and confessed that after it they were holy and so innocent that if they should die then they were secure that their Soul should go immediately out of their Mouth into Heaven and eternal life To this I answered them That I expected Remission of Sin no other ways but only in the Name and for the Merits of our Lord Jesus Christ and that I had not undertaken this Pilgrimage as they did to get any thing by it as by a good Work nor to visit Stone and Wood to obtain Indulgence or with opinion to come here nearer to Christ because all these things are directly contrary to Scripture As the Lord himself saith Time will come that you shall neither on this Mount nor at Jerusalem worship the Father And he also forewarneth us of these that say Lo Christ is here Christ is there lo he is in the desarts he is in the Chamber that we should not believe them nor go out but rather confide on his promise that he will be with us to the end of the World and where two or three are met together in his Name that he will be in the middle of them Wherefore our dear Lord Christ hath no need because he is himself present with them that believe in him of any Vicegerent that should on Earth usurp such Power and take such Honor and Glory to himself as to give Indulgence at his pleasure because all these things belong only to God When I saw that they did not much mind this my Discourse I let them alone in their Opinions but yet I saw here and there all these places and considered by my self what our Lord Christ had by his bitter Sufferings and Death by his Glorious Resurrection and Ascension procured us from his Heavenly Father When the Pilgrims came to one of the above-mentioned places of Mount Zion and had said their Prayers they went into it and contemplated it fell down again before it and kissed it with great Submission and Devotion pulled out several pieces viz. Beads and Rosaries turned of the Wood of the Trees of the Mount of Olives some wrought Points Laces c. tied together in Bundles to touch the holy place with it they also knocked off in some places where they might some small Pieces to take them along with them as consecrated Sanctuaries to distribute them amongst their Friends at their Return All the while that they were thus busie I considered rather standing behind what our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ had suffered for us in these places how he had humbled himself and came down to us miserable Sinners to help us and to extol us that were fallen and to make us free of the heavy Burthen of our Sins how he was led before the Seat of Judicature of Caiaphas that we might not be led before the severe Judgment Seat of the Almighty God that he suffered himself to be led captive and bound to deliver us from the Bands of the Devil and Death and to save us from the Jaws of Hell and as Esaias saith in his 53d Chapter Verse 5. He was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed But that our dear Lord Christ was delivered to the High Priest and Scribes c. for our sakes and that he was obedient to his Heavenly Father unto Death even the Death of the Cross to deliver us from the Curse of God and eternal Death And to make us certain that he had procured these his unspeakable Benefits and Heavenly Treasures for us and that we really should be partakers thereof before his passion he did institute his holy Supper upon the Mount in the large upper Room wherein he doth not only communicate them to us but giveth us also if we receive the holy broken Bread and the blessed Cup with true Faith according to the Institution his real Body and Blood to feed us to eternal Life where we then shall sit with our Lord Christ and all the elected ones after this life as Coheirs in the high upper Room of his Heavenly Father at his Table to eat and drink it with him anew And that we might heartily comfort our selves with these his unspeakable Benefits he also after his Ascension sent us on the Day of Pentecost his Holy Ghost the Spirit of Truth to incline our Hearts to believe stedfastly all that he hath promised us in his holy Word and Sacraments So the sending of the Holy Ghost which was long before predicted by the holy Prophets was fullfilled on this Mount whereof we read in several places of the holy Scripture viz. Joel ii 28. And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh c. For on mount Zion and in Jerusalem must be a Deliverance according to the promise of the Lord. And Isaiah ii 3. Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord c. for out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem So that the Preaching of Christ's holy Gospel and his Kingdom did begin from Zion and Jerusalem and was afterwards spread abroad by his holy Apostles throughout the whole World Grant then O our dear Lord Christ unto us thy Holy Ghost that he may keep us in the Knowledge of thy holy Word and that he may so strengthen and comfort us in it that we may freely and without any fear confess it before the Face of our Enemies and Adversaries and if they offend and prosecute us that we may overcome our Crosses and Persecutions with patience that thy Honor may be advanced and our Constancy appear Grant us also that he may plant these thy Graces in our Hearts that we may comfort our selves with the hope and expectation of those Treasures which thou hast by thy Death and Passion merited and purchased for us So that we may abide in thy Tabernacle and dwell in thy holy Hill for ever Amen Psalm xv 1. CHAP. V. Of the Mount Moria and the Glorious Temple of Solomon WIthin the City near to Mount Zion lieth another called Moria divided from it by the Valley of Tiropaeon which is now filled up and made even with the top as I have said before that hereabout is hardly any Depth or Unevenness to be seen This as well as the other meets with the Rivulet or Brook of Kidron towards the North and on both of them the Town lieth on the sides or descent This is very famous in the Holy Scripture as you read Genesis xxii That the pious Patriarch Abraham was ready to offer his Son Isaac on this Hill for a Burnt-Offering to the Lord whereon Melchisedec the first Founder and King of the Town Salem and Priest of the Almighty God did first build a Temple and therefore named the City Jerusalem So we read in the Second Book of Chronicles Chap. iii. That on the same holy Mount
near the bottom of the Hill Norad the second the Father of Mahomet the Great lies buried near whereunto was formerly the Metropolitical Church of the Holy Apostles The Bezesten or Exchange seems to be much better and larger than the great one at Constantinople as are the several Caravanserais built for the use and accommodation of Merchants and Travellers in one of which the Rice Chane I took up my quarters Without the City toward the East is the Mosch and Sepulchre of the Emperor Bajazid the first whom the Turks call Jilderim or Lightning and the Greek Writers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Not far from hence is the Mosch of Mahomet the first and his Sepulchre Toward the West upon the side of the Hill is the Mosch of Morad the first whom they call Gazi or the Conqueror near which he lies buried There are in the whole about 124 Moschs several of which were formerly Christian Churches and between fifty and sixty Chanes The Castles built by Osman when he besieged the City are slighted and altogether unfortified the one to the North the other to the South-west At Checkerghe about a mile and a half out of Town are the hot Baths much frequented both by Christians and Turks They are made very convenient to bath in and are covered over that they may be used in all weathers Among others there is a large round Basin where they usually divert themselves by swimming What Opinions the Turks have of our B. Saviour and the Christian Religion I shall briefly shew as they lye dispersed in several Chapters of the Alcoran according to which they frame their Discourse whensoever either Zeal or Curiosity puts them upon this Topick for Mahomet upon his setting up to be the Author of a new Religion finding such a considerable part of the World professing the Doctrine of Christ with all the Mysteries of Faith therein contained was cast upon a necessity of saying something both concerning