of a Bridg to drain all the water out of that place Then they dig out all the Sand for two foot deep which is all carried and spread upon a great place for that purpose prepar'd upon the side of the River encompass'd with a little Wall about a foot and half high When they have fill'd this place with as much Sand as they think convenient they throw water upon it wash it and sift it doing in other things as they do at the Mines which I have already describ'd From this River come all those fair Points which are call'd natural Points but a great Stone is seldom found here The reason why none of these Stones have been seen in Europe is because of the Wars that have hinder'd the people from working Besides the Diamond Mine which I have spoken of in the Province of Carnatica which Mirgimola caus'd to be shut up by reason of the yellowness of the Diamonds and the foulness of the Stones there is in the Island of Borneo the largest Island in the World another River call'd Succadan in the Sand whereof they find Diamonds as hard as any in the other Mines The principal reason that disswaded me from going to the Island of Borneo was because I understood that the Queen of the Island would not permit any Strangers to carry away any of those Diamonds out of the Island Those few that are exported being carry'd out by stealth and privately sold at Batavia I say the Queen and not the King because in that Island the Women have the Soveraign Command and not the Men. For the people are so curious to have a lawful Heir upon the Throne that the Husband not being certain that the Children which he has by his Wife are his own but the Wife being always certain that the Children which she bears are hers they rather choose to be govern'd by a Woman to whom they give the Title of Queen her Husband being only her Subject and having no power but what she permits him CHAP. XIV Of the diversity of Weights us'd at the Diamond Mines Of the Pieces of Gold and Silver there Currant and the Rule which they observe to know the Price of Diamonds AT the Mine of Raolconda they weigh by Mangelins a Mangelin being one Carat and three quarters that is seven Grains At the Mine of Gani or Coulour they use the same Weights At the Mine of Soumelpour in Bengala they weigh by Rati's and the Rati is seven eighths of a Carat or three Grains and a half They use the same Weights over all the Empire of the Mogul In the Kingdoms of Golconda and Visapour they make use of Mangelins but a Mangelin in those parts is not above one Carat and three eighths The Portugals in Goa make use of the same Weights in Goa but a Mangelin there is not above five Grains As for the Money in use First in Bengala in the Territories of the Raja before mention'd in regard they lye enclos'd within the Dominions of the Great Mogul they make their payments in Roupies At the two Mines about Raolconda in the Kingdom of Visapour the payments are made in new Pagods which the King coins in his own Name as being independent from the Great Mogul The new Pagod is not always at the same value for it is sometimes worth three Roupies and a half sometimes more and sometimes less
they are reckon'd to be five or six for one Mahometan It seems a wonderful thing that such a prodigious multitude of men should be cow'd by a handful and bow so easily under the yoak of the Mahometan Princes But that wonder well may cease when we consider that those Idolaters are not in union among themselves for Superstition has introduc'd such a diversity of Opinions and Customs that they can never agree one with another An Idolater will not eat Bread nor drink Water in the House of any one that is not of his Caste though it be more noble and much more superior to his own Yet they all eat and drink in the Bramins Houses which are open to all the world A Caste among the Idolaters is very near the same thing which was anciently call'd a Tribe among the Jews And though it be vulgarly believ'd that there are seventy-two Castes yet I have been inform'd by some of their most ingenuous Priests that they may be all reduc'd into four principal ones from whence all the rest drew their Original The first Caste is that of the Brammins who are the Successors of the ancient Brachmans or Indian Philosophers that study'd Astrology You may also meet with some of their ancient Books in reading whereof the Brammins spend all their time and are so vers'd in their observations that they never fail a minute in the Eclipses of the Sun and Moon And to preserve this knowledg among themselves they have a kind of University in a City which is call'd Benarez where they make all their Exercises in Astrology and where they have Doctors that expound their Law which they very strictly observe But in regard they are so great a number and cannot all come to study at that University they are all very ignorant and consequently very superstitious those that go for the most refin'd Wits being the greatest Sorcerers The second Caste is that of the Raspoutes or Ketris that is to say Warriors and warlike people These are the only Idolatrous Indians that have any courage to signalize themselves in War All the Raja's that I have so oft'n mention'd are of this Caste. These are so many petty Kings whom their disunion has render'd Tributary to the Great Mogul But in regard that the greatest part of them are in his service they are highly recompenc'd by the large Salaries they receive for the small Tribute which they pay These Raja's and the Raspoutes their Subjects are the chiefest support of the Dominions of the Great Mogul for indeed the Raja's Jesseing and Jessomseing were those that lifted up Aureng-zeb to the Throne But you must take notice that all of this second Caste are not Warriors for they are the Raspoutes only that go to