Part 34

Into the same harbour was also just before us run in, to shun the ill weather, a yatcht, that had about eleven men on board; they did pump out the water that was run in, and dry their sails upon the land, by which we did conjecture that they also had not been in small danger. We did send some of our men on board of them to know who they were; and they answered us, That they had letters from the Great Sultan, to their masters the _Venetians_, concerning a peace that was agreed upon, which their envoy at _Constantinople_ had sent by land to _Cattaro_, one of their towns, where they were delivered up to them, to carry them to _Venice_ with all possible speed. After this great storm was over, we went on again in our voyage. By the way I saw nothing worth mentioning, but now and then a village, where sometimes, if convenient, we landed, and staid there all night. In one of them, I found a great deal of saffron, which was very like unto that of _Vienna_, both in look and goodness. So at length we came to the large and very-deep Gulph, _Carnaro_, by which within lieth the town _Segna_, where the Windy-country endeth, and the _Hister-land_ beginneth. This Gulph is about an hundred miles long, and thirty broad, so that in clear weather one may see very well over it, but it is very dangerous to sail over it, and because of it’s great motion, it is easily discern’d from the sea from without; over this we came, God be thanked, very well, and landed at _Rovigna_, a small town situated on a high rock. This belongeth, as well as others thereabout, as _Pola_, _Parentza_, &c. to the _Venetians_, from whence to _Venice_ we have still about an hundred miles. But being that it is very dangerous to go from thence with large and loaden ships to _Venice_, therefore that republic doth keep there always several experienced pilots (to prevent farther mischief) that do nothing else but conduct the ships that arrive in _Histria_ safely thither. And these do not easily put off, unless they have very good mild and clear weather; which was the occasion that our ship did tarry there; so that we all, except the seamen which we left in the ship behind, went into a barge on the fourteenth day of _January_ late, and went all night long to _Venice_, where we all safely arrived the fifteenth of the same month about noon.

At my arrival I met with some very good friends and acquaintance, with whom I stay’d for several days, to refresh and rest myself after the great hardships I had endur’d, and dangers I had passed. After they had made me very welcome, and shewn unto me all kindness and civility, and I had rested myself sufficiently, I resolved to travel with a _Venetian_ post into _Germany_ again; so we travell’d together from thence to _Treviso_, _Trent_, _Botzan_, _Inspruck_, _Amberga_, &c. (whereabouts I found my cousin _Hans Widholtz_, and _George Hindermayer Botzen_ riding by him, who kept me all that night with them in their inn) so at length I arrived on the twelft day of _February_ 1576, at _Augsburg_, my dear native country, to the great rejoycing of my dear parents and relations, which I found all in indifferent good health. I thank the Almighty, merciful and good God, that is one in his Essence, and three in Person, for all his mercies he hath bestow’d upon me, in all my great dangers and necessities, both by sea and land, for his dear Son Jesus Christ’s sake. Praise, glory, and thanks be unto him, for ever and ever. _Amen._

_End of Dr ~Rauwolff~’s Travels._

A COLLECTION OF CURIOUS TRAVELS and VOYAGES.

VOL. II.

CONTAINING OBSERVATIONS MADE _By several Learned and Famous MEN_, In their Journeys thro’ the LEVANT.

_VIZ._ The ISLE of CANDY, GREECE, ÆGYPT, ASIA MINOR, _&c._

By Mons. _Belon_, _Prosper Alpinus_, Dr _Huntingdon_, Mr _Vernon_, Sir _George Wheeler_, Dr _Smith_, Mr _Greaves_, Father _Vansleb_, and others.

To which are added, Two Itineraries to _Mecca_, and into _Æthiopia_.

A

COLLECTION

OF CURIOUS

TRAVELS and VOYAGES.

VOL. II.

CHAP. I.