him and it By which it will appear how great the power of Truth is above Imposture and Subtilty and that as the Devils in the possessed confess'd though against their wills Christ to be the Son of God so this Daemoniack in the midst of all his Forgeries and Lyes and ridiculous and childish Narratives not being able to contradict the universal Belief of the Christians of that and the preceeding Ages founded on the History of the Gospel hath been forced to give testimony to several particulars of it They confess then that Christ was born of a pure spotless Virgin the Virgin Mary chosen by God and sanctified above all the Women in the World and that the Angel Gabriel was dispatched out of Heaven to acquaint her with the news of it That such a kind of miraculous and supernatural Birth never hapned to any besides and that Christ was conceived by the Holy Ghost and that he wrought mighty Miracles for instance that he cleansed Lepers gave Sight to the Blind restored Sick persons to their Health and raised the Dead That he is a great Prophet sent by God to convert men from the vanity and error of their false worship to the knowledge of the true God to preach Righteousness and to correct and restore the imperfection and miscarriages of human Nature that he was of a most holy and exemplary life that he was the true Word of God the Apostle or Ambassador of God that his Gospel was revealed to him from Heaven and that he is in Heaven standing nigh to the Throne of God They blaspheme indeed with a brutishness and stupidity only befitting Turks the Mysteries of the Holy Trinity and of the Divinity of our B. Saviour and deny that he was put to death and say that another in his shape was crucified by the Jews and that he himself was assumed into Heaven in his body without dying at all and consequently they will not own that he satisfied Divine Justice for the Sins of the World so great an affinity is there between the Heresie of Socinus and profess'd Mahometanism I could never yet see any Turkish Translation of the Alcoran they cry up the elegance of the style which being Enthusiastick and high-flown by reason also of the tinkling of the periods is very delightful to their Ears who seem to be affected with Rythme mightily Though I suppose it is upon a more politick account that they are so averse as to the translating it into their vulgar Language not out of respect to the sacredness of the Original only whose full commanding Expressions they think cannot be translated without a great diminution to the sence but to keep it in greater veneration among the People who might be apt to slight and disesteem it should it become thus common among them It is enough that the Priests and Learned men explain the difficult passages of it to the people and write Commentaries for the use of the more curious and inquisitive The Persians on the contrary think it no disparagement to the Arabick or profanation of the sence to translate this cursed Book into their own Language and Copies are frequent among them The Grand Signior's Women are usually the choicest Beauties of the Christian Spoiles presented by the Bassa's or Tartars The present Sultana the Mother of the young Prince Mustapha is a Candiot the Valide or Emperors Mother a Russian the Daughter of a poor Priest who with her Relations were seized upon by the Tartars in an Incursion which they made into the Muscovites Country She being received into the Seraglio by her beautiful Complexion and cunning Behaviour gain'd the Heart and the Affection of Sultan Ibrahim a man wholly addicted to soft Pleasures and who seldom cared to be long absent from the Womens Apartment but chose to spend his time among them Having the good Fortune to be the Mother of the Prince Mahomet the eldest Son of his Father who now reigns she had all the Honours that could possibly be done her and was the beloved Hazaki or chief Concubine During this height of Splendour and Glory the Court removing from Constantinople to Adrianople distant about an hundred and twenty miles as she was passing in great state attended with her Guards through the Streets of the City in a Coach much like our Carriage-wagons but that they are latticed to let in the Air for no one must presume to stare or scarce look upon the Women much less must they themselves suffer their Faces to be seen in this jealous Country she out of curiosity looking through the holes saw a poor Christian Slave in a Shop where Sugar and such-like Wares were sold Upon her return she sent one of her Eunuchs to enquire for the person and to ask him several Questions about his Country Relations Friends and the time when and how long he had been a Slave His Answers were so particular and satisfactory that she was soon convinc'd of the truth and certainty of her apprehensions when she first cast her Eyes
give us demonstration thereof If I say this worldly Jerusalem because of its unbelieving Inhabitants that would not acknowledge the Blessed Messias nor adhere to his Doctrine to their Salvation is quite rooted out and instead thereof the way of the Heavenly Jerusalem opened to us Heathens by the holy Apostles How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation This way to our Lord Christ hath for many years past been shewed us sincerely by the Ministers of the holy Word of God but we do not only not much care for it but seek rather other by ways that lead us to Idolatry Sin and Vices nay to our utter ruine Wherefore it is to be feared that if we do not repeat in time and return to God again that he will come upon us with his wrath as he hath already begun and deliver us up into the Hands of our Adversaries that we may fall by their Swords as Ezekiel doth threaten us in his Thirty ninth Chapter and to punish us according to the Deserts of our Sins Wherefore we ought to lay to heart the terrible Example of the Jews and turn from our evil ways that we may avoid the Punishments that befel them We see that those who were formerly the People of God are now come to be so blind and full of Errors and of so depraved a Life that there is hardly any like them to be found even among the Infidels and Impious Wherefore they are by all Men despised and hated chiefly by the Turks which hate them more than any other Nation so that they would not let them live among them if the Turkish Emperor had not for a great Sum of Money given them a peculiar freedom And besides all this now adays their Towns and Countries are inhabited by Turks Moors and Arabians that do not love to till or cultivate the Ground but will rather starve than take pains to get a good Livelihood by their Hand-Labour And although the Country about Jerusalem is very rocky rough stony and ill managed yet notwithstanding they will not endeavour to mend and improve it but find out the fruitful Lands that are here and there and over-run the Country like Grashoppers so that you may observe it yearly to decay more and more Seeing then that there is but little Tillage about the City therefore the product of the Earth there is but very small so that they must have almost all Necessaries brought them from other places The Town of Jerusalem which is still pretty large but very ill built hath within its Walls which the Turkish Emperor caused to be built about Twenty Years ago large places that lie desolated and are so full of Stones and Rocks that one can hardly walk in them The Gardens even those that are within the City and are but ill managed are surrounded with Mud Walls not above Four Foot high so that one may climb over them without any difficulty These are washed down again by Rain in a very little time so that they want mending continually Their Habitations are also little and and low have Clay-Walls and many of them are decayed some lie quite in a heap The Churches of the two Apostles that of St. John and St. Peter are in the same Condition as also the Prison where St. Peter was kept the Habitation of Veronica which the Cordeliers shew us for them and a great many places more In some Streets chiefly near to their Bazar or Exchange are very old Vaults part whereof are decayed and broken part filled up with Dust which runs out into the Streets wherefore chiefly in the Summer the Dust lieth so thick in them that you