War and are all Horsemen But for the Ketris they are degenerated from their Ancestors and of Soldiers are become Merchants The third Caste is that of the Bannians who are altogether addicted to Trade of whom some are Sheraffs or Bankers others broakers employ'd between Merchant and Merchant for buying and selling Those of this Caste are so subtil and nimble in Trade that as I have said before the Jews may be their Prentices They accustom their Children betimes to fly idleness And instead of suffering them to lose their time in playing in the streets as we generally do they teach them Arithmetick which they are so perfect at that without making use either of Pen and Ink or Counters but only of their memories they will in a moment cast up the most difficult account that can be imagin'd They always live with their Fathers who instruct them in Trade and do nothing but what they shew them If any man in the heat of passion chafe at 'em they hear him patiently without making any reply and parting coldly from him will not see him again in three or four days when they think his passion may be over They never eat any thing that has life nay they would rather dye than kill the smallest Animal or Vermin that crawls being in that point above all things the most zealous Observers of the Law They never fight nor go to War neither will they eat or drink in the House of a Raspoute because they kill the Victuals they eat all but Cows which they never touch The fourth Caste is that of the Charados or Soudras who go to War as well as the Raspoutes but with this difference that the Raspoutes serve on Horseback and the Charados on Foot Both of them take it for an Honour to dye in Battel and let him be Horse or Foot that Soldier is accounted infamous that retreats in Fight 't is an eternal blot in his Family Upon which subject I will tell you a story A Soldier who was passionately in love with his Wife and reciprocally belov'd by her had fled from the fight not so much out of any fear of death as out of a consideration of the grief which it would occasion to his Wife should he leave her a Widow When she knew the reason of his flight as soon as he came to the door she shut it against him and order'd him to be told that she could never acknowledge that man for a Husband who had preferr'd the Love of a Woman before his Honour that she did not desire to see him any more as being a stain to the Reputation of her Family and that she would endeavour to teach her Children to have more courage than their Father The Wife continuing firm to her resolution the Husband to regain his Honour and her affection return'd to the Army where he so behav'd himself that he became famous and having highly made amends for his Cowardise the door of his House was again set open and his Wife receiv'd him with her former kindness The rest of the Natives that are not reckon'd in the number of these Castes are call'd Pauzecour These are such as employ themselves in Handicraft Trades among which there is no other distinction but according to the Trades which they follow from Father to Son So that a Taylor cannot prefer his Son but only in his own Calling though he be never so rich nor marry either Son or Daughter but to one of his own Craft By the same rule when a Taylor dies all those of his own Trade accompany the Corps to the place where it is burnt and the same practise is observ'd in all other Trades Among the particular Castes there is one that goes by the name of Alecors whose employment is only to clean Houses for which every Family pays him something once a month according to their proportion and quality If a person of quality in the Indies keeps fifty Servants let him be Mahometan or Idolater there is not one of them will take a Besome in his hand to sweep the House for he would think himself affronted it being one of the greatest scorns you can put upon an Indian to call him Alacor Besides every one of those
serve his occasions after death but that it was to him a thing indifferent whether he buried his Cup or his Money In my last Voyage I bought of one of these Idolaters sixty-two Diamonds of about six grains a-piece and while I was wondring to see so fair a parcel he told me I needed not to wonder for he had been fifty years getting them together to serve him after his death but that having occasion for Money he was forc'd to part with them This buried treasure stood the Raja Seva-Gi in great stead when he took Arms against the Great Mogul and the King of Visapour For that Raja having taken Callian Biondi a small City in the Kingdom of Visapour by the advice of the Bramins who assur'd him he should find great store of treasure buri'd caus'd the greatest part thereof to be demolish'd and found so much wealth as to maintain his Army which was above thirty-thousand Men. It is impossible to convince these poor Idolaters of their errors in regard they will hear no reason but submit themselves altogether to their old forms and customs CHAP. VIII Of the Custom among the Idolaters to burn the Bodies of their Dead THE custom of burning the Bodies of the dead is very ancient among the Gentiles which Ceremony they most commonly perform by the banks of Rivers where they wash the dead which is the last purgation of them from their sins Nay their superstition is so great sometimes that they will carry the sick person death approaching to the bank of some River or Pond and put his feet in the water As nature fails they dip him deeper and deeper till at length they hold him expiring up to the chin in the River to the end that at the same time that the Soul departs out of the Body both Body and Soul may be cleans'd from all defilement and then plunging the newly dead Body over head and ears they bring it out and burn it in