_Mr ~Belon~’s remarks in the island of ~Crete~ or ~Candy~._

The roots of mount _Ida_, call’d now by the natives _Psiloriti_, extend to both the shores of the island; when I was at the top, I not only saw under me all _Candy_, but some adjacent islands, as _Milo_, _Cerigo_, &c. The snow lies all the year long on this hill, whilst the plains underneath are extreamly scorch’d, and burnt up; it is so cold, that the shepherds cannot inhabit it in the summer-time, but are forced every night to descend, and leave their flocks of goats and sheep feeding. This mountain on one side, abounds with pleasant springs, woods, many sorts of trees, shrubs, and herbs, as Maples, _Ilices_ or Holm-oaks, _Arbutus_ and _Adrachne_, _Alaterni_, _Cisti Labdaniferi_, _Firrs_, _Cypress_, _Chamælea_, _Thymelea_, _Oxycedrus_, _Nerion_ or _Oleander_ with a white flower, _Olive-trees_, _Vines_, many _Legumes_ and _Pulse_.

Near round this famous mountain _Ida_ are found _Salvia Pomifera_, which is carry’d to all the markets, _Caper-shrubs_, _Mandragora Mas & fœmina_, two kinds of _Pæony_ with a white flower, _Tragium seu Androsæmum fœtidum_, _Leontepetalum_, _Melilotus vera Odorata_, _Trifolium Mœnianthe_ (perhaps our _Palustre_) _Heliocryson_, which grows so thick as to cover and shelter the hares; _Stæchas Citrina_, two kinds of _Tragacanth_, which yield no gum in this island; _Staphis agria_, common up and down; _Coris_, a sort of _Hypericum_, with leaves like Heath or Tamarisks, grows plentifully, the root hath an unpleasant taste, and vomited me. The _Anagyris_ stinks so upon the roads, that it causes the head-ach, and scarce any animal will touch it. _Tithymalus Dendroides_, _Thapsia_, _Ferula_, _Libanotis_, and _Seseli_ abound. _Agriomelea frutex_, a sort of _Sorbus_ or _Cotonaster_; a fourth species of _Aristolochia_ different from those three describ’d by the ancients; it scandent like a Smilax. The _Coccus Baphica_ or _Kermes_ is found plentifully here upon an _Ilex_, the shepherds and boys gather it in _June_, separate the red animalcules from the vesicle or excrescence by sieves, and form them into balls very gently for sale, for if they are squeezed or press’d, they dissolve, and the colour perishes. The _Dictamnus_ grows only between the fissures of the rocks, but the _Pseudo dictamus_ in other places. _Lotus Arbor_, _Zizyphus_ or _Jujube_, _Scolymnus Chrisanthemos_, call’d commonly _Ascolimbros_, whose milky root and young leaves make a common dish, _Tithymalus Myrsinites_ and _Paralius_ in the mountainous and maritime places, as also a _Gnaphalium candicans littoream_, and a wild _Brassica_, _Chamæsyce_ and _Soldanella_, a _Dracunculus_ with an Ivy-leaf; the _Halimus_ makes their common hedges up and down the island, the tops are edulous; _Agnus Castus_, _Sedum fruticescens_, _Thymum legitimum_, which last serves them for common fuel; the _Thymbra_ or _Satureia vulgaris_, all loaded with _Epithymum_ or _Didder_; the _Tribulus Terrestris_ is very noxious to their fields, and Pulse; _Scammonea_ or _Schammony_ in hilly places, _Sesamum_ and _Xylon_, or Cotton, are sown in _April_; Pitch is boyl’d out of the Pines on the mountains. There is none of our _Asparagus_, but instead of it two prickly kinds, call’d _Corruda_ and _Politricha_. Ten varieties of wild _Anemone_’s. There is a sort of Artichoak, call’d by the shepherds _Agriocinara_, whose turbinated root is sold by many Druggists for the _Costus Indicus_, the tops are eaten, the flower is white, sometimes purple. There is a sort of _Carline_ thistle, call’d _Chamœlion Albus_, whose odorate root sweats out a Gum which the women in _Candy_ chew, as they in _Scio_ do Mastich, or they in _Lemnos_ the Gum of a _Condrilla_. Two sorts of _Acanthus_, one soft, the other prickly. The inhabitants have not left off the old manner of preserving the tops of an _Anonis_, as also the tender shoots of an _Eryngium_. The island affords three kinds of _Origanum_, a sort of Squill or Sea-onion, _Orobus_, _Securidaca_, and many other legumes. It abounds with _Terebinths_ and Mastich-trees, Laurels, Styrax, and arborescent _Ricinus_, or _Palma-Christi_; _Aspalathus_, and a _Genisto spartium_ call’d _Echinopoda_.