may see every step in it as in Snow or Sand. All which sheweth that the Turks destroy or ruin more than they build wherefore they are deservedly called Turks that is to say Destroyers The present Town as to the Extent of its Walls is not much less than the old one was wherefore one should admire considering how it is built now how it was possible it should hold so many People as it is said were in it at the time of its Desolation viz. a Million of Men or as Josephus and Eusebius say Three Millions Jerusalem was formerly surrounded with very steep Cliffs deep Ditches and Valleys chiefly on three Sides towards the South East and West so that one could not easily get up to it but only on the North Side where the Town was low lying in a Plain therefore did Titus first attack it in a place near the Village called Scapas Seven Miles distant from it and afterward advanced and took it which the holy Prophet Jeremiah did foretel many years before in the First Chapter and Twelfth Verse saying Out of the North an Evil shall break forth upon all the Inhabitants of the Land These Ditches and Valleys are now quite filled up with the Ruins of the broken Walls and Buildings so that one may go into the Town as into an open Village without any hinderance or pain But when the Grand Signior after he had taken it saw that the Town was open and that the Christian Pilgrims came thither in great numbers from all places and Countries he feared that they might make themselves Masters of it again as they had done some years agone wherefore he ordered it to be surrounded again with new Walls which although they are very high yet they are so thin and slight that they are not able to withstand the least violence But as the Town was anciently built four square so it is now built more round chiefly towards Mount Calvaria which formerly was without the Town but now is Walled in so that you may still see two corners one whereof is towards Galilee where the Gate of that corner is which is still open and almost one of the handsomest through which you go to Nazareth distant three days Journey as also to Caesarea Philippi which is now called Balbec where still are to be seen some very fine Antiquities and also towards Damascus which is six days Journey distant from Jerusalem and from thence 6 days Journey more to Aleppo the greatest Town for Trade in all Syria Jeremiah maketh mention of this Gate in his 31st Chapter and the 38th Verse Behold the days come saith the Lord that the City shall be built to the Lord from the Town of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner And also Zacharias in his 14th Chapter and in the 2d Book of Chronicles the 26th Chapter and 9th Verse It is said Vzzia built Towers in Jerusalem at the Corner-Gate and at the Valley-Gate c. The second corner Mount Zion maketh where it doth end toward the South whereon as also on the Mount Moriah the City is rising towards the North. The old City had twelve Gates as you read in the Revelation The 1st the Fish-gate which was also called the Gate of Hebron because the Road of Hebron went through it which is about seven or eight
the Brothers of St. Jacob are known by the Scallopshells The same is also with their Camels for on the lower part of one of their Forefeet you may see as many small Chains hung as they have been times there in Caravans so that you also may soon discern them And that I may return to my purpose again near to the Turkish Moschèe of the Holy Rock is also an other Church which by the Christians when they were in possession of Jerusalem was called the Virgin Mary's Church which is very well built rather bigger then the Turkish and stands without towards the South on the place of the great Porch of the Israelites which is several times mentioned in the Scriptures Viz. Joh. 10. Math. 21. where it is called the Temple and Porch of Solomon where Christ did Preach and drove out the Buyers and Sellers c. Underneath it is a great Cave so wide that some hundred Horse may with ease be drawn up in Battalia therein This is also in the Possession of the Turks and the Christians dare no more come in here then in the other By this Prohibition Viz. That the Mahumetans shall admit into their Churches or Porches thereof no Strangers which according to their Laws are not Cleansed and Washed you may easily see that the Turks have taken many Ceremonies and Laws from the Jews and according to their depraved understanding and mind Transcribed them into their Alcoran So we see that anciently they have their Circumcision Offerings Washings Fasts at certain times of the year marrying more then one Wife not Eating any thing that is Unclean or Pork or what is suffocated not having Bells not drinking Wine as the Levitical Priest must not do derived from the Jews But this last Law concerning not drinking of Wine is not only not kept for they drink thereof without mixture let it be as strong as it can more than ony other Nation It being then true that they choose the Fatt with Wine presented them by Moses as is before said to their own Ruin and Destruction wherefore I pray that God may fulfil their Prophecy Amen CHAP. VI. Of the Saracens and Turkish Religion Ceremonies and Hypocritical Life with a short hint how long time their Reign shall last after Mahomet 's Decease SEing I have here above made mention amongst the rest of the Places and Churches of Jerusalem of the Turkish Moschèes and also of Mahomet their Prophet I cannot but also Relate something of theit Hypocritical and Superstitious Life and belief as I have observed in my Travels and during my stay among them chiefly something of their outward Ceremonies good Works wherewith they think to fulfil the Laws to cleanse themselves from their manifold Sins and Transgressions and to obtain Gods Mercy and Love Wherefore they strive that they may be found always busie in these good Works whereof they reckon the chiefest to be Alms Pilgrimage Fastings to make Offerings to abstain from certain Food or Drinks frequent Washing Praying upon which two last they look most of all as the true means by which if they keep them diligently they may be freed and absolved from their Sins according to the Promises of their dear Prophet Mahomet Such and the like have also the Jews had in the Old Testament where without doubt their Prophet being by his Mother an Ishmaelite had them also But seeing that he also Attributeth to these Absolution and Satisfaction for our Sins and also consequently Salvation and everlasting Life Therefore all those that follow and believe his Doctrine miss the only Mediator and Saviour Jesus Christ of whom as well as of his Holy Word they else have a good Opinion as appeareth by their Alcoran in whom God the Father Almighty will only be known Invoked and Adored As St. John saith in his 5th Chap. 23. He that Honoureth not the Son Honoureth not the Father that hath sent him And Chap. 14. vers 9. where Jesus saith He that hath seen me hath seen the Father and in the 4th Chapt. of the Acts it is said verse 12. There is no Salvation in any other for there is no other Name under Heaven given among Men whereby we must be saved wherefore although Mahomet doth greatly Command and Teach that we must Adore the only God yet they do not know the true God that will only be Adored and Honoured in his Beloved Son and besides Mahomet will not allow that God hath a Son and much less That Christ is the true God in whom we shall believe For in his Diabolical and Blasphemous mind and thoughts he hath this precaution that if God should have a Son he might come to be Disobedient unto him as happeneth sometimes chiefly amongst them to worldly Princes which would expose all Creatures in Heaven as well as on Earth unto great Danger So he denieth the Deity of Christ and Esteemeth him to be no more as Arius doth then a great Saint and meer Man So he hath the same Opinion with Macedonius of the Holy Ghost whom and Christ he sometimes maketh but one person And so the Turks know no more by the Instruction of their Cursed Prophet of the true living God that is one in his Essence and three in Persons then when they Adored the Fire water and other Elements nay Heaven and Earth as also the Persians have done before they come over to the Saracens and adhered