the place appointed which is generally neer some Pagod There are some persons that make it their business to fetch Wood and agree what they shall have for their pains An Idolater being dead all those of his Caste or Tribe assemble together at the House of the deceas'd and laying the Body upon a Beer cover'd with clean fine Linnen according to his Quality and Estate they follow the Beer which is carri'd by such as are appointed for that purpose to the place where the Body is to be burn'd As they go along they sing certain Prayers to their God pronouncing several times the words Ram Ram while another going before the Beer sounds a little Bell to advertize the living to pray for the dead The Body being set down by the bank of the River or Pond they first plunge it into the water and then they burn it According to the quality of the deceas'd they also mingle with the ordinary wood Sandal-wood and other Sweet-woods But the Idolaters do not only burn the Bodies of the dead but the Bodies of the living They scruple to kill a serpent or a louse but account it a meritorious thing to burn a living Wife with the Body of the deceas'd Husband CHAP. X. How the Wives are burnt in India with the Bodies of their deceas'd Husbands IT is also an ancient custom among the Indians that the Husband happening to dye the Wife can never marry again So that as soon as the Man is dead the Wife retires to bewail her Husband some days after that they shave off her hair she lays aside all the ornaments of her apparel she takes off from her arms and legs the Bracelets which her Husband put on when he espous'd her in token of her submission and her being chain'd to him and all the rest of her life she lives slighted and despis'd and in a worse condition than a Slave in the very House where she was Mistress before This unfortunate condition causes them to hate life so that they rather choose to be buri'd alive with the body of their deceas'd Husbands then to live the scorn and contempt of all the World Besides that the Bramins make them believe that in dying after that manner they shall revive again with him in another World with more honour and more advantages than they enjoy'd before These are the motives that perswade the Women to burn with their Husbands besides that the Priests flatter them with a hope that while they are in the midst of the flames before they expire Ram will appear and reveal wonderful visions to them and that after their Souls have transmigrated into various Bodies they shall at length obtain a high degree of Honour to eternity However there is no Woman that can burn with her Husband's body till she has the leave of the Governor of the place where she inhabits who being a Mahumetan and abhorring that execrable custom of Self-murder is very shy to permit them Besides there are none but Widows that have no children that lye under the reproach that forces them to violent death For as for the Widows that have children they are by no means permitted to burn themselves but quite the contrary they are commanded to live for the education of the children Those Women whom the Governour will not permit to burn themselves spend the rest of their lives in doing Penance and performing works of Charity Some make it their business to sit upon the Road to boyl certain Pulse in water and to give the liquor to Travellers to drink Others sit with fire always ready for them to light their Tobacco Others make vows to eat nothing but the undigested grains which they find in Cow-dung The Governour finding no perswasions will alter the Woman's resolution but more especially perceiving by the sign which his Secretary makes him that he has receiv'd the Coin in a surly manner gives the Woman leave bidding the Devil take her and all her kindred When they have got this leave their Musick begins to strike up and away they ding to the House of the deceas'd with Drums beating and Flutes playing before them and in that manner they accompany the person that is to be burnt to the place appointed All the kindred and friends of the Widow that is to dye come to her and congratulate her for the happiness she is to enjoy in the other World and for the honour which the Caste she is of receives by her generous resolution she dresses her self as she were going to be marri'd and she is conducted in triumph to the place of execution For the noise is loud of Musical Instruments and Womens Voices that follow her singing Songs in honour of the miserable creature that is going to dye The Bramins that accompany her exhort her to give publick testimonies of her constancy and courage and many of our Europeans are of opinion that to take away the fears of death which naturally terrifies humanity the Priests do give her a certain Beverage to stupify and
when they are strong enough to be put upon certain Exercises they have Governours and Masters appointed over them in a distinct Quarter by themselves Besides these things which may be positively known concerning the Appartment of the Women in the Seraglio it may well be imagin'd that the embellishments of their Lodgings are answerable to those of the Grand Seignor since it is the place where he passes away the most divertive part of his time It is also not to be question'd but that it has its Infirmary its Baths and the other accommodations and conveniences that can be wish'd for It may also be conjectur'd That there is in this Quarter an observance of the same regulations as there are in the Chambers of the Ichoglans That some of the more ancient Maids are Mistresses over the Younger ones and are night and day employ'd in observing their actions and that their unvoluntary restraint forces them to the same unseemly actions amongst themselves as the brutish Passions of those Young Men