The _Ibex_, or _Steinbock_, a swift nimble animal, whose horns are heavy and long for the bulk of the creature, frequents the rocky mountains; there is also the _Strepsiceros_, a sort of _Gazella_.

The bird call’d _Merops_ and _Apiastrum_, or _Beeater_, a sort of _Woodpecker_, is common in the island, catches Bees, and feeds on them in the air. The _Attagen_ and _Francolino_, as also a white large Partridge, frequent the mountains; Eagles, Vultures, and Falcons build on the rocks.

The fish call’d _Scarus_, which I never observed in the _Euxine_, _Propontis_, or any other part of the Mediterranean-sea, is common on the coasts of _Candy_, and is generally taken at the same season that the inhabitants rake and gather their sweet _Labdanum_, or _Ladanum_; the only bait for this fish is made of the leaves of a _Phaseolus_, which they swallow very greedily.

I observed only three kinds of Serpents in this island, the first is call’d by the country people _Ophis_; the second _Ochendra_; the third _Tephloti_; but none of these is venemous; I saw one bite and draw blood, but without any harm. Hence the ancients might say, that _Crete_ nourish’d no poisonous animal.

The _Phalangium_ is common up and down; it weaves webbs like other Spiders, to catch it’s prey, as Butterflies and Flies, and other insects. It lays about sixty eggs, carries and hatches them under it’s belly; it fights much with the _Ichneumon_ Wasp.

The stone call’d _Dactylus Idæus_, or _Belemnites_, erroneously taken and sold for the _Lapis Lyncis_, is plentiful on mount _Ida_.

The _Vinum malvaticum_, or _Pramnium_, as also the _Moschatell_, are made here, and transported up and down.

For a full catalogue of such vegetables as grow in the island of _Candy_, together with their synonymous names and places, the reader may be pleased to consult Mr _Ray_’s _Collection of Exotic Catalogues_, publish’d this year at _London_, and annex’d to the end of this Second Volume, amongst which the _Cretic_ plants are all drawn together out of _Bellonius_, _Honorio Belli_, _Alpinus_, _Pona_, &c.

CHAP. II.

_A Description of mount ~Athos~, commonly call’d ~Monte Santo~, by Mr ~Belon~._

This famous mountain so celebrated by the ancients, stands in a peninsula or promontory of _Macedonia_, stretching out into the _Ægæan_-sea; it’s shadow reaches to _Lemnos_ or _Stalamine_; it is inhabited only by monks, call’d _Caloyers_, who never marry, tho’ other priests of the _Greek_ church do. These _Caloyers_ abstain from all flesh, and even from sanguineous fishes in Lent-time; they live very hardly and severely; their ordinary dish is pickled Olives, not green like ours, but black and ripe, dry’d without pickle. There are about six thousand of these Monastics, that inhabit several places of this mountain, on which are seated twenty four large old monastries, encompassed with high and strong walls, for defence against pyrates and other robbers, tho’ they who spare nobody are kind and indulgent to the _Caloyers_.