to the Doctrine of their Mahomet And besides they have no more comfort in our Lord Christ then the Jews because they do not believe that Jesus the Son of the Virgin Mary and Messenger of God was Crucified Dead and Buried but that another that was very like him suffered instead of him because he was Seated in Heaven where into God received him and that he was to return again at the End of the World a great deal higher then that he could be so shamefully killed by the Jews that impious people wherefore the Turks admire it very much that so many Pilgrims of all Nations come to see the Grave of Christ with so great a Devotion which is not his And although the Turks prefer their Mahomet before Christ and also do not believe right neither of his Essence nor of his person so that therefore all their Worship with what Devotion soever performed is null and in vain because it is not in Christ Yet for all that they Praise and Esteem Christ very high and Extol him far beyond any Man as one that was conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary and that hath here on Earth carried on his Doctrine and confirmed it with powerful Miracles Wherefore they Esteem the Books of Moses and the other Writings of the Prophets but chiefly the Four Evangelists which they call the Book Jugilis and the Books of Moses Thresit as true and Godly And sometimes they pretend so fairly that an ordinary Man that is not well instructed in the Chief Articles of Christianity although there is so
with them or speak ill of their Prophet Mahomet and his Laws or should pronounce these words which are almost written every where in their Churches and underneath their Gates in their Arabian Language Leila hillalla Mahammet rasur alla that is to say O God only God and Mahomet a Prophet of God he must because they are an Epitome of their Religion Confession Belief and Laws suffer himself to be Circumcised or else lose his Life For being that Mahomet did defend his false Doctrine described in the Alcoran rather with the Sword than with Reason and true Grounds that it might not be discovered and so his Adherents leave him Mahomet to prevent this by the Devils Inspiration hath strengthen'd it with strong Points and Articles viz. That no body shall discourse or dispute with any Sectaries whatsoever much less believe them or read their Books as such wherein is no ground to be found because all that is good and true in the Old Testament testified by the Jews and in the New one by the Christians is by him taken out and Transcribed into his Alcoran and therefore it must be believed and kept as the Word of God without any scruple or search and he that speaketh or writeth against it must fall by the Sword and besides be Damned for ever Who doth not see that this subtile Mahomet did this that any Body that he gets once into his Snares or that falls into his Net might be so intangled that he must be forced to keep there to perish and to be damned for ever notwithstanding all his sweet Promises of great Priviledges Salaries and Permission of Sodomitish Sins Robbing Burning Perjury c. which Transgressions they regard but very little seeing that according to their Prophets promise if they Pray but often and Wash themselves often they do not only not hurt them but by continual usage of the before-mentioned means they become to be cleaner than we Christians from our Sins in the Bath of Regeneration To these Traditions of Mahomet the Turks and Moors stick so close and believe them implicitly according to the Commands of Mahomet so that one although he be of another Opinion because they will hear no Contradiction nor Objection is forced to hold his Tongue and say nothing And in case you should ask them why they are forbid to Eat Pork or Drink Wine they answer and say That their Parents did so before them partly because they are unclean and partly because they are forbid it in their Alcoran or else that if they should over-fill themselves with it so that they should bring it up again it might contaminate their Cloaths and so they should commit a great Rusticity so that they know not how to give any reason concerning their Religion Wherefore their Law ought to be called or reputed Cruel and a Tyrannical one that is rather upheld by the Sword than by Reason and Justice which also appeareth from thence that they carry a Naked Scymiter before the Noble-mens Sons when they carry them about the Streets in order to be Circumcised and also their Priests chiefly those that are called Antippi after Prayers and Sermon shew unto the People from a high place a burning Torch in one Hand and a Naked Scymiter in the other to encourage their own Adherents and to frighten those that are of a contrary Opinion and so Mahomet pretends to his Adherents that God hath bidden him to Conquer all other Nations by the Sword until they confess that there is no other God besides God and Mahomet his Prophet or else agree to pay him Yearly Tribute and to be his obedient Subjects if they follow his directions his Laws will endure so long as they defend them by the Sword Now how strictly they have hitherto prosecuted these his Commandments the Inhabitants of the Eastern Countries have formerly to their grief sufficiently Experienced viz. Asia Syria the Land of Promise Aegypt Thracia Greece c. which they have not only Conquered and to their own great Improvement subdued but have also infected them with their Poisonous Doctrine to such a degree that in these our times there are but very few to be found in these parts that do adhere unto the true Religion It being so then that God Almighty hath visited them with these great punishments by reason of their manifold Sins and Ingratitude for his Holy and Sacred Word and that we also are guilty of these and the like Sins and Vices we cannot wonder that the Almighty and Just God should according to our Demerits send also such a horrid Tyrant against us to terrifie us very much and come so near to us that we must expect every moment except we amend the like Punishments and Execution And so we hear daily to our grief that this potent Tyrant is continually at Work and taketh one strong Town after another and what is more they take often in their Excursions a great number of our Brethren and Sisters part whereof they Murder Barbarously others they carry away into perpetual Slavery When they have obtained a Victory and have got Booty there is ready and at hand several Sutlers that drive a great Trade with Buying and Selling poor Prisoners these buy them of the Soldiers Chain them after they have given the Grand Turk the Tenths thereof according to his Choice and Pleasure together with long Chains and so drive them away miserably as if they were Beasts to the chief Trading Towns to sell them with profit again to otherâ— that come thither from Foreign Countries There you find Weekly in their Betzars or Exchanges many Prisoners of several Nations viz. Christians Moors Arabians Indians Abyssins and amongst them Young and Old Men and Women some whereof are White and others Black thither come the Chapmen and cheapen them they have liberty to look upon their Naked Bodies as if they were Beasts and to feel them whether they are sound in their Limbs or whether they have any defect which they always fear If they like their Bargain the Buyers take them home with them into their small Habitations or Tents and put them chiefly those that were given to Idleness and have Learned no Trade to any sort of hard Labour and all that they get so belongeth to their Master who disposeth of it as he pleaseth Wherefore those that keep many Men and Maids esteem themselves richer for it and sometimes they Marry them together and when they beget Children they are Slaves as well as themselves and he hath power to Educate them and to dispose of them as he pleaseth Wherefore the Christians that to their Temporal Punishment they may not also acquire Eternal ones for their Childrens sake in these Countries do seldom Marry but rather study how to make their escape if they are not hindered for want of that Language and by Unskilfulness of the Roads or else they go with their Master before a Justice in their Language called Cadi and there buy their