engages them in whenever they can find the opportunities to commit them And this presumption has no doubt given occasion to the Fabulous Story which is related of their being serv'd up with Cucumbers cut into pieces and not entire out of a ridiculous fear lest they should put them to undecent uses they who have forg'd the Story not knowing that it is the custome in the Levant to cut the Fruit a-cross into great thick slices as I shall make it appear in the Chapter where I treat of their Gardens But it is not only in the Seraglio that that abominable Vice reigns but it is predominant also in the City of Constantinople and in all the Provinces of the Empire and the wicked Example of the Men who slighting the natural use of Woman-kind are mutually enflam'd with a detestable love for one another unfortunately enclines the Women to imitate them Of this there was a strange instance in the time of Solyman the Magnificent An A strange Story of an old Woman old Woman was guilty of such an excess of extravagance as to put on Man's Cloaths and to give out that she had bought a Chiaoux's place the better to compass her designe of obtaining the only Daughter of a Trades-man of Constantinople with whom she was desperately fallen in love having made fruitless attempts by other ways to satisfie her infamous inclinations The Father not suspecting any thing of her wicked intentions and being withal poor grants her his Daughter the Marriage is solemniz'd in the presence of the Cadi and the imposture having been discover'd the very Wedding-night the old woman was condemn'd the next day to be thrown into the Sea there to quench the Gomorrhean Inflammations of her lewd desires This Story is to this day related in Constantinople and I have had it from several good hands These insatiable salaciousness amongst the Women are the effects and consequences Polygamy prejudicial to propagation of the same inclinations in the Men and the Turks are so much the more execrable and abominable as to this particular the more they are permitted a plurality of Wives But whether it happens through a just punishment from Heaven or proceed from their Sorceries which are common and allow'd in Turkey and ordinarily practis'd by the Women in opposition one to another to appropriate the affections of their Husbands it has always been observ'd That the Turks who keep many Women are not so well stor'd with Children as they who observe Conjugal Chastity and confine themselves to one I question not but those Authors who have written of the Mahumetan Religion have given a sufficient account of that plurality of Wives and of the Ceremonies of Matrimony amongst the Turks As to the manner how the Grand Seignor demeans himself in the prosecution of The Secrecy of the Grand Seignor's Amours his Amours it is a Secret which I shall not enquire into I have not much endeavour'd to make any discoveries of it and it is a hard matter to give any account thereof without some hazard of travesting History into Romance They are Intrigues which do not admit of any Confident by whom they may be disclos'd and all that is commonly related thereof is haply at a great distance from the true state of things not to press this That we ought to have a respect for all Princes and to forbear divulging what informations we may possibly have receiv'd of their secret Amours CHAP. XVIII The Entrance into Constantinople of the Sultaness Mother to the Grand Seignor whom they honour with the Title of la Validé on the Second of July 1668. THE PRINCIPAL HEADS The order of the March The Wealth of the Grand Seignor's Favourite The Sultanesse's Coaches The prohibitions to look on her ON the Second of July in the Year of our Lord One Thousand six Hundred Sixty and Eight the Sultaness Mother to the Grand Seignor Regent at her return from Adrianople made her Entrance into Constantinople where I then was of which Entrance take the eusuing Description About Six in the Morning some numbers of Janizaries not observing any order The Order of the March. took their way towards the Seraglio sometimes ten or more sometimes twenty in little detachments which lasted for some time After them came two hundred men on Horse-back belonging to the House of the Cologlou that is to say the Grand Seignor's Favourite with short Guns resting on the Bowe of their Saddles and all very meanly clad as also the Officers of his Kitchin who coming in the Rear of the others were in like manner poorly habited and ill mounted After them appear'd in somewhat a better order the menial Retinue of the Caimacan his Officers as well those belonging to the Chamber as those of the Stables were very handsomely mounted and all in their yellow Garments The next appearance was that of the Spahis who are the Sultaness-Mother's Life-Guard Of those there were four hundred which made a handsome Shew being all well mounted and well clad They had all their Coats of Mail with their Vests of red Taffeta and had on the right side a Quiver of Crimson-Velvet embroider'd with Flowers of Gold and on the left a Bowe in a cover of red Velvet embroider'd as the other They had all of them Helmets on their Heads and over them white Turbants and from the Helmets there hung small Chains of Mail resembling Locks of Hair which they use when occasion requires to ward off a blow from the neck and face Every one of them had also a Launce in his hand and the Trappings of their Horses were of one of these three Colours yellow violet and red of a rich Stuff with an embroidery of Silver The Spahi-Bachi came in the Rear of them having a Plume of Heron-tops in his Turbant three foot in height which made him remarkable and distinguish'd him from all the other Spahis On the Breast-piece of his Horse were fasten'd a dozen little Scarffs