In these monastries the ceremonies of the _Greek_ church are most diligently and strictly observed, and these _Caloyers_ or monks are the most reverenced of any belonging to that communion; the _Turks_ themselves will often send them alms, being taken with the sanctity of their lives; and the monks who inhabit mount _Sinai_, mount _Libanos_, the desarts of St _Anthony_, _Jerusalem_, and other holy places, are always the more valued and respected, if they have lived before on mount _Athos_, which is in as great esteem and veneration amongst the _Greeks_ as _Rome_ among the _Latins_. This place is under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of _Constantinople_, who pays about twelve thousand ducats _per Anum_ to the Grand Signior, upon the account of the _Europæan Greek_ church. The Patriarchs of _Alexandria_, _Damascus_, _Antioch_, &c. give also their particular sums to the _Turk_, who gives liberty of religion to all that pay tribute.

Of these six thousand religious, or _Caloyers_ of mount _Athos_, none lead idle lives, as most of the monks in other places do, but every one hath his daily employment; some labour with the ax, spade, and sickle, dress their vineyards, cut trees, build fishing-vessels; others carry sacks full of provision, bread, and onions; some spin and weave, their distaff being made of the _Arundo Donax_, and their spindle of the herb call’d _Attractilis_; some are Taylors, Bricklayers, and Carpenters; they are generally cloath’d like hermits.

This mountain is about three days journey long, and may be seen about thirty leagues off at sea; the monastries are at some distance; they give such provisions as they have _gratis_ to all travellers whatsoever, as pickled or dry’d olives, raw onions, salted beans, bisket, salted fish, sometimes fresh, for they often go a fishing, their vessels or boats being cut without great difficulty out of the thick trunks of Plane-trees; their nets, for want of Cork, are supported with _Gourds_, as they are in the _Propontis_ with the bark of _Pines_. The chief monastry is call’d _Ageas Laura_, and fronts the isle of _Lemnos_, it contains about three hundred _Caloyers_ or _Greek_ monks; those that look towards the continent of _Macedonia_, have all their peculiar names, and contain some two hundred, others one hundred and fifty _Caloyers_. Formerly there were good _Greek_ manuscripts in these monastries, but now none at all, unless of Theology; no Poets, no Historians, no Philosophers, not one of the monks learned, of six thousand scarce above two or three know how to write or read, so degenerated and depress’d is the _Greek_ nation at present; they use wax candles and lamps in their churches, as also statues, pictures and bells; they have no poultry, pigeons, or any other birds; nor sheep nor cows, nor goats; because they abstain from all flesh; they hunt no game, tho’ there is great variety and plenty, only fish near the shore. I observed abundance of those birds, call’d _Molliceps_, a sort of Chaffinch, as also of the _Torquilla_, or _Wrynecks_. No people have the privilege of living on this mountain but these _Caloyers_.

Mount _Athos_ abounds with many rare plants, but because many of them are already mentioned to grow near mound _Ida_ in _Candia_; I shall industriously omit to name such of them in this place. I observed here the _Apion_ (a sort of knobbed _Spurge_) which the _Caloyers_ themselves know to be purgative. _Hippoglossum_ or Horse-tongue, _Veratrum nigrum_, or black Hellebore, common in the valleys; Beach, Hornbean, Service, Oleaster, Myrtles, Oleander with a red flower, several Bindweeds running up to the high tops of the Plane-trees, which here vie in height with the Cedars of _Libanus_, or the Firs of _Olympus_.

There is a sort of _Cantharides_ on this hill call’d _Buprestis_, of a yellowish colour, very fœtid, feeding on brambles, succory, nettle, conyza, and other herbs; if any beast swallow this insect, they swell and die. There is a sort of Cray-fish in the fresh rivulets, which the _Caloyers_ eat raw, and I myself found the taste of them very sweet and pleasant; they do not crawl up from the sea, but breed in the streams above. There is a plant in the valleys call’d _Elegia_, perhaps a species of _Arundo_, whose branches serve instead of writing-pens, for neither the _Turks_ nor _Greeks_ know the use of quills.