Liberty for a Sum of Money or else agree with him for a certain time and so make a Contract with him concerning their Liberty which commonly these do that intend to persevere in their Christian Religion or undertake to get something by their Handy-work that when the time is past or the Money paid the Justice may according to the Instrument before made by him at their Request declare him Free and give him a Pass to shew upon the Road that he may not be molested Other ways to get their Liberty there are but very few except their Master should happen to Dye which commonly in their last Will declare that their bought Servants after the opening of it shall have their Liberty Sometimes it happens that from others they buy false Letters which are soon found out in these Countries and so by the help of them get away Clandestinely But yet that but a few Slaves come from thence to us again the chief reason is not as many think Because the Turks press them to change their Religion for although they sometimes threaten them as they use to do or treat them somewhat more hardly than is usual in their Servitude as Christians also do very often but rather their Secure and Impenitent Life which they lead forgetting God and his holy Word to that degree that they know not how to give an Account of their Christian Faith and Religion nay what is more they know not the difference between these two Religions which are so vastly differing although they would if they did know it rather suffer Death than be seduced from the true Religion and precipitate the Soul together with the Body into Damnation When then the knowledge of the Truth is gone and Faith almost if not quite Extinguished so that there is but little hope left of their Salvation they daily forsake their Religion as fast as Worm-eaten Fruit falls from the Tree begin to think how to compensate their bodily suffering they may lay up and get Money by Robbing and Burning and so get Privileges to live according to their own Will and Pleasure like Beasts in daily Uncleanness and when they are harden'd in it they come at last to such a degree of Sottishness and Brutality that as St. Peter saith they believe the chief good of this World to consist in Voluptuousness wherein they perish at length and must expect the Wages of Unrighteousness with the rest When the Turks have Conquered one or more which they discern at first by their Fore-finger which these that have a mind to turn use to shew to them first as a Token by lifting of it up over their Heads chiefly in their Mosques they rejoyce in them mightily and are clearly of Opinion That this their Work is precious and good before God and that their Religion is confirmed and upheld by the assenting of many wherefore they soon meet together to confirm these Turn-coats with their usual Ceremonies and so to make them true Turks First they lay before them a Cross whereon they must trample three times spit upon it and repeat every time some words after them taken out of the Alcoran so the Christians that will be made Turks pronounce them after them When this is done three of them are ready with their Bows and shoot together up and give them before the Arrows fall down again Turkish Names Then if they be Men they set them up upon high Horses put them on their best Clothes and Dress them neatly and so lead them for two days together through all the Streets that every body may see them and know them to be such as do adhere to their Religion and so to be free to walk and deal among them without any hinderance If they are of an higher degree and of great Authority sometimes Ride along with them some Turkish Gentlemen of Quality in their best Dress accompanied by many Janizaries who fire here and there in the Streets for Joy but chiefly in those places where they spy Christians They have with them all sorts of Musical Instruments viz. The Drums great Drums and little Drums which they beat at that same time both above and below Hautboys and others They also carry in this their Procession long Streamers upon long Poles almost like unto them that we see in the Cross-walks in our Frieries and besides the Rabble that run before and behind make such a noise that one cannot hear the other When all this is over they Circumcise them at last on the third Day and then they reckon such an one to be a true Musulman that is A Circumcised one who hath leave to go to their Mosques without being hindered to buy their Books and Writings and to Read them which must not be sold to others that are not of their Religion upon pain of great punishment that they may not come into unclean hands or to be trod upon as Writings of no Worth Their Jewes whereof there are a great many among them and are called by them Choifut or Chifoutler excel ours in Cheating and Cozening by far and there is no doubt but they would oftentimes renounce their Religion to make profit But the Turks envy them more than we Christians they do not Trust them they reckon them not worthy to Eat with them as they do with us Christians nor Marry with them much less will they receive them as any thing related to their Religion except it be that before for some days they have frequented the Christian Churches and there are Baptized and have often Eaten Pork that unclean Meat that is also forbidden unto them When they have done thus they proceed with them after the same manner as is before said Concerning the Christians that live among the Turks as the Surians Armenians c. they have here and there in great Trading Cities their peculiar Streets which they Inhabit and they are commonly without in the Suburbs and thereabout also small and low Churches where they perform their Devotions When they begin to be decayed of Age or are burnt by Fire or destroyed in War time if they will have them built up again they must have leave first of the Turkish Magistrate and lay down a good Sum of Money which grants nothing except you grease them well The Turks to save Charges suffer no Bells nor Clocks neither in their own nor other Temples nor will they give leave to the Christians to Ring to Church with them so that all day long you neither hear a Bell Toll nor a Clock Strike Instead thereof the Turks have according to their Alcoran their Five Hours set which their Priests call out from the high Steeples and in the Exchanges with a loud Voice and with stopped Ears and cry Alla Haickbar that is God is true and then Leila hillalla Mahammet rasur alla each of them he repeats twice to call the people to their Devotions But the Christians have a Servant that at the Hours of Prayers and Sermon goeth
below Bagadet and at length fall into the Persian Gulf by the Town Balsora or Batzera They are pious and honest People innocent but very zealous in their Religion and receive Strangers readily that come to them and give them Lodging as I have often found it in my Travels They are also very much inclined to help and assist the poor Slaves that are under Turkish Confinement and ready to help them out Their Merchants whereof there are many amongst them are dispersed not only over all Turkey but also Persia the Indies and many other Countries wherefore they have in all chief Towns of Trading as Antiochia Alepo situated in Coelosyria Orpha c. their peculiar Ware-houses and Churches and also in Jerusalem whither they go in great numbers the beautiful Church of St. Jacob the Greater and also below near to the place of Sculls another Chapel locked up c. and have commonly before their Chancels large Hangings behind which the Priests keep separated from the People These although they agree in very many Points and Articles exactly with those of the Reformed Religion yet notwithstanding they have some Errors worth to be rejected and some scandalous Customs besides So you may see them here and there cry over the Graves of their deceased Friends for to give them Visits they go out in the morning early the greater part of them old Women and there they make such Mourning and and Howling that the Travellers that come by for their Graves or burying places are generally out of Town near the High Ways may hear them a great way off There you shall see them sit some folding their Hands over their Heads and looking mournfully others fetching great Sighs beating on their Breasts others spreading