The _Caloyers_ brought us several things to eat, as rocket, roots of smallage, the bulbs of leeks, cucumbers, onions, garlic, which we eat without either oyl or vinegar; black olives, course bisket and wine; they also regaeld us with salted and dry’d fish, _Sepia_’s, _Polypi_, and _Loligines_, Crabbs, and other crustaceous and testaceous animals. These monks had rather die than eat flesh upon any occasion.

We ascended to the very top of mount _Athos_, where we could not long endure the cold; we saw from thence many adjacent provinces and islands, as _Cassandria_, _Scyton_, _Lemnos_, _Thasson_, _Samothracen_, _Imbron_, &c. In our descent we observed Firrs, and Pitch-trees, which differ’d a little from those of mount _Ida_, for in these the cones adher’d so close to the branches, they would not separate; besides, these were very smooth, whereas the others were scabrous.

There being no haven under this mountain, the _Caloyers_ are forced to draw their fishing-vessels ashore, and place them behind iron gates, lest the pyrates should set fire to them. They exchange their grapes, olives, figgs, onions, garlic, beans, and legumes with the mariners, who bring them some wheat; they have mills on the streams of the hill. They press an oil out of their Bay-berries, which they send into _Wallachia_, _Bulgaria_, and _Servia_, where it is sold. They take abundance of the long Oyster or _Langouste_.

The multitude of springs and streams, the variety of herbage and ever-greens, the woods and pleasant shoar, do all render mount _Athos_ one of the most charming places in the world.

CHAP. III.

_An account of a journey by land from mount ~Athos~, to ~Constantinople~; wherein the gold and silver mines of ~Macedonia~, together with many antiquities and natural rarieties are described._

Leaving mount _Athos_, we travelled in two days to _Saloniki_, formerly called _Thessalonica_, and in two days more we reached _Siderocapsa_, the _Chrysites_ of the ancients, where now the _Turks_, and many other nations work the rich ores, which afford yearly a very considerable treasure, and make the place much frequented and resorted to. ’Tis situated amongst the valleys, at the foot of high mountains, and yields monthly to the Grand Signior, for his share only, above 18000 gold ducats, and sometimes 30000 clear of all disbursements. There are about five or six hundred furnaces dispers’d up and down these mountains, which abound with great varieties of _Pyrites_, _Marchasites_, and other ores, which they work in a different manner from the _Germans_ and _Spaniards_: Their furnaces and work-houses are all placed on the sides of rivulets, for all their bellows play with wheels turn’d by streams of water. The white foot of the chimneys is called _Spodus_ and _Pompholix_, as it differs in colour, of which above ten pounds may be gathered every week. They separate the lead from the gold and silver by particular fusions, then the silver from the gold by _Aqua fortis_: Out of the gold, they coin their ducats, which are very flexible, and esteem’d the purest gold in the world, always clean and resplendent.

From these metallic mountains we saw mount _Athos_, and great part of _Macedonia_, which appear’d hilly. I observed here two serpents never seen before by me; the _Greeks_ called them _Sapidi_ or _Sapiti_, which comes near to _Seps_, or _Sips_. The inhabitants of _Syderocapsa_ gather abundance of the _Rhus_ or _Sumach_, which they use in preparing their skins, and tanning their leather, which the _Ægyptians_ do with the pods of their _Acacia_, the _Natolians_ with the cups of the acorns of a dwarf Oak called _Esculus_, the _Illyrians_ with a black Myrtle (perhaps the _Rhus Myrtifolia_), the _French_ with Oak bark, the _Lesbians_ and _Phrygians_ with the bark of the _Picea_.

The workmen use several machines in working and drawing up the ores, according as the veins lie: These works employ above 6000 men.