themselves over the Graves as if they would embrace their Friends and take them in their Arms. In the mean while their Priests go about among them Reading and Praying and sometimes they speak to some of them When they have done mourning thus and cast Sorrows from their Hearts sufficiently they sit down together eat drink and be merry They do not at all esteem the Popes of Rome but have their own Prelates which they honour with great and peculiar Reverence neither do they believe any Indulgences nor Purgatory Their Priests go in plain Habits they have Wives as well as their Laymen they let their Hair and Beards grow they keep on Easter-day a great Feast and soon after beginneth their Lent which they keep strictly and therein as also on Wednesday and Friday all the year round they eat neither Eggs nor Flesh nor any thing else that ever had life in it only Saturdays and Sundays they are allowed them to refresh themselves other Feasts and Holydays they do not keep any at all In all these points they rather agree with the Abyssines than the Romans and also in these following viz. That they eat not of unclean Meats that are forbidden in the Old Testament they admit to the Communion young and old without distinction they baptize their Children in the Name of the Holy Trinity they believe the Articles of our Christian Faith they Preach Sing Pray and perform all their Devotion in the Vulgar Tongue that every one may understand it they use for the Interpretation of the Word of God the Writings of John Chrysostom and Gregory Nazianzen they dare not no more than all the other Nations that live amongst the Turks except the Maronites make use of any Clocks to call People to Church in place whereof they have strong wooden Tables or some House-Doors prepared several in each Street whereon they strike several Strokes with a great Cudgel and so call People to Church CHAP. XV. Of the NESTORIANS TOwards the East are other People which esteem themselves Christians and among the rest chiefly the Nestorians called after the Heretick Nestorius who was a Bishop at Constantinople Some of their Priests live upon the Mount Calvaria in the Temple and there are a great many Adherents to this Sect most of them living in Mesopotamia Chaldaea and Assyria but chiefly in the mountainous Country of the Curtans called Carduci by Ptolomy which they almost quite possess and have poisoned with their base and obnoxious Error as if it were by an infectious Air for in passing through I have found many of them in their Cities as Hapril Carcuck Mosel formerly called Ninive They are strong and warlike People but full of Vices and from their Infancy given to robbing They inhabit towards North and East as is before said upon the Armenians and Medes and they are a very ancient People whereof chiefly Xenophon maketh mention under the name of Carducci and are called to this day Curters They speak their peculiar Language which neither the Arabians Armenians nor Turks do understand they are of a Brownish Colour like unto the Surians and Maronites and wear the same Cloth or Habiliments that one cannot readily discern or distinguish one from the other save only by their flesh-coloured Lists in their Turbants The Grand Signior is their Head whom they obey and they are kept and respected very well by the Turks partly that he may not give them occasion for an Insurrection because they are upon the Borders and partly because Mahomet hath charged them to be kind to them before others and that the rather because he had a Friar of their Sect called Sergius for his Tutor who did baptize him and counselled and assisted him to make such Laws and to give them to his Adherents and so you may still see that they agree more than any other Sect with the Saracens For whereas they believe that in Christ according to his two Natures are two distinct persons one of the Godhead the other of the Manhood They will not allow any more than Mahomet the Virgin Mary to to be the Mother of God but the Mother of Christ according to his human Nature They have a Prelate in stead of the Pope whom they call Jacelich They bless and give the Sacrament as the Surians do and use in their Spiritual Services the Chaldean Language else they speak the common of their Provinces viz. in their own Country as is abovesaid their own Language in Chaldea and Mesopotamia commonly the Arabian and Saracen Language So in Assyria beyond the River Tigris where the two mighty Princes the Turk and the King of Persia do border upon one another the Language of the Turks Persians and Medes altho they are quite differing These and other Languages the holy Apostles did understand and in them they did speak on the Day of Pentecost when they received the Holy Ghost as you may read in the Second Chapter of the Acts Verse 5. where it is thus written And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews devout men out of our every nation under Heaven each whereof heard the Apostles speak in his own Language wherein he was born as that of the Parthians Medes Elamits or Persians that of those also
that live in Mesopotamia and Judea c. This Sect was rejected and condemned in the Counsil of Ephesus CHAP XVI Of the JACOBITES called Golti IN the Temple of Mount Calvaria also live in the Chapel behind the Sepulchre of Christ another sort that boast to be Christians called Jacobites after Jacob the Heretick who was a Pupil of the Patriarch of Alexandria They pretend to have been first converted to the Christian Religion by the holy Evangelist and Apostle Matthew but they did not adhere to it but fell afterwards into a great many Errors so that in our time they are divided into other Sects and Orders For some have assumed the Order of S. Macharius who with Eutychius did own or believe no more but one Nature in Christ others that of St. Anthony who was an Eremite in the year of our Lord Christ 324 in Egypt Others have their Male Children circumcised but others and the greater part have their Children baptized with Fire and have Crosses made on their Foreheads or Temples according to the words of St. John the Baptist in the 3d. Chapter of St. Matthew V. 11. He that cometh after me shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with Fire They live chiefly in Egypt and in other adjacent places They are generally subject unto the Turkish Sultan they speak the vulgar Arabian Language and agree in most points partly with the Abyssines and partly with the Surians We saw many of their Wives go about in the Temple they wear Hats near a Span high which at top have a broad Brim like unto our Bonnets else they are habited like unto the Surians This Heresie was rejected and condemned in the Chalcedonian Council CHAP. XVII Of the Abyssins Priest John called Lederwick Subject unto the King of the Moors THese live at Jerusalem in the Temple of Mount Calvaria just by the Church Door towards the left and have through their Lodging a peculiar way so that without hinderance according to their pleasure they may go in and out and pretend that their King hath made a peculiar Agreement to let his Subjects have Free-ingress and Re-gress According to all appearance they are a Naked People yet for all that they may be Rich and Able they are of a dark brown colour When we spoke to them by an Interpreter they shew'd themselves very kind and friendly and always did give with a great deal of discretion such Answers to our Questions that one might easily conclude that they were of good Understanding and well Instructed and Grounded in their Religion To their King is given in the beginning of his Reign the Sir-name of David which else are called Lederwick and by the Persians Amma to shew and to make known by it that they are derived from the Kingly Race and Stem of David and Solomon and to prove this they alledge the History of the Queen of Saba called Merquerda who as we Read in Scripture came from Rich Arabia with many Camels Laden with Gold Spices and precious Stones to Jerusalem to see the great Wisdom and Glory of Solomon whereof she had heard much When she had been there a good while and in the mean time was got with Child by Solomon and brought him a Son into the World called Meytich she left him at Jerusalem but she returned into her own Country again Many Years after when the Son was grown up and came to his Understanding his Father seeing he had more Sons was perswaded to send him home to his Mother who had a greater Kingdom than he So he did dispatch him and sent along with him the chiefest of his Courtiers and sent him away with a great Train as did become a King When he was come into his Kingdom he entertained these Lords and Gentlemen very Honorably and promoted them before all others to the highest and best places that they might the willinger stay with him But all this would not prevail with them but they grew daily more tired and unwilling to stay longer in these strange and unaccustomed Countries and this encreased daily more and more and at length to that height that they resolved that if the King would not give them free leave they would endeavor to make their escape Clandestinly against the Kings Will to Jerusalem in Judea When this their design came before the King he was very angry and ordered immediately that a Mark should be burnt on their Foreheads that every body might know them and issued a Proclamation That all his Subjects might watch them and if any or more of them that were a going away should be taken they should detain them and send them to him again Now as at this time the Marks did begin and then those had them that were of a great Race so they are retained by their Posterity to this very day as we still see in these times that their Nobility have them on their Foreheads towards the right yet not all for there are some that wear them rather upon their Shields and Arms c. These marks are not all alike for in some you see a Bear a Dragons-Head c. in others a Lyon a Wolf or three crossed Arrows c. because every one hath that made that they give in their Coats of Arms they colour it with an Oil which they call Aâ—aâ—cinte and is brought to them from Greece Beâ—s this Custom they still keep in many things to the Ancieâ— ones of the Jews for they keep the Sabbath for their peculiar Holiday and also they do not eat all sorts of flesh nor any of them that are forbid as Unclean in the Old Testament They pretend that the Holy Apostle Philip hath when he Travell'd with the Chamberlain of Candaces Queen of the Moors to Gaza and Converted him there allowed them this and other things being Born Jews Circumcision they believe unnecessary and that it can neither profit nor hurt a Christian And again Baptism they believe to be necessary wherefore through all his large Dominions they bring their Children to it on the third day and Baptize them yet with Fire in the Name of God the Father the Son and the holy Ghost whom they believe to proceed only from the Father and not from the Son according to the Words of St. Mathew Chap. 3. Vers 11. He shall Baptize you with the holy Ghost and with Fire They take the Oil of Achalcinte dip a Stick into it and lay Frankincense upon it and set it on Fire and so they let some drops fall down which do not hurt the Children being mix'd with the Oil and at last they make a Cross with it upon the left side of their Forehead near unto the Temple They begin their Lent about Easter as the Armenians wherein the Lay-men Eat nothing else but 〈◊〉 Herbs and Pulse but their Priest generally nothing but Bread and Water and so they do every Wednesday and Friday throughout all the Year They Marry also according to the Words of
strange Origanum Tragoriganum Roman Mother of Time Spicanardi and a peculiar sort of Coniza c. At the foot of the Mount they shew us first a great Church between the Rivolet Cedron and the Valley of Josaphat which was so covered with Earth that you could see nothing of it but the Entry and before it without a large place three steps deep This Church was built by Helena Mother of Constantine the Emperor and called the Sepulchre of our Lady the Mother of God to go into it you must go down 44 steps Within it toward the right there is a small Chapel where they say our Lady was Buried and therefore by the Benevolence of the Pope there is distributed and given to the Pilgrims full forgiveness of all Transgressions and Punishments for ever Some are of Opinion That this Church did formerly stand even with the Ground and that after the Devastation of Jerusalem when part of the Valley of Josaphat was filled up it was covered thus over This Church stands as Nicephorus saith in his 8th Book and the 30th Chapter on that place where the Village Gethsemane stood whereby the Garden was whither our dear Lord Christ did just before his Passion go with his Eleven Disciples after he had Eaten the Paschal Lamb with them and given Thanks according to his usual Custom over the Rivolet of Cedron to regain us that which was formerly lost by our Ancestors in the Garden There he left his Eight Disciples while he went to Pray as the Scripture telleth us when he took with him Peter James and John the two Sons of Zebedeus and began to mourn to quake and to tremble and said to them My soul is sorrowful unto death stay here watch with me and pray that you enter not into temptation and he withdrew from them about a Stones cast where he kneeled down fell three times on his face and prayed to his Heavenly Father where he wrestled with Death and Sweat a bloody Sweat so that an Angel must come down from Heaven at last to Comfort him This place is underneath a great Rock that hangeth over a great Cave just at the Entry of the Valley of Josaphat This Valley is still where it cometh down from the Mount of Olives pretty deep and is called by the holy Prophet Joel the Valley of Judgment as you may read in his 3d Chapter 14 Verse which words of Joel give us to understand that the Lord as he was when he came first upon Earth in this Valley taken Prisoner Bound and carried away to the place of his bitter Suffering Crucifixion and Dying so he shall in his second and glorious coming appear in this Valley of Judgment again to Judge all people of the whole Earth c. that then the Impious shall see whom they have pierced Zacharias speaks also of it in the above-mentioned place As you go from thence to the Mount of Olives you see below towards your left hand near unto the Bridge of the River Cedron an old square Building like unto a Steeple This altho it is believed to this day not only by Christians but also by the Turks and Moors to be the Grave of Absalom as you shall see them fling Stones into it as they go by to revenge his Undutifulness shewn to his Father King David yet notwithstanding he was not Buried there as we read in the 2d Book of Samuel the 18th Chapter Vers 17. And they took Absalom and cast him into a great pit in the wood and laid a very great heap of stones upon him Yet for all this when Absalom was alive as you may farther read in the before-mention'd Chapter he erected a Column in the Kings Dale for he said I have no Son therefore this shall be for a remembrance of my Name and called this Pillar after his Name and it is still called to this day Absaloms Place Of this Pillar writes also Josephus in the 7th Book of his Antiquities and the 10th Chapter saying And Absalom did erect a Kingly Column of Marble in the Valley Genes chap. 14. it is called the Kings Valley that is two Furlongs from Jerusalem Just by this Pillar beginneth a very steep Foot-Path which parts a little above it into two one whereof goeth Southward at the bottom of the Mount of Olives towards Bethania and Jericho c. down through the Valley that is made by this and the other part of the Hill called Mashit in the 4th of the Kings Chap. 23. but the other goeth over the height of the Mount of Olives out by Bethania to the House of Mary and Martha A little higher on this Hill did our Saviour sit over against the Temple when he foretold his Disciples that shewed him the glorious Buildings thereof That not one Stone should remain upon another that should not be thrown down And did also tell them at length the terrible and prodigious Signs that should come to pass before the Desolation of Jerusalem and the end of the World To this day we still see into the Turkish Mosque with its large Paved Court-yard over the Walls thereof so perfectly that you may distinguish almost the Persons that walk there From thence when you go up to the Hill which is very steep and rough there is a large Plain from whence our dear Lord Jesus Christ was taken up and ascended into Heaven as you may see by the words of the Holy Evangelist St. Luke in his first Chapter of the Acts Verse 9. where he saith And he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight And Verse 12. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath-days journey On this place as Nicephorus mentioneth did Queen Helena also afterward Build a stately Church which now is so decayed that there is no more to be seen of it but a New built Chapel in a large Yard surrounded with a Wall Just by it on a Hill of the Mount towards the North and Galilea there is an old decayed Building which was formerly as my Guide informed me an Inn for the Galileans where commonly did take up those that went to Jerusalem from Galilea Wherefore they are of opinion that some of them were there in the time of Christ that also were Spectators of his Glorious Ascension as it doth appear by the Words of the two Angels that spoke to them and said You men of Galilea why stand you here gazing up into Heaven c. But if you duly consider these words you will find as you read it in the Second Chapter of the Acts Verse 7. that the Apostles themselves were these Galileans where it is written Behold are not all those which speak Galileans and how hear we every man in our own tongue c. So did also the holy Angels speak to the Apostles after the same manner and called them Galileans rather to bring them as Elders of the Christian Church off their worldly thoughts
out their Corn with Oxen drawing a square Plank-board about a foot and half or two foot over studded with Flints and winnow it upon their Threshing-floors in the open Air the Wind blowing away the Chaff They feed their Horses with Barly and chopt Straw for I do not remember ever to have seen any Oats among them and they make but little Hay For draught of great weight in their Carts they make use of Buffalo's Camels will endure Travel four days together without Water and will eat tops of Thistles Shrubs or any kind of Boughs They are very sure footed and kneel when they are a loading and live to a considerable number of years some even to sixty The chief Furniture of their Houses are Carpets or Matts of Grand Cairo neatly wrought with Straw spread upon the Ground they having no occasion of Chairs Couches Stools or Tables their Postures within doors being different from ours They have no Hangings but their Walls are whited and set off with Painting only adorn'd with a kind of Porcelane no Beds clos'd with Curtains They Seal not with Wax but Ink at the bottom of the Paper the Emperor's Name being usually written with flourishes and in perplex'd characters Nor have they any Coats of Arms upon their Seals there being no such thing as Gentility among them Some of them notwithstanding their Zeal for Mahomet and the Religion by him establish'd retain not only a favourable and honourable Opinion of our Blessed Saviour but even place some kind of confidence in the usage of his Name or of the words of the Gospel though it may seem to be wholly in the way of Superstition Thus in their Amulets which they call Chaimaili being little bits of Paper about two or three fingers breadth roll'd up in pieces of Silk containing several short Prayers or Sentences out of the Alcoran with several Circles with other Figures they usually inscribe the holy and venerable Name of JESUS or the figure of the Cross or the first words of St. John's Gospel and the like They hang them about their Necks or place them under their Arm-pits or in their Bosom near their Hearts being the same with what the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and especially when they go to War as a Preservative against the dangers of it and indeed against any misfortune whatsoever Some have them sow'd within their Caps and I heard of a Turk who was so superstitious herein that he always pluck'd it off and was uncover'd when he had occasion to make Water Some are such Bigots in their Religion and so furious against Christians that not only they treat them with all imaginable Scorn and Contempt but take it ill to be salam'd or saluted by them as if it were the effect of sawciness or unbecoming familiarity Their malice against the Christians makes them envy the rich Furs they line their Vests with and it is a trouble to these hypocritical Zealots to see the Franks ride upon their fine Arabian Horses The respect which they shew the Alcoran is wonderful they dare not open the Leaves of it with unwashen hands according to the advice or command written in Arabick upon the Cover Let no one touch this Book but he that is clean They kiss it and bend their Heads and touch their Eyes with it both when they open it and shut it The Janizaries when they attend upon Christian Ambassadors to their Audience seem to appear in their Bravery and in a Habit far from that of a Souldier being without either Fire-Arms or Swords which latter are not worn but in time of Service or when they are upon a march or embodied wearing a Cap made of Camels Hair with a broad flap dangling behind a gilt embroider'd Wreath running round it and an oblong piece of Brass rising up from the middle of their Porehead near a Foot with a great Club in their Hand like inferiour Officers of the Civil Government But when they are in the Camp they throw off their upper Vest and Turbants which they wear at all other usual times as troublesome and put on a Fess or red Cap which sits close to their Head and tuck up their Duliman or long Coat to their Girdle that they may be the more quick and expedite in their Charge They affect sinery and neatness in their Clothes and Shashes not so much as a spot to be seen upon them and in rainy or suspicious Weather are very careful how they go abroad without their Yamurlicks which is a kind of Coat they throw over their Heads at such times Their Pans and Dishes are for the most part of Copper but so handsomely tinn'd over that they look like Silver There are thousands of Gypsies or Zinganies in Turkey who live the same idle nasty kind of life as they do in Christendom and pretend to the same art of telling Fortunes and are lookt upon as the offscouring of Mankind It is accounted the extremest point of human misery to be a Slave to any of this sort of Cattel The Haggi or Pilgrims that have been at Mecca and Medina forbear to drink Wine most religiously out of a Perswasion that one drop would efface all the merits of that troublesome and expensive Journey and some have been possest with such a mad zeal that that they have blinded themselves after their having been blest with the sight of Mahomet's Sepulchre After Jatzah that is an hour and a half in the night throughout the whole year there is as great a silence in the Streets as at midnight The Emperor Achmet in the year 1611 having made an Order that no one should presume to be out of his House after that time which is to this day most punctually observed The Bostangi bashi who has the Command of all the Agiamoglans in the Seraglio the Topgibashi or such great Officers attended with a great Train of armed men walking the Rounds and drubbing such as they find abroad at unseasonable hours of what Nation or Quality soever except Physicians Chyrurgions and Apothecaries whom they allow at all times to visit Sick The Turkmans for so they are peculiarly called as if they were the true Descendents of the old Turks or Scythians whose wandring kind of life is described by the Poet. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nulla domus plaustris habitant migrare per arva 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mos atque errantes circumvectare penates have no fixt residence any where but travel with their Families and Cattel from place to place carrying their Wives and Children upon Camels they pitch their Tents usually near Rivers and Fountains for the convenience of Water and according as their Necessities require make a longer or shorter stay Their whole Estate consists in their numerous Flocks and Herds which they sell upon occasion to supply themselves with what they want at the Towns they pass by Their only concern is how to enjoy the Benefits and Blessings of Nature without the troubles and turmoils