In a lake near _Syderocapsa_, I took notice of several fishes, as one called _Laros_ by the natives (because the Gulls feed much upon it) by the _Latins Gania_, by the _French_, _Mouatte_, by those of _Diepe_ and _Newport_, _Marue_. Another called _Claria_, by those of _Lyons_, _Lotte_; by the _Parisans_, _Barbotte_. Also the _Liparis_, the Perch, young Mullets, _&c._

In the adjacent country, there are fallow Deer, Buffalo’s, wild Boar, Goats, red Deer, and our roe Deer, Porcupines, Urchins, Wolfs, Foxes, Hares; the _Chamois_, or _Rupicapra_; the _Tragelaphus_ different from the _Hippelaphus_.

Leaving _Syderocapsa_, we spent two days in getting to _Cavalla_, anciently called _Boucephala_, whereas we might have gone by sea in half a day: In this journey we saw the river _Strymon_, and on it Swans, and other birds like Pelicans: At the mouth of this river, are seen the remains of a place called by the natives _Chrysopolis_, tho’ _Pliny_ puts it not far from _Chalcedon_. We saw _Ceres_ the _Cranon_ of the antients; afterwards _Tricala_, and so by the side of the mountain _Despota_, thro’ a great plain to _Philippi_, near which are many villages and several mines. We observed hereabouts Misseltoe on the Oak, as also in many other places of _Macedonia_, where they make birdlime. The ground is very much over-run with the _Paliurus_ and _Rhamnus_.

The ruins of _Philippi_, are about two days journey from _Trica_ or _Tricala_, and _Philippi_ scarce three more from _Philippolis_. These were great roads in the time of the _Roman_ empire, now heaps of rubbish, and sepulchres of marble with inscriptions. The isle of _Tasso_ is but six hours distant, and from thence this great quantity of white marble might have easily been fetch’d. The magnificence of _Philippi_ may be guess’d at from the number of these noble monuments and inscriptions, from the fair amphitheatre still entire with it’s marble seats; ’Tis not oval, as those at _Otricoli_ and _Rome_, but spherical, as those at _Verona_ and _Nismes_: There are also _Doric_ and _Ionic_ pillars, with many statues belonging to the temple of _Divus Claudius_. At _Cavalla_, or _Boucephala_, there are still great cisterns of hardened Cement (as at _Baiæ_) and _Aquæducts_.

Departing from _Cavalla_, we pass’d by mount _Hæmus_, over the river _Nesus_, and came to _Bouron_ on the salt lake of _Bisto_, near a moist plain, full of _Cytisus_, _Halimus_, _&c._ as about _Philippi_. Here are taken great quantity of Dace, or Dare, which they pickle as we do Herrings, as also smoak and dry them. The fishing on this lake is very considerable, for from hence they supply many distant places. About six hours from _Bouron_, we came to _Commercina_, where they sell great variety of provisions; from thence we went to _Cypsella_, where they make Alum by gently calcining the stone, and letting it dissolve afterwards in the air by the dews and rains, and then boiling and crystallizing the impregnated water. In this journey we saw many old _Roman_ highways pav’d with great stones. We passed the _Marisca_, of old _Hebrus_, in a ferry, and came to _Vire_; here they wash some gold out of the sand, but are often forced to use Quicksilver in the separation. The water of _Hebrus_ is very cold in the middle of summer, and the banks are set with Tamarisks; King’s-fishers build they nests in holes on the sides, they make them of the bones and scales of little fishes. The natives hereabout often leave their habitations to work in harvest time: Their sickles differ from ours, and their corn is not thresh’d but trodden with cattle. In this journey we found great variety and plenty of _Jaspars_ and _Chalcedony_.

The _Thracians_ and _Macedonians_ gather all the galls or excrescences on the Turpentine-trees, which they sell at _Prusa_, for the dying of silks. This country abounds much with Tortoises, for the _Greeks_ never eat nor destroy them, unless they catch them in their gardens or plantations of Cotton and _